Calling all Mums to Be! We have a brand new Dru Yoga Pre Natal course starting in October. This
Yoga during pregnancy
beautiful 4 week programme will help you make the most of this very special time. Here, our Pre Natal Dru Yoga tutor, Hilary Airey discusses some of the benefits, tells you what you need to know about the course and gives you something to practice right now!
Benefits of Pre-Natal Yoga
One of the best gifts you can give yourself and your baby is a course of PRE-NATAL YOGA Classes. They are an excellent way to prepare for the birth of your baby.
Yoga will boost your energy and refresh you. It will calm you if you’re over-active. Gentle stretching will counteract tiredness and tone the muscles without straining them. Yoga stimulates the relaxation response.
If you do yoga during pregnancy, it will come into its own during childbirth!
What the classes include …
Relaxation and massage to release deeply held tensions and promote the well-being of you and your baby.
Gentle and safe movements and stretches to boost your energy levels and develop the strength and stamina you need for pregnancy, labour and motherhood.
Visualisations and affirmations to create positive thoughts and beliefs throughout your pregnancy.
Postural awareness to adapt to the changes in your body and help relieve some of the common discomforts of pregnancy e.g. back strain
Positions and breathing techniques to ease labour and delivery.
The chance to meet and share with other mums-to-be.
Effects of stress during labour, which yoga can alleviate
Chronic stress can lead to:
Increased heart rate in Mum and reduced heart rate in baby.
Immune system compromised
Reduction of blood supply to uterus by 65%
Reduction of oxygen to baby
Prolonged labour
Possible complications in labour.
Acute stress can lead to:
Headaches
Irritability
Stomach cramps
Digestive disorders
Pre-term birth
Even a one-hour Yoga class a week will help lessen these effects.
You can start from the 14th week of pregnancy and it is never too late to join – even women in their 8th month can benefit greatly.
Some things you can try now…
It is never too early to get into the habit of relaxing. Even if you are less than 14 weeks, try to give yourself a 10-20 minute relaxation every day or at least 3 times a week.
The best position for you as a mum-to-be is to lie on your left side, knees bent, cushion under head and between knees, blanket covering you. Put on some relaxing music or follow one of our relaxation CD’s and give yourself and your baby the gift of relaxation.
Another great thing you can do is the CAT posture (not before 14 weeks unless you have done Yoga before):
Kneel on the floor, knees underneath hips and a bit wider than hip width (have a blanket under your knees if they are not comfortable), hands underneath shoulders and a little bit wider than shoulder-width.
Keeping the back long and straight, gently rock forward and backward, going a little further each time (all within your comfort range).
Then let the back move in a circle clock-wise, then anti clock-wise.
Have a rest by sitting back on your heels for a moment.
Then come up again into Cat posture and move your hips gently from side to side (as if you were ‘wagging your tail’).
Finally, do classic cat posture by rounding up your back to the ceiling (lifting baby up) and then lengthening out your spine from the base up to the neck, opening your chest, looking forward and taking care NOT to dip or hollow the back.
Want to know more?
We are starting a 4 week course of Pre-Natal Yoga on Saturday October 29th 10 – 11.15am, £35, taught by Dru Trained Pre-Natal teacher, Hilary Airey, at Acanthus Golf Centre, Thorpe Lane, Thorpe WF3 1SL.
If you wish to reserve a place on the course, please do get in touch.