What Are the Benefits of Practicing Prenatal Yoga?

Have you been told by your OBGYN or care provider to start a prenatal yoga practice during your pregnancy? You’re not alone! Prenatal yoga is how many folks first come to the practice of yoga.

Many care providers recommend prenatal yoga as a form of safe, effective, and beneficial movement throughout all three trimesters — but why exactly is it recommended? What are some of the benefits of this ancient movement and breath practice during pregnancy?

Exercise and movement are recommended throughout pregnancy. However, the type of exercise you practice matters - not all exercise is created equal during pregnancy. Prenatal yoga is ideal because it links breath to movement in a gentle way that honors the continual shifts in your body. It can be toned up to create heat and get the heart pumping, or dialed down to invite a sense of calm in the nervous system.

Through the connection of breath to movement, people who are pregnant can not only support the body for labor and birth but also focus on cultivating an awareness of the breath. This awareness and attention to how one is breathing is beneficial during labor and birth - as the breath can be utilized to calm the nervous system, release tension in the muscles, and support baby’s journey down the pelvis to being earth side.

Breathing deeply, slowly, and properly can aid in pain management as well as stress reduction.

What do I mean by breathing properly? Our breath is a pressurized system linked to a muscle called the respiratory diaphragm. The respiratory diaphragm sits below the lungs and moves down and up as we breathe in and out. When we inhale, the abdomen expands as the respiratory diaphragm flattens down onto our internal organs and our pelvic floor diaphragm (releasing tension in the pelvic floor muscles). When we exhale, the abdomen softly comes back in towards the spine while the respiratory diaphragm buoys back up and our pelvic floor diaphragm buoys back up as well.

The pelvic floor diaphragm is the floor of muscles where our pelvic organs, such as the uterus, bladder and rectum, sit. If we think about breathing “properly” we are really working with the rhythm and nature of the respiratory diaphragm moving down and up on the inhales and exhales, respectively.

Often times, due to cultural and societal norms, women and/or people who identify as women tend to suck in the breath due to stress and/or to appear thinner. This sucking in can lead to what is called “reverse breathing” - where you inhale and the abdomen sucks in and the respiratory diaphragm stays up rather than flattening down. This reverse breathing can cause tension and tightness in the chest and neck muscles, as well as tension in the pelvic floor diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles.

With the practice of yoga, we can become more self-aware of how we are breathing. We can begin to breathe with intention until it becomes second nature. Once we breathe properly, the nervous system can function to calm the body and the mind. So you can see that breathing properly with the rhythm of the respiratory diaphragm can be immensely helpful during high stress situations such as labor and birth.

Certain pranayama practices, or breathwork practices, can help us to practice finding a rhythm or ritual for labor. Creating a rhythm and ritual during labor allows the mind to focus and stay calm.

Beyond the breath, specific asanas (or poses) in yoga encourage optimal position for baby as you progress throughout your pregnancy. Utilizing poses and breathing to help guide baby into an optimal position, as well as using poses and breath to release muscle tension, can aid in birthing with more ease and with less interventions.

The yoga asanas in prenatal yoga are not only beneficial to baby, but they’re also there to support you in finding greater comfort, stability, and ease in your body as it shifts over time. We begin to carry weight differently in our bodies as pregnancy progresses, which can create shifts in the center of gravity and therefore our posture. This shift in gravity and posture can create tension in some areas of the body (like the low back!) and other parts of the body may begin to compensate as a result - potentially causing imbalances in the muscle, tendons, ligaments, and bones of the body. Focusing on alignment in postures specific to pregnancy in a prenatal yoga class can bring awareness to your posture in everyday life. As yoga teachers often say, what we practice on the mat tends to flow into our everyday lives off the mat.

Group prenatal yoga classes also bring an added benefit of creating a community of folks experiencing similar shifts as you. Some people meet life long friends in prenatal yoga classes. Private prenatal yoga classes, like the ones taught here through Chickadee Yoga + Birth, are tailored to your specific needs during your unique pregnancy, throughout each trimester. Taking private prenatal yoga classes can deepen your understanding of what’s going on internally. This inner awareness of your unique pregnancy and the effects on your body can then be threaded into your other movement practices or group yoga classes. Not only this, but group and private prenatal yoga classes can be spaces to learn more about pregnancy and your options for preparing for labor and birth.

Another added benefit of taking consistent private prenatal yoga classes through Chickadee Yoga + Birth is that I have the opportunity to truly meet you where you are every step of the way and listen to your needs; if you choose to hire me as your birth doula after working with me through private prenatal yoga classes, I will know much more about your specific pregnancy than other birth doulas who may only meet with you once or twice before your birth.

The best part about prenatal yoga is that anyone can begin this practice and at any stage in pregnancy. No experience in yoga is necessary to begin your prenatal yoga practice! It’s the perfect entry into creating a yoga practice that is sustainable for the body over time.

To find out more about private prenatal yoga sessions at Chickadee Yoga + Birth with me (Chelsea), click here. I would be honored to serve you as your private prenatal yoga instructor. All classes and class packages are sliding scale. And if you’re looking for a birth doula who specializes in movement for an optimized birth, click here for more information on my birth doula services.