8 Benefits of Prenatal Yoga

Prenatal yoga is a wonderful way to take care of ourselves and our changing body, mind, and energy levels during pregnancy. Our prenatal yoga practice can help us listen to, cope with, find support, and connect positively with these changes.

Prenatal yoga teacher and mumma, Sarah Martin, shares eight benefits of prenatal yoga to inspire you to step onto your yoga mat.

1. Physical Fitness and Strength

During pregnancy, more energy and strength is needed to be able to carry the extra weight as your baby grows. Prenatal yoga is a gentle way to strengthen your muscles to support your body during pregnancy, prepare for birth, and assist in recovery postnatally.

2. Support your Changing Body

During pregnancy, changes in your body can happen quickly. Prenatal yoga can help you listen to your body, trust your body, and work within your body’s limitations. Prenatal yoga offers healthy, safe ways to stretch and strengthen muscles to support the growing belly, and improve circulation and flexibility.

3. Eases Common Pregnancy Complaints

Many of the aches and pains that come with pregnancy are caused by the stretching muscles and ligaments that are moving to make space for your growing baby. This may include headaches, back and joint pain, shortness of breath and insomnia. Yoga helps you to strengthen and stretch these areas to lessen discomfort as they shift in your body.

4. Increases Balance

Your balance is challenged physically as your belly grows and the centre of gravity shifts forward, and also emotionally as you prepare for your baby’s arrival. Holding yoga poses and breathing through them encourages us to find balance, both physically and emotionally, on and off the yoga mat.

5. Labour & Birth Preparation

Prenatal yoga teaches you to practice simple breathing techniques to release and let go of tension in the body and mind. Breathing techniques and yoga poses practiced during prenatal yoga can be carried through to birth. When in labour, focusing upon your breath cycle and moving your body in a way that feels good allows for a smoother and more positive birth experience.

6. Connection with others: building community and support

One of the wonderful benefits of prenatal yoga is joining a community with other pregnant people. In our saigon om in-person classes, we start each class with a welcome circle to check in with how each of us are feeling that day. Sharing your pregnancy journey in a loving, supportive energy creates community and connects you socially with a support network that continues after your baby is born.

7. Connect with Baby: Build a Bond and Prepare to Meet your Little One

Regularly practicing yoga during pregnancy is a gentle reminder to let go of the stresses of daily life and focus inward to bond with your growing baby. Sitting in meditation, we can place our hands on our belly and breathe with baby and send them our loving energy. From this beautiful connection, we learn how to be present for both ourselves and our baby during pregnancy, and learn how to move with awareness on and off the yoga mat. As our belly grows, prenatal yoga also helps us appreciate the amazing work our body is doing: growing and nurturing our baby.

8. Time to Pause & Bring Awareness to the Mind

Prenatal yoga gives us time to sit, breathe and bring awareness to how we are feeling in our body, mind and emotions. This allows us to connect with both our hopes and our fears. We can smile with our hopes and dreams about birth and our journey together as parent and child. We can breathe with our fears to calm and understand them.

Are you ready to step onto your yoga mat?

Join Sarah for her specially designed on demand prenatal yoga series for the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. Practice in the comfort and convenience of your own home as you are guided through yoga practices to help your body feel strong and healthy during your pregnancy and prepare your body and mind to be ready for birth.