The Advantages of Prenatal Yoga

We all know how wonderful and how beneficial yoga is as a whole, but what about prenatal yoga? In fact, prenatal yoga reaps as many if not more benefits than yoga on a non-pregnant woman. Not only that, but these benefits as well as the advantages are not only helpful and positive towards the woman, but to the unborn baby as well.

What are the Advantages of Prenatal Yoga?

Prenatal yoga has both mental and physical benefits during pregnancy. For one, it is helpful because it teaches you how to breathe deeply and how to relax, factors which will obviously come in handy at the end of your pregnancy. Learning how to do the techniques involved in prenatal yoga will prime you for labor and childbirth and it does this by training your body to stay calm.

However the benefits of yoga are not only limited to your physical well-being, as the entire purpose of yoga is to incorporate not only the body, but the mind and the spirit as well. Not only that, but simply being in a positive and supportive environment with others who are in the same situation as you can help to give you an emotional boost right whenever you need it most.

There are several yoga poses in particular that are best for pregnant woman, for instance the Cobbler or Tailor pose, which is a sitting pose that helps to open up the pelvis, and how you do this pose is you sit yourself up straight against a wall with the soles of your feet touching each other, and then gently press your knees down and away from each other. Then simply stay in this position for as long as you are comfortable.

Another excellent prenatal yoga position is that of the Pelvic tilt, which is a position that helps to relieve back pain, and how you do this position is you get down on your hands and knees with your arms shoulder-width apart and your knees hip-width apart, and make sure to keep your arms straight; then you tighten in your abdominal muscles and tuck your buttocks under and round your back, breathing in while you do this.

Then you relax your back into its normal position, and breathe out, repeating at your own pace. Finally another good position is that of the squatting position, which helps to open up the pelvis and to strengthen the upper legs. As well, as you start to grow during pregnancy there are certain props that you can use to complete this position, such as yoga blocks or a pile of books, for instance.

You begin by standing facing the back of a chair with your feet spread slightly apart, with your toes pointed outward. You then lower your tailbone towards the floor as though you were going to sit down on a chair, but rather than sitting you hold the position there. Take a deep breath in, and when you exhale, you push your legs up to rise to a standing position, and then repeat as you feel comfortable.