Yoga during pregnancy

Yoga during pregnancy
Every form of yoga also involves a mental exercise: concentrating on your own body. Yoga can help you listen more closely to yourself and, in turn, to your child. And during the birth process, it's beneficial if you, as a yoga student, are trained in controlling your body's contractions and relaxations.

Meditative Yoga

As long as the pregnancy is not high-risk and there are no leg problems (e.g., water retention or circulatory problems), meditative sitting yoga is highly recommended for pregnant women. Depending on your abilities—ideally acquired through previous yoga training—you can adopt the heel seat, diamond seat, cross-legged seat, simple seat, full seat, half lotus seat, or full lotus seat. Please note, however, that some of these postures can damage the knee joints in inexperienced individuals. Particularly popular yoga meditation postures for pregnant women are the heel seat, if necessary performed with a bench or cushion , and the cross-legged seat.
If you have leg or back pain, yoga meditation on a chair or stool is a good option: Sit so that your thighs are horizontal to the floor and your feet have full, flat contact with it. If the chair is a bit too high for this, you can use a folded blanket, for example, as a raised floor. Open your legs and position your feet wide enough to feel comfortable for you and your child. If your movement isn't restricted by a bulging belly, straighten your pelvis, and make sure your shoulders are neither pulled forward nor tense. Depending on the severity of your bulging belly, you may also be able to use your pelvis and back to balance your posture; the sitting position should under no circumstances feel unnatural or stressful to you. You are a pregnant woman and equipped with a highly sensitive body awareness; use this for yourself and your child. Once you've found the optimal sitting position for you, close your eyes, let your breath flow, and begin a meditation technique you prefer. This could involve establishing mental contact with your child. Meditatively listening to certain classical music—some experts recommend Mozart or Bach—can also have many positive effects during this stage of life. But please don't play it too loudly, as the amniotic fluid amplifies the sound vibrations that reach your child.

Hatha Yoga

The benefits of Hatha Yoga extend far beyond the physical training effects of pure sport; however, here attention should be paid to its athletic demands.
First of all: Hatha yoga is one of the most suitable sports for pregnant women, alongside light gymnastics and aerobic exercises, swimming, golf, and leisurely cycling. Ideally, you're already a yogi and can easily modify your usual workouts as a pregnant woman. However, anyone who wants to start Hatha yoga (or any other unfamiliar sport) during pregnancy should definitely seek medical advice beforehand. Pregnancy hormones, which are designed to enable your body to give birth, increase the flexibility of muscles, connective tissue, and tendons. Unfortunately, this also means an increased susceptibility to injury in the joints, especially if healthy supporting muscles suitable for physical activity have not been developed beforehand. However, even pregnant, trained yoga students should consider the following:
- Exercises designed to strengthen the abdominal muscles are discouraged. Well-known asanas that are best avoided include the pump pose (Urdhva Prasarita Padasana), the boat pose (Ardha Navasana) , and the seated balance pose (Dandasana) .
- Practice backbends only in a very gentle way, and remember that pregnancy can make you more likely to feel dizzy; if this happens, stop the workout.
- When doing forward bends, make sure your stomach has enough space; position your legs accordingly far apart.
- Exercises that require holding your breath are not recommended during pregnancy.
- As soon as you no longer find the stomach position comfortable: Stop doing the corresponding exercises.
- In yoga classes that also include pregnant women, their exercises are usually modified starting in the fourth month of pregnancy, and inversions are consistently taboo for them starting in the seventh month. (The extent to which inversions are beneficial for pregnant women up to the seventh month is controversial.)
In general, only perform asanas that make you feel good. Don't practice out of ambition, but only for your health and well-being.
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