Relaxation Techniques in Prenatal Yoga

Once again we’re going to take the arms up as we inhale. Inhaling. Let the arms slowly come up. Feel the lungs with air so you’re growing targeting lots of oxygen for your baby. Relax the shoulders and slightly bend elbows. That’s great. And then exhale and take the arms down. And lean over towards the left. Take on to your left hand. Inhale and take the right arm up and slightly over your head. Palm down towards the ground. Relax through both shoulders. Easy breathing and inhale come up. And grow tall in the center. Lean over towards the right. Inhale. Take the left arm up and over as you exhale. And come up. And find the center again. Inhale and take the arms up to the level of the shoulders. Exhale. We’re going to turn to the right. Slowly, slowly take your left hand all the way across your body and relax your hand onto your right knee. And if your right hand drop behind you, and look around gently over your shoulder. And then come back to the center. Good. And again, inhaling. Relax the shoulders. Open up the arm. Sit up beautifully tall. Exhale and turn towards the left and take your right hand to your left knee. And release your left hand behind you. And come back to the center and bring your palms together and elbows to the side. What you can do is stretch out your bottom leg so it’s really stretched down. Take the top leg over and put the two pillows underneath your knee. That’s great. Relax and let your awareness go to your breathing. Have a sense of really letting go to the ground. Now, you can let your whole body relax and soften and melt. And just let the earth underneath you completely support you all the way through the length of your body. And keep your awareness focused on the rhythm of your breathing. Just notice how the breath comes in and leaves when you exhale, the lovely long exhalation and the gentle soft inhalation. Sense that way going all the way down through your pelvis and your legs towards your feet. Relax and let go of your feet completely. Let your legs be soft and heavy. All the muscles of your thighs are soft and relaxed. And all the muscles of your back soften and relax as you breathe. Relax and let go of any tension or tightness in your arm or your hands and shoulders. And let go of your jaw. Make sure that your jaw is loose and relaxed and even your tongue is resting inside your mouth. Allow your face to be soft and smooth. And release and let go of the muscles around your eyes. And just let your eyelids rest on top of the eyes serenely and softly. And feel how your inhalations nourish your baby. They bring in loads of oxygen into your blood that travels to every cell of your own body and your baby’s body. So breathing in is complete nourishment. And breathing out is like cleansing, purifying, taking away, everything that you don’t need, everything that your baby doesn’t need, letting go releasing tension. So I’d like you to spend a few more minutes as long as you like resting and relaxing with your baby. And when you’re ready come up, juts open your eyes slowly, have a lovely stretch and in your own time, come up. If you use a lamb skin, if you’re going to buy one for your baby, then you might as well buy while you’re pregnant and use it for yourself because if you put that underneath you on your bed, it takes all that pain and stiffness out of your hip in late pregnancy. So, it really does make you a lot more comfortable. And this is a great way to lie, really supporting the top legs so that helps to prevent pulling on the joints at the back and it’s lovely to have your spine nice and long. And your neck and your head are supported. So, it’s a really great way to have a more comfortable sleep at night.