While Yoga is well known to be one of the best ways to exercise and keep your body in shape. It simultaneously also makes your body flexible. This flexibility is one of the crucial reasons that people have started choosing yoga during pregnancy for normal delivery. Yoga will not only make your body more flexible. But also help loosen as well as strengthen your muscles as well as the pelvic bone. Let’s find out how effective is yoga. As well as what are the possible side effects of this ancient Indian form of exercising on pregnant women.
How is Yoga Beneficial in Natural Birth?
Yoga consists of many asanas (poses/positions); these asanas focus on particular body parts and help in making that part more flexible and stronger. Yoga also helps in building a mind and body connection with the help of breathing exercises and other similar methods.
During pregnancy, a woman goes through a lot of changes in the body, and prenatal yoga asanas help in relaxing the body muscles as well as strengthens the pelvic region as well as makes the body either. All these qualities combined with the mental strength help during delivery and contractions. Thus Yoga, specifically prenatal yoga is considered to be beneficial for normal delivery.
[ See More: Top Antenatal Exercises ]
Best 10 Yoga Asanas for Normal Delivery:
Now that we have learnt about the benefits of prenatal yoga. Let’s check out asanas to include in your yoga exercise for normal delivery,
1. Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Pose):
The thunderbolt helps in strengthening the back as well as makes your posture erect. This helps in reducing the severe back pains many pregnant women experiences. It also helps with the relaxation of muscles.
2. Kati Chakrasana (Waist Rotation):
Pregnancy often leads to lack of motion or the only certain type of motion. An exercise that includes waist rotation will help in strengthening the back that is the core of the body eventually making you more flexible.
3. Utthanasana (Squat and Rise):
The utthanasana is one of the best yoga for a pregnant lady for normal delivery. The squatting helps in the strengthening of the pelvic bones as well as the subsequent rising helps in making the body more flexible and comfortable.
4. Tadasana (Palm Tree Pose):
The asanas in yoga have a huge resemblance to life around us. This we can see in the Tadasana better known as the palm tree pose. While it looks very simple and non-significant, the position helps in uprighting the posture of the body.
5. Utkatasana (Chair Pose):
Just as the name suggests, the chair pose is where you pretend to sit on a chair, but there is no chair. This posture also helps in the strengthening of the pelvic region as well as the backbone.
6. Bhadrasana(Butterfly Position):
A fun pose, Bhadrasana requires you to keep your legs folded in such a way that they look like winds of a butterfly. This posture is effective for your arms, thighs, pelvic region and back because of an overall involvement of all these body parts.
7. Konasana (Angle Position):
The Konasana or the angle position is a great way to keep the body flexible for one and all. For pregnant women, this exercise does exactly the same, makes them more flexible and lither as that helps during delivery as the muscles aren’t tensed.
8. Paryankasana (Ham’s Pose):
The Paryankasana is yet another pose that helps in strengthening the bones and muscle while simultaneously helping with the increase in the flexibility of the body.
9. Yastikasana (Stick Pose):
Very similar to shavasana (dead pose), the yastikasana requires you to lie down in a straight position on your back with your hands outstretched. This posture helps you relax while also helping you to stretch and strengthen your back as well.
10. Parvatasana (Mountain Pose):
Though this may sound difficult the Parvatasana/mountain pose is another easy way to strengthen your muscles and back along with the muscles of your legs and limbs. The posture is easy to maintain.
[ See More: Workouts for normal delivery ]
Things to Know Before Indulging in Prenatal Yoga for Normal Delivery:
Before you start getting yourself introduced to the idea of yoga or if you have never tried any form of exercise then there are few things that you must be aware of,
- Do not try any kind of Yoga asanas, there are only certain asanas suitable for a pregnant lady.
- Do not try these exercises alone as performing them under a professional’s supervision can avoid any kind of spasms or injury.
- Always begin with warm up, let your body open up a bit before jumping into action.
- Consult your doctor if you experience any kind of inconvenience that affects you after or while performing any form of exercise.
- Prenatal yoga for normal delivery does not ensure 100 % chances of normal delivery as sometimes internal complications can make a normal delivery a difficult option.
Tips on How to Prepare Yourself for Yoga for Labor:
The why and what has been figured out so let’s quickly check out about how and what will we need to begin exercising yoga for a natural birth,
- The first and foremost thing that you will need is a proper set of clothes, wearing clothes that do not cause any inconvenience in your body movements such as tracksuits or activewear is suitable for yoga.
- Having your own mat is as important as clothes. A mat of your own will also allow you to practice some exercises at home in case you end up missing your class.
- Staying hydrated is very important while exercising so be it yoga or any other kind of exercise. Make sure you keep a bottle of water by your side and keep sipping at regular intervals.
- Carry on with exercises but do not forget to eat and sleep well on time as only exercising cannot result in any kind of benefit. Eating right and sleeping well is a must no matter how much time you spend being occupied.
Yoga is undoubtedly one of the best forms of exercises as people of all age groups can indulge in it without spending a lot of money. It is a very safe way of staying fit while also getting other benefits like how we realized ‘normal delivery keliye yoga’ (yoga for normal delivery) as suggested by ancestors is actually very helpful and indeed very easy and secure.
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers:
1. Can I perform any yoga exercises during pregnancy?
Ans: No, during pregnancy the human body is fragile, indulging in any kind of exercises that are not suitable for that stage can cause harm to the mother as well as the fetus thus it is suggested to only practice prenatal yoga.
2. Can I do prenatal yoga for normal delivery without any supervision?
Ans: In the initial stages, it is advised to perform the exercises in the guidance of a professional as that can help in getting the right posture, at a later stage these exercises can be performed at home, but it is suitable to have someone around while trying the more difficult positions.
3. Should I stop doing yoga after pregnancy?
Ans: If you have been practicing yoga during pregnancy, you may have noticed several positive changes in your body. Practicing yoga throughout life will only bring more such positive changes. Take a few days to break after delivery and then slowly indulge in yoga once again.
