It’s important, both for your health as well as that of your baby, to stay active during your pregnancy. If you manage at least three hours of activity weekly, or 30 minutes per day, as a minimum bar, you will be able to weather the pregnancy and delivery much easier. In addition, it will also be a quicker bounce back into shape after you give birth.
Yoga is a particularly great activity for pregnant moms, whether you practise it occasionally or even go on a full yoga retreat. It doesn’t just assist you physically, it can also assist you relax and quiet down any anxiety you could be feeling. Prenatal yoga is a very common exercise with expectant moms, precisely because it seems to be tailored to make your body more comfortable.
Yoga, in particular, can be awesome as it’s a perfect combination of stretching as well as strengthening. Yoga does two things whilst you’re pregnant: It’s a physical format of exercise which is also going to bring some mindfulness and understanding into how your body is changing on a daily level.
Easy Pose
Benefits
Easy Pose is a very gentle opener for your hips and also invites a sense of ease. The pose brings with it a feeling of peace as well as tranquillity.
Instruction
- Start seated and cross your legs in the way which is most comfortable for you with your right or left leg in front.
- Sit up straight and then feel length in your side body (waist).
- Lengthen your neck and then allow your shoulders to move easily down as well as away from your ears by lowering the trapezius muscles.
Adjustments
Easy Pose can be done with your back flat against a wall if you are feeling very tired. If you are sitting in Easy Pose for an prolonged period (especially for meditation), sitting on top of a blanket or two may feel very comfortable.
Ankle-To-Knee Pose
In addition to making space for your belly and opening up your back, this asana will assist with relieving tension in your glutes and the muscles under your glutes, such as the piriformis.
How To Do It
- Sit with your feet on the floor, with your knees bent and your shoulders relaxed.
- Slide your flexed right foot under your left knee so that your right knee rests on the mat (like half of a regular cross-legged asana).
- Stack your left shin on top of your right, so that your left foot rests on right knee and your left knee rests on your right foot. Rest palms gently on your knee and foot or bring them together to prayer
- For a deeper stretch, hinge forward. Switch your leg placement and repeat on the other side.
Unicorn And Rainbow Pose (Cow And Cat)
Benefits
This asana sequence, which is often called cat and cow, helps to strengthen as well as maintain flexibility in your lower back and abdomen. This sequence is a very gentle way of warming the core muscles. Invite a feeling of warmth from the inside out.
Instruction
- Start on all fours with your hands shoulder width apart as well as your knees hip-width apart.
- Inhale and then gaze to the sky, lifting your breastbone and the coccyx (tailbone) towards the sky as you contract softly in your lower back.
- Exhale and then round your spine in the shape of a rainbow. Take it easy with your pelvic tuck in the second and third trimesters and concentrate more on the curve in the upper body.
Adjustments
Utilise a folded blanket under your knees in order to cushion them. Or you can practise this sequence standing, with feet hips width apart, a soft bend in the knees, and hands on top of the thighs.
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
If you are keen to become a yoga instructor then you need to do our Yoga Instructor Course. Find out more by following this link.
