Yoga for Pregnancy
At Greenville Yoga, we truly aim for healing of the body, heart and mind. As we re-opened in 2021, Ali saw a deep need for pregnant women to find community after the isolation of 2020. She has created an awesome program for our pregnant students in her 4-week series and has even spearheaded a new offering of Postpartum Healing Circle for women to share and process their birth stories. Ali is the author of our latest blog series dedicated to our prenatal yoga students. Please feel free to read or share with those you love…
Benefits of Prenatal Yoga by Ali Teeslink, doula and registered yoga teacher
Address common pregnancy discomforts
Through intentional stretching and muscle strengthening, prenatal yoga is specifically designed to target and reduce common pregnancy aches and pains. (Such as decreasing lower back pain, constipation, bloating, and headaches.)
Pelvic floor awareness
Bringing increased awareness into toning the muscles of the pelvic floor is important to assist in the birthing process and can even improve recovery after baby is born. Most of us are disconnected from the physical and energetic properties of our pelvic bowl. Practicing yoga prenatally and experiencing childbirth are some of the opportunities we have to connect with this amazing group of muscles.
Creates body awareness
Your pregnant body is incredible! Not only does yoga offer you a chance to connect with your baby, it offers you a moment to connect with yourself and the parts of your body that are changing so rapidly they may not feel like yours anymore. Loving and connecting with your pregnant body creates a positive mental and physical feedback that guides you into birth and postpartum.
Reduces stress and anxiety
In yoga we use breath and postures to bring a sense of relaxation. Learning how to relax and calm the mind and body can prepare you for the physical demands of labor and parenthood. Yoga also increases energy and heightens mood as it boosts the cardiovascular system, improving circulation.
Prepare the body for labor, birth and postpartum
Labor is a marathon not a sprint! Prenatal yoga is a practice in endurance. By strengthening and toning muscles, we practice moving efficiently so that the body can maintain long periods of work. Recognizing and compartmentalizing work time and rest time throughout your yoga practice will prepare you for the natural cycles of work and rest the body undergoes during labor. (Contraction, followed by rest, preparation for the next contraction.)
Chance to socialize and be with other pregnant folks
Knowing you’re not alone in your pregnancy journey and that others may be experiencing similar feelings, emotionally and physically, can help normalize your experience. Pregnancy is a time of great change and expansion, it can be affirming and grounding to have someone else verify having similar experiences. Plus, some of the friends you meet in prenatal yoga will stay with you beyond birth and into postpartum when being with other mothers is important for health and well being.
Ali is a Prenatal Yoga instructor, a trained Birth Doula and certified Postpartum Doula. She is passionate about creating safe and supportive spaces for women and birthing people to connect, rest, breathe, visualize, and move. She believes nourishing mothers with the radical powers of rest and body literacy is how we create lasting change in future generations.
