- 1. Don’t over exert yourself.
We are all for keeping active during pregnancy at Smileybelt and our support belt will certainly help you do that, but it is not a time to start running marathons or win a gold medal. Keeping active, and your energy flowing is awesome but you don’t want to raise the body temperature too high. This is especially important in the earlier months of pregnancy to keep your little baby safe. And hey it takes a lot of energy to grow a human so just don’t over do it
- 2. Don’ t over stretch
We do a lot of stretching in yoga but during pregnancy we don’t want to over stretch. You’re going to have your ligaments all loosening up due to the influx of the relaxin hormone which is awesome as we need that to happen for tor the natural birthing process, but in order to keep yourself safe from injury you just want to move to about a 75% capacity. I know is hard if you’re a driven personality (I’m one of them too) but about 70-75% is a good rule of thumb to keep your body safe.
- 3. No compression
I like to think of pregnancy as a shared experience for mother and baby shared. Everything you do, everything you eat and most of the things you do with your body are going to affect your little baby inside. So we don’t want to compress but rather create space and room. That is your baby’s little home in there so let’s try and make it the most comfortable ride we can.
Some places you’ll find compression in yoga:
- Crunches
- Closed twists
- Lying on your belly.
So from there if you’re thinking how am I going to practise yoga if I have so many restrictions? Don’t worry there are still heaps you can do. Anything on your hands and knees is really beneficial, takes the strain off your lower back and creates heaps of space for your baby. Side stretches are also very helpful, especially if you’re experiencing round ligament pain. If you’re having a healthy pregnancy there are so many other poses you can do. I really recommend you go along to a prenatal yoga class and experience all the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits that yoga has during pregnancy.