Prenatal Yoga is an awesome way to prepare yourself for birth! I personally take yoga very seriously and only recommend you do the following poses if you are already familiar on how to do them properly. Otherwise, I suggest you join a prenatal class to be trained. This following article has been written by a doula offering some gentle yet very effective poses!
You do not have to be an experienced Yogi to reap the benefits that prenatal yoga has to offer. Many people actually start their journey with yoga during pregnancy. Prenatal yoga can be gentle. Its purpose is to create strength and stability for your body during labor. As well as lengthen your muscles to make room for the baby. It will help you to start to connect with your breath, one of your most important tools for any kind of labor, medicated, unmediated, or cesarean. Here I have shared with you 5 simple poses that you can do at home on a regular basis. These poses will not only help your body to prepare for labor but can help ease discomforts from pregnancy as well.
Make sure to have two yoga blocks handy as you get started. (or use a stack of all those birth and parenting books you have bought)
Child’s Pose
This pose helps lengthen pelvic floor muscles and ease discomfort.
How to:
Kneel down and sit on your heels. Then lean forward slowly and walk your arms out long in front of you. Breathe deeply. You should feel the stretch in your armpits. You aren’t resting you are actively engaging your arms in pulling forward and your bottom pulling you backward. If needed you can rest your elbows on the ground in front of you with your hands supporting your head. As your belly grows, you can spread your knees farther apart to create space. If it’s uncomfortable to sit your backside on your heels, you can sit up higher.
Note: If experiencing heartburn keep heart above hips…
