Yoga has good reason to claim wellness benefits for every group of users, including those expecting a child. The focus on deep breathing and relaxation make it a perfect choice of complementary practice for expectant mothers. It fits in perfectly with the methods taught in pre-natal classes, and gives you much more. Those who are already experienced practitioners might wish to continue and adapt their usual practice, and those who have never tried it may well find that pregnancy marks the perfect time to start.
If you are a newcomer to yoga, there is no better place to start than in a class of fellow pregnant women. The sense of community in any yoga class is beautiful and can provide you with friendship and emotional support outside the classroom. This is never more the case than when a group of women share the most important experience of their life together.
As you will learn in pre-natal classes, calm breathing is of prime importance to pregnant women. A good knowledge and practice of breathing techniques will prove invaluable to you, not only during labour, but in all the trials in-between. Of the several breathing techniques you are likely to learn in pre-natal yoga, Ujjayi breathing will make an excellent addition to your toolkit. It is a method of breathing that can bring about a gentle tranquilising effect to your body and mind. To achieve Ujjayi breath, breathe deeply down to your abdomen while contracting your epiglottis. This is sometimes called ‘ocean breath’ as the contraction will cause your breath to sound like the waves of the sea.
As for the physical practice of yoga, a good yoga teacher will adapt all the usual poses for pregnant women, allowing you to gain the same benefits as any other practitioner. Some poses, such as inversions, are contra-indicated at a certain stage of pregnancy, but this is something your pre-natal yoga teacher will be aware of and cater for accordingly. All you have to do is make sure that you go to the most qualified and highly recommended yoga teacher or therapist available to you.
Yoga can offer you breathing techniques, relaxation tools, exercise, community and new friendships combined. Pregnancy is full of trials as well as exploration and discovery, so yoga could well be the perfect wellbeing accompaniment to you. Start by doing some internet research and find out what other mothers recommend. Soon you could be engaged in a practice that will carry you smoothly through pregnancy and may even become a life-long hobby.
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