Yoga can be extremely helpful when you are feeling uncomfortable during pregnancy and help encourage your body's natural healing powers - especially with many of those 'minor discomforts' that are often simply dismissed as 'just something you put up with'. If you can ease them - or even cure them - with sensible exercise it's worth giving it a go!
Whilst we can't make any promises, many women say they feel more energised after a yoga session. The stretches and breathing exercises help release stress and tension and lift your spirits.
Back pain
Back pain in pregnancy is unfortunately very common. It can happen if your posture is unbalanced, too much time sat uncomfortably at a desk (let's face it, lots of us suffer from computer related back pain when we're NOT pregnant!) or if you're not sleeping well.
Lower back pain is often caused by the pelvis tilting forward as the weight of the baby increases, straining the abdominal muscles as well as compressing the lumbar spine. If your upper back curves over in a bit of a slouch your pelvis can tilt back too far - resulting in your baby lying towards your back and putting pressure on the lumbar spine. Both can be helped by wearing supportive leggings or top that cradles your bump and gently takes some of the weight onto your back without putting strain on your spine - but combine this with some gentle yoga poses to ease the pain.
Try this easy to follow pregnancy yoga video to lead you through poses that will help alleviate your backache:
Sciatica
Sciatica - a shooting pain on one side of the lower back and down your leg is common in pregnancy and due largely to your hormones softening up your ligaments in preparation for the birth. Whilst your pelvic joints become more mobile, they also become less strong and more sensitive - lower back strain or even just the pressure of your baby's head can contribute to sacroiliac pain and sciatica.
Try following these pregnancy yoga poses to alleviate the pain, easy to follow and they can make such a difference to your discomfort and help you feel more energised!
However, always let your midwife or doctor know if you are experiencing pain of this nature and let them know what yoga postures you are intending to use so they can observe or check your progress and advise you if there are any medical reasons for you to avoid any positions or exercises.