Unprepared women should enroll in specialized groups. This is necessary to protect yourself and the future baby from complications. You can start classes from any period, the instructor will select the appropriate load for your state.
Women who practiced yoga before pregnancy and maintained an active lifestyle can continue to perform their usual set of exercises in the early stages. But it will be necessary to revise the exercises and exclude asanas, in which the internal organs are strongly compressed, there are abrupt changes of position, and there is also a risk of falling.
Pregnant women need to practice yoga carefully. It is recommended to avoid jumping, tremors and sudden movements. Get up and go to bed slowly and smoothly. During workouts, you should eliminate the pressure on the abdominal cavity, and starting from the second trimester – exercises that are done lying on your stomach. Most of them should be performed in a sitting position with legs apart.
Starting from the third trimester, do not do asanas lying on your back – this contributes to poor circulation. During this period, the exercises should be gentle. It is better to give preference to what is done standing or lying on your side. Particular attention is recommended to pay breathing exercises.
Pregnant yoga is contraindicated in:
- any bleeding;
- threatened miscarriage;
- severe toxicosis, accompanied by vomiting and great weight loss;
- tachycardias, pressure spikes and vertigo;
- polyhydramnios;
- diseases in which the body can not be subjected to stress;
- last weeks of pregnancy.
Exercises for pregnant women
Standing mountain
Stand up straight and spread your legs so that the socks are facing forward. Connect at palm level chest. Cover your eyes and breathe evenly and deeply. While inhaling, stretch your arms upward and slightly backward. Exhale and return to the starting position. Do 10 repetitions.
Triangle with support
Standing on your legs apart, turn your left thigh and foot out, bend your knee and slightly lean your left hand on your leg, lower your eyes down and to the left. Inhale, lift your right hand up and fix your eyes on the tips of her fingers. To maintain balance with your left elbow, lean on your hip. In the position, hold for one full breath, and then return to the starting position. Do 5 repetitions for each side. This yoga exercise gives strength to all muscles.
Squat support
On the floor, one on the other, put a few pillows. Turn your back to them and spread your legs so that they are wider than the pelvis. Bending your knees, squat deeply until you sit on the pillows, with your arms should be folded in the chest. Cover your eyes and, relaxing the muscles of the pelvis, take 10 breaths and exhalations through the nose. This exercise for pregnant women is a preparation for labor, but it cannot be weeded out with a predisposition to premature birth.
Cat and cow
Get on all fours. On a deep breath, gradually bend your back down, and the tail bone rush up and take a look at the ceiling. Exhale and, pressing your chin to your chest, round your back. Then sit on your heels and stay in that position for one breath cycle. Do 10 repetitions, and at the end linger for 5 cycles of breathing.
Belly breathing
Sit on a pillow, cross your legs and place your hands in the lower abdomen. Cover your eyes, inhale with your nose, focusing attention on relaxing the muscles of the pelvis, and slowly exhale. Do a few repetitions.
Yoga during pregnancy should bring you only joy and pleasure. Reasonably approach to performing asanas, do not overload. If any of the exercises give you discomfort, be sure to abandon them.
What is useful yoga for pregnant women
Regular yoga classes will help women expecting a child to ease their health, reduce the manifestations of toxicosis, relieve from fatigue, weakness and drowsiness. They will be the prevention of varicose veins and edema, improve blood circulation between the future baby and mother. Performing asanas will strengthen the muscles of the pelvis, abdomen and back, increase the elasticity of the ligaments and muscle tissue, which will prepare the body for stress and ease the course of labor.
Yoga during pregnancy improves the endocrine system, strengthens the immune system, promotes the breakdown of body fat, teaches to relax, relieves anxiety and gives a positive attitude. Breathing exercises will saturate the blood with oxygen, improve the efficiency of the lungs, and help reduce pain during labor. Yoga classes will teach you to better understand and control the body and emotions, which is useful in stressful situations.