Pregnancy Hormones and How to Practice Yoga Safely
The beautiful journey of pregnancy brings a whole load of changes, physically, mentally and hormonally. Understanding these transformations and adapting your yoga practice accordingly is essential for a safe and enjoyable prenatal experience.
So What Are These Pregnancy Hormonal Changes:
During pregnancy, hormonal fluctuations are a natural and crucial part of supporting the growth and development of the baby. Key hormones include progesterone, estrogen, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and relaxin. These hormones play vital roles in maintaining pregnancy, preparing the body for birth, and supporting the overall well-being of both mother and baby.
Why They Are Significant in Terms of Yoga and Movement?
A couple of reasons why we need to be aware of these hormones when practicing yoga are:
Joint Flexibility
Relaxin increases joint flexibility to accommodate the growing baby. This means we need to be aware of this flexibility in our joints and embrace gentle stretches, avoiding overexertion and focusing on movements that support the changing dynamics of the body. You can shorten your stances in standing poses and try not to go as far into a stretch as you would have pre-pregnancy.
This is also why it’s important to practice yoga (or any form of exercise) when you are pregnant with a qualified prenatal specialist, who will remind of you of this during your class.
Tiredness
These hormonal shifts can impact our energy levels and make us feel fatigue and general tiredness throughout pregnancy. I’m sure most of us has felt that fatugue to varying levels at some point in our pregnancy. This means we may need to adapt our fitness routines to accommodate this so try practicing yoga that restores the energy levels rather than depletes them further. Move slowly, mindfully, and listen to you body. Interestingly, if we do nothing, this can make us feel more tired and lose further energy, So a gentle nourishing practice little and often will do wonders for your energy levels.
Emotional Well-being (Progesterone and Estrogen):
Hormones like progesterone and estrogen can influence emotional well-being. Prioritise practices that promote relaxation and stress reduction, utilizing breathwork and meditation to support emotional balance. Of course yoga is great for this. Be sure to take that relaxation at the end too and don’t be tempted to skip this part.
Ultimately, find a yoga teacher who is trained in prenatal yoga to ensure they are taking this into consideration, and offering you as much support as you need throughout this time.
But if I can give one more piece of advice it would be to listen to your own body! What feels great for someone else may not be for you and that’s okay. When we learn to tune in to our body and mind and start to trust our own decisions we can have confidence that we are making the right choice for us and our baby!
I offer Pregnancy Yoga Classes in our Brentwood Studio and on our Online Membership launching VERY SOON!
Have a lovely day,
Jen x
