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Home › Articles › Birth Methods and Philosophies › Active Birth

Active Birth

The New Approach to Giving Birth Naturally

By Janet Balaskas

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

The Benefits of Yoga-based Exercise
  1. As your muscles become more supple and your joints more mobile, the muscular balance that supports and moves your body improves. Muscles work in teams; while one team is relaxing and lengthening, the other is contracting and shortening. When you balance the opposing teams of muscles, your joints articulate better and your posture automatically improves. This ensures that you carry your baby correctly and helps to prevent backache.
  2. Breathing well depends on good posture. When your pelvis and spine are in good balance and your shoulders are relaxed, your chest cavity can expand easily so that breathing is unrestricted. This ensures good oxygenation of the blood for you and your baby throughout pregnancy.
  3. As you become familiar with the exercises you will find movements that alleviate the minor discomforts of pregnancy, such as heartburn, pain in the hip joints or in the ribs, cramps in the legs, or headaches.
  4. Your circulation depends upon your muscles. They act as pumps, making the blood flow through your body and returning the blood to your heart. If a muscle is tight, then the blood vessels running through it are constricted and your blood circulation (and indeed, indirectly, the circulation to your baby in the womb) is also restricted. The exercises can help to ensure that your baby is getting everything needed to grow healthy and strong. They can also prevent or lessen problems associated with poor circulation--varicose veins, hemorrhoids (piles), and fluid retention. Finally, the exercises tend to lower the blood pressure, and can thus help to prevent problems associated with rising blood pressure (see chapter 7).
  5. Yoga-based exercises help to combat fatigue. If muscles are shortened and movement is restricted, the flow of energy is "blocked." After a session of exercise you will feel invigorated and refreshed, and over time this feeling will increase. Your pregnancy can be a time when you feel healthier and more energetic than ever.

    6. Pages:  1  2  3  4  


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