Pregnancy Guide: Asanas, Nutrition, Skincare, Mood Swings & Baby Care | Motherhood | Dr. Hansaji

Namaskar! Let's celebrate the beautiful journey of pregnancy. I will provide some helpful suggestions for expected mothers. For most of you, pregnancy would be a wonderful time filled with anticipation and joy. After all, you are creating a miracle. Some women may have a few discomfort during the whole journey, but can be easily managed by natural methods. Let's understand discomfort during pregnancy. From the early stages to the final trimester, some pregnant women may have nausea, dizziness, constipation, pain of varicose veins, stretch marks, sleeplessness, pigmentation patches, breathlessness, swelling at the limbs level, mood swings, and back aches. If you are a new mother to be, these physical discomfort may be something you may have never experienced before. However, the good news is that these can be easily managed with a few changes in your lifestyle. So let's understand some yogic management of pregnancy. We will discuss four pillars of good yogic lifestyle, that is aahar or diet, vihaar, rest and relaxation, achar, routine, and vichar or thought processes. So first let's talk about food, aahar, diet, each meal at consistent time, ensuring that the mind is calm and composed. Maintaining a balanced and nourishing diet is very, very important during pregnancy. Eat smaller meals every four hours to avoid overeating and reducing the chances of heartburn. Include food which is rich in fibers, vitamins, minerals, and whole grains. Fresh foods, especially citrus fruits, green vegetables, especially moong dal, dry fruits like apricot, raisins, and figs, and unpolished hand pounded rice are very beneficial. To avoid constipation, eat figs boiled in milk, canned, processed, and bottled food. Stimulants like tea, coffee, alcohol, smoking, and aerated drinks should be avoided. Fried food can increase digestive discomfort, so it is best to opt for lighter cooking methods. Milk and milk products are most important. Must have a glass of milk in the morning with some raisins inside and a glass of milk or a cup of milk at night with turmeric inside. Try and see that both the times you are putting some raisins or dates to make milk sweet. Curd is a must. Yogurt at lunchtime is a must. Have a glass full of buttermilk and half cup of yogurt, maybe with salt or maybe with sugar or honey. A spoon of ghee is a must in your body, so applying little ghee on chapati and eating would be wonderful. Next, vihar or rest and recreation. Choosing a healthy lifestyle is necessary for a smooth pregnancy. Do gentle exercises like walking for half an hour every day. Walking could be done in natural surroundings. After meal, take a leisurely stroll about 15 minutes to help your digestion. Practice Vajrasana or sit in any meditative pose after meals to release any digestive discomfort. You should lie down on the left side in pranasana position. Seven to eight hours of sleep at night is a must. Rest during day also. Lie down in shavasana, do pranayama number four during day twice a day at least. You should pick up some hobbies. You should spend time with loved ones, read books, listen to some soothing music, avoid overexertion and stressful situations and an exposure to quarrels or angry people. Cultivate an environment of positivity and listen to chants or words of wisdom. Now let's focus on achar or routines. It is very beneficial to continue with your day to day housework activities. To treat backache, use hot water bag on your back. Regularly do asanas in a relaxed and comfortable place. Be adaptable and understand that certain asanas would be not so good for you. It would be difficult for you to avoid those asanas. Try to have a regular routine and practice yoga asanas. Strengthen your inner thigh and your pelvic floor with supta bhadrasana and hasta padangushasana even with matsyasana. Try asanas which could stretch your spine in all the directions like parvatasana, talasana and ponasana too. Utkatasana, artha matsyasana, pariyankasana. Don't forget the power of pranayama, equal breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, rechak and om chanting to help your mind to remain balanced and remain calm which you need the most. So let's have the fourth step and that is vichar or thought process. Cleverly staying away from stress and anxiety would be necessary. You can move your body and mind from agitated state to a calmer state from rajas to sattva. Using yogic relaxation techniques like nishpand bhava by having faith in higher reality, you will experience less stress as the need to control the things the way one wants reduces. Write 10 positive points every day to develop the feeling of gratitude. This will bring positivity and miracles. If you can switch off from what you are doing for a few minutes every day or just thank the higher power for giving you such wonderful experience. This can bring a whole lot of difference in stress level and attitude towards life. These concepts of aahar, vihar, achar and vichar must have given you a good understanding about yogic lifestyle during pregnancy. By following these practices, you will find relief from discomforts by nurturing a positive mindset. In this way, you will be very well on your way to a joyful and fulfilling pregnancy journey. Remember you are creating a beautiful miracle. Namaskar