Yoga During Pregnancy Helps You Prepare For Labour

Set aside your ego and honor where your body is at today. Practice loving compassion for yourself and baby. Prenatal yoga is one of the best things that you can do for yourself, as well as your growing baby. It's important that you find the right yoga practice for you. Here are reasons why you should do yoga during pregnancy-

1. As baby grows within our body, more energy and strength is needed to be able to carry the weight. Yoga poses strengthen our hips, back, arms and shoulders.

2. Our balance is challenged physically as the fetus grows within our body. Emotionally we are drained due to the increases in progesterone and estrogen. As we try to focus on holding and breathing through each yoga pose, we are able to fine tune our balance, physically and emotionally.

3. As baby grows, more stress is put upon these specific muscle groups in our bodies. We tend to have more of a lordotic/lower back curve due to the increased size of our bellies. Our hips get tighter due to the added pressure of baby's weight in our bellies. As our breasts increase in size, our upper back and chest have more tension, along with our neck and shoulders.

4. You are working with conscious breathing during each yoga pose, which may sometimes be challenging. This transfers into the time of labor, allowing one to practice being "comfortable with the uncomfortable" through our breathwork. As you inhale, you acknowledge the tension that is felt. As you deeply exhale, you let go of it more and more with each breath.

5. A prenatal yoga practice allows us to slow down and focus attention on what is going on within our bodies. Through working with our breath and doing each pose, you become more aware of what is going on within.