You have probably heard or read about the benefits of yoga. Yoga is a great practice to start any time, especially when embarking on the new journey of motherhood. The benefits of yoga go beyond the physical aspect. Yoga is a mind, body, spirit practice.

Depending on how far along you are, your doctor or midwife may have talked to you about incorporating a fitness routine. It is important before starting or continuing any fitness routine, you talk to your healthcare provider and decide what is best for you and your baby. Some of three main benefits of yoga during pregnancy are:

Physical - Posed in prenatal yoga help to build strength, maintain balance, alleviate your growing body’s aches and pains, improve circulation, prepare your body for childbirth, and connect with your body and baby. For example, poses and their benefits:

Warrior poses help build strength and increase stamina.
Hip openers help prepare the body for labor.
Balance poses strengthens thighs, calves, and ankles. Improves and overall sense of balance.

Mental & Emotional - Pregnancy can be a very stressful time. Your body is going through many physical and hormonal changes. This maybe a very new process for you. From my personal experience as a first time mom, some of the decisions can get overwhelming. It was a time of making a lot of choices and decisions. Some big and some small. Through breath work, mediation helps relieve stress and anxiety. Yoga helps teach our minds to let go of expectations and things that don’t serve us. Letting go of that expensive crib set, what some lady said to you at the grocery store, and even after birth when things don’t according to plan. Through a regular and consistent practice gain skills to help navigate you through the prenatal to postnatal periods.

Community – Join a community of other expectant mommas. Meet like-minded mommas and share your journey of motherhood. I am a huge advocate for finding your community where ever you are in life. We lived in a technologically advance, fasted paced, and many times isolating existence. Having support from a community of like-minded individuals is both empowering and comforting. Community gives us an opportunity to learn from each other, support each other, and ease our fears.

Join my exclusive Facebook LV Yoga Moms Community.