YOGA POSES TO STAY ZEN

Our hectic life style and busy schedule often leaves us stressed out and tired. Yoga is a centuries old way of relieving stress and improving strength and flexibility so that we can have a healthy body and mind in the long run. It helps in harmonizing our inner being with the world and bringing forth peace and tranquility. At physical level, it helps in improving posture, toning and strengthening the muscles, relieving stress and reducing the risk of diseases. Yoga also helps in improving the health of would-be mothers and reduces pregnancy complications. It also helps in quickening the recovery after delivery, relieving post-partum complications and pain and promoting weight loss in a healthy way.
Motherhood is the beginning of a new life for every woman and yoga helps in bringing about a balance in between that previous and the present life and helps the body to get back to its normal rhythm gradually. But it is best to start doing yoga only after 6 months of delivery to avoid injuries and complications.
Carrying the baby for nine months along with the strain of delivery (C-section or normal) puts a lot of pressure on the body and the body goes through a lot of pain. Practicing gentle yoga poses and pranayama helps in speeding up recovery, relieving lower back pain and comforting the strained muscles of the shoulders, arms, back, hip and legs.
The strain of pregnancy can have serious effects on the mother’s posture. The pressure of carrying the baby for nine months, lifting, carrying and nursing the baby and pushing the stroller often takes a toll on the spine and back muscles and deforms the posture. Regular practice of yoga before and after pregnancy helps in improving posture by opening up the shoulder and chest and relieving stiffness of joints.
One of the most common after-effects of pregnancy is excessive weight gain, and almost all women suffer from this problem after child birth. It becomes extremely difficult to shed the pounds that a woman puts on during pregnancy. Yoga is a gradual and effective way of toning the sagged muscles and reducing weight and excess fat from the belly region. It is ideal to lose weight slowly and gradually post pregnancy. However, it is best to avoid strenuous poses like wheel pose and half wheel pose that exert excessive pressure on the belly.
Women become physically weak after child birth which is seen in the lack of endurance and stamina. New mothers often complain of excessive tiredness, chronic fatigue and aching muscles and joints. Practicing yoga after pregnancy helps in stretching the strained muscles, improving core strength and boosting endurance levels so that new mothers can have a healthy body and celebrate and enjoy the new phase of life to the fullest.