Prenatal, post-natal, Newborn Yoga
Prenatal Yoga
Yoga in pregnancy is a practice that brings numerous benefits to the health of the expectant mother and baby. Meditation, breathing and relaxation exercises can facilitate pregnancy and childbirth.
Why is prenatal yoga good for you? When to start running it? Are there any contraindications concerning him? Let’s find out more about it.
Prenatal yoga can help prepare for childbirth, as well as benefit the baby’s health: this specific type of yoga is easy to learn and is, therefore, suitable for both experienced practitioners and beginners.
The pre-birth yoga classes allow you to practice gymnastics exercises during pregnancy and relax, keeping fit and obtaining excellent results. Between breathing techniques and targeted exercises, there are so many benefits of yoga during pregnancy.
Why is it good to practice yoga during pregnancy?
Prenatal yoga is a type of yoga that can help in preparing for childbirth: it is, in fact, extremely good for the health of the future mother and the baby on the way.
Why is pre-birth yoga good? What are its benefits?
-Relax and calm body and mind
-Helps keep fit and maintain correct posture
-Increases flexibility, strength and muscle endurance, all of which are helpful during delivery and labor
– Fights chronic stress, postpartum depression, social anxiety, lower back pain, chronic fatigue, constipation, nausea in pregnancy, swelling in the legs and headache
– Activates lymphatic and blood circulation
-Improves physical and mental balance
-Regulate heart rate and blood pressure
– Promotes digestion and rest, as well as connection with the baby
-Fortifies the immune system
There are many researches and studies that have shown how the practice of yoga is extremely beneficial for pregnant women: yoga in pregnancy is good for mom and baby. It is possible to start yoga in pregnancy right away, when you can perform standing asanas to improve blood circulation; while, during the last two trimesters, it may be necessary to decrease the asanas in order not to tire yourself excessively, focusing more on concentration and breathing techniques.
Thanks to breathing techniques (pranayama), you will be able to regularize the emotional balance, promoting relaxation and connection with the child, in addition to the benefits mentioned above. The practice of pranayama also counteracts the production of adrenaline, facilitating childbirth: the latter, in fact, is produced more when there is fear or pain, causing a reduction in the blood of oxytocin, the hormone that helps the progression of labor towards delivery. Gymnastics during pregnancy is highly recommended and prenatal yoga is a good meeting point, to obtain concrete benefits.
How does a pre and post birth yoga class take place?
It starts with warm-up exercises, especially for the neck and arms, and then different asanas are performed. What asanas are performed in yoga during pregnancy? There are positions to be performed both standing, sitting or lying down, as well as specific breathing exercises, which must be deep and slow, as well as concrete help during labor. Finally, the final relaxation or shavasana involves lying on the mat, on your side, so that the breathing rate and heart rate can slow down and the muscles and joints return to rest.
Are there any contraindications for practicing yoga during and after pregnancy?
Yoga is a safe practice that follows the natural rhythms of the individual and which provides relaxation and breathing techniques aimed specifically at pregnant women. The advice is to follow a course, so that you can be supervised by an experienced teacher in your personal path, who will show you the positions suitable for this delicate period. As mentioned before, there are various types of yoga, but the most suitable one in pregnancy is precisely the prenatal or post partum one, although Yoga Nidra is also good; to avoid, on the other hand, Power Yoga, Ashtanga, Bikram Yoga and, more generally, all those who have too fast and tiring rhythms.
Yoga can be contraindicated in case of risk of pre-term birth, or of heart disease. Finally, don’t forget to hydrate yourself sufficiently with water, centrifuged vegetables and fruit or tea, avoiding excessive heat.
Postpartum and neonatal yoga
After you have a baby, you may be eager to resume your yoga practice and reconnect with your body. The most important thing to remember is that your postpartum body may be very different than the body you had before getting pregnant.
You have to work with the body you have now, not the one you had nine months ago. This is not to say that you’ll never get back to the level of practice you had before. It’s just a reminder that it takes time and patience. Time for you and for your baby either.
During a time of pregnancy, many women attend a pregnancy yoga class to keep toned, to stay flexible, to prepare their bodies for labour and birth, and also to meet other pregnant women in their area. But once the baby is born, it can be easy to lose the connection with other pregnant women and feel disheartened about the physical and emotional effects childbirth can have on your baby.
Postnatal yoga helps you to recover from pregnancy and birth. It heals the body and mind, and repair all the tissues back to their former glory. It is specially designed for mothers with their babies so that little one can also incorporate into the practice. It keeps the babies entertained and the babies as part of the yoga itself.
That’s why coming along to a Mum & Baby postnatal yoga class can really help mums at a physical, mental and emotional level. Postnatal yoga uses movement, breath and relaxation to allow you to reconnect with your body after pregnancy and birth. These yoga classes are not an typical classes; you will start to strengthen and gently work the muscles of your core, your lower back and the pelvic floor . But there is so much more too. The classes are designed for mums come some along with their babies, and so I try to include the little ones into the practice wherever I am able to. We use the yoga postures in ways that keep the babies entertained, or we may be holding the babies as part of the yoga itself.
Here’s just a few of the brilliant benefits:
- eases tightness, tension, aches and niggles in the post natal body
- helps build up strength and stamina in the body too
- provides time to rest and relax
- starts to strengthen the deep abdominal muscles to ‘close the body’ after birth.
- relieves stiffness in the shoulders, neck and upper back
- strengthens abdominal, pelvic floor muscles and back muscles for core strength
- allow you to expand your breathing quietening the mind
- maintains flexibility in your body
- helps you to feel a sense of reclaiming your body
- gives you time each week to nurture yourself, renewing energy levels
- can aid bonding between mother and baby
- gives you relaxed time to connect with and chat to other new mums
- gets you out of the house in a friendly, non judgemental, supportive environment spending your time to drink a tea
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