Modified Downward Facing Dog
Is downward facing dog one of those poses you really don’t feel comfortable with?
You can modify this pose using a chair.
Start by standing an arms distance from the chair keeping both feet solid to the ground.
Take a slow inhale, and exhale gentle through soft lips.
Bring the hands to the back of the chair and walk the feet out behind you.
Gently move the hips back, and soften the pose with a few small circles of the hips.
Be sure that your lower back isn’t rounding and that your shoulders remain away from your ears.
The number one Prenatal Yoga pose for Sciatica
As your baby gets larger and applies more pressure to your spinal cord, the sciatic nerve, which runs all the way down the back of the leg to your foot, can become compressed, and may start giving you a degree of discomfort.
Sciatic pain takes many forms ranging from tingling sensations in your legs, to a sharp, stabbing pain. When severe, it can also cause the leg to go numb when standing or walking.
Do you suffer from Pregnancy or postpartum backache?
Backache is common in pregnancy – so what causes pregnancy backache?
During pregnancy your expanding uterus stretches and weakens your abdominal muscles and alters your posture, putting strain on your back.
The extra weight from your pregnancy also means extra work for your muscles and increased stress on your joints.
Hormonal changes in pregnancy can loosen the joints and the ligaments that attach your pelvic bones to your spine which can make you feel less stable (pregnancy waddle) and cause pain when you walk, stand or sit for long periods. This hormone, called relaxin, allows your baby to pass through the pelvis.
What are the Benefits of practicing Yoga?
Prenatal Benefits
The word yoga derives from the Sanskrit yuj, which means ‘to join’, ‘yoke’ or ‘coming together’. The practice of yoga is a union of the soul, the mind, the emotions and the physical body. So taking a prenatal yoga class is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your baby when you are pregnant. When yoga is practiced regularly, we develop an understanding of our own nature, our physical bodies become more subtle and strong and balance can be established in all parts of our being.
Taking a regular prenatal yoga class will help alleviate some common pregnancy discomforts including;
Pain in Labour: Your hormones are your helpers
The altered shape of the pelvis and birth outlet that is caused by our upright stance; our babies need to twist and turn to navigate these unique bends. Even our nearest cousins, the great apes, have a near-straight birth canal.
However, in every other way, human birth is like that of other mammals — those animals that suckle their young — and involves the same hormones: the body’s chemical messengers. These hormones, which originate in the deepest and oldest parts of our brain, cause the physical processes of labour and birth, as well as exerting a powerful influence on our emotions and behaviour.
Researchers such as French surgeon and natural birth pioneer Michel Odent believe that if we can be more respectful of our mammalian roots, and the hormones that we share, we can have more chance of a straightforward birth ourselves.