Prenatal Yoga
If you are pregnant and want to stay fit for the entire nine months, you should consider taking up yoga. Yoga is an ancient practice that actually means "spiritual discipline." It may date back as far as 3,000 B.C. and has become increasing popular in the last decade. More than 100 different schools of yoga exist, but they all focus on these main principles: relaxation, exercise, breathing, diet, positive thinking, and meditation, all things that particularly benefit the pregnant woman.
Physical Benefits
Regular yoga offers a wide array of physical benefits for people of all ages and skill levels. Students of this discipline should enjoy improvements in these areas:
- Flexibility
- Muscle tone
- Respiration
- Weight
- Cardiovascular health
Prenatal yoga is less strenuous than regular yoga and has special benefits for the pregnant woman. It teaches you how to maintain balance as your baby grows inside you, and it relieves the tension and stress the baby's weight puts on your hips. You will also find yoga helps relieve the tightness in your upper back, neck, and shoulders that the increased size of your breasts may cause. In addition, prenatal yoga will help your circulation, which reduces swelling and improves the immune system, creating a healthier environment for your baby.
Mental Benefits
The mental benefits of yoga for pregnant women can be profound. Your emotions may be harder to control due to increased estrogen and progesterone during your pregnancy. Yoga emphasizes deep breathing that relaxes your nervous system, allowing your digestion, immune system, and sleep to all operate at their very best. The deep breathing practice also prepares you for labor and will help you stay calm during delivery. Prenatal yoga classes also give you a support group of other pregnant women to keep you from feeling isolated during your pregnancy journey.
Frequency
Pregnant women should get thirty minutes of moderate exercise on most days of the week. You may want to embrace the breathing, meditation, and stretching as a daily exercise, even on days you forgo the rest of your yoga routine. Of course, you should always check with your doctor before beginning any exercise regimen.
Yoga is an overall mental and physical fitness tool for nearly everyone, but it has special benefits for pregnant women. Finding a prenatal yoga class to fit your needs should not be difficult. In fact, your pregnancy care provider should be able to steer you to an appropriate class. If you have specific questions about maintaining your health during pregnancy, talk with a doctor at a clinic like OB-GYN Associates.
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