During your pregnancy it’s common to experience a range of emotions from anxiety, irritability, to pure joy.  The yoga breath is calming, centering, relaxing, and highly beneficial for keeping your emotions in balance.  Try this simple breathing exercise below.

Balancing Breath
Seated comfortably (you may place pillows underneath you or sit in a chair), close your eyes and sit with your spine tall.  Inhale a deep “complete breath” in through your nose and exhale the breath completely out of your lungs with your mouth closed.  As you inhale imagine the breath rising to the top of your head, and as you exhale imagine the breath sinking to your tail bone.  Repeat the breath a minimum of 8 times or as long as needed.

Have you ever noticed that when you’re tired you crave high sugar foods and coffee?  It’s because your body is needing sleep, but you’re forcing it to stay awake.  In turn you’ll crave coffee and sugary foods to keep your body “up”.  The problem is coffee is a diriuretic so it’s easy to mistake hunger for thirst, and craving sugary foods are high in empty calories that result in packing on the pounds.  The solution?  Get more zzzz’s!  Most of us need about 8 hours to function at our best.  If you can’t get all 8 hours during the night, fit in a cat nap instead of doing an unnecessary task.  Now that you know that lack of sleep can lead to unwanted pounds, there’s more motivation to get your sleep!

I had both of my children completely natural (no pain meds), and I attribute my successful births to the yoga breath.  I teach my clients to allow their bodies to do what it naturally does.  Most of us will try to “fight” the process, but if you let into it and use your breath it happens much easier.  The yoga breath keeps you centered, which can be challenging when you feel that you have no control when you go into labor.  Focus on the deep inhale and exhale.  Imagine riding a wave.  As you go up the wave the contractions get more intense, but soon you’ll be riding the wave back down.  Focus inward and hear your breath.  Imagine the breath releasing the tension in your body, allowing your baby to come easily into the world.

Have you ever noticed that swimmers have great backs, runners have great legs, and yogi’s have long lean muscles?  We are literally shaped by the exercises that we do.  If you’re looking to lose the baby weight, yoga is a great way to do it!  Certain types of yoga such as ashtanga (power yoga) and vinyasa (flow yoga) get the heart rate up to burn calories and body fat, and the yoga postures and breath lengthen and tone the muscles.  Another added benefit with yoga is you’ll experience a reduction in stress and a great night’s sleep…a plus for new moms!

It’s common to carry even more stress than usual when you’re pregnant because you’re carrying the weight of the baby and there’s anxiety about becoming a parent.  Try this simple exercise to “roll” the stress out of your body!

Exercise to “Roll” The Stress Out
*Sit in a comfortable position (you may use pillow underneath your buttocks or sit in a chair)
*Inhale and roll your shoulders up towards your ears. 
*Exhale roll your shoulders down and away from your ears.
*As you exhale and roll your shoulders down, squeeze your shoulder blades together.
*Imagine “squeezing” all the tension and stress out of your body.

I know you want to lose your baby weight, now think about what you’re telling yourself.  Are you saying negative self statements such as, “I’m fat”,  ”I’ve got so much flab!”, or ”Yuck!”?  If you are then you’re making it harder to lose weight.  On the reverse if you focus on the positive changes you ARE doing, you’ll lose weight quicker.  For example, if you’ve increased your exercise, state, “I’m working towards a fit lifestyle” or “I’m making positive changes”.  When you focus on what you are doing that is working, you’re creating a positive mindset.  A positive mindset translates to improved mood, better self image, and an increase in motivation which equals greater results!

Besides the deep breathing and relaxation techniques, prenatal yoga also emphasizes stretching tight and painful areas typically caused by pregnancy.  Specific postures are commonly used to reduce muscle tension in the low back, hamstrings, and inner thigh.  Also specific postures such as the “straddle” and “butterfuly” open up the pelvis for an easier delivery.  Try the “cat and cow” below to release tension in your spine.

Cat and Cow- On all fours inhale and sway your back and look up towards the ceiling.  As you exhale to cat pull in your abdominals towards your spine.  Repeat 8-10 breaths.

You can find “cat and cow” on my prenatal yoga dvd’s for the 2nd and 3rd trimesters.  Click here for a direct link: http://fitbysara.com/prenatal-yoga.php

People are surprised when they see me eating pasta.  They say, “You eat pasta?  I thought carbs were bad.”  The answer, yes, I eat pasta and I love it!  I chose whole grain pasta with marinara and 1-2 small turkey meatballs.  The key is I eat whole grain pasta which has fiber and protien and my portion size is small.  With my pasta I have a good size salad.  So there’s nothing wrong with eating carbs, it’s just being aware of how much you’re eating.  As long as you eat appropriate portions along with plenty of fresh veggies and consistent exercise you too can have flat abs!

Yoga is therapeutic for the body and mind through the use of the complete yoga breath (i.e. inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose).  The complete breath brings oxygen to your body and mind and provides a sense of relaxation to entire system.  Have you ever noticed that when you’re stressed you take a deep breath?  Can you imagine doing a whole hour of deep breathing?  Find a class in your area and focus on the breath.  After an hour you will feel the therapeutic effects and experience a good night’s sleep.

Are you eager to lose the baby weight and pre-occupied by the number on the scale?  Stop obsessing over the number on the scale and instead use how your clothes fit and measurements to determine your progress.  I’ve never met a woman who is happy with the number on the scale…what ever it is, she wants it to be different.  I can promise you that if you’ve increased your exercising and are more aware of your portion sizes and eating healthy than your measurements will go down.  So don’t let the number on the scale determine your progress, lasting changes take time.