Category: Fitness

While expecting my little bundle of joy, I found solace and a balance between my health and my baby’s development through yoga. Beyond easing the pregnancy process and the discomfort that comes with it, some asanas help baby brain development while in the womb.

We can make our pregnancy journey easy by adding one of these asanas to our lifestyle.

Let’s learn those ideal asanas for pregnancy to ensure a healthy pregnancy.

This asana, or pose, helps strengthen the arms, shoulders, and lower back. It is most helpful for expecting mothers having weakness or constant back pain. It was a quick relief in my case, so I highly recommend this one to those who are into this currently and seeking a solution to it.

In your second or third trimester, this asana will be a great help.

This asana:

• helps with blood circulation,
• improves the connection between mind and body,
• improves overall mental health.
• And most importantly, the improved blood circulation helps baby brain development by ensuring all essential nutrients and ample oxygen are reaching the womb.

Virabhadrasana Practice – Stepwise

These simple steps will help in performing Virabhadrasana: –

• Place your feet at some distance parallelly (as given in the picture) and raise your arms parallel to the ground.
• Ensure your right foot heal is aligned perfectly with your left foot center.
• Exhale and twist your torso right, then bend your right knee over the ankle. Bring your palms together, and hold position for 30–60 seconds.
• After all this, straighten your right knee, exhale, and return to Tadasana. Now, repeat the same on the left side.

Finding the right sitting comfort or adding a bit of flexibility to your thighs with Baddha Konasana will be a great help in the day-to-day walking or sitting while you are in your last trimester or even in labor.

It may feel difficult if you are a beginner but surely will be a relief when tried regularly.

Baddha Konasana Practice – Stepwise

• Start by sitting in Sukhasana or normal seating on the edge of a cushion, or opt for a folded blanket, ensuring you tilt your pelvis forward for a proper start.
• Press your foot soles together, bringing them closer to your hips for better stretching shaping like a diamond.
• Straighten your spine and root your lower body firmly to the ground.
• Once you do that interlace your fingers, or place your hands on your shins or ankles (the choice is yours).
• Hold this for at least a minute and repeat it 2-4 times to experience its benefits.

Read More – https://beingmomandmore.com/5-easy-yoga-asanas-for-new-moms/

When we talk about prenatal yoga, Agnistambhasana is one of the most beneficial ones. I was having backaches during my pregnancy, and this asana did wonders! Besides preventing lower back pain, this yoga asana also helped in strengthening the hips and lower back.

If you feel relaxed, your baby in the womb will feel the same! During pregnancy, it is crucial to remain calm and relaxed since stress can affect baby-brain development by increasing stress hormones.

This particular yoga is safe to do in the third trimester of pregnancy.

Agnistambhasana Practice – Stepwise

To practice Agnistambhasana or the ankle-to-knee pose,

• Sit comfortably with relaxed shoulders and your feet resting on the ground.
• Cross your legs, placing the right ankle on the left knee and the left ankle on the right knee.
• Relax and let your arms rest on the sides of your body.
• Close your eyes, take deep breaths, and enjoy the moment.

Tadasana (The mountain pose), one of the best prenatal yogas for women, offers remarkable benefits to expecting ladies. This was like a freshness for me after a sour morning start in my third trimester.

Tadasana is a gentle pose that helps improve posture during pregnancy and strengthens the abdomen and lower body muscles. Additionally, it helps reduce stress which is a must when your body is going through so much. Embrace the benefits of Tadasana to elevate your pregnancy journey.

Tadasana is safe to perform in your first trimester of pregnancy.

Tadasana Practice – Stepwise

To practice Agnistambhasana or the ankle-to-knee pose,

• Stand with your hips apart and your toes pointing upwards.
• After this, bring both hands together and close to your heart with your fingers pointing upwards. Then close your eyes and start taking slow breaths.
• If you feel comfortable, you can extend your arms above your head and gently arch your back.

Ujjayi Pranayama is another prenatal yoga practice expecting mothers should add to their pregnancy lifestyle to ease the process and to help their baby brain development. Ujjayi pranayama (belly breathing) is a slow breathing technique that helps reduce stress and anxiety, aids in bringing focus, and prepares expecting mothers for childbirth.

Ujjayi Pranayama Practice – Stepwise

• Sit comfortably with crossed legs and arms on the knees on a mat or your bed.
• Ensure your spine is straight and in line with your shoulders.
• Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose while ensuring to constrict the back of your throat and feel the touch of air to it.
• Relax and repeat this process for a few minutes.

Read more: https://shorturl.at/CGY47

Matsyasana, or the supported fish pose, helps expecting mothers during their pregnancy while also helping with the development of the baby. Matsyasana did well for me; it will do the same for you too.

During pregnancy, practicing this yoga stretches the abdominal muscles, opens up the hips, and ultimately relieves the stress on the back we all feel during our pregnancy. This yoga requires two yoga blocks, and only then will you be able to practice it.

When discussing the right time to do this yoga, the second trimester is believed to be a good time.

Matyasana Practice – Stepwise

You need to have two blocks to practice this yoga.

• Sit on your yoga mat and place the two blocks behind you. Secondly, place one block where you will rest the back of your head and the other at the center (where your mid-back area will touch the mat).
• Now, start bringing the soles of your feet together with your knees falling to the side.
• Find a comfortable position, lie back gently on the blocks, extend your arms to the sides, and feel the relaxation.

Malasana (the squat pose) is another form of prenatal yoga that prepares the expecting mother’s body for birth. If the mother is healthy, it leads to a healthy baby.

Aside from performing this yoga, it is vital to include diets in your routine that are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids/ DHA that are building blocks for optimal baby brain development.

The second trimester is a safe time to practice Malasana.

This particular yoga asana (Malasana) stretches the pelvis, hips, and inner thighs. Even though it is beneficial prenatal yoga for expecting mothers, it is advisable to first consult your doctor before practicing Malasana.

Malasana Practice – Stepwise

To perform prenatal yoga Malasana (garland or squat pose),

• start sitting on a stool with feet extended to the front. It looks like a squat pose. Bend your knees and place both feet wider than your hips.
• Then, bring your hands into the prayer position, close your eyes, and breathe deeply in a rhythmic manner.
• Now, this is optional; if only you feel comfortable, tell your partner to remove the stool with utmost care.

Working women have a lot of responsibilities to shoulder especially if they have a little child to take care of. While a lot of time goes in managing household and office work, they often lose track of maintaining their health and life balance. This often leads to various physical and emotional complications, which further result in serious health diseases.

According to United Nations website, physical inactivity is one of the major reasons go by workingthat women develop several lifestyle diseases. So, to avoid these things, it is important that you adopt a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

But we understand that following this regularly isn’t that easy. Therefore, before directly moving to physical health, let’s work on your mental health first.

You know that our mind controls our body and our actions. So, first and foremost, you must train your mind to work in your favor. Follow these four simple tips-

Clear Your ‘Why’ Question

Our brain follows logic and reasoning to accept new habits. If you want to adapt something that requires extra efforts, make your brain understand why it is important to you.

Make it a Group Activity

It is always suggested that you work out in a group. In case you do not have friends, you can involve your family to workout with you and it will be so much fun for all.

Be Disciplined

It may sound selfish sometimes to focus on just yourself, but you should know that your good health is going to help you in all other aspects like personal, professional and social. Even your family’s financial and mental condition directly depends upon your well-being.

Be Positive and Keep Going

There will be different moods and events. You should enjoy your workout sessions so that it do not feel like a chore but rather a time for yourself. You can motivate yourself by listening to your favorite music, wearing your favorite color outfits, and so on.

So, now you have the mindset to follow a routine, let’s jump into 5 Easy Exercises that you can do at home or park without any special equipments –

1. Pushups

This is one of the most helpful stationary exercises that stimulate blood in the upper body as well as in the core. To do this exercise,

1. Get down on all fours and place your hands slightly wider than your shoulders.
2. Straighten your arms and body.
3. Slowly lower your body until your chest nearly touches the ground.
4. Make sure you breathe in while going down and breathe out while pushing yourself up. This will help maintaining Oxygen level in your body and support body movement.

If you are facing difficulty in this, you can put your knees on the ground, raise your feet and then do the same for starting sets.

2. Squats

Squats are really helpful in strengthening your lower body. This activates your back, Legs and hip muscles.

1. Stand straight with your feet hip- width apart.
2. Put shoulders back and keep your back straight
3. You Must activate your muscles including core
4. Take your upper body down just like you are going to sit on a chair
5. Make sure your knees do not go forward and your folding leg makes an angle of 90 degrees. Repeat these steps for 10-15 times for the set of 3.

If you’re a beginner it might be difficult for you to go much down but don’t worry, try to get as much down with proper posture and your leg muscles will gain strength eventually. You can also take support of a steady Pole or a table in starting reps.

3. Skipping

Skipping is a great moms exercise at home to lose weight, promote greater mass bone and prevent several diseases like osteoporosis. It helps release endorphins that reduce stress and make you feel good.

Note: If you are already struggling with any knee/joint injury or heart related disease, please refrain from doing this.

Follow these steps to do Skipping correctly-

1. Select a rope that is 3 feet longer than your height. For example if your height is 5’5” your rope should be 8’5”.
2. Make sure you wear a sports bra to support your breasts during exercise. Also, shockproof socks and shoes are preferable to avoid any injury.
3. Hold the handles of skipping rope with both hands, extend rope at least 1 foot forward to make the longest arc possible.
4. Widen your arms along your hips and swing the rope with your wrists. You do not need to rotate your arms, just a slight wrist movement would suffice.

Repeat this for 15-20 reps for 3 sets and you can increase the number when you get comfortable.

4. Stretching

Stretching exercises can be done anywhere, anytime and are really helpful in increasing blood flow and mobilising joints. It also decreases the risk of injuries.

Here are 6 helpful stretching exercises to keep you flexible and active-

1. Neck Roll
2. Rolling Arms
3. Triceps’ Stretch
4. Hip Roll
5. Pushup Stretch
6. Quad Stretch

All these help in increasing the range of motion of joints, please take care of your limits for each moms exercise at home and stay healthy and flexible

5. Plank holds

Planks provide a number of benefits like strengthening the core of your body, improving metabolism, supporting body with good coordination, balance and posture.

Research suggests that these exercises also support and improve our Mental Health. So, get a mat and let’s do this.

Follow these steps for a perfect plank-

1. Lay on the floor with elbows under your shoulder as shown in the picture. You can use a mat and be barefoot for a nice grip.
2. Keep your forearms and feet on the floor and slowly raise your body. Make sure your body is straight with your core engaged.
3. Hold this position for 30 sacs to 1 minute for 3 sets a day.
4. You can increase the duration as you get comfortable.

There is no second thought that woman is the Backbone of a family. In our society, we always learn to make others happy and devote all our time for the same. However, It is equally important that we follow workouts tips for busy moms regularly and give our body adequate amounts of nutrition and care. It will not only help us stay active and fit but also keep your family safe and secure.

We hope that this article will be useful for you and if it is, do share it with your friends and family. We would love to know your thoughts in the comment box

All the Best! Stay fit!

It may not come as a phrase, but yoga is most likely equivalent to how you feel, eat, or breathe. And this urge raises the bar when we enter into parenthood. In particular, mothers who are busy sorting home chores or taking care of the baby hear the alarm when this workload takes a toll on their health. Since it’s a transformation mode for her, realizing that health has taken a back seat goes unnoticed.

While finding a 30-minute time bracket to a quiet place to work out, while Daddy will take care of the baby, is more encouraging. There are some easy yoga asanas (poses) that you can practice with your baby or can make more fun as a family activity.

Surely, you can check with your medical provider if yoga (or the below asanas) is safe for you.

Here’s a list of the five easiest yoga asanas(poses) that can be done daily, all in the comfort of your own home:

It is one of the main asanas of yoga. This asana (pose) is a great stress buster and releases tense muscles when you elongate the spine. You may feel tight around the hip area while performing this pose, which is normal. Focus on your breath and bend. Inhale deeply and exhale while bending your hips.

Stay in Balasana for 3-5 minutes and feel your spine from the neck to the lower back. Let your body and mind both fully relax.

Benefits –

• Calms brain.
• Relieves stress.
• Easen up lower back pain.
• Gives good stretch in the hips and thighs.
• Increases circulation.

Our feet stand forward, whether it is walking ahead in life or performing tasks, making it a sheer joy to give them real fitness pleasure. Try Adho Mukha Svanasana, by keeping the stomach and face down and the legs the distance of one foot apart, forming the alphabet A. Place your palms next to your chest. Exhale and press your palms down and raise your body upside, which we call dandasana, or high plank.

Further, slowly move your head inwards and adjust your legs position to make an inverted alphabet ‘V’. Slowly straighten your legs and knees. Regular practice and improvising on your shoulders’ flexibility will enable you to touch the crown of your head on the floor. Stay in this asana for a minute (it may start with less than a minute of holding time, but gradually it’ll improve). Bring your body back slowly to rest the same way and lie down on the mat and relax.

Benefits –

• Generates the lost energy and reduces fatigue.
• Strengthen legs and ankles and tone them as well.
• This asana helps in relieving leg pain and stiffness.
• Constant stretching on the heels may help soften the calcaneal spur, which causes heel pain.
• Reaching for the crown of your head on the mat relieves shoulder blade stiffness.
• Arthritis in the shoulder joints is no longer a problem.
• This posture has the potential to make you feel energized.
• This asana refreshes the brain cells and stimulates the brain.

Finding a balance within your body is foremost at any point in time. Start with this simple Standing Forward Fold that can be performed almost anywhere. While you’ve got that precious hour of exercise, this asana can help bring relief to any stress you may have in your spine while you sleep, and it will give a long stretch to your entire backside.

Benefits –

• Calms your brain and relieves stress.
• Helps to stimulate the liver and kidneys.
• Gives your hamstrings, calves, and hips a good stretch.
• Strengthens thighs and knees.
• Relieves bloating and improves digestion.
• Adds relief to menopausal symptoms.
• Reduces fatigue and anxiety.
• Relieves headaches and insomnia.

Tadasana (Mountain Pose), known as one of the easy asanas for losing weight, gives your body an exceptional stretch against gravity. Not just that, it helps steady your breathing, improves your posture, as well as strengthens your thighs and knees, thus preparing you for another exhausting day. The best part is that it’s the easiest of all to practice.

Benefits –

• Work best in posture problems. Helps in correcting the tendency to hunch or slouch.
• May increase height.
• Improves Breathing.
• Helps in Weight Loss.
• Boosts energy levels.
• Lifts your mood issues.
• Provides Relief from sciatica.

This may seem tough being a new mom, but with a few more days added to your beginner yoga workout, you will be all set to perform. This asana can be a challenging pose to get into and hold, but it’s an excellent hip opener and helps find balance in the spine, which needs relaxation post-delivery and a hectic lifestyle.

During this pose, you must focus on your glutes and squeeze your mid-back to avoid any issues that may arise because of loosening muscles. You must be holding this asana correctly. You need to make sure that your hips are level and that no stress is put on your joints.

Benefits –

• Stimulates the nervous system.
• Improves circulation in the reproductive system.
• Provides Deep Stretch to the lower body.
• A Great Chest Opener.
• Enhances flexibility and organ functioning.
• Activates the endocrine system.

While the new role of motherhood will keep you busy and daunting, taking the time to slow down and pause becomes imperative to hold the right balance between your mind and body. It can be alluring to convince yourself that you simply don’t have time for yoga or are not in good physical form, but all of these poses are the easiest yoga asanas that can be done anytime while the baby is sleeping or before he/she wakes up.

With every passing day during your yoga practice, you will feel the immense benefits it bids physically and mentally, which eventually will help you feel your best and bloom rather than waiting for your doom.

Related Articles:

1. 25 WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR BABY’S BRAIN POWER
2. 750+ STYLISH BABY NAMES WITH MEANINGS