The Benefits of Yoga for Pregnant Women and New Moms

Studies have proven time and time again just how beneficial exercise is for pregnant women, but only a few types of fitness routines uplift them both physically, mentally and emotionally.

For instance, yoga, a type of moving meditation, has been proven to help those who practice it to achieve a sense of peace and wellbeing. Marc Macadaeg, teacher and director of teacher development at the Urban Ashram Manila, tells us how yoga is beneficial to expectant women and those who have just given birth.


1. What are the benefits of yoga (physical, mental, etc.)?
A regular Yoga practice can help practitioners feel their best on both a physical and psychological level.

Initially, practitioners will regain and build an awareness of their bodies that results in better physical coordination and balance, and an overall feeling of being refreshed, energized and alert. Over time, and with continued and regular practice, this will help increase their flexibility and restore their range of motion, build strength, improve their posture, breathing, digestion, cardiovascular endurance, and help manage and heal medical issues such as sciatica, hypertension, and migraines, among other things!

Practitioners will also notice that a regular sessions will begin to change and uplift their moods, boost their self-esteem and helps them stay focused while they keep moving within the bigger picture!

 

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2.  Any special benefits for a pregnant mom or a mom who has just given birth? How soon after giving birth can they do this?

We run you through and help you understand a woman’s body as it progresses through different trimesters, and how you can modify a lot of poses to help you practice them. The muscles [of pregnant women] have to expand and they don’t really contract during pregnancy because it has to soften to allow the baby to grow in your body.

The thing with the body of a woman who has just given birth is that all the muscles are still very weak. [Fortunately,] there’s usually a postnatal program that really helps you target the woman’s body.

Doctors and midwives recommend that women who have just given birth generally give themselves between 6 and 8 weeks (6 weeks for normal deliveries; 8 weeks for those who underwent a Caesarian section) to recuperate before engaging in physical activities. A woman's body goes through a tremendous physical and emotional change after actual delivery and it is important to ease back into a regular practice in order to help her body complete its own recovery. It’s just the right time for the woman’s body to heal itself.

For parents, setting time aside for their own personal well-being can be especially beneficial. The postnatal period forces a huge shift in paradigm as parents face not only the joys of having a new child, but also accept the responsibility for a whole life while also juggling the very real stresses of sleepless nights changing diapers, irregular feedings times, dealing with work, managing the rest of the household, etc.

Incorporating a regular practice into their schedule can help parents transition better into and cope with their new roles as primary care providers for their children. It also gives parents some well deserved time to attend to and focus on their own personal needs.

Sometimes when the attention shifts to the child, it feeds postnatal depression. While becoming a mom requires you to change your priorities, it’s always important to keep that personal space for yourself so you’re centered and you know what you’re doing.

 

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3.  What are the fees?
The Urban Ashram Manila values its members and provides them a whole range of membership packages depending on their lifestyle and how often one plans to practice. Check our website at www.urbanashrammanila.com for our regular packages as well as any upcoming promos.


4.  What is the recommended frequency for practicing yoga?
In order to reap the full therapeutic benefits of yoga, we recommend that beginning practitioners take between 4 and 6 classes a week.

A regular asana practice is not only a physical workout, but also more importantly, a great way for practitioners to clear their minds and regain perspective. Their practice helps them better manage the tension and stress that begins to build up when they have to attend to the endless list of things they feel they need to do.

It may sound counterintuitive, but making time for a personal practice helps can help practitioners create more time for everything else!


5.  How long does it take before practitioners can notice and enjoy the benefits?
Individuals will respond differently to the healing and therapeutic effects of a regular yoga practice. We all have to realize that when we practice asana, we work with specific bodies that are affected by genetics and have been conditioned by a whole lifetime of nutrition, injuries, sickness, the kind of work that we do, levels of physical activity, habits, etc., so there's really no general timeline as regards how soon one starts reaping the benefit of a regular yoga practice.

Let me tell you an anecdote though. When I was still working as a tax and corporate lawyer, I had plenty of excuses for putting off my own personal yoga practice. I had to juggle deadlines, appease clients, review the work of the junior associates, and as a result, I ended up practicing only once or twice a week.

The wake-up call came when the nurse started including me in her daily rounds of the lawyers' offices, because my last physical exam showed that I was already pre-hypertensive! I re-committed myself to a daily hour-long practice and after thirty days, my blood pressure went down to 100/70 after peaking at 140/100.

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6.  What type of yoga is recommended for beginners?
When I first started practicing yoga, I was intimidated by a lot of the open level yoga classes that were being offered all over. Most of the other practitioners in those classes were capable of doing some amazing things and there I was, just barely able to touch my shins in a simple forward bend!

When we first started building the Urban Ashram, one of the first projects that I threw myself into was developing a program called FNR - Flexibility Not Required. I wanted to create a specific class offering that was both physically challenging, very accessible for beginning practitioners, and ultimately address that singular thought that most beginners grapple with when yoga comes up: "I'm not flexible enough!"
The FNR Series is a fun and accessible way for you to get into yoga, without having to worry or be intimidated about not being flexible or strong enough to start your own practices. Emphasis is placed on laying the foundations for a safe and lifelong practice through proper alignment, action points and the generous use of props in order to manage specific issues such as tightness, injuries and other medical conditions.

Class sequencing is built around the sun salutations and is geared towards building internal heat to warm up your body and gradually and intelligently opening your body up in order to make more challenging poses easier to understand and more accessible, building a lot of cardiovascular endurance, strength and increasing your range of motion.

The FNR Series is also a great class for more experienced practitioners who want to refine their own practices and gain a deeper appreciation of the foundation poses.

 

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7.  Can you recommend alternatives (like videos, sample exercises) that moms can duplicate at home?  
There are plenty of resources out there for pre- and postnatal yoga, but as with all forms of physical activity, there is always a risk of injury, so personally, I would suggest that your readers spend a few months practicing with a teacher in order to build a safe and solid foundation for a lifelong yoga practice.



Want to find out which yoga poses you can try out for yourself while pregnant or after giving birth? Want to learn more about Urban Ashram Manila? Click through the photos in the image gallery.