“Pregnancy yoga gave me so much more than I bargained for,” says Brenda Entwisle, mother to two children. “I went because I wanted some gentle exercise, and left physically and emotionally in a much better place for the birth of my child. My personal growth and the deep bonds of friendship I forged were also really important.”
Pregnancy yoga has been carefully shaped to support pregnant women on a physical, emotional and spiritual level. Physically, it is a powerful form of exercise that keeps you in touch with your changing body in a positive and empowering way. It encourages flexibility in your body and has specially designed exercises targeted at muscles that will assist you during birth and labor. For the pregnancy itself, it can transform your experience from a time where you may feel discomfort and unable to do what you used to do, to a place of strength and health. Practicing yoga may ease problems such as tiredness, backache, anxiety, headaches and many other complaints of pregnancy.
Pregnancy yoga helps you to understand and become aware of your body. As you move and stretch into postures, you reconnect with the power of your female form, and begin to listen to and trust your body’s wisdom. You learn valuable techniques of relaxation, and breathing techniques that will assist you through labor, birth and the experience of motherhood.
Beyond a physical preparation for labor and birth, pregnancy yoga provides you with the inner space to adapt to the changes of pregnancy, and the journey to motherhood. “Pregnancy yoga allowed me to spend time focusing on me and my baby. It gave me the space to reconnect with my femininity after the rush and harshness of the working world,” says Aileen Kennaugh, mother of Kayla.
Using breath as the tool, pregnancy yoga teaches you to let your breathing flow naturally and to be aware of its rhythm. By closing your eyes and focusing on the cycle of inhalation and exhalation, your attention is drawn to within, to your own inner feeling centre. Pregnancy yoga facilitates a quiet space to tune into your body’s needs and the needs of your unborn baby. If you allow it to, pregnancy slows you down and awakens your instinctive and intuitive nature, allowing you to focus on the miracle taking place in your body.
During pregnancy yoga, visualization techniques are taught that put you in touch with your memories, thoughts and images. Your body and mind react to these memories thoughts and images in the same way as physical events in the real world. By becoming aware of this internal mental track, you can begin to understand and deal with any negativity and choose to create and focus on positive images and thoughts. This has the potential to impact on your experience of labor and birth.
Pregnancy yoga classes are a gathering of women all going through the same journey in their own different ways. The yoga instructor facilitates sharing in a supportive environment, and the friendships that are made can provide the support you need during the early days of motherhood.
By attending pregnancy yoga classes, you will experience your pregnancy in a deeper way. Pregnancy yoga helps you come to understand pregnancy as a rite of passage, to integrate this knowledge into your process of change and to gradually adjust your priorities and lifestyle.
Bring your bump. Join the circle. Discover the mother you are becoming. Connect with the rhythm of the new life within you. Breathe deep, and enjoy.
Theoni Papoutsis, my yoga instructor where I attended my pregnancy yoga classes, she was my Doula at the birth of my daughter Amy over two years ago.
Healing and Health Directory, South Africa. [http://www.healing-health.co.za]
Owner of a Web design and hosting company in Johannesburg South Africa http://www.hosting-webdesign.co.za
