Practicing Yoga During Pregnancy: Tips to flow through yoga
Take in extra calories
Get the 300 to 500 additional calories a day you need
during pregnancy, especially if you're exercising. Make
sure to eat well to help nourish and strengthen your
body.
Steer clear of dangerous sports
Avoid contact sports, as well as activities that might
throw you off-balance, such as horseback riding or biking.
Even if you're normally graceful, keep in mind that
the increased levels of the hormone relaxin during pregnancy,
which relax pelvic joints in preparation for childbirth,
loosen all ligaments and joints, making you more susceptible
to sprains and injury from falls. See our list of safe
sports and those to avoid.
Wear the right clothes
Wear loose-fitting, breathable clothing. Dress in layers
so it's easy to peel off a layer or two after you've
warmed up (or if you simply feel too hot). Make sure
your maternity bra offers enough support, and choose
athletic shoes that fit your feet properly and offer
good support. If your shoe size has changed because
of mild swelling, stash away your pre-pregnancy sneakers
and buy a new pair.
Warm up
Warm-ups prepare your muscles and joints for exercise
and build your heart rate up slowly. If you skip the
warm-up and jump into strenuous activity before your
body is ready, you could strain your muscles and ligaments
and experience increased post-workout aches and pains.
Drink plenty of water
Drink water before, during, and after exercising. Otherwise,
you can become dehydrated, which can cause contractions
and raise your body temperature, sometimes to levels
that are dangerous for you and your baby. James M. Pivarnik,
Ph.D., of Michigan State University, says that while
there's no official recommendation for how much water
pregnant women should drink while exercising, a good
guideline is to drink one cup (8 ounces) before you
exercise, one cup for every 20 minutes of exercise,
and one cup after you finish your workout. In hot and/or
humid weather, you'll need more.
Don't lie flat on your back
Avoid lying flat on your back after the first trimester.
This position puts pressure on a major vein called the
vena cava, which will diminish blood flow to your brain
and uterus, and can make you dizzy, short of breath,
or nauseated. Some women are comfortable in this position
well into their pregnancies, but this isn't necessarily
a good gauge of whether blood flow to the uterus is
affected. Placing a pillow under your right hip or buttock
will allow you to be almost supine without compressing
the vena cava.
Keep moving
Standing motionless for prolonged periods — as
when you're lifting weights or doing yoga poses —
can decrease blood flow to the uterus and cause blood
to pool in your legs, making you dizzy. Keep moving
by switching positions or walking in place.
Don't overdo it
Don't exercise to exhaustion. A good rule of thumb:
Slow down if you can't comfortably carry on a conversation.
In general, the best guideline is to listen to your
body. When something hurts, that means something's wrong,
so stop. You should feel like you're working your body,
not punishing it.
Don't get overheated
Avoid letting yourself get too hot, especially during
the first trimester when your baby's major organs are
developing. Although there's no proof of a danger to
humans, some animal studies suggest that overheating
can cause birth defects.
Increased blood flow and a higher metabolic
rate mean you'll feel warmer than usual when you're
pregnant, and doubly so when you exercise. And since
feeling warm is common in pregnancy, you may get overheated
much faster than you normally would, even before your
belly is big.
Signs of being overheated are largely
individual, but pay attention if you're sweating a lot,
feel uncomfortably warm, or feel dizzy or short of breath.
On hot and/or humid days, skip your workout or exercise
indoors in a well-ventilated, air-conditioned room.
Wear loose, non-binding clothing and drink plenty of
water.
To cool off quickly, stop exercising,
take off layers, and change your environment: seek out
air conditioning or step into a cool shower. Hydrating
is key, too, so drink lots of water.
Get up from the floor slowly
As your belly grows, your center of gravity shifts.
That's why it's important to take great care when you
change positions. Getting up too quickly can make you
dizzy, and may cause you to lose your footing and fall.
Cool down
Heart rate increases during pregnancy and it may take
as long as 15 minutes for your heart to return to its
resting rate following a workout.
Make it a habit
Make a commitment to work regular exercise into your
schedule. Keeping up a routine is easier on your body
than periods of inertia interrupted by spurts of activity.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, you can safely engage in 30 minutes or
more of moderate exercise on most, if not all, days
of the week as long as you have your healthcare provider's
go-ahead.
First Trimester
If you have severe morning sickness, it is advisable
to wait for the morning sickness to end (usually by
Month 4) before resuming a regular yoga practice. If
your morning sickness is not severe and you feel all
right practicing, try not to practice on an empty stomach.
Drink water during practice to prevent dehydration and
uterine contractions. For "light" practice
guidelines, use the second trimester recommendations
below.
Second Trimester
Room temperature and water: Make sure the room is not
too hot. Drink small amounts of water during practice
if your throat becomes dry or if you feel nauseated.
Don't try to work up a huge sweat while you practice.
Modify flow between poses: No jumping, jump-throughs,
jump-backs, or rolling. Step or crawl instead. Eliminate
the jumping movements as early as first trimester because
your uterus may feel less cushioned from the impact.
Forward bending (standing or seated)
in general: When folding forward, keep the chest at
least 80-85 degrees from the floor, particularly in
poses that place the legs together. Focus on pulling
up rather than folding forward. If you prefer, spread
the legs at a wider angle but keep the chest lifted.
Poses on the back, generally: To avoid
reducing the blood flow to the uterus, do not stay on
the back for more than 3 minutes at a time. If you experience
difficulty breathing, nausea, or dizziness while doing
poses on your back, omit such poses altogether.
Backbends: In upward dog/cobra, keep
the belly soft and move into the arch deliberately and
slowly, concentrating on keeping the hands flat on the
floor and the arms straight. If there is any undue tightness
in upward dog/cobra, do not do full backbends. The placement
of the placenta and the individual angle of your uterus
may influence your ability to do full backbends, so
don't worry if you have to give up backbends. If you
can do backbends comfortably, work into the arch slowly
and do not try to make it perfect or tight. The belly
should not feel tight or uncomfortable. Allow the psoas,
frontal hip bones, and tops of the thighs to soften.
Pay attention to whether your lower back is tightening
in the backbends. Due to the increased weight of the
belly, the lower back naturally tightens over time to
support the front of the body, so avoid inadvertently
tightening the lower back during backbending as well.
However, even slight backbending will help "pop"
the spine and alleviate backaches from the weight gain.
Savasana [final rest]: Lie on your
left side in a fetal position to avoid compressing the
blood flow to the uterus. Use a rolled towel or mat
under your head to make the neck more comfortable. You
can also place a rolled blanket or bolster between your
legs and hold one between your arms to make your belly
more comfortable.
Third Trimester
All of the above guidelines plus the following:
Continue placing the hands in front
of the feet in the forward-bending movements, using
the fingertips rather than the palms to touch the floor.
If the belly becomes so large (e.g., Month 8) that it
becomes too difficult to step forward in warmup #2 without
straining the hip or front knee, omit warm-up #2 and
substitute with warm-up #1 (total 10 ).
For the last 6 weeks of the pregnancy,
omit boat and other poses that involve a reclined position
(where the knees are higher than the pelvis), which
can work against Optimal Fetal Positioning.
Intuition and Baby: If something does
not feel right, or if your baby seems to object to a
certain pose, do not do the pose. Every pregnancy is
different.
Labor and Delivery
Practicing Flow Yoga before and during pregnancy can
improve a woman's stamina and confidence during labor
and delivery. The progress of a woman's labor is a very
individual matter and depends on many variables, including
the woman's family history of delivery, the proportionality
of the baby's head size to the size of the woman's pelvis,
the position of the baby, and the amount of dilation
and effacement existing at the onset of labor. Being
healthy from yoga practice is likely to facilitate the
proper release of the hormones necessary for a normal
(vaginal) labor and delivery. The disciplined breathing
techniques learned from Flow Yoga may help somewhat
with pain management. The conditioning gained from abdominal
& pelvic locks may help you push the baby out more
efficiently than without such conditioning. If you opt
for pain relief, the practice of yoga may still help
you sense the contractions sufficiently for you to feel
that you are not relying exclusively on external cues
to deliver your baby. Whatever happens, be open to the
unexpected!
Disclaimer : All information on www.CremoneYoga.com & www.YogaAbove.com is for educational
purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional
medical advice. For specific medical advice, diagnoses,
and treatment, please consult your doctor. Consult with
your physician before beginning any
|