Buddhabellies: yoga for pregnancy
Pose of the month - June 2009

Meditation

“In accordance with Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, there are eight limbs of Yoga, which are said to be the components one needs to cultivate in order to lead a happy life.
   Although much Yoga practice focuses on the practice of asanas, this is in fact only one of the many limbs, and serves as a precursor to others which focus upon concentration and meditation.
   Traditionally, the physical practice of Yoga, whilst being meditative in itself, is also designed to lay foundations for the practice of meditation.

Letting go
   Whilst the physical side of Yoga is obviously of huge benefit to the pregnant woman, who needs strength and stamina and flexibility for her labour, she also needs to be able to mentally switch off and let go. As I described in a previous column, birth is to a great degree a mental endeavour but perhaps not in the way that we would expect. In very crude terms, our brain can be divided into two parts: the primal, instinctive part which lies at the back and the neo-cortex or the rational and intelligent brain which is larger and lies at the front. As man (and woman!) evolved, this front brain became ever larger, dominating us and taking us from primitive to civilised. But in doing so, we compromised the ease with which we give birth, for birth is directed entirely from the back or primal brain. In fact, any activity of the neo-cortex, which we are now so used to relying on, makes birth more difficult.

Benefits of meditation in pregnancy
   This is why regular Yoga practice in which an element of meditation is included is of huge benefit to the pregnant mother. Not only does it calm her down, but it gets her accustomed to visiting that back or primal brain, and to taming the front brain. There is no doubt it is notoriously difficult to tame, but regular practice will help a mother when she is in labour, which in turn will help her birth go more smoothly.
   As such, it is of great use during pregnancy to incorporate a period of gentle meditation into your Yoga practice. Saving this until then end of your sequence means the body will be relieved of tension and therefore more at ease in simple sitting or lotus posture. The mind will also have been partially tamed with a Yoga sequence, thereby making your meditation easier...”

This series on Yoga and Pregnancy is written by Nicole Croft, who is an Active Birth and Yoga for Pregnancy teacher based in Woodstock in Oxfordshire. She is also the founder of Buddhabellies, which is dedicated to empowering women to birth instinctively and with confidence. For more information please visit her website at www.buddhabellies.co.uk.