Yoga Poses To Avoid During Pregnancy

You can derive health benefits from practicing yoga throughout your pregnancy, including improved circulation, better posture and maintenance of muscle tone. Yoga’s breathing techniques promote body awareness and relaxation, which can come in handy during labor as well as in those first few exhausting months of motherhood. Whether you’re a seasoned yoga practitioner or new to the practice, knowing which poses to avoid is as important to the health of your pregnancy as the exercise itself. Consult your physician before beginning a yoga program during your pregnancy.

Effects

During pregnancy, your body increases its production of the hormone progesterone, which interferes with smooth muscle contraction and relaxes the walls of blood vessels, your stomach and intestines. This allows your body to absorb more nutrients and maintain a lower blood pressure. Progesterone also stimulates the release of another hormone called relaxin, which acts to soften your connective tissue. Relaxin allows the ligaments that support your growing womb to stretch and makes your joints more flexible.

Time Frame

Your body changes continually during pregnancy. Some of poses that you’ll be able to do in your first trimester are off limits by your second or third trimester, as the baby grows and your sense of balance changes. Poses that have you lying flat on your back are generally fine during the first trimester. As your baby gets bigger, spending time in this position can reduce blood flow to the uterus. From the second trimester onward, omit prone poses that have you lying face down and perform standing poses with the nearby support of a chair or wall to prevent falls due to imbalance.

Types

Yoga poses that are contraindicated, or not recommended, throughout your pregnancy include deep abdominal twists, poses that compress your belly, poses that stretch your belly and poses that press your heel into your belly while seated. Examples of poses to avoid include upward bow, or back bends, camel, headstands, shoulder stands, handstands, boat pose, revolved triangle pose and half lotus. It's also advised to avoid any unsupported single-leg poses.

Warning

Controversy exists regarding the safety of inversion poses -- such as handstands -- for women who have been practicing them before becoming pregnant. An inverted position directs the flow of blood away from the uterus, puts pressure on the placenta and doesn't help facilitate optimal fetal positioning in the third trimester. As such, inversion poses are not recommended for the women who practice them after the second trimester. Women who have never done inversion poses should not begin practicing them during pregnancy.

Considerations

Avoid holding any pose for an extended period. By the time you’re in your third trimester, you have a 30 to 50 percent greater blood volume than you did pre-pregnancy. The extra blood pools more easily when you don’t keep moving. Any pranayama, or breath control, that requires you to hold your breath at any point during the breathing pattern directly affects the amount of oxygen your baby receives, so don’t partake in breathing exercises that restrict your airflow. Prenatal yoga classes are specifically designed for pregnant women. Instructors teach sequences that don’t include contraindicated poses.