Health & Fitness

“You hear people say it all the time how your life changes so drastically. But you can’t possibly grasp how beautiful that is until you have your child.”

Prenatal yoga and poses are healthy for both the mother and the baby. Performing yoga or prenatal exercises throughout your pregnancy not only calms down the mind, providing a relief from the frequent bouts of anxiety, but also builds up endurance(muscular  as well as mental) necessary to handle the  physical and emotional demands of labor, childbirth and motherhood.

Apart from being a great stress buster, these ‘asanas’ help in keeping at bay the universal pregnancy-related symptoms such as fatigue, morning sickness, back pain and discomfort from constipation.

An additional benefit is that you won’t have to put much effort in getting back in shape after delivery.
We know that pregnancy is not cake-walk and sometimes you feel tired, irritated and out-of-motivation. It’s absolutely natural and we empathize with you. Here is a string of really easy and relaxing prenatal yoga poses shown above. Happy exercising.

Baddha Konasana or Cobbler’s pose: It is a sitting pose that helps open the pelvis. While doing this pose, ensure that your hip bones are well grounded on the mat. Also you can keep pillows or rolled-up towels under your knees to prevent hyper extension of your hips. Steps to be followed are:

• Sit straight against a wall with your legs stretched in front of you.
• Gently pull your legs towards your body holding the toes or calves, whichever is comfortable.
• The soles of both legs should touch each other.
• Hold your toes with both your hands.
• In this way, your knees are slowly pushed away from each other. But do not force them apart.
• Maintain this position, as long as you are comfortable, preferably 10-30 seconds.

Pelvic Tilt: Pelvic tilt or cat-cow pose helps relieve back pain which is a common problem during pregnancy. It can be done lying down, standing or on all fours.

On all fours:

• Get down on your hands and knees, place your arms shoulder-width apart and knees hip-width apart.
• Keep your arms straight and tighten the buttocks and abdominal muscles by pulling them in and upward.
• Return to your normal position, relax your back as you breathe out and then repeat the steps again.

Standing or lying down

• This can be performed on the ground (upto 4^th month of pregnancy) or standing against a wall (with the start of the fourth month).
• When lying on your back on the ground, with your feet flat, you will feel a small curve in the low of your back (the same is felt when standing against a wall).
• Push your belly button towards the ground or wall, controlling your pelvis.
• Hold for a count of three and then relax, repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Mountain Pose or Tadasana: This pose strengthens your intrinsic and extrinsic foot muscles, abdominal wall and diaphragm. It can also help relieve back pain.

• Stand up straight with both feet at hip-width.
• Turn your heels a little outward and let your weight rest on your toes.
• Let your arms hang downwards along your body with the palm of your hands facing towards your body.
• Then draw your belly in a little to maintain body posture.
• Breathe in and out a few times with full concentration. During your breathing, gently align your neck straight with the upper back. You would then feel as if you stretch your body upwards from the neck.
• Your shoulders are broad and relaxed. Your breathing is deep and free.
• Look straight ahead of you at a spot within your vision and try to stand still. Though don’t try too hard.
• Whenever you do this exercise, do it with care.

Warrior Pose or Virabhadrasana: This pose is ideal for stretching your muscles, it increases your stamina, improves balance and concentration, and also relieves backaches. Do not perform Virabhadrasana if you are suffering from diarrhea, hypertension, hip, knee or back injury. Here are the steps:

• Stand straight with the arms on sides.
• Raise both the arms over the head and join the palms.
• Stretch the body upwards a little.
• With a deep inhalation move the feet shoulder-width apart. Balance your body properly.
• Now turn your left foot about 45 degrees to the right. Hold on to this position.
• Then rotate your right foot 90 degrees to the right, so that it is positioned directly to the side. Simultaneously rotate your trunk towards right.
• Make sure that left and right heels are aligned.
• Exhale and bend your right knee. The lower leg should be straight and thigh should be parallel to the floor so as to make a right angle at the knee.
• Stretch left leg backwards.
• Bend the spine a little backwards, keeping chest, face and right knee in same direction.
• Hold and balance yourself in this posture.
• Focus on your palms and breathe normally.
• Maintain this posture as long as it is comfortable for you.
• Gradually bring your hands and legs to the normal position.
• Repeat by doing the same for the other side, starting by turning your right foot about 45 degrees to the left.

A word of caution

There are some yoga poses that you should avoid to prevent any injury or complication.

• Hot yoga such as Bikram yoga wherein classes take place in a heated room, and saunas get a thumbs-down.
• Poses involving deep twists from belly like Ardha Matsyendrasana or excessive stretching of the abdominal muscles such as the boat pose must be avoided.
• Pranayama: Any pranayama that requires breath retention or rapid inhales and exhales (such as Kapalbhati) should be avoided. Instead of this, you can start practicing birthing breath i.e. deep inhaling through nose and exhaling through the mouth or
• To avoid after the first trimester: The Full Wheel Pose (Backbending or Urdhva Dhanurasana) and poses that demand you to lie on your belly (Cobra pose) must be avoided.
• Be careful not to overstretch your muscles and consider the trimester of your pregnancy before going for yoga (irrespective of whether you are a beginner or pro)

Points to remember

• You may also seek out an instructor who is specifically trained in prenatal yoga, as he/she may have a better idea regarding which pose is safe for you.
• Don’t try to hold these prenatal yoga poses for too long, especially if you feel any pain or discomfort.
• Remember to sink into yoga positions slowly and carefully and don’t over stress yourself. Also drink lots of water before, during and after exercising to keep yourself hydrated.