Yoga - does it make a difference?

[vesela]

I've been planning to go to a pregnancy yoga class, but I feel guilty because I keep putting it off.

Did you do yoga? Did it make a lot of difference to childbirth for you? How necessary is it compared to other forms of exercise such as walking/swimming? I know it helps a lot with breathing, but you learn that at prenatal classes, don't you?

Thanks - please convince me/give me the motivation to go!

i did pilates and yes well worth it

i loved my pregnancy yoga classes and it did help with the birth - especially the breathing. it was also very relaxing which was lovely during pregnancy.

i also met some lovely girls and it was nice to have a moan about pregnancy.

i have kept up my yoga and am a complete convert.

definitely give it a try

Thanks, Incy!

I suppose my next question is - given that the breathing seems to be the most useful part of it (from everything that I've read) is it possible to learn the breathing at home without doing poses?

I wouldn't dream of trying actual yoga poses or stretches at home without having been taught them in classes by a qualified antenatal teacher, but for breathing alone, is it possible to simply follow written instructions? Or is there any point doing the breathing without the poses/stretches?

I would say that you could learn some of the basic breathing from a book - most of it is simply intended to calm/focus you (ie breathe in for count of 5, hold, out for count of 5)

However, I would say even a couple of lessons may be beneficial to help with the timings of the breath and some of the more advanced breathing (in different techniques it is all about where the breath is coming from such as the throat).

You could even do a one off lesson and see if you liked yoga (and get a few tips)- I was scepital but really enjoy it.

Thanks again. I think one of the reasons I was unsure about classes is that I live abroad (in the Czech Republic) and although I'm a translator, my vocab. relating to body movements etc. isn't always on the tip of my tongue/brain (since it's something that doesn't come up every day either in conversation or my work).

I'm pretty well up on pregnancy vocab., but sometimes if the doctor asks me to do something there'll be a slight delayed reaction while I'm working out what exactly he means!

I've found a class now that's more international, though, so I may give it a go.

Perhaps a video or a DVD would be good as at least you could buy in English - amazon sell some. Good luck !

Vesela,
I did pregnancy yoga classes and found them a greta help. They really helped with the aches and pains of pregnancy - i used to get backache and hip ache and the teacher also showed us positions to help with foetal positioning. Our teacher showed us the moves and we just copied her so you may not need to know too much czech yoga vocab.
I also had a dvd - Simple Yoga for Pregnancy, which was fantastic, so easy to follow and the exercises really were helpful and I'm sure they helped prepare me for birth. I did some of the exercises and the breathing in early labour which really helped to keep me calm.