10 real benefits of pregnancy yoga

10 real benefits of pregnancy yoga - Relax

During pregnancy, hormones are raging through your body. The question many ladies ask is: How can I control these hormones? It is definitely worth paying well-deserved attention to this, for both you and the baby in your belly. Pregnancy yoga can help you with this.

The 10 benefits of pregnancy yoga:

  • Balance in hormones
  • Creating self-confidence
  • Develop more energy and strength
  • Knowledge of breathing, pressing, and relaxation techniques and be able to apply them
  • Learning to relax
  • Being able to connect body and mind
  • Reducing pregnancy symptoms
  • More relaxed course of pregnancy and childbirth
  • Promotes recovery after childbirth
  • Preparing for childbirth

What are the benefits of yoga during your pregnancy?

During pregnancy, a lot changes in your body both physically and mentally. Not all changes are experienced as pleasant and may manifest themselves in pregnancy complaints. To alleviate these complaints, pregnancy yoga is a very pleasant solution for many ladies, and maybe for you too! In this blog, we list all the benefits for you.

Pregnancy ailments vary from person to person. While some suffer from pelvic instability, others mainly suffer from nausea. Whatever your pregnancy ailments are, through pregnancy yoga you will learn, among other things, to balance your hormone balance bring back, which can ensure that you can get over your pregnancy ailments, or at least control them better. 

Pregnancy yoga promotes the flow of your circulatory and lymphatic systems. It also supports your energy system. This reduces symptoms of fatigue, fluid retention and cramps, among others.

Pregnant woman in meditation pose on the ground. Image Pavel Danilyuk via Pexels

What are the physical benefits of pregnancy yoga?

During pregnancy yoga, there is a physical focus on learning relaxed of your body and strengthen your back and pelvis. During pregnancy, the pelvis often tilts forward and your legs and back become increasingly strained as you get further along in pregnancy. It is therefore important to train this so that you can better support your belly during pregnancy. 

So during pregnancy yoga, a lot of attention is paid to improving your posture, which will make pregnancy more bearable. At the same time, you will keep your muscles flexible and work on the mobility of your joints.

What are the mental benefits of pregnancy yoga?

During pregnancy, many women experience mental mood swings, feelings of insecurity, stress, etc. Pregnancy yoga also responds to this. The focus is on getting to know and connect of your body and mind. So there is a focus on breathing exercises that result in learning to listen, trust and accept your (changing) body. 

By learning to listen to your body, you create inner peace, you will become more confident and better able to express your needs during your pregnancy, labour and recovery. Remember that your body is constantly changing, and so your needs may change too. Pregnancy exercises can help you gain insight into your needs. In short, you become better acquainted with yourself and create more energy and power

What should you consider?

So besides the fact that yoga is a great way to keep moving during your pregnancy. So it also brings the necessary benefits. However, there are some important factors to consider. After all, you can't do all the exercises during your pregnancy, nor should you. 

Some exercises can be adapted to pregnancy, and others are best not performed. For example, it is important not to hold twists (turning your torso to the side) for too long. This can actually cause the blood supply to your baby to be less than optimal, which is especially important in the first three months of your pregnancy. 

Secondly, it is important to realise that your connective tissue softens during pregnancy, which means that the ligaments around your joints become looser and more flexible. If you stretch to the max and your connective tissue is softer, this can cause strain and result in symptoms such as pelvic instability. So keep in mind that you need to be careful not only for the baby, but also with yourself, for the benefit of both you and the baby. 

Maternity yoga clothes

Both during yoga and during the day, during and after pregnancy, our jerseysyoga leggings and yoga bras to wear. The bras offer good support through the extra-wide shoulder straps, feature 4-way stretch and prevent chafing thanks to the flat seams and bias tape finish.

The leggings can offer extra support to your belly, as these are high rise leggings. With this, be careful not to pinch your belly. You can therefore choose to purchase a larger size. A second option is to wrap the waistband around under the belly. All leggings feature a breathable and quick-drying stretch fabric. If you still prefer a bit more freedom of movement, you can also go for a yoga shorts

Hatha yoga

Often, pregnancy yoga is based on Hatha Yoga. This form of Yoga, incidentally, is the most widely practised form in the West. In these exercises, mainly static (standing still) postures are practised in combination with breathing exercises. Thanks to this combination, you learn to relax at the same time. In Hatha yoga, the aim is to come into balance with yourself and in this way shape you into a powerful and stable person.  

Besides this form of yoga, there are numerous other forms. So which yoga you will do during a course can vary, so read up on it beforehand. However, it is important that you do not do Hot Yoga, for instance, because your blood pressure will rise and this could be harmful for the baby. 

Pregnancy yoga benefits during childbirth

During pregnancy yoga, you will learn breathing, pressing, and relaxation techniques. These techniques can help you cope with contractions and during labour. Because you have learned how and which techniques to use, your body will experience less stress, your blood pressure will be less likely to rise and your body will be able to relax better. Many techniques will be covered during the lessons, ensuring that you go into labour confident and with well-considered choices. 

After childbirth

Pregnancy is a special time, when an awful lot changes in your body and mind. To get through this period as well as possible, a little extra care for yourself is no luxury. Pregnancy yoga can contribute to this and offers many benefits for both you and your baby.

Parents and toddler do yoga in the bedroom. Image: Pavel Danilyuk via Pexels

During pregnancy yoga, the focus is on your body & mind and learning to relax your body. Postnatal yoga focuses on strengthening your body. By focusing on strengthening your muscles, your abdominal muscles and pelvis will gradually return to their 'normal' position. Of course, this is done in small steps.