A Brief Introduction to Pregnancy Yoga
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011Yoga originated in India more than 5000 years ago. The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word meaning union. A regular yoga practice can yield many benefits from increased relaxation to a stronger, more supple body. People who practice regularly also notice that their weight stabilizes.
People often ask if yoga is appropriate during pregnancy. As long as simple precautions and common sense are followed, prenatal yoga is a fantastic way of staying fit during your pregnancy and will help prepare you for labor.
Without doubt the most important thing to remember when performing yoga poses is to breathe. Few us breathe properly today, we are very uptight and constricted as a rule and tend to breathe from our chests. If you look at a sleeping baby, you will see her tummy rise and fall – this is where we have forgotten to breathe from. Yoga breathing fixes this, thereby relieving tension and ensuring that oxygen rich blood is circulating in your body which is obviously very beneficial for your baby. Yoga breathing can also make your labor much more manageable. When my wife was recently giving birth to our daughter, yoga breathing techniques were central to her strategy. She gave birth without any drugs, gas or air.


