As a childbirth professional have you considered teaching prenatal yoga techniques?
Prenatal yoga has many benefits:
- Decreases overall fear
- Decreases pregnancy discomforts
- Decreases labor pain
- Decreases need for medication
- Decreases cesarean birth
- Increases confidence
- Increases enjoyment of pregnancy
- Increases satisfaction with birth experience
- Increases bonding with baby
Doulas, childbirth educators, midwives and other birth professionals can share simple yoga techniques with the pregnant women they work with. In Sanskrit, an ancient language of India, the word yoga means union.
Yoga helps achieve union of the forces within one’s self. The joining of mind, body, and spirit. Understanding how to build this inner self connection is incredibly valuable for women on the path to motherhood.
Connection
A simple way to teach connection is to have a pregnant woman sit in easy pose. Easy pose is to sit in the floor with your legs crossed.
Next, have the expecting mother bring her right hand to her heart and her left hand to her baby. Now, have her to close her eyes and just take a few minutes seated like this to connect to her body, connect to her baby, and connect to her breath.
While in this position encourage her to do one of the following:
- Release doubts and fears
- Celebrate pregnancy progress
- Whisper kinds words to her baby
- Reflect on the strength and power of her body
This simple yoga is a fabulous way to start or end an appointment or class with the pregnant moms that you serve. It is a technique they can take away and practice daily.
Learn more at: Body Awareness Birth™ Yoga workshop