What is Pregnancy Yoga?
Pregnancy Yoga, or Yoga during pregnancy, is a safe, gentle form of exercise that is modified to suit the changing needs of your body. It’s highly beneficial for strength building and pain relief, making the path to motherhood a more manageable one. According to specialists like those at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the research, prenatal yoga is safe for most healthy pregnancies, provided you’re practicing mindfully. Always check with your healthcare provider to see if it’s okay to start, especially if you’re at risk for a high-risk pregnancy, multiples, or have certain medical conditions such as high blood pressure.
Key Benefits of Pregnancy Yoga
Research indicates that yoga can make your pregnancy easier by tackling physical and emotional issues. Here’s a quick overview:
- Reduces Stress & Anxiety
Pregnancy Yoga involves relaxing the mind with breathing techniques to reduce cortisol, which affects you and the baby by improving birth outcomes like birth weight and reducing the risk of postpartum depression. Research has associated it with reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms, including for people at psychiatric risk. - Improves Sleep & Energy
A reduction in stress reduces tension, leading to a better night’s sleep, and yoga asanas can help minimize back pain. Long-term practice has shown improvement in the sleep quality of many women. - Eases Physical Discomforts
These asanas involve stretching the hips, back, and pelvis, improving blood circulation to help reduce swelling and nausea. It is good for hypertension, headaches, and labor preparation, such as shorter duration and less pain. - Builds Strength & Balance
It tones your core and leg muscles and improves posture to help in carrying the baby the right way. It increases flexibility, which helps in preparing for labor. - Supports Labor & Birth
Pregnancy yoga teaches pain management, breathing techniques, and its cycling may also decrease the risk of c-sections and lead to better recovery for the baby. RCT demonstrates increased labor comfort and a decrease in preterm problems.
Pregnancy Yoga Poses for each trimester
For the first trimester
The first 12 weeks are a vulnerable time, when your body is getting used to all those hormones coursing through you. Practice of pregnancy yoga during these months needs to be gentle and supportive rather than intense or physically challenging.
Goals in 1st Trimester
1 – Reduce stress and anxiety.
2 – Enhance blood circulation and oxygen supply.
3 – Support digestion and gut health.
4 – Reduce lower back stiffness.
Safe Poses
Cat-Cow Stretch (Marjariasana–Bitilasana)
How to do:
1 – Begin on hands directly under the shoulders and knees directly under the hips.
2 – Inhale while dropping your belly and lift your chest and tailbone (Cow Pose).
3 – Exhale while rounding your back and touch your chin with your chest (Cat Pose).
repeat 6–8 rounds.
Benefits: Relieves back tension, increases spine flexibility, and aids digestion.
Easy Pose with Pranayama (Sukhasana + Breathing)
How to do:
1 – Sit straight while cross your legs
2 – Close your eyes taking 2 or 3 deep breaths
3 – Inhale and then exhale moving your belly out and in.
4 – Slowly open your eyes.
Benefits: This combination of Sukhasana and Pranayama relaxes the mind and increases focus.
Supported Child’s Pose (Salamba Balasana)
How to do:
1 – Place your knees on the ground.
2 – Fold forward and position the chest and forehead on the bolster.
3 – Extend your arms.
4 – Stay 1–3 minutes, breathing deeply.
Benefits: It relaxes the mind and helps relieve tension in the lower back and fatigue.
For the second trimester
The Second Trimester is frequently referred to as the “golden phase of pregnancy”. During this phase, the energy is back and the belly starts to grow bigger, and the body starts to release ‘Relaxin hormone’ which loosens ligaments, joints, and muscles for preparing the body for childbirth, and for that reason, pregnancy yoga poses with deeper stretch should be avoided.
Goddess Pose (Utkata Konasana)
How to do:
1 – Stand with feet apart and toes turned out.
2 – Bend your knees and lower your hips as if sitting in an invisible chair.
3 – Raise your arms out from the sides and hold for 5–8 breaths.
Benefits: Strengthens the thighs, hips, and pelvic floor muscles and builds stamina.
Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana – mild)
How to do:
1 – Lie on your back, keeping your knees bent and feet on the ground.
2 – Rest arms by your sides.
3 – Lift your hips upwards and hold for 1 to 2 minutes, taking deep breaths, then lower the hips
Benefits: It opens the chest, alleviates backache, and increases circulation.
( If lying flat is uncomfortable in the late 2nd trimester, avoid this pose and do side-lying relaxation instead.)
Modified Tiger Pose (Vyaghrasana Variation):
How to Do:
1 – Start with the tabletop position, keeping your hand directly beneath your shoulder and your knees directly beneath your hips.
2 – Inhale and raise one leg behind you (straight or with a slight bend) and raise the alternate arm straight forward if it feels hard to balance.
3 – Exhale and lower your leg back to the tabletop position.
4 – Repeat for the other side and do 3 to 5 times for each side.
Benefits:
It strengthens your back, hips, and core muscles, improving balance and stability, which helps in easing spine and shoulder stiffness and enhancing blood circulation.
For the third trimester
The third trimester is exciting, but it’s also pretty exhausting and uncomfortable physically. As the belly grows, the back and pelvic discomfort can worsen, and sleeping becomes difficult. On an emotional level, you are trying to be hopeful, but tension builds up awaiting your baby’s arrival. These two asanas, during this time, can help ease your body to release and get into the zone while boosting circulation, improving flexibility, and bringing about balance.
Garland Pose (Malasana)
How to do:
1 – Stand with feet wider than shoulder’s width apart, pointed slightly out.
2 – Gently sit back into a squatting position.
3 – Lift your chest up and grow tall through your spine.
4 – Press your palms together like doing namaste and open up the knees slightly.
5 – If it feels heavy on your pelvis, sit on some cushions.
6 – Hold for 30 to 60 seconds with deep breathing. Come up slowly.
Benefits:
This Asana helps open up the hip and pelvic floor muscles, which will be great for labor preparation.
Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana)
How to do:
Sit with your back straight.
Bring together the soles of your feet, and allow your knees to fall out.
Grasp feet or ankles with your hands.
Close your eyes and inhale and exhale slowly.
Benefits:
Gently stretches the hips and increases blood flow to the pelvic area.
Things to keep in mind during pregnancy yoga
The above poses are all good and well selected pregnancy yoga poses but everyone’s body is built differently and everybody’s health condition is also different so if any pose feels very tough or puts pressure in your belly you must skip that asana.
You should avoid asana if you feels:
1 – pain in belly,
2 – dizziness,
3 – numbness,
4 – excessive dehydration,
5 – or back pain.
Pregnancy Yoga course in Rishikesh
If you’re looking to learn and practice Pregnancy yoga, you should come to Rishikesh, which is very popular for learning yoga, and Rishikesh Yog Kendra is one of the best yoga schools in Rishikesh, with certified teachers and Yoga Alliance-certified courses.
Join us at Rishikesh Yog Kendra for Pregnancy Yoga and more.
Conclusion
Doing these Pregnancy Yoga asanas is beneficial but it is important to keep in mind that every thing is not suited for every body and even if it feels safe it should be done in moderation because overtraining can have harmful effects instead of benefits.
