Facts About Prenatal Yoga

Pregnancy, though a very exciting event in a woman's life, tends to be fraught with anxiety about the impending birth. It is not easy going through nine months of constant physiological and psychological or emotional changes, and the consistent increase in weight can hardly make things easier. A steady practice of yoga can ease the discomfort to a great extent, while also changing anxiety into pleasant anticipation. This can happen over a few sessions of pranayama. Breath and breathing is everything, especially in the context of pregnancy and the forthcoming labor. Simple pranayams help tremendously, provided they are done with unwavering regularity over the term of pregnancy.

One of the impressions that people commonly tend to have about prenatal yoga and pranayama is that it will somehow make labor less painful. This is true to some extent, but beyond that, it is only an illusion. So how exactly do these practices help? Yoga and pranayama have certain obvious benefits on the body such as increased flexibility (the body can get real stiff during pregnancy due to hormonal changes), less physical aches and pains from slow and steady stretching of muscles, more open hip joints (which you will be grateful for when its time to PUSH!), strength in the pelvic region and so on.

It also increases emotional wellbeing, makes the mind less a victim of stress related to hormonal changes, improves digestion (very significant as poor digestion can make you feel listless and exhausted) and improves sleep as well. These benefits are nothing to scoff at and I haven't even named them all. They make nine months actually quite a breeze. Recovery after birth is also very quick due to a regular prenatal yoga practice. Pranayama, if practiced during pregnancy, somehow seems to generate enough energy for the first few months of the postnatal period too.

What does it do for the person during labor? What pranayama and yoga do for the laboring woman is help her mind manage the pain. It is not going to numb the pain and make giving birth a piece of cake, let me be very honest about it. But it will, however, help get rid of the fear of the pain (which is half the battle won) and help in managing the contractions with confidence and strength. It also prepares the system in ways that are inexplicable and the hidden benefits can only be experienced, not emphasized. Besides, one cannot even begin to imagine the positive effects it will have on the baby.

Look at it this way, if nothing else, yoga will put a spring in your step and a smile on your face. Just that alone can do wonders for your confidence and make the whole thing seem worthwhile.