During pregnancy your body goes through many changes, which creates stress on you mentally and physically. A way to maintain a healthy mind and body is prenatal yoga.

Prenatal yoga focuses on poses for pregnant women, in order to increase strength and flexibility.

It also helps pregnant women to develop proper breathing and relaxation techniques for easier and more comfortable labor.

Benefits Of Prenatal Yoga?

Prenatal yoga is good for overall wellness. It is a form of exercise that also speaks to your pregnancy wellness.

• Improves sleep
• Reduce stress and anxiety
• Increase the strength, flexibility and endurance of muscles needed for childbirth
• Decrease lower back pain, nausea, carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms, headaches and shortness of breath

In addition to the benefits listed, studies have found there is a relationship between prenatal yoga and the reduction of hypertension-related complications, as well as, improvement of fetal outcome.

Are there special safety guidelines for prenatal yoga?

To protect your health and your baby’s health during prenatal yoga, follow basic safety guidelines. For example:

-Talk to your health care provider. Before you begin a prenatal yoga program, make sure you have your gynecologist’s OK. You might not be able to do prenatal yoga if you are at increased risk of preterm labor or have certain medical conditions, such as heart disease or back problems.

– Set realistic goals. For most pregnant women, at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity is recommended on most, if not all, days of the week. However, even shorter or less frequent workouts can still help you stay in shape and prepare for labor.

– Pace yourself. If you can’t speak normally while you’re doing prenatal yoga, you’re probably pushing yourself too hard.

– Stay cool and hydrated. Practice prenatal yoga in a well-ventilated room to avoid overheating. Drink plenty of fluids to keep yourself hydrated.

– Avoid certain postures. When doing poses, bend from your hips — not your back — to maintain normal spine curvature. Avoid lying on your belly or back, doing deep forward or backward bends, or doing twisting poses that put pressure on your abdomen. As your pregnancy progresses, use props during postures to accommodate changes in your center of gravity. If you wonder whether a pose is safe, ask your instructor for guidance.

– Don’t overdo it. Pay attention to your body and how you feel. Start slow and avoid positions that are beyond your level of experience or comfort. Stretch only as far as you would have before pregnancy.

Prenatal Yoga And Pregnancy Support

While you are pregnant, it is important to build a strong support system. Oftentimes, this support system will include family and friends.

It can be beneficial to expand your support system to include other pregnant mothers. While participating in a prenatal yoga class, you are given the opportunity to meet other expecting mothers whom you can share your concerns with. More importantly, meeting other expecting mothers gives you the chance to talk with someone going through pregnancy.

 Your favorite celebs who practiced Pre-natal Yoga

Lara Dutta is yet another celebrity who practices yoga every day. She has a YouTube channel where she uploads videos of her performing yoga asanas. She practiced prenatal yoga as well during her pregnancy.

Sania Mirza, the Indian Tennis Sensation who broke her pregnancy news earlier this year in April, also shared a picture of her doing the Prenatal Yoga.

“International Day of yoga or any other day, #PreNatalYoga is my way of keeping fit during pregnancy. What’s yours???” She tweeted.

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