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Video: Yoga For Pregnant Women. Pregnancy And Childbirth
Yoga for pregnant women
Today, the choice of courses for preparing expectant mothers for childbirth is huge, but many people prefer yoga. And not because it is a fashionable technique.
Yoga for pregnant women allows you to kill two birds with one stone: prepare for childbirth physically and mentally. Women who practice yoga during pregnancy safely avoid both perineal tears and postpartum depression.
Any inverted posture is useful for the unborn child - this will help better accommodate the fetus.
Why do
Many people recognize that expectant yoga moms are in good physical health and exude optimism. Their bodies are flexible and prepared so that they can take any comfortable position during childbirth. Through yoga exercises (called asanas), you can get rid of various types of pain associated with pregnancy and relieve pain caused by childbirth itself.
What exactly does yoga give to expectant mothers? In short, yoga is not only a set of stretching exercises, but also methods of cleansing the body, relaxation and proper breathing. The meaning of any yoga exercises is not at all about tying yourself in three knots or going without food for a month, as folk myths say. Yoga teaches us to find comfort in any unusual or uncomfortable situation - physical and psychological. And, of course, it strengthens the body and spirit.
When to start
Specialist comment
There are quite a few women in India doing yoga while expecting a baby. Some start only when they find out that they are pregnant - they attend special classes, where they receive much less stress than those that they have been practicing for a long time. But there are many women in India who do not attend special classes; they do a small group of exercises at home, which they learned in the family, on a daily basis. Their mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers did these exercises when they were pregnant. Future young mothers in India have no doubts about the necessity and expediency of such activities, since Indian women have a special physical and moral preparation for childbirth is a centuries-old tradition.
Yoga instructors claim that it is possible to start classes at any stage of pregnancy, citing as an example women who came to their group 2-3 weeks before giving birth and had time to learn something. However, starting to practice yoga already in an interesting position, you should always take into account two factors: your period and the level of your physical fitness. If you have practiced yoga before, it makes sense to go to a special "pregnant" group. The instructor of which, by the way, must have a certificate that he is prepared to work with expectant mothers.
What well?
It is clear that the training program for pregnant women is being developed taking into account their interesting situation. Yoga exercises perfectly strengthen the entire body, gently work with the spine and joints, which are of increased stress during pregnancy. Static postures improve blood circulation in the pelvic region, strengthen the spine and muscles directly involved in labor. All asanas should be performed slowly and smoothly, without any attempts at aerobics.
Any inverted posture is useful for the unborn child - this will help better accommodate the fetus. Stretching exercises will make the tissues more elastic, and this allows the woman to avoid injuries to the perineum during childbirth.
Pregnant women especially need breathing exercises: they are recommended to be performed several times a day. They additionally supply oxygen to the mother and child, and most importantly, yogic breathing practices will also be useful during childbirth - they will relieve pain, help to avoid weak labor, as well as hypoxia in the child. Those who practiced yoga during pregnancy claim that cleansing techniques will help reduce toxicosis or get rid of it altogether.
And perhaps most importantly, yoga will help the mother-to-be to cope with mood swings and make her more confident. Because for any yogic practice, the main task is to find a balance between body and mind.
What is wrong?
If you have not done yoga before pregnancy, do not rush off the bat: the load should be increased very, very gradually. And if, while doing some asana, you feel severe discomfort or pain, stop immediately. Exercises performed correctly will never cause pain, nausea, or dizziness.
Any asanas associated with the "lying on the stomach" position, or for which you need to strain the abdominal wall, are contraindicated for pregnant women. If you're doing balance exercises, lean on a chair or wall as a safety net.
And, finally, with some pathologies of pregnancy, any physical activity is prohibited. Therefore, if your pregnancy is abnormal, it is better to consult your doctor about yoga.
Yoga types
The fact that yoga is a fashionable trend is evidenced by a huge number of training centers, and even special magazines devoted to this exciting subject. Meanwhile, the eyes of beginners run up from the names of schools: Kundalini Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, etc.
The division into types of yoga means what type of practice is emphasized in a given school.
Hatha Yoga - emphasis on body work. The ranking table of yogic disciplines is considered the most suitable for beginners. There are many healing and rejuvenating techniques in the concept of hatha yoga.
Kriya Yoga - an emphasis on cleansing, it can be yoga cleansing of the physical body, and cleansing the mind with mantras and meditation.
Kundalini Yoga is the practice of awakening the internal energy of Kundalini, which is the basis for the birth and development of both a person and the world.
But there are also modern schools of yoga. They can be compared with the author's methods, but with one detail - their authors have reached considerable heights in all other types of yoga and simply managed to find and present their own style.
Ashtanga Yoga is a very dynamic style associated with active breathing. It is Ashtanga that Madonna and Tom Cruise are engaged in. However, pregnant women and just beginners are not recommended to practice this style - it requires good physical fitness.
Sivananda Yoga: Combines static and dynamic asanas. The school is not so well known in the west, but it enjoys great prestige in India.
Iyengar yoga is, on the contrary, a static practice that the most untrained person can do. Much attention is paid to the careful adjustment of the asana.
