Carrying a baby to term is a different experience for expecting mothers. Stress, body pain, and depression are some of the challenges they face leading up to the big day. Even childbirth itself is tough, with many women suffering complications during and after the procedure. Thankfully, with prenatal yoga, you can ease these difficulties.
Prenatal yoga is a practice you and your unborn child can tremendously benefit from. Its gentle stretching and breathing techniques prepare you physically and mentally for labor and prevent several complications.
Here are some of the top benefits of prenatal yoga:
Improves your labor experience
The most apparent benefit of prenatal yoga is that it makes labor easier to bear. When the time comes, your breathing will be more positive and relaxed. Yoga's breathing and meditation exercises can help reduce anxiety and pain, building your confidence and coping ability ahead of the big day.
Boosts blood flow
Prenatal yoga can help boost circulation. With yoga's stretching movements increasing blood flow to the heart, more oxygen-rich blood goes to your baby. This keeps your baby on track for healthy development.
Provides relief from various pregnancy complaints
Prenatal yoga can significantly reduce various pregnancy discomforts like insomnia, headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome, nausea, and shortness of breath. By stretching and carrying out deep breathing exercises, you can bring relief to various parts of your body and reduce common pregnancy discomforts.
Reduces stress, depression, and anxiety symptoms
Aside from physical discomfort, pregnancy can be a time of heightened mental stress and anxiety.
The intentional movements and structured breathing exercises in prenatal yoga can reduce stress symptoms, activating the nervous system and blocking the production of high cortisol levels, which is linked to depression.
Boosts connection with your baby
Carrying out regular prenatal yoga reminds you to care for and bond with your baby. As your pregnancy advances, how your body responds to various yoga poses can remind you of the other ongoing physical changes.
Engaging in the Hero pose, for instance, can increase your awareness of a growing life inside you and help you bond with your unborn child.
Tones crucial muscle groups
Prenatal yoga is a great way to prepare crucial muscles in the hip, pelvic floor, and abdominal core for birthing. Building and maintaining properly toned muscles during pregnancy can reduce pains and aches and are crucial to restoring your body's suppleness after delivery.
Gives you a healthier pregnancy
Prenatal yoga is a health and wellness practice that not only benefits you but also your impending delivery. Practicing prenatal yoga is a way of staying healthy, which is crucial to reducing the likelihood of preterm labor or delivering a low-birthweight child.
Gain support from a network of expectant moms
Prenatal yoga can be an opportunity for you to enjoy support from a community of other expectant mothers. Here, you can connect with other women making similar lifestyle changes, sharing your journey and easing anxiety concerns about impending motherhood.
Begin your prenatal yoga journey today
The best part of prenatal yoga is that you can start in any trimester and still reap the rewards. And, as is clear to see, the benefits are tremendous, ranging from physical, mental and emotional to social benefits.
Why not join a community of similarly expectant mothers today by starting prenatal yoga at Shift Yoga Studio?