Yoga Modifications During Pregnancy
If you are a yoga enthusiast, you may have been using yoga in your routine for more than a year. You change up your routines as needed or add new poses to your routine as you see fit. What you may not be expecting is the need to make modifications to your routine once you find out you are pregnant. Here are some of the modifications that you may need to make during pregnancy for health and safety of you and your baby.
Using Blocks
Instead of going through each and every yoga pose and modification, you should look to the accessories that can help you with the modifications. One of these accessories are yoga blocks. These blocks should be used to brace your arms, your back, and to give you some relief for back pressure or neck pressure. One of the most important things to do when you are pregnant and performing yoga is to make sure your body is braced and is given the proper support, yoga blocks will help with that.
Stay Away from Downward or Front-Facing Poses
One of the key modifications you need to make during pregnancy is to change your yoga pose routine. You will want to make sure that you stay away from downward facing positions, like downward facing dog. You also want to stay out of front facing positions or poses that have you laying on your belly. Though this may seem obvious to most pregnant women, it may not be as obvious to others. You may think that you may not fall or hurt your unborn baby, but accidents happen. In fact, many prenatal yoga instructors will even limit the amount of time newly expectant mothers are in these positions to limit the chances of falling or stretching that would hurt the womb area.
Use Straps for Stretching
One aspect you may not think of that is a modification to how you do your yoga poses is to use straps for stretching. All too often you may be in a pose, like a side stretch and feel the stretch go too far only after it has happened. Instead of stretching your arms or legs on your own, consider using yoga straps as the modification to these stretches and bends. This modification can be used on most any pose that requires these stretches in legs and arms.
If you find these poses and modifications to be a little difficult, consider consulting with yoga professional that is certified in pregnancy or prenatal yoga. They will be able to assist you for the needs of your specific pregnancy and situation.
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