Practicing yoga during your pregnancy is one of the best things you can do for yourself. There is nothing like a good Yoga for Pregnancy class to make any pregnant mom feel great. Believe it or not, your baby gets direct benefits too!
Where can I find a prenatal yoga class?
Here in San Diego county where there is a yoga studio on just about every corner, you’d think it would be easy to find a prenatal yoga class. But, IT’S NOT SO EASY TO FIND YOGA FOR PREGANCY! Most yoga studios don’t offer prenatal yoga. If they do offer yoga for pregnancy, it is usually scheduled at a not so convenient time for most working moms, and for moms who have kids already, those studios don’t offer childcare. If you live in San Diego click here to find local Prenatal Yoga classes.
What’s a Pregnant Mom to Do if She Wants to Practice Yoga for Pregnancy?
- Practice at home, or anywhere at all, by downloading Prenatal Yoga classes from yogadownload.com; YogaDownload.com: Prenatal Yoga 1 led by Liza Janda.
- Youtube has quite a selection of free prenatal yoga classes but, be warned, they are not very challenging or vigorous. If gentle yoga is not for you or your only in your first trimester of pregnancy, these may be a bit boring. You could wait till you’re in your 2nd or 3rd trimester.
- Take any beginning or gentle yoga classes at a studio. Teachers at yoga studios are more likely to give hands on help, offer alternative poses, and give you individualized attention. Gentle Hatha: Free Yourself – Online yoga class with Jackie Casal Mahrou
- Careful of classes at the gym. You won’t get much individualized attention and most yoga teachers know little to nothing about pregnancy and yoga.
7 Benefits of Practicing Yoga for Pregnancy?
- Reduces Back Pain. Pregnancy causes a significant stress on the muscles of the lower back and hips. Prenatal yoga classes focus on stretching and strengthening those muscles. Try my Prenatal Yoga: 13 Minutes to a Healthy Back. My students tell me it makes a huge difference in their comfort level during pregnancy.
- Increases endurance and strength. Yoga poses increase strength in the arms and shoulders, the legs, and core. If you practice a Vinyasa prenatal yoga class, you will move steadily and flow with each breath in and each breath out. This gets your heart rate up.
- Reduces stress and anxiety in mom. Just 30 minutes of moderate to intense exercise daily has been shown to make mom healthier, and happier, and more confident.
- Reduces pain during labor. Because you are so focused on the breath while practicing yoga, your breath capacity increases. This help to stimulate the relaxation response in your body. The deep breathing helps produce more endorphins which reduce pain.
- Increases focus. Using balance poses challenges us to stay with the breath, relax parts of the body that allow us to find that fine line between working hard in a pose and steadiness and ease.
- Prepare both mind and body for labor. Learning how to listen to your body and decrease unnecessary tension in a pose can help you to respond to the stresses of labor instead of react.
- Baby’s brain, heart, and body get stimulated. Baby’s get long term benefits and mom’s exercise enhances the long term healthy of the fetus. This study: Exercise during pregnancy improves vascular function of offspring into adulthood https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4575625/