Pregnancy is everything. It is a time when you are more in tune with and aware of your body than ever, while simultaneously coming to terms with unrecognizable, uncomfortable changes. Day to day you are reassessing core values and making profound meaningful decisions for your family’s future, while losing your keys, leaving your coffee on the top of the car and forgetting the names of almost anything you are trying to recall.
Finding time to reflect, let go, relax and focus on the present moment becomes essential during pregnancy. Cultivating a prenatal practice, whether brand new to yoga or a seasoned yogi provides tools for you to draw on during pregnancy, labor, and those tough moments as a new parent. “Prenatal yoga, the deliberate weaving together of yoga and childbirth preparation, opens the door for women to reclaim their physical, mental, and emotional power and receptivity during the birth process (Yoga Journal ).”
Through prenatal practice the body and mind become prepared for labor by uniting movement with breath. Prenatal yoga is a multifaceted approach to exercise which encourages stretching, strength training, mental clearing and intentional breathing. Harnessing the tools of prenatal yoga will help ignite your instincts, helping you feel empowered during your birth experience as well as providing coping techniques which help you accept the realities of your birth, even if it deviates from your plan.
Prenatal yoga brings a connection with other pregnant women and a sense of community and support. The space and energy established during class encourages the sharing of wisdom, building of a tribe and support network that we are often isolated from in our current cultural environment. Relationships established during prenatal class, with yourself, your baby and your community enriches your pregnancy, birth experience and beyond. Like child rearing, yoga relies on trusting your intuition, accepting challenges, and forgiving mistakes. A yoga practice is all about being completely, radically present with one’s whole self.
