Yoga For Pregnancy And Birth

by Uma Dinsmore-Tulli

Overview

Yoga is an awareness of the link between breath, mind and body. The connection benefits the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing at all stages of life, but very noticeably during pregnancy.

Yoga for Pregnancy and Birth offers you and your birth partner an effective, uniquely holistic technique which will help you maximise your health and wellbeing throughout pregnancy and beyond. It shows how to use yoga to give you a deeper insight into the process of pregnancy and create a yoga and breathing program which works uniquely for you and your baby.

Learn a full range of adapted yoga postures intended to provide comfort, build stability and support the changes in your body. Breathing exercises will promote calm, boost vitality and help control labour pains, while yogic pelvic floor practices promote healthy tone and flexibility. And downloadable audio helps you set the pace of your breathing.

Your pregnancy is a remarkable journey; learn how to use yoga to increase your comfort and control, and develop the skills to approach your labour with confidence.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781444100976
Publisher:	Mobius
Publication date:	10/24/2017
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,132,994
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Uma Dinsmore-Tuli is a yoga therapist, writer, lecturer and trainer who has been practising yoga since she was four years old and teaching it since 1994. She has twelve years of experience in teaching yoga to pregnant women, creating resources about yoga for mothers, training pregnancy yoga teachers and establishing programmes for pregnancy yoga in two major London hospitals.

Table of Contents

Meet the author xii

Only got a minute? xvi

Only got five minutes? xviii

Only got ten minutes? xxii

Quick flick guide xxviii

Audio tracks xxx

Introduction xxxi

1 Yoga and pregnancy: natural partners 1

What is yoga and why do it in pregnancy? 1

The 'five yoga bodies' and their elements 3

The three trimesters of pregnancy 5

Labour and birth to postpartum 6

Time, place and equipment for yoga practice 7

2 The essence of yoga in practice 10

Heart of yoga 10

Preparation and tips for the four core breaths 12

Circle of breath - the rhythmic breath cycle 13

Full yogic breath - breath of life 15

Ujjayi breath - the victorious, conqueror or psychic breath 20

Golden thread exhalation 22

3 The physical body: earth 26

Earth gesture (prithvi mudra) 26

Getting grounded: being aware 27

Adapting your yoga practice to bodily changes 29

Yoga postures (asanas) 34

Transitional moves 34

Resting postures: lying comfortably 41

Cat family (all fours) 46

Cat base lunge family 52

Three point balancing family 56

Seated family 62

Sitting with a chair 82

Pelvic movement family 84

Standing family 90

Squatting family 102

Wall supported family 110

Warrior family 118

4 The energy body: water 127

Water gesture (apas/varuna mudra) 127

Yoga perspectives on energy 128

Changes to the energy body in pregnancy 129

Yoga, pregnancy and the respiratory system 130

Development from the four core breaths 132

Yoga remedies for erratic energy patterns 136

Energy freeing series (pawanmuktasana or PMA) 137

Energy block release practices (shakti bandhas) 151

Breath and inner power - pelvic floor pranayama 153

5 The mental/emotional body: fire 161

Sun/fire gesture (surya mudra) 161

Heart gesture (hridaya mudra) 162

Yoga perspectives on the mind and emotions 163

Psychological work of pregnancy 163

Using the core breaths to calm the mind and emotions 164

Heart/womb breath 165

Voicing feelings through sounded breaths 166

Pre-natal sonic massage for babies - with bija (seed) mantras 170

Humming bee breath (bhramari) 174

Protective egg 175

Breath and focus (trataka) 176

Breath balancing (balancing the swara) 178

Psychic alternate nostril breathing (anuloma viloma) 180

Entrainment breathing 182

6 The wisdom body: air/space 185

Air gesture (vayu mudra) 185

Knowledge gesture (gyan mudra) 186

Yoga perspectives on wisdom 187

Inner guidance during pregnancy 188

Heart/womb mudra and meditation 189

Golden circle (seated) 190

Punctuated golden thread exhalation with sankalpa (affirmations) 191

Yoga nidra 194

Inner silence (antar mouna) 196

7 The joy body: ether/space 200

Opening the mothering lotus 200

Yoga perspectives on bliss 203

Creating integrated yoga practice 205

Flowing sequences of postures 207

Depth from steadiness 212

Healing sequences for relief from pain or discomfort 214

Fully integrated sequences 223

8 Yoga for birth 227

Apana mudra 227

Yoga perspectives on childbirth 228

Stages of labour 230

A more comfortable labour with yoga 231

Pre-labour (latent stage) 235

Established first stage labour 237

Transition 242

Second stage labour: birthing the baby 242

Third stage labour: birthing the placenta 248

Testimonies 248

9 Yoga for post-natal recovery 255

Yoga perspectives on post-natal recovery 255

Post-natal challenges 256

Yoga breath and energy work for post-natal recovery 256

Yoga breath and sound for bonding with your baby 260

Yoga meditation and relaxation for post-natal recovery 262

Yoga postures for post-natal recovery 264

Post-natal yoga programmes 265

Yoga in everyday life 269

Glossary 272

Taking it further 276

Index 287