Prenatal Yoga is a great practice for supporting physical fitness, easing discomforts, and encouraging mental and emotional balance during pregnancy. It can help mothers-to-be connect with their bodies and their babies and also provides movements, relaxation, and awareness.
Practice loving compassion for yourself and your baby. Here are some suggested yoga poses to use daily
Butterfly: Open the Hips
Butterfly pose (baddha konasana) is a wonderful stretch for the hips and groin muscles. For many women who feel aching in the hips, this can be a comfortable position to sit in even when not doing yoga.
Cat-Cow: Keep the Back Happy
Cat-cow strengthens and relaxes the lower back, improves circulation, and provides a nice release for the belly. It also encourages optimal fetal positioning when used regularly in the later weeks of pregnancy. Mothers to be like using this pose in Prenatal Yoga.
One caution in the “cow” posture: be careful not to over-arch the back, which is common in pregnancy and can sometimes be exaggerated in this posture.
Squatting: Strength & Birth Preparation
While it has been lost in many birth settings in Western culture, squatting has actually been used by birthing women since the beginning of time. Squatting opens the pelvic area by as much as 25 percent, utilizes gravity, and often provides an ideal angle for the baby’s descent. Even if it is not used in birth, squatting is wonderful for building strength and stretching the muscles of the back and hips.
Arm Swings: For Endurance
There are numerous variations of arm swings that can be used to build stamina and endurance, and develop the mind’s capacity to “keep up.”
Prenatal yoga is one of the best things that you can do for yourself, as well as your growing baby. A prenatal yoga practice allows us to slow down and focus attention on what is going on within our bodies. Through working with our breath and doing each pose, you become more aware of what is going on within.
love, k ❤
Intuitive Magazine 