Yoga is a combination of physical, mental, and spiritual exercises or practices to help develop the body and mind.
If you go deep into yoga, it’s more of a religion than just exercise, and it involves a lot of stretching, breath control, and mind training.
A pregnant woman tries to protect herself and her baby as much as possible. And one of the issues that the future mother is concerned with is the opportunity to do sports.
Yoga is also a sport, but can you do yoga while pregnant, especially in the first trimester?
Can you do Yoga if you’re Pregnant?
Naturally, many types of physical activity would have a positive effect on pregnancy and well-being.
One of the most popular sports during pregnancy is yoga, but it’s not advisable to start yoga classes when you’re pregnant.
It’s better if you’ve been practicing yoga before you get pregnant, so you’re already acquainted with yoga poses, and your body is already a good fit.
Yoga during Pregnancy Benefits
Prenatal yoga has a lot of health benefits. Prenatal yoga or pregnancy yoga is a specialized program designed for pregnant women.
Even if you do yoga before pregnancy, you need to switch from yoga to prenatal yoga during pregnancy.
- Prenatal yoga helps to strengthen the spinal cord
- Pregnancy yoga can also help to minimize lower back pain and headache.
- It can also make labor easier and good for normal delivery
- Yoga also increases strength and improves flexibility and endurance.
- Pregnancy yoga can make you sleep better, and manage stress and anxiety during pregnancy.
- Prenatal yoga can also help you to lose weight
How Often should pregnant women do Yoga?
Yoga is helpful when you’ve mastered it. For a pregnant woman that’s experienced in yoga practices, you can do it for 10 to 20 minutes daily.
If you’re still a learner and want to do yoga while pregnant to get the health benefits, then 30 minutes yoga session 2 to 3 times weekly is good.
When to Start Yoga during Pregnancy?
Yoga is good and doesn’t cause miscarriage but it’s advisable to start yoga in the second trimester when your baby is already formed and halfway developed.
Yoga involves a lot of mental training, focused breathing, and stretching but can be modified to suit your condition.
There are simple yoga poses you can try in your early pregnancy if you’ve to but hot yoga should be avoided while pregnant.
Is Yoga completely Safe for Pregnant Women?
There are simple, basic, and comfortable yoga poses for pregnant women and there are poses that pregnant women should avoid like the plague.
You can also try restorative yoga, and for other prenatal yoga poses, you should make a twist to them in your 3rd trimester to reduce muscle strain and other distress.
Like other exercises, intensity, and duration can make a big impact, so you should reduce the intensity and duration of any yoga training when you’re pregnant.
You can also try indoor jogging or jogging on a spot daily if you don’t like yoga.
Yoga poses you can do while pregnant
- Ankle-to-Knee Pose
- Seated Side Bend
- Goddess pose
- Yoga Squat variation with a block
- Pigeon Pose
- Standing squats
- Low Lunge Twist Pose
- Tree pose
- Cat-Cow stretch
- Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend
- Gentle seated side bends
- Dolphin Pose
- Legs-up-the-Wall Pose
- Supported Fish Pose
You can try these poses with modifications as it’s comfortable for you and your baby in each phase of your baby’s development.
Yoga practice and Poses to avoid during pregnancy
The following yoga practices should be avoided in the first trimester.
- Intense backbend
- Poses that put pressure on your belly
- Forward bend
- Inversion
- Contraction of your abdomen
Yoga poses like cobra, locust, corpse, downward facing dog, triangle, bow, and child’s pose should be avoided or modified.
There are some contraindications
First of all, you need to consult a doctor, and if there are some restrictions, you will have to choose another sport or postpone yoga until your physical condition returns to normal.
Your doctor is likely going to advise you against practicing yoga while pregnant if you have any of the following conditions.
- Polyhydramnios
- History of miscarriages
- Bleeding
- Increased uterine tone
- Severe toxemia, accompanied by vomiting and dizziness
You should also stop yoga in the 38 – 40th weeks of pregnancy since excessive physical activity at this time can cause premature birth.
If you have any of them, you shouldn’t put yourself and your baby’s health in danger. It’s better to wait until you feel better or after birth.
If you have no contraindications, yoga classes won’t harm you; on the opposite, they could bring several positive benefits.
Conclusion
If you engage in yoga, you will be able to maintain a good physique and quickly return to your previous body shape after childbirth.
Yoga classes will also help you deal with your emotions and get rid of nervous tension.
Breathing exercises that are part of yoga could make the very process of childbirth easier for you.
This type of activity will help you distract yourself from mild or moderate morning sickness and alleviate your condition.
Remember that yoga, like any other sport during pregnancy, should lift your mood, and only in that way it will be useful.
