Yoga is a way of life. It is not only about fitness, but also about being a remedy without any side effects. Here we focus on constipation and pregnancy, and how we can ease this situation, should it arise, with yoga. Yoga has some invaluable asanas for this. Most medical practitioners tell us that when a woman is pregnant, she should be on the zero-medication state. Taking unnecessary medicines affects the fetus. It will definitely trickle down to the baby in the womb. For those uninitiated into Yoga, read this to know more. This gives us the necessary information about what Yoga is, and the conditions to practice it.
While there are Yoga asanas for women who experience constipation during pregnancy, and the asanas are as follows, there is no specific order to it. For a pregnant woman, we have to remember that she may not feel like doing some asanas on some days, while on some days, she is raring to go! If you want to make a sequence, then you can string the yoga asanas given below, for a very orderly way of doing the asanas to get a structure. This is very specific for battling constipation:
- Vakrasana- The Spinal Twist
- Trikonasana or The Triangle Pose
- Parsva Sukhasana, Parivrutta Sukhasana or Seated Side Bend Pose
- Tadasana – The Palm Tree pose or The Mountain Pose
- The Bhramri Pranayama or The ‘Buzzing Bee’ Breath Coordination
- Balasana or The Baby Pose
- Anulom Vilom Breathing or Alternate Nostril Breathing
- Vajrasana or The Thunderbolt Pose
- General stretches (3 options provided below)
What Is Constipation?
When someone is going through constipation, it means, very few bowel movements. Here, the affected person passes stools that are hard as rock, dry and even lumpy. To pass a small quantity itself takes ages, and is a laborious task. The affected person feels that the bowels have not emptied themselves fully. There’s a fear that sets in when a constipated person wants to pass motion. This fear is even worse, when there is pregnancy compounded by constipation. Only yoga can help with bringing ease in constipation in the state of pregnancy. Yoga has no serious side effects. In fact, the same asanas may be effective to bring ease in other issues such as recovery and stroke prevention. Read more to find out.
But … Why Is There Constipation During Pregnancy?
Yoga is the best remedy to help with issues related to constipation during that precarious state – pregnancy. One of the main reasons for constipation is the increase in the levels of the hormone Progesterone. The function of the Progesterone is to make the uterine wall thicker so that the fetus can grow during this stage – pregnancy. More Progesterone means a very relaxed muscle movement in the digestive tract, and this means food passing through the intestines very slowly. This slow movement means slow digestion. Slow digestion means constipation, building up of gas in the stomach, bloating, flatulence and even a lot of burping to get the stuck gas out. To add to this condition is the growing uterus, which puts a lot of pressure on the rectum. Constipation is already bad; when it’s during pregnancy, then only yoga poses can help to ease it – read more to learn more.
Yoga Asanas That Help Ease Constipation During Pregnancy
While there are Yoga asanas for women who experience constipation during pregnancy, and the asanas are as follows, there is no specific order to it. For a pregnant woman, we have to remember that she may not feel like doing some asanas on some days, while on some days, she is raring to go! If you want to make a sequence, then you can string the yoga asanas given below, for a very orderly way of doing the asanas to get a structure. This is very specific for battling constipation.
Vakrasana- The Spinal Twist
Doing the Vakrasana , which also means the spinal twist, means trying to get some ease in the spinal movement. When we do this we are keeping the stomach in the front, and only twisting the back- by doing this, there is a twist that happens in the shoulders and the back. This gives a gentle massage inside the abdomen, and this stimulates all the internal organs, such as the spleen, liver, pancreas and the intestines. Doing this everyday, will have a gentle effect of easing the stuck movement in the bowels, and will induce cleansing the bowels. These twists are so effective that they can be used in easing ourselves during other ailments too.
Parsva Sukhasana, Parivrutta Sukhasana or Seated Side Bend Pose
This yoga pose has dual benefits. First of all, doing it does not require us to go into any position that is against the normal way of sitting. As usual, sit in the sukhasana or the normal sitting position, crossing your knees. Then, starting with the right side inhale deeply, and then bend on to the right side, and place the elbow on the floor. As we do this, remember, bring the other hand over and above the ear and bend into the right side. Here, the torso stretches on the left. By bending to the opposite side, we are also making the internal abdominal organs go through a gentle massage. This asana tones and massages the intestines, the kidneys, the liver, the pancreas and the spleen. This yoga asana is an important one for easing constipation during pregnancy.
Tadasana – The Palm Tree pose or The Mountain Pose
This asana is fairly easy to do. You have to stand erect, and slowly raise your arms. By doing this, we are stretching our spine and also the other internal organs in the abdomen area. This simple looking asana has a wealth of benefits- it helps to strengthen the core muscles and brings ease to the stomach. By stretching our hands up, we are also straightening the spine. Any anomalies in the posture that previously existed, gets corrected. We help bring some ease and comfort in the bowel movement, when we do this asana. This yoga asana is also an important component in the list of asanas which help bring ease in constipation especially during pregnancy. The Tadasana adds a lot of lustre to our personality, claim Yoga practitioners. Head on here to know more about this.
Trikonasana or The Triangle Pose
During the early stages of pregnancy, this triangle pose is a great idea. Standing with both feet apart, stretch your arms to the sides. This also impacts the abdomen, and there is a lot of loosening of the bowels. Inhale deeply, and then slowly, as you exhale, bend towards the other side, making sure to raise the opposite hand up. This brings a gentle twist to the spine and the abdomen. During the advanced stages of pregnancy, this asana may not be possible as the fetus starts growing. It is better to only do this during the early stages of your pregnancy, when constipation is also part of our journey.
The Bhramri Pranayama or The ‘Buzzing Bee’ Breath Coordination
This is a breath control technique, that seems very simple. It’s benefits are aplenty, say even the medical experts at John Hopkins, one of the world’s most reputed hospitals. Doing this throughout the pregnancy term will help both the mother-to-be and the fetus. Doctors the world over and many yoga experts and gurus laud this because this brings about an easy childbirth. But this is also a breathing technique that eases stuck and stubborn bowels, and brings about an ease in the passing of motion. When a woman is pregnant, it is important that her bowels are not stuck with old wastes. They can accumulate and create a lot of unrest in the body and the mind. Bhramari eases constipation and also reduces anger, tension, stress, anxiety and insomnia.
Balasana or The Baby Pose
Sometimes, many of us like to just kneel down on the floor or the bed, and place our head down, with the forehead touching the ground. This inadvertently makes us stretch our hands forward. This is a simple stretch, but is also an asana. This asana can bring a lot of ease to both, the back and the abdomen. This asana has a big role to play in bringing about ease in the bowels during the times when is going through constipation, especially during pregnancy. Apart from that, it also can calm our mind, reduce anxiety and fatigue and increase blood circulation. It’s specialty lies in the fact that it plays many roles- it gently stretches our spine, thighs, hips, ankles and the abdomen.
Anulom Vilom Breathing or Alternate Nostril Breathing
When it comes to regulating our yoga practice to ease the constipation that comes during pregnancy, Pranayama is a great component to include. By breathing alternately through and from both the nostrils, we allow the oxygen levels to increase. This also helps remove the toxins that we have accumulated in our lungs over a period of time. And, with renewed energy levels, we can be sure that the state of constipation we undergo during pregnancy also eases. Thus the Anulom Vilom expels the wastes collected in our lungs and our bowels if we incorporate it in our system of yoga practice.
Vajrasana or The Thunderbolt Pose
Sitting in this thunder power like asana is perhaps one of the best tings about yoga, especially during bouts of constipation and digestive problems. This is the asana that helps with giving us the power to remove any excesses in our system. This pose helps to keep our body free from toxins, especially if we feel heavy with the wastes that have got collected along with the heaviness of food that is in the stomach. The vajrasana is called so, as it has the power of thunder or diamond , to break anything that s stuck in the system, but in a gentle manner. Potent, yet gentle, could be this asana’s tagline, if one wants to describe its quality or specialty in a nutshell. This could be one of the best ways to sit during pregnancy, if we want ease and movement in our bowels.
General Stretches To Adopt To Overcome Constipation During Pregnancy
Stretch One
There are some random stretches that do not definitive asana -like names, but are nevertheless potent for the ease they grant us. Below are three such stretches, that anyone who wants to overcome pregnancy. The first one, is one where we touch the the tips of the the fingers of both hands. The hands are at the shoulder level. We have to stand fixed in one place and turn the torso towards both sides. This brings about a gentle rhythm and will benefit the person by helping to overcome constipation especially during pregnancy.
Stretch Two
The next stretch too is another one that can help stuck bowels move during constipation in pregnant women. We have to stand with our feet together or apart. With one hand across the abdomen, mimicking a protective hold over it, we have to take the other hand over the head and stretch it. The torso stretches on one side. When we do this on both the sides, we will definitely get a wonderful ease in the lower part od the torso, the waist, the hips and of course, the bowels. It is important to do it for a few minutes everyday, to address this issue. Remember, when a pregnant lady goes through physiological changes, then constipation is also on the cards- one of the sacrifices a mother makes, among all the other major ones.
Stretch Three
The third in the series of stretches is the hip circles. This is a movement or stretch that we can do during the early stages of pregnancy, not the later stages. This also helps in bringing some flexibility in the hips and the lower back areas. This de-stresses the area in the hips and the waist, and makes the bowels move in the stomach. A circle one side and the opposite side will be important movements to add in the entire sequence, to address the issue of constipation during pregnancy. However, if this is a difficult move to do, then it is better not to choose this as an antidote to constipation. This does not have a specific name, but is a mild modification of the Chakrasana.
But, no doubt about it- yoga is one of the best ways to handle a stubborn bowel, that does not move when the woman is going through pregnancy.
Voices of Confidence That Attest To Yoga As A Cure For Constipation During Pregnancy
Ms. Usha Ramesh, a French Professor living in Chennai says, sh had tried all kinds of medications, even Ayurveda and Unani, to address the issue of pregnancy related constipation. She says, “After trying everything, I finally took refuge in yoga. and after that, there’s no turning back”. Ms. Prabha Satish, a very busy entrepreneur corroborates about yoga. She says it was yoga that saved her from downing all the medicines during those times of terrible constipation. After the first trimester, when she started practicing yoga, she was really surprised to discover, that her bowels did not behave in an unruly way, after yoga came into her life… So much for a hands-on panacea for constipation.
Shanti Arunkumar, Senior Contributor At L’Aquila Active
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