What You Should Know About Yoga During Pregnancy

If you enjoy yoga prior to pregnancy, there is no reason you can't do it during your pregnancy unless your doctor advises against it. In fact, there are many benefits to continue with the practice from the beginning of pregnancy until you give birth. However, you will need to modify some of the movements. Here are some yoga tips to know about doing yoga during pregnancy.

There Are Many Benefits

Whether you have done yoga before or this will be your first time, doing yoga during pregnancy can be very beneficial for you and your baby. First of all, the breathing exercises you practice during yoga can help you relax and de-stress, which is good for your baby just as much as yourself. Breathing exercises also help you improve your circulation and immune system. Yoga during pregnancy can also help reduce your back pain, remove tension from your growing belly, and give you more energy to get through the fatigue portion of pregnancy.

Some Poses Should Be Avoided

This is more important to remember if you are already accustomed to doing yoga. It might seem fine to continue doing your regular yoga poses if you are used to them from before pregnancy, but some are absolutely forbidden. For example, avoid any poses that put too much pressure on your abdomen, especially during the last trimester of pregnancy. Also be careful about twisting posts and inversions, as they are too much for your growing belly. You might also want to be careful about doing yoga during the first part of your second trimester, since a lot of baby growth happens during this time, and many doctors advise against it.

Many Poses Can Be Modified

Aside from the posts that are forbidden during pregnancy, most other poses can be modified to continue during throughout your pregnancy. For example, you can still do the forward bend pose, but you want to spread your thighs a little farther to make room for your abdomen. This pose actually helps open up your abdomen, so it is still good to do. Another modified pose is the cobra, where you still arch your back, but only as far as it feels comfortable. If you feel pressure on your abdomen, stop the bend. Some other modified yoga poses include the child's pose and the cat pose.

If you take yoga classes, either take a prenatal yoga class or work with an instructor who has experience with modifying poses. This ensures you are only doing poses that are safe and comfortable during pregnancy.  


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