Prenatal Yoga – The importance of breathing well in pregnancy
You might have been wondering why we start our prenatal yoga class with a focus on the breath – the theme of ‘Breathe consciously’.
Learning to breathe deeply and calmly is quite simply the most important thing you will learn in our prenatal yoga class.
The breath is a woman’s greatest tool for labour, and the first thing that goes out the window when labour gets hard. There are many physiological rhythms that you can’t control – the uterine contractions, the heart beat – but the breath is within your ability to change for your own (and baby’s) benefit.
The more you can make friends with your breath, understand how it can lift your mood, help you deal calmly with any situation, the more ready you’ll be for labour.
The value of learning about your breath actually starts much earlier in pregnancy. If you can calm and deepen your breath throughout your pregnancy, you can remain calm in your mind and body in any situation. And that of course means your baby remains calm too.
You can also use your breath to pick up your energy. If you’re feeling low on energy, the breath can pick up your energy. Yes, if you’re thinking ‘Aha, that would be useful for labour!’, well you’re right about that too.
Where do we start with breathing practice?
The first and most basic place to start is with awareness. Over the course of the next 10 weeks we’ll investigate the breath in greater depth. But first, let’s find out what it is, and what your own natural breath is like.
So we start by simply noticing the breath, the natural breath as it moves in and out of the body. The first thing to pay attention to is where your breath is filling your lungs and whether any part of your abdomen or chest is moving. You might notice your chest and shoulders moving, or perhaps your abdomen? What we’re working towards is to have the in-breath expand your abdomen, and your out-breath release your abdomen, with your upper chest and shoulders remaining relaxed.
The key to changing anything about the breath is to go slowly and steadily – not too much at once. So if you have time this week, please spend a few minutes sitting with a straight spine (on the floor, or on an office chair is fine if you’re reading this at work!) and going through that practice of noticing your breath.
Above all, enjoy the process of investigating your breath! Every little bit of practice counts.
Namaste
Rebecca
