New Active Birth: A Concise Guide to Natural Childbirth. Janet Balaskas

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       3 Yoga-based Exercises for Pregnancy

      During the nine months of pregnancy your body will need to accommodate enormous physiological changes. New demands will be placed on your system as you breathe, digest and excrete – not only for yourself but also for your growing baby.

      In early pregnancy, you will be adapting to the hormonal, physical and psychological upheavals that are common at this time and may need to cope with unusual tiredness or nausea. Later on, in mid-pregnancy, you will probably feel more settled and enjoy a sense of vitality, health and well-being. At this time you will want to exercise and use your body in a way that makes the most of its tranformative potential and is appropriate for pregnancy. In the last few months, as your body adjusts to the increasing weight you are carrying, you will benefit from exercises that protect and strengthen your spine and exercise your whole body without strain. You will also need to prepare for the challenge of labour, birth and motherhood.

      Most of the exercises in this chapter are derived from hatha yoga and are particularly suitable for pregnancy. A few are adapted from physiotherapy to strengthen the body appropriately and prevent stress.

      Yoga is an ancient system of exercise which originated in India and is now widely practised all over the world. It is a way to both relax your body and quieten your mind and to find your inner centre. Most importantly, yoga, correctly practised, educates your body to exist in harmony with the force of gravity. Without using force or strain of any kind, you can learn, with the help of your breathing, to let go of unnecessary tension and stiffness in your joints and muscles. Gradually, as your posture improves, you will feel more grounded and connected with the earth and your body and mind will find equilibrium, unity and balance. Like a tree that has firm roots extending into the earth, a stable trunk and branches that are free to blow in the wind, your body will become more rooted at its base where it meets the earth, allowing lightness and freedom in the upper body and an increasing sense of inner calm and security. This will help you, not only in pregnancy, but will extend very naturally into labour and birth itself, without the need to learn any complicated techniques or to remember anything mentally.

      In the preceding chapters, we have seen how the normal physiology of the birth process can best take place when you position your body in harmony with gravity. Each time you practise the exercises recommended in this chapter, you will be increasing your instinctive body sense and this will continue to be your guide during labour and give you confidence and faith in your own potential and power.

      It will be easier to be in touch with your primitive instincts and to let go of the fear and tensions that can inhibit the involuntary birth process. You will know how to centre yourself and accept both the pain and the change of consciousness which occur as your body opens up to give birth.

      Yoga can help you to flow with the challenges and transformation of pregnancy and birth from the very beginning. It will bring you greater self-awareness and will also increase your awareness of the presence of your child inside your body. You will discover, in the silence of inner peace, that it is possible to communicate with your unborn baby and to be aware of the powerful psychic and emotional link which exists between you from the very beginning. Yoga is a way to spend time with your innermost self, and to experience the oneness and creative energy of the universe. It will help you to be aware of the miracle of creation taking place within and through your body, so that you can nourish and welcome your baby in a spirit of celebration and love.

      How does yoga work?

      Practically speaking, yoga provides a system of exercises to help you recover the natural range of movements your body is designed to make, in harmony with the force of gravity, and to maintain structural fitness (see Recommended Reading).

      In our modern technological society, most of us are victims of a hidden epidemic of muscular stiffness which inhibits our potential for movement at the joints and throws our posture off balance to a greater or lesser degree, so that our bodies are fighting gravity rather than existing in harmony with it. This results in any combination of structural imbalances such as tight shoulders, protruding head and neck, exaggerated spinal curves, rigid pelvis, stiff legs, etc., and the inevitable headaches, backaches, and other aches and pains which accompany them.

      This state of affairs is brought about by the stresses and strains of modern life, sedentary life styles, loss of contact with nature, poor postural habits and physical education, and the suppression of emotions which are commonplace in our society. Most of us, without ever being aware of it, end up carrying a load of unnecessary tension around with us, actually bound up in our muscles and joints. Without our knowing it, this limits our physical and mental potential and separates us from our instinctive selves. Yoga gets to the root of tension in the body and gives us an opportunity to breathe, let go and release it. It is a fundamental approach to relaxation which has tremendous transformative potential and power at any time, but it is particularly appropriate in pregnancy.

      While some yoga positions involve a complex combination of movements which affect different parts of the body simultaneously, a simple forward bend will help us to understand how the underlying mechanical principle of yoga-based exercise works.

      A forward bend is a positional exercise to encourage passive relaxation of the hamstring muscles at the back of the legs, while the body is positioned to allow maximal movement of the hip joints in relation to gravity.

      TRY THIS:

      Stand upright with your feet about 12 inches apart and parallel. Allow your weight to settle down into your heels as you exhale, until you feel your feet are well grounded. Now, without bending your knees, bend forward slowly from your hips keeping your spine straight.

      Hold for a few seconds, breathing deeply, and then come up slowly.

      You no doubt felt a stretching sensation in the muscles at the back of your legs as the movement caused them to lengthen and relax. You are probably wondering why this was painful, if the muscles were relaxing. The reason is that it is so long since you have made the full movement that the hamstring muscles at the back of your legs have shortened and lost their elasticity, restricting your ability to move forward.

      Nature has designed your body to be able to fold over like a jack-knife, with your stomach and chest flat against your thighs and the palms of your hands on the ground in front of you. Of course, during the later months of pregnancy, this can only be done with legs apart to make room for your belly! (See here) In this position your feet are firmly grounded and gravity draws your trunk forward with a hingelike movement from the hips. Your spine should be completely passive and relaxed while the front of your body contracts and the hamstring muscles lengthen and СКАЧАТЬ