How To Rise And Shine While Pregnant

Ever since our days of elementary school P.E. we have been encouraged to warm up our bodies prior to being active. While we no longer get to play Tetherball our Four Square afterward, the need to gradually get our heart pumping and blood flowing has remained the same.

This is especially true for expectant mothers. I’ve always been an advocate of stretching as a regular part of your workout mix, but now that I’m 25 weeks pregnant (and growing!) it is that much more important to me.

But what’s the difference between yoga and stretching?

Great question. While both work to wake up your whole body so you can be more comfortable throughout the day, yoga is centered on your breath. The focus on each inhalation and exhalation not only helps you stay centered (which will come in very handy during delivery!), it also helps to further lengthen your muscles. Yoga also works to improve your balance, strength and overall alignment, all things that may be compromised during pregnancy.

How is yoga beneficial during pregnancy?

For those of us with a baby on the way, yoga helps alleviate the aches and pains that come with carrying a child. Does tightness in the lower back, hip pain and round ligament pain sound familiar? These are just some of the ways our body likes to remind us of our pending motherhood, but yoga can be a lifesaver! It works to create space in our lower back and hips so we can get that spring back in our step (or waddle).  

But there’s more!

Moms-to- be know that aches and pains aren’t the only things synonymous with pregnancy. We’ve got a lot going on and yoga helps us keep our sanity by:

• Reducing stress
• Improving sleep
• Increasing flexibility
• Decreasing nausea and headaches

Where can you start?

As with anybody with any exercise, it is important to consult your doctor prior to incorporating new moves into your daily routine, but once you’ve done that, I feel like the best time to start is right when your alarm goes off in the morning!

Pregnant or not, it is important to give your body an opportunity to warm up before popping out of bed and expecting it to be ready to go. Chances are your brain isn’t 100% awake yet, so why should you expect your body to be?

I recently did a video demonstrating five easy yoga moves you can do without even getting out of bed.  The best thing is these moves are beneficial to everybody, not just ones harboring unborn children, so they are something you and your partner can do together!

To check out the video, just go to Janelle Brown for STRIVE with Janelle YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/c/JanelleBrownSTRIVEwithJanelle and view.

Namaste and Strive on!