How Yoga Benefits Pregnant Women?

The art of yoga helps you stay fit, both psychologically and physiologically. Not only does yoga relieve the stress and improve your level of concentration, but it also confers many benefits on the health of the exercisers by improving blood circulation, decreasing cholesterol levels, improving cardio-vascular efficiency, normalizing blood pressure, and improving physical strength and stamina. Moreover, prenatal yoga has been shown to lead to a healthy pregnancy by many researchers.

1) Yoga builds strength which in turn helps women carry the added pregnancy weight.

2) Regular yoga sessions have been reported to relieve the low back pain associated with pregnancy. Prenatal yoga poses such as half-moon pose, cow face pose and pigeon pose strengthen the back muscles, which in turn help take the pressure off the lower back due to increased uterus size.

3) Yoga helps relieve the irritation of the sciatic nerve during pregnancy.

4) The breathing and stretching techniques in yoga help relieve stress and keep the mind of a person fit by normalizing the production of hormones in the brain. This, in turn, positively affects the health of both mother and fetus.

5) Different poses of yoga help pregnant women open their hips for childbirth. Moreover, they also help them cope with pain and ease childbirth by strengthening the muscles used in delivery.

6) Stretching and breathing exercises promote circulation of blood throughout the body. This, in turn, increases the supply of oxygen to vital body organs including uterus, thus promoting general well-being for both mother and fetus.

7) Yoga makes a great way for prenatal women to avoid the weight gain during pregnancy. Numerous yoga poses have been shown to lower the amount of cortisol in the body. This aids in fat burning and weight loss.

8) Breathing exercises such as Victorious Breath help improve the function of lungs and improve cardio-vascular efficiency in the pregnant women. Breathing also relaxes mind and body in high-stress situations.

9) Some types of pranayama, meditative practices and restorative asana have been shown to reduce inflammation, promote quality sleep, tone the muscles and improve strength of the musculoskeletal system.

10) Prenatal yoga reduces blood pressure and benefits the endocrine and excretory systems. It increases endorphin production in the brain which helps the body naturally reduce the sensation of pain.

11) Some yoga postures stimulate the pituitary gland to increase the production of prolactin, which is a hormone that aids in the production of milk in breast feeding mothers.