Prenatal Yoga Benefits Archives | Page 2 of 3

Prenatal Yoga Poses For Back Pain

August 18, 2017 by Full Circle KC

Lower back pain is the most common discomfort I hear. Coming onto your mat to practice prenatal yoga can reduce or even alleviate that discomfort. There are a number of reasons why you may be experiencing back pain.

Your body is changing! With a growing baby comes weight gain, creating a difference in how you balance yourself. Your center of gravity also changes, and your abdominal muscles become weaker creating more work for the lower back. Additionally your hormones are changing which loosens the joints and relaxes the ligaments. Baby can also find comfort in the posterior pelvic area causing pressure and and discomfort in the sacral and lumber back. Occasionally, lower back pain can continue postpartum, but with strengthening the abdominal muscles usually goes away.

In every yoga class we focus on prenatal yoga poses for back pain. These poses will help support the lower back because this is such a common discomfort.

Prenatal Yoga Poses For Back Pain

Cat cow is a great way to drop baby forward and stretch the spine. Modifications that can be done at work are standing cat cow or sitting in a chair and doing several cat cow poses.

Forward fold can elongate the spine

Goddess is a great hip opener, while building leg strength

At Full Circle Yoga KC our prenatal yoga offers a class that mamas at all stages can practice and build their physical and emotional strength in preparation for their birthing journey.

Prenatal Yoga In The First Trimester

June 12, 2017 by Full Circle KC

Prenatal Yoga in the first trimester can be incredibly helpful as long as one listens to their intuition. With the increased research that supports the health benefits of prenatal yoga, more and more healthcare practitioners are recommending prenatal yoga or pregnancy yoga.

Yoga can help center your mind to tune into the amazing work your body does in the first trimester. This is a time to notice the unbelievable changes that are happening, number one, you’re growing a new life, congratulations!!! Celebrate this moment and be gentle with yourself as you notice your body changing.

Whether you are an advanced yogi or just beginning, your body is going through tremendous changes. Your hormones are surging. Your producing more estrogen- which increases your pliability of connective tissue, produces more blood, and can produce mood swings. More progesterone is produced, slowing the digestive system, and increasing the basal body temperature. Relaxin hormones also increase, relaxing the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Because of the major increase in these hormones it can play a role in your yoga practice.

Prenatal Yoga Tips For The First Trimester:

Listen to what your body needs!!! This is often a time of fatigue, although you can’t see it, your body is working so hard! First trimester may create nausea, be gentle to yourself.
Avoid closed twist poses, rather stick to upper torso open twists to open the shoulders, upper back, and chest.
Prone poses- proceed with caution, make sure you know how to do these poses correctly to keep and belly is not getting direct pressure. Direct pressure on the uterus should be avoided.
Deep backbends, again should proceed with caution, and possible avoid as it can place direct pressure on the uterus and overstretch abdominal muscles.
Some pranayamas- typically this is a good time to practice breath through the nose and out the mouth, which is the most beneficial way of breathing during labor.

This list is not comprehensive and one should talk to their yoga instructor and/or healthcare practitioner to ensure safety for mama and growing baby.

At Full Circle Yoga KC our prenatal yoga offers a class that mamas at all stages can practice and build their physical and emotional strength in preparation for their birthing journey.

Prenatal Yoga Helps You Connect With Your Baby

June 7, 2017 by Full Circle KC

Prenatal Yoga or Pregnancy Yoga helps you connect with your baby and grow the partnership between the two of you. At Full Circle Yoga KC we begin our prenatal class by welcoming you and baby (or babies) to the mat for practice. This allows the two of you to begin connecting to each other.

Three poses we focus on baby and mommy connection

Easy Pose- Placing one hand on heart and one hand on beautiful belly and breathing for two. Inhaling life-force or your pranayama into your lungs and baby’s lungs. During this time we bring our attention to our bodies and surrender to the outside world for the next hour.
Seated Side Angle Pose- Elongating mom’s side to allow more room for baby to play, move and stretch.
Savasana- A time for connecting with your baby and your body without distraction. An opportunity to appreciate the scared time of pregnancy. Taking time to place your loving hands on your growing baby and offering your nourishing touch.

Full Circle Yoga in Overland Park was founded in 2017 by yoga teacher Jenny Hellman focusing on wellness in the early stages of family life from prenatal to early parenthood and the older adult years. Full Circle Yoga KC is an Overland Yoga Studio specializing in Prenatal Yoga, Baby Yoga and Chair Yoga for seniors.

5 Ways To Prepare For Labor

June 2, 2017 by Full Circle KC

The “big day” is always on our minds when we are expecting. When will it be? Will I be late or early? Will it be painful? What can I do to prepare myself for the journey?

Labor and Delivery is tough, you must prepare mentally and physically. It hurts, however the hurt is different than a broken bone. A broken bone signals to your brain something is wrong in your body and you must fix it. Labor and Delivery birth hurts in a way that’s like running a marathon. You train mentally and physically for a marathon but the final stretch can be challenging, even painful, but there is a finish line you’ve worked so hard to get across!

There are many things you can do to prepare for the “big day”

Exercise- Your body needs to be in shape and ready for labor and delivery. One of the best forms of exercise during pregnancy is prenatal yoga or pregnancy yoga, helping you prepare mentally and physically for labor and delivery by practicing breath during intense poses. Learning prenatal yoga poses allows you to release tension during pregnancy and during labor. Prenatal Yoga also allows for mediation, an opportunity to practice surrendering and being present to the moment rather than push against it.
Educate Yourself- Whether your delivering at home, hospital, birthing center, it’s so important that you be your best advocate. I once heard “you are not a patient during your birthing journey,” so true!! The more you educate yourself the less fear and anxiety you will have going into that “big day.”
Call in your support team- invite those on your team that have the same philosophy as you do when it comes to your birthing journey. Create a space of peacefulness for your birthing journey. Do you want this to be a sacred time for just you and your partner? Do you want the whole family present? Who do you want as your practitioner- OBGYN, Midwife? Will you include a doula as part of your team?
Be Present- Trust in the processes. Women have been giving birth for thousands of years. Contractions are like waves, they build and crash, and you have time in between each wave to center again and ride the next wave.
Use Visualizations- visualize something that brings calmness to you. What is that something? What color is it? What does it smell like? What does it look like? Where is it? Practice this visualization prior to labor. Practicing visualization is powerful tool in pain management.

Full Circle Yoga KC offers prenatal yoga classes that support a mother’s pregnancy journey. In our prenatal classes we practice mindfulness in breathing, bring awareness to our changing bodies, and offer movement for a full body workout.

Common Pregnancy Discomforts And How Prenatal Yoga Can Help

May 2, 2017 by Full Circle KC

At the beginning of every prenatal yoga class I check in with my mamas to see how they are feeling. Many times they feel great, other times discomforts are mentioned such as hips, lower back pain, sciatica nerve. Our bodies are undergoing such crazy changes, it’s not surprising, discomforts can arise. Prenatal Yoga can help with all of these discomforts.

I’ve had some requests recently about poses for sciatic nerve discomfort. Pain from the sciatica radiates in the lower back, down the leg and sometimes to the feet and toes. This is due to where the baby is resting, pressing on the nerves of the spine and hip, specifically the sciatica. It can also be due disc problems in the lower back or a tight Piriformis muscle in the hip.

Remember to always listen to your body. Yoga should not hurt. If something doesn’t feel right come out of the pose.

Here a few prenatal yoga poses you can do to help relieve this discomfort:

cat/cow- hands under shoulders, knees under hip starting in table top position inhale. On an exhale round your back. On a inhale come into cow. This helps drop baby forward and warm up your body, stretching back and hips. While in this pose, move into a flat back and look over right shoulder. Do the same with looking over the left shoulder to feel a slight lower back stretch.

Downward facing dog- with slight bend in knees- pressing fingers into ground, lifting from the hips and pressing back with your heels. Carve out your armpits to open your upper back.

Wide Leg forward fold- step legs out to a wide stance. Fold forward hinging from hips. Using blocks or folding forward. This pose stretches the back and hamstrings.

Seated Pigeon pose- a great pose to do at work. Sitting on the edge of a sturdy chair place an ankle on the knee. Sitting tall, hinge from your hips and exhale forward. This pose stretches the gluteal muscles

Thread the needle- same as above, however lying down.