If you are practicing yoga and you find out you are pregnant, you can still continue to practice yoga don’t worry. Many people think yoga is not good for pregnant women, but in contrary yoga can have a great impact  for both mother and unborn child. As a pregnant women and a yoga student you are not hurting your baby, but you are creating a healthy environment for the baby by doing yoga exercises. Pregnant and haven’t started yoga, but want to? You can even start practicing yoga when you are already pregnant.

It is important to mention that you should avoid certain poses as they may put an unneeded risk on your pregnancy. You need to ensure use of prenatal yoga poses that will help you and your unborn child. Of course you should always consult with your pediatrician and take his or her suggestions before you get started. Be sure of what you are doing and you wont hurt yourself and/or baby.

Yoga is highly beneficial and there is defiantly something for every one. It is both a mental and a physical exercise. First of all you can use yoga as a meditation tool for relaxation and to control breathing. This will eventually help you if you are looking to giving birth with out any drugs. With yoga you will learn to control your emotions and stay calm, surely to help you in your later stages of your pregnancy. This is especially good for new mothers as they get frustrated easily during pregnancy.

It is important keep in mind some rules when practicing yoga as a pregnant woman. The first important rule is, stay hydrated and stop often for water breaks. Drinking water will help you in reducing the heat in your body. So, drink plenty of water, a bit more than usual and remember that you are drinking water for two people :).

If you are getting too hot, your core body temperature rises which could harm your baby. This is the reason why you need to avoid “hot” yoga; it is very dangerous for pregnant women. Also, make sure that you are taking some extra healthy snacks with you since you are eating for two, you want to have energy not lose weight. Specific diets should be discussed with your dietitian so you know what to be eating and how much when you are combining exercises in your pregnancy.

The second rule is discussed above, to avoid certain poses that could harm your baby. Here is an example pose that you need to avoid: lying flat on your back. This can cut the flow of blood to you brain and to the uterus. This will make you dizzy causing development problems for your baby. Also skip positions that are inverted and the positions that require great amounts of balance. Do not forget that your stomach grows every day bringing you new shape, so you need to get used to it! Stay balanced and make sure you will never fall while you are pregnant, since it will hurt your baby too. Most normal positions you will be familiar with, so apply that logic to the yoga poses and know what you need not do.

Certain positions which require more stretching and twisting in the abdominal region are best for you and your baby. Avoid transitions that require you to stand quickly from a laying and sitting position. This will be very uncomfortable and will cause you to be dizzy and will restrict the flow of the blood to your uterus.

There are many positions in yoga that will help you and your unborn child, especially the stretching poses. You should speak to your yoga instructor and take his or her recommendations. Most of them should be quite familiar with what to do and not do during pregnancy. Even private lessons may even be better. All the best for you and your baby during pregnancy!