Being pregnant is a daunting time! Whether it is your first pregnancy or you have been pregnant before, there is bound to be an amount of apprehension and yoga is a wonderful way to manage those normal anxious feelings. Yoga stimulates our parasympathetic nervous system – and it is this that can have an enormous effect on our experience of both pregnancy and childbirth. Our parasympathetic nervous system is the opposite of our adrenaline-inducing “fight or flight” sympathetic nervous system as it encourages feelings of calm: keeping the heart rate down and stress-levels low.
You can practice yoga in your first trimester if you feel up to it AND you practiced yoga for a period of time before being pregnant. This sequence is ideal for ladies in their second trimester: in these few months, a lot of women notice an ease of the early pregnancy nausea and lethargy. As your baby gets bigger, there are lots of tightnesses that occur in the body to support them. Your body will be constantly making adjustments as your bump grows.
Regularly stretching and moving your body will help keep your body as balanced as possible. After all, being comfortable during your pregnancy makes all the difference.
Keeping a level of activity whilst being pregnant also means that you are more likely to find exercise after pregnancy easier to get back into. Reducing the postural changes will also mean that more muscles are likely to be as active and strong as you would like them to be. Here is a little sequence that you can do daily (or a few times a week) to help you keep moving. Little and often is great, especially if your feel low in energy on some days.
If you like this then you may want to consider working with a yoga teacher through your pregnancy or joining a local pre-natal yoga class. If you would like to book some classes with me then feel free to check out our packages. My pregnancy and life after giving birth was heavily influenced and changed by regularly practising yoga.
Keep listening to your body and be kind to yourself: now is the time for total nourishment 🙂
Victoria xx
