10 Blissful Prenatal Yoga Routines You Can Do At Home

Pregnancy comes with an array of changes and it’s not just to your body, but also to your lifestyle. Being a follower of parenting techniques and ways, I’ve learned that as the foetus grows, mothers are not able to move as fast as they could pre-pregnancy. At Other times, the can’t-stay-awake tiredness is enough to keep mothers from working out altogether.

Still Fortunately, some kinds of fitness and exercise – prenatal yoga – can work wonders with almost every pregnancy symptom one mom could face out there, reducing the aches and pains associated with the growth and development of the foetus, helping you feel confident and active thereby preparing your body for the most intensive part of the pregnancy i.e labor.

Well to be precise, not all yogic poses are pregnancy approved. That is why we asked top instructors who work with to be moms to help us with their suggested go – to positions for the three trimesters before the baby arrives. Here, the exercises to work into your routine and how they could help with hip tightness, lower back pain, low energy levels, different types of stress and more.

But first, before you start any kind of exercise during your pregnancy, you should ask your doctor.

1. Seated Side Bend

Initiate in a comfortable seated upright position with crossed legs and knees wide and one heel in front of the other. Right hand should rest comfortably on the ground. Reach left arm straight up, and lean to the right, allowing right elbow to soften toward the ground. Focus on rotating the upper torso and stay open as you gaze up at left hand. Keep Taking several deep breaths then repeat on the other side.

This pose alleviates back pain and helps creates space for the belly to expand with more ease.

2. Bound Angle Pose

Sit on a blanket to avoid rounding the lower back and to help release pelvis forward. Place the soles of your feet together and let knees fall out to the sides. Hinging from the hips, walk your hands out in front of you, keeping the spine long, and thus leaving enough space for baby. Then hold for a few breaths. If you experience lower back pain or pain on either side of the sacrum, bring your feet further away from groin and place something like blocks under the knees. Try to skip this pose if you have pubic-symphysis algesia.

This yoga position can stretch the pelvic floor and inner thighs.This is also a great position for labor, when you’re in bed or choose to go for an epidural for the simple reason that gravity helps your baby descend and it opens up the pelvis.”

3. Goddess Pose

Stand with the legs approximately two to three feet apart. Turn your feet out diagonally away from your body’s midline. Bend into your knees by reaching the hips back as if you’re sitting in a chair. Keep your spine upright over hips and knees properly stacked right over the ankles. Hold for five-six slow breaths.

This pose helps in building stamina and strength prepares the mother and the concerned muscles for the effort of labor. Other than firming up your quadriceps, calves, pelvic floor and outer hip muscles, this yoga exercise also opens up the inner thighs, thereby building balance and stability.

4. Reclining Goddess Pose

At first sit with your knees bent and your feet on the ground, with the help of a yoga bolster or a firm pillow longways behind you. Use your arms and elbows to gently lower your back onto the length of the bolster, making sure that sitting bones stay on the ground. Once you’re comfortable, take the feet together and knees apart, placing one hand on the heart and one on your belly and breathe for ten deep breaths. If necessary, place a yoga block under the bolster to prop it up enough so that your head is above your heart, or to your comfort level. This pose helps in deeper breathing, increased relaxation, reduces back pain, and also improves hip flexibility for an easier delivery.”

5. Chair Pose at the wall variation

Stand in front of the wall about two feet away. With hands at the wall slowly lower your hips down to the wall so that your knees stack over your ankles and thighs become parallel to the floor. Lean your back against the wall for support and keep the spine upright. Hold for five deep and slow breaths.to increase the difficulty level, lift arms overhead.

This pose helps build some major stamina and strength yet feels safe because of wall support. It specifically strengthens your quadriceps, calves, hamstrings and the pelvic floor muscles, and helps in releasing tension in the low back and builds stability.

6. Cat/Cow pose

In a tabletop position on hands and knees with shoulders over wrists, inhale and drop your belly toward the ground. Lift your head and tailbone toward the ceiling as much or as little as you are comfortable. Exhale and round the spine toward ceiling, dropping your head and tailbone toward the ground. Repeat this pose several times, matching your breath with movements.

This reduces back pain, helps in relaxation and, as your uterus grows, you will appreciate more and more any position that allows it to ‘hang’ like this.

7. Garland Pose

Place one block on a low height and sit on the block coming into a squat, keeping your feet parallel to widen your pelvic outlet. With each inhale, send your breath to your belly and feel your pelvic floor release down into the block.

Squatting helps to open your hips, lengthen and soften your pelvic floor muscles, and help position the baby in your pelvis. During labor, you could push in this position and most hospital beds come equipped with a squat bar.

8. Bridge Pose

Lying on your back with your knees bent, walk your feet in towards your body until your ankles are stacked under your knees. Then Keeping your feet parallel feet and separated at hip distance, relax your neck and gaze upwards. Now Press into your feet and lift your hips, lower back, and middle back off the ground. Keep the shoulders firmly on the ground and open your chest. Hold for five slow and deep breaths while gazing upwards.

This pose helps building strength in the hamstrings and calves, also opening up the shoulders and the chest. This pose also reduces pressure of the pelvic floor as the baby and organs are slightly inverted, with respect to gravity.

9. Equal Breathing

On a comfortable seat with a bolster or blanket to raise your hips, inhale deeply through your nose for four to five counts and exhale either out mouth or through the nose. When pregnant, do not do breath retention.

Equal breathing increases balance and focus, thus helping you stay in your body and calming your mind at the same time. This breath can be helpful during contractions.

10. Head to Knee Pose

Start with sitting on ground. Stretch your legs in front of you and bend one knee to one side, placing the foot inside the inner thigh of your straight leg. Lengthen your spine slowly and fold forward toward the straight knee. Hold for five deep breaths slowly. Repeat this on the opposite side.

This pose helps lengthen the hamstrings, the muscles of the spine and inner thighs and helps open up the lower back region and outer hips. These areas tend to get tight during pregnancy. As your belly grows, convert it into a side stretch variation, with your side bending over your straight leg.