Safe Prenatal Yoga Poses During Your Pregnancy

prenatal yoga provide benefits for mother and child

Using Prenatal Yoga Exercising during your pregnancy stages is a superb way to take care of you and your child. It may also help you adjust and prepare your body and mind for any pregnancy requirements and complications that you might face particularly during the last three months

Prenatal Yoga during pregnancy will help you make space for both your baby and your internal organs. However, be sure you just do what feels right and works, avoid muscle strains and intense pressure exercises.

Many yoga exercises can help you prepare for labor in the last three months of pregnancy. Before you practice prenatal yoga, make sure to consult with your physician. This way, you will know what to do or do not during this phase.

Listed below are some of the general yoga exercises to try out during the third trimester.

Prenatal Yoga Poses For Expecting Women

1. Birth Prep Exercises

The pose mainly involves a simple task designed to reduce aches and pains and may as well as help put the baby in first pelvic alignment. Incorporate this method in your fitness, rest breaks, warm-up, and as part of your everyday poses.

2. Cat-Cow Pose

This is an excellent pose for lengthening your spine and strengthens your core muscles. This pose is a terrific technique for all pregnancy phases. It helps strengthen your belly as the pregnancy keeps growing.

This asana also alleviates the spine and permit a better flow of fluids and blood. Practice belly breathing when doing this particular pose. It helps in calming your mind and reducing morning sickness.

It needs to be done about 5 times to get the best results.

Start on all fours. Inhale and look upward, allowing back to bend naturally (without putting emphasis on the low spine).
While you exhale, round back, tuck the rear, and flake out, glancing down and approaching the center.
Proceed to move by both poses as you inhale and exhale.

3. Warrior II

This technique is perfect for strengthening your heart and legs and in addition to lengthening your spine. Even though this technique is slightly challenging, it’s believed to help relieve backaches during pregnancy.

4. Bridge Pose

This pose is convenient if you would like to open your hips up and strengthen your glutes, core, and hamstrings. Additionally, the prenatal yoga pose may be practiced in most of the trimesters.

Start on the side and roll into the back as you move your body into a bridge posture. This helps avoid stressing your rectus abdominals.

Avoid this Exercise if you are feeling uncomfortable in your back.

5. Cobblers Pose (Baddha Konasana)

This technique is said to enhance the health of the reproductive system. During pregnancy, it assists in opening up the pelvis, therefore ensuring fast and straightforward labor. It’s also said to soothe the mind and enhance blood circulation.

This yoga practice can be achieved as follows:

Lie on a mat and expand your legs.
Fold your knees and bring your feet in the center.
Then straighten your spine.
Using your palms maintain your toes for a couple of seconds.
Repeat this about 4 times.

6. Warrior I

This prenatal yoga technique makes it possible to explore your upper body. It will help to open up your chest and strengthen your thighs. This technique helps to restore the health of your spine and make space for the expanding uterus.

Also, it helps your brain to relax and stay focused and maintain balance. It can be achieved as follows;

Put your feet apart in a hip-width position.
Pivot on the left foot.
Make your right foot to face forward.
Lower the pelvis, and then assume a lunge.
Look ahead and lift your arms over your head.
Hold that position as long as possible.
Release the pose.
Repeat the procedure with the left foot front.

7. Corpse Pose

This technique aims at relaxing your body and mind. It boosts your energy immediately, and hence it is convenient for combating any fatigue throughout the pregnancy.

Also, it aids in fighting off several side effects of pregnancy like pain, morning sickness, and nausea. This prenatal yoga pose can be achieved as follows:

Sit on your back.
Allow your palms to rest beside you while facing upward.
Close your eyes and relax- your arms should be along with your body.

8. Spiraling Movement

This involves rotating pelvis and moving your hips. These actions help to massage down the infant’s head on the cervix.

Also, these movements can help you keep your pelvis relaxed and mobile while loosening your ligaments and muscles.

You may consider a fitness ball to assist in the movements.

9. Child’s Pose

This is a resting pose. It helps to concentrate on your breath, breathe deeply, and it’s a fantastic place to rest between labor contractions.

This is a great position that can allow you to find peace and encourage a healthy and happy pregnancy. It is reliable for all trimesters.

Relax and take your knees apart, then hold your head in your fists, hand, or on the ground. You should neglect this posture if your pubic symphysis is open or sore. Relax in this position with closed eyes.

10. Chanting

Making your own sounds during pregnancy and birth is a highly effective means to regulate your breathing, it lets you concentrate and relax as you handle the pain that’s related to pregnancy and labor.

Practicing voice noises can help you open up and have more uncomplicated and more comfortable labor. You can practice the prenatal yoga chanting as follows:

Sit Relaxed
Close your eyes.
Putting your index fingers on the lobes of your ears, take a deep breath.
Exhaling slowly, make mild humming sounds.
Do this 5 to 10 times.
You could also do this while lying down with arms by the side of the body.

11. Standing Hip Rotations

These moves will help strengthen your pelvis in addition to relax. You can do so as follows:

Stand with feet wide apart but comfy.
Gently bend your knees.
Put your hands on hips and move your hips in the rotation.
Try to keep your upper body still.
Concentrate on turning the hips and the stomach.
Inhale while rolling your hips ahead and exhale while pushing them backward.
Do this many times as you desire.

12. Tree Pose

This is a balancing technique. It will help strengthen your legs and heart. Additionally, it improves posture and alleviates back pain. The way to do this pose:

Feet on the floor, shift your weight forward and backward until you obtain balance.
Shift your weight to one foot.
You may even lift one of your feet to your ankle to achieve stability.
Bring the foot above your inner thigh.
Place your hands in a prayer position.
Hold this for 5 breaths.
You could even raise the arms over your head.
Repeat with the other leg.

This technique is safe for all phases of pregnancy.

13. Meditation

Over the years, meditation has helped to handle plenty of conditions like stress, depression, tension, and much more.

During the pregnancy’s last trimester, meditation can help move gracefully as you approach labor. It can allow you to ascertain a more peaceful frame of mind by avoiding tension and anxiety especially if you’re giving birth for the first time.

14. Ankle-to-Knee Pose

This poses will also help relieve strain on your glutes and the muscles beneath your glutes, such as the piriformis.

Begin in a seated posture, with knees bent, feet on the ground, and shoulders relaxed.
Twist right back foot following left knee, so right knee leans on the ground (like half of a normal cross-legged posture).
Stack left leg on top of right, so left foot holds on right knee, and left knee rests on the right foot.
Rest palms smoothly on foot and knee, or take them together to prayer just like Anjali Mudra.
For a deeper stretch, join forward. Switch leg positioning and repeat on the opposite side.

15. Pigeon Pose

This hip-opener is ideal for relieving lower back strain.

Begin on all fours. Push right leg ahead so right knee reaches to the wrist, and the right flexed foot is focused toward the left wrist.
Comfort left leg down to the floor and stretch it behind you, keeping the left foot comfortable and leg inwardly rotated. (Ensure left leg is straight behind you, not angled out to the left).
If it feels comfortable, come down on forearms, join hands in prayer, and bow forehead to touch fingers. (If your abdomen doesn’t enable you to bend forward, stay comfortably upright, being careful not to put extra pressure on the lower back)
Repeat on the opposite side.

16. Seated Side Bend

Any type of Side bend will assist a cranky back. Pick your preferred variant, either with closed or open legs.

Start at a comfortable upright seated position, with legs crossed or folded in a half-lotus pose.
Let the right hand rest comfortably on the floor. Stretch left arm straight up, then bend to the right, focusing on rotating upper chest and remaining open as you gaze up in your left hand.
As you turn to the side, lower on the right forearm for support.
Repeat on the other side.

17. Yoga Squat

As your pregnancy proceeds, your body produces the hormone relaxin, which might make you feel extra elastic. With that in mind, a yoga squat–even though it did not feel great when you were not pregnant, will probably feel awesome now.

Sit with both legs spread in front of you.
One at a time, bend knees and put feet near your seat, slightly wider than hip-width.
Put weight into feet and lift the position to come to a low, broad squat.
Keep back straight and put hands together among knees in thanksgiving, pushing joints into inner thighs. If it feels uneasy, use blocks to get a sustained squat.

18. Supported Fish Pose

Keeping your legs flexed means this movement doubles as a soothing hip-opener. Follow this process:

Catch two yoga blocks.
From a relaxed seated position, put one yoga block a few inches on the bottom elevation, so it can support your mid-back.
Place another yoga block some inches past that one on the central or maximum height to encourage your head and upper neck.
Fold legs to a butterfly position (Badhakonasana), so the toes are touching and knees drop comfortably out to the side.
Slowly lower your back, letting mid-back (within shoulder blades) and upper neck/head to rest on cubes. (Try different position and height of the blocks to see what feels great.)
Once suitable, let your arms to break naturally in your side.

19. Dolphin Pose

Hello, open shoulders. If the downward dog is the regular fare, this pose may bring much more openness to your upper back and shoulders, and let’s face it, all of us hold loads of tension there. If you do not feel relaxed with your head upside down, try taking this pose in a wall. Press forearms against the wall, and then step feet back until your head can drop.

Start on all fours. Tuck feet and raise hips approaching the ceiling, aligning legs straight to get an adjusted downward dog posture.
Your legs and arms will be straight, even though this means your feet don’t touch the ground.
From here, slowly lower on your forearms, adjusting your posture accordingly. Keep a neutral neck and maintain hips elevated.

20. Legs-up-the-Wall Pose

There comes a stage in pregnancy where it doesn’t feel right to lie on your back. Now, use a bolster or cushions, so you are on an angle rather than straight back to this pose. Even if you’re not practicing yoga, keep feet elevated, say, on a little stool under your work desk, to alleviate swelling and soreness.

Sit close to a wall. Lie faceup and lift legs, so flexed feet face the ceiling.
Shimmy your hips till your heels and calves tenderly rest against the wall. From here, Rest both hands on your stomach, or put one hand over your heart and one on your belly.

Here are some more prenatal exercises to try while expecting: