Yoga, specifically adapted for pregnancy, has many benefits for those totally new to Yoga and for seasoned practitioners alike whatever Yoga style and whatever your birth plan wishes may be. Birthlight Perinatal Yoga refers to yoga adapted specifically for pregnancy from conception through the first year after birth and including practices for labour and birth.
Just as all different motivations bring people to general yoga classes for the first time, similarly pregnancy inspires many to take up antenatal yoga- perhaps to replace other exercise that’s no longer comfortable or seen as appropriate. Many more are generally interested in yoga’s reputation for breathing and relaxation practices, and gentle stretching and strengthening asanas.
Here we explore 5 common benefits that many yoga for pregnancy classes encompass.
- Finding Strength from Within
Regular Yoga for pregnancy can gently strengthen the deeper muscles that support your growing baby bump without strain. In turn, this will help relieve pressure on all your joints at a time when pregnancy hormones are loosening them. Getting in touch with your breath and gentle exercise can make you feel much more comfortable throughout your pregnancy.
If you are planning a vaginal birth, you’ll feel more confident knowing how to move and find positions that will help your baby move through your pelvis in labour. Knowing your pregnant body, how to avoid triggering aches and pains and how to use your breath to change how you feel can greatly help reduce the effects of stress or worry and promote a calm inner strength whatever your birth plan. These will also serve you well on the other side of the birth.
If you’re planning a cesarean birth or end up having one, then some of the same breathing practices that you’ve been doing during pregnancy can be used to calm your nervous system as you approach surgery.
However you end up birthing your baby, your breath also acts as an invisible bond and line of communication with your baby through the birth process and after they have been born.
2. Slowing Down and Relaxing
The pressure to ‘do’ and ‘achieve’ can be irresistible in our fast-paced lives but taking time to pause, to become aware of your breath and connect with your baby can really have far reaching health and wellness benefits. This applies even if you already have a Yoga practice that you enjoy. Pregnancy can be a great opportunity to explore other more subtle aspects of asanas that your current yoga style may not include or different breathing practices that can be so useful when you are breathing for two (or sometimes more!).
If you find it hard to switch off, joining a yoga class can give you lots of techniques to access blissful moments where body and mind can rest and rejuvenate. It is a life skill that needs practising to become easily accessible. But the bonus is that the more you practice the easier it will get and the more you can benefit. Once your baby arrives they will enjoy times where they ‘tune in ‘ to your calm breathing and you can enjoy relaxation together as part of your daily routine. Yes, that really is possible! Even if you already already have an older child or other kids in your family mix it is never too late to start.
So, give yourself permission to rest and relax deeply more often during pregnancy- relaxation improves digestion, sleep patterns, elimination, immunity, and even personal relationships as we can react to daily challenges from a calmer place!
Babies also need us to slow down so we can notice and read their cues which in turn helps them feel secure. The world is a super sensory place for newborns: they need to integrate their experiences at a much slower pace than adults.
3. Tips for Daily Life: Enjoying your Pregnancy Day by day
Practising how to have good posture in a yoga for pregnancy class can help you have better habits at home or at work particularly as your body changes so much over 9 months and your centre of gravity shifts forwards. Better posture will help you remain active throughout your pregnancy, and make it easier to breathe and digest. Your Pregnancy Yoga teacher should be able to offer you tips and practices to incorporate into your day whether it’s how to roll over in bed without pain, how to pick up your toddler without straining your back or how to use a winding down practice to help you get off to sleep at night.
Many small practices or changes can help you enjoy your pregnancy more. More enjoyment means more oxytocin in your body- that ‘happy hormone’ that’s also important for labour, breastfeeding and bonding. It is also important for helping you to relax, enjoy the company of loved ones and, interestingly, as it is also involved in tissue repair it can aid your physical recovery after birth.
4. Learning to Let Go of Worry
Pregnancy often is a time of increased worries and anxiety about all kinds of concerns and doubts. This is where acquiring healthy habits of self-nurture for the mind as well as the body can really help. Learning to tune into your breath and body can be very grounding when emotions may be fluctuating more than usual. The more familiar you become with these tools by practising them regularly the easier it will be for you to use them to help you through daily ups and downs, through your birth experience however it may unfold and through parenthood challenges into the future.
We all experience ‘the monkey mind’ from time to time when thoughts and worries seem to swirl around in our heads in annoying or upsetting ways, perhaps keeping us awake or interrupting our focus. Learning ways to ‘tame’ the thinking whirlwind can really resource us to find clarity and perspective. This is also good to practice before your baby arrives when all the normal worries of new parenthood can interrupt your enjoyment of your newborn. Equally beneficial, if this is not your first baby, is setting aside regular time for quieting the mind and relaxing the body during this pregnancy.
5. Preparing to Become a Parent
Part of being pregnant is considering what kind of parent you want to be – even if you already are one. Yoga for pregnancy isn’t just about preparing for birth but also giving yourself some time to bond with this baby before birth- perhaps even more precious if you already have a busy work or family life. Experiencing some quiet moments to contemplate and simply ‘be’ can help you imagine and plan for beyond birth.
The “fourth trimester”, as the postnatal period is sometimes called, can be hard to imagine especially when you’re expecting your first baby. However, it is well worth planning for in terms of which daily and weekly habits and activities, people and practices can best support and resource you as you settle into life with your newborn.
In your prenatal Yoga class you’re also likely to make pregnant friends and acquaintances whose babies may become friends of your baby. Whether the class is in person or online, it can be reassuring to journey through pregnancy with other pregnant women and pregnant people even though they may have different experiences and plans for birth.
Many people find that the breathing, grounding and relaxation practices they learned in pregnancy serve them very well after birth too and through the many challenges of being a parent. Returning to yoga with your baby after birth can be a great way to keep up your practice and aid your recovery in the welcoming circle of a postnatal yoga class – probably there’ll be some familiar faces you may have met before in the prenatal yoga class.
So Perinatal Yoga really is yoga for pregnancy, birth and beyond!