Yoga has been described as one of the best exercises that pave the way to the union of individual consciousness to that of Universal, ensuring an ultimate harmony between the mind and the body. Not only doing yoga everyday calms the mind but also keeps the body healthy and fit.

Actors Ekta Jain, Marisa Verma and yoga trainer Mandeep Kaur practice yoga ahead of International Day of Yoga in Mumbai on June 20, 2015. Image Source: IANS

Mumbai: Actors Ekta Jain, Marisa Verma and yoga trainer Mandeep Kaur practice yoga ahead of International Day of Yoga in Mumbai on June 20, 2015.

This is one of the ways in which a pregnant woman can keep herself healthy. Being pregnant is not only about the body, it is also about the mental state the mother is in. With the help of yoga during pregnancy, the pregnant women will definitely be able to put away a lot of pain and get a better mental health as well.

Yoga and fitness

Yoga and pregnancy: The practice of yoga during pregnancy can bring about a lot of good positive energy into one's body and mind. Through the help of yoga, pregnant women can stay healthy, focus and concentrate on all little things without any problems. Yoga is more of a calm and caring exercise regime that can help the pregnant women stay slimmer during pregnancy.

Yoga and weight: One of the biggest problems when it comes to pregnancy is the fact that a person can put on a lot of weight during this period and they will not be able to lose it easily unless they are prepared. A mother who has been doing yoga exercises during pregnancy would definitely be able to maintain a better shape and a better, healthier weight than someone who had not been exercising during the pregnancy times.

Yoga during pregnancy will ensure that the pregnant women maintain a healthy lifestyle that would optimize and strengthen the mother's body to the maximum extent so that they can have the baby without too much of a physical strain on the mom. Doing yoga exercises during pregnancy can also make sure that the mother's joints and muscles do not become too weak to handle the stress later on as well.

DAMASCUS, June 23, 2017 - Syrian Yoga fans practice yoga during an event marking the International Yoga Day in Damascus, capital of Syria, on June 22, 2017. Image Source: Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani/IANS

DAMASCUS, June 23, 2017 - Syrian Yoga fans practice yoga during an event marking the International Yoga Day in Damascus, capital of Syria, on June 22, 2017.

Calming effect: Yoga calms the mind and has spiritual significance too. Not only that, yoga helps in maintaining spiritual and mental balance.

Maintaining better health: Yoga during pregnancy can help reduce the symptoms of all those irritating aspects of pregnancy- including weight gain, morning sickness, constipation etc. In the end, yoga exercises during pregnancy help pregnant women to go into labor with more physical and mental strength.

Yoga after pregnancy

Yoga is something that has great benefits even after pregnancy. Yoga is important even after the delivery has happened because the mother will still need a lot of physical and emotional strength. The women might also have some amount of baby fat that needs to be shed.

Doing yoga exercises after pregnancy can help in shedding the extra body weight gained by the person. 

Teaching how to do yoga during pregnancy

When a woman is pregnant, she has to take care of her body and ensure that she does not do something that could be dangerous to her womb. In such a situation, there are certain steps to be followed for doing these yoga exercises after pregnancy and during pregnancy as well.

During the first trimester of pregnancy, the exercise should focus on the legs so as to reduce chances of the leg cramping up as well. During the second and third trimesters, the pregnant mothers should shift to the asanas. These yoga exercises during pregnancy can ward off stress, fatigue and its effect on the muscles.

During all this time, when doing yoga, the mother has to focus on breathing right that will come in handy when she goes into labor as well.

It is also suggested that women should stop doing yoga when they are near the 10th to 14th week of pregnancy since these are physically crucial times and the mothers should restrain from physical activities. Even if they do, they can stress on the thighs and legs, but not the abdomen. After the 10- 11th week, resume yoga exercises only after pregnancy.

Yoga Poses Image Source: IANS

Different yoga poses

Mother's yoga exercises after pregnancy and before provide for a smooth delivery and a fast recovery once the child is born.

There is no need for the mother to remember all the asanas, but they need to focus on the values of yoga and just do the asanas and breathe the right way. Usually, the most common yoga for parents includes shoulder lifts, neck exercises, yogic breathing, bhramari, vajrasana, cat pose, konasana, trikonasana, veerabhadrasana, paschimottan asana, butterfly pose, fish pose, viptritKarni, shavasana, nadi shodan, pranayama, yoga nidra etc. Meditation is also an important part of the yoga that is good for parents and pregnant women.


When practising yoga, make sure that you do not push your body too hard. Before doing any form of yoga, the pregnant woman should consult her doctor to find out if this would be good for her or not.

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