Pregnancy yoga poses to help you sleep better

• Why sleep is affected in pregnancy?
• When is sleep less likely?
• Benefits of a good nights sleep and exercising
• Pregnancy yoga exercises to help sleep better
• Wall pose
• Breathing exercises to help sleep
• Tips to prepare you to sleep better
• Tools to aid better sleep

Why sleep is affected in pregnancy?

Sleeping while pregnant can be a challenge. Id love to give pregnant mums a magic remedy and as much as this post is designed to help you sleep, lack of sleep is part of the joys of negotiating another living life within.

It’s known that babies tend to awaken when we are at our most relaxed.

While cortisol levels decrease, it acts as a signal to your baby that their safe and often encourages play. It is often when they’ll awaken and it becomes babies time.

The kicks and movements can then awaken us.

However there are many other reasons why sleeps more challenging when pregnant, and please share any more experiences that i’ve missed out.

The symptom list that I spoke about on Exercise and pregnancy and expanded on in specific blogs, for reasons as to why we find sleeping more challenging, can include feeling:

• Sickness
• Cramps
• Heartburn
• Sore breasts
• Hormonal
• Bodily aches
• Bladder
  • The umpteen toilet visits at night as a lot of pregnant woman experience especially as our baby gets bigger. Seb, my son is still drawn to sitting directly on my bladder, still fascinates me to this day.
• Anxiety
  • Anxiety can fall under many different areas within pregnancy and its a completely natural emotion to feel with such life changing events. From being pregnant and the body changing, to the actual thoughts of giving birth, and the consequences in life changing responsibilities, of becoming a mum. Remember your olive branch

When is sleep less likely?

It is common to sleep less as pregnancy progresses.

Many woman find in trimester one, that they sleep much more and as the trimesters flow, less likely.

However like life, nothing is set in stone and some woman may find the opposite.

Benefits of a good nights sleep and exercising

According to Ayurveda medicine sleeping between the hours of 10pm and 2am is fundamental for a good nights sleep.

This is due to the energy channels available and what our body needs at different times of the day. For a much more detailed and very interesting read on this idea, check out more detail here https://yogainternational.com/article/view/the-ayurvedic-clock

Most exercise helps us sleep better, but if its a high level intense exercise which I would never advise to any pregnant woman, it’ll actually work the opposite and leave you feeling fully charged, high and pumped up.

This is why I do my ab workout first thing in the morning. Gives me a natural high which I really wouldn’t want to be feeling at 8pm.

Instead exercising in a restorative manner at night, can bring our body into a state of calm, strong and relaxed state, by tuning into our breathe.

Pregnancy yoga exercises to help sleep better

This listed yoga sequence below can help aid better sleep.

Always remember listen to your body and baby. You know your body and baby better than anyone. You are your best teacher.

• Stirring the cauldron
  • Preferably on a birthing ball
  • Place hands on your outer hips for awareness
  • Circle your hips with one breathe.
  • As you inhale your pelvis tilts backwards and as you exhale your pelvis tilts up towards baby.
  • Try 7 circles 7 breathes.
  • Switch direction rotation.
• All fours to child’s pose (Balasana).
  • Start on all fours
  • As you exhale move into childs pose
  • Inhale back to all fours.
  • Repeat movement with your breathe
  • This exercise will support you in your breathe and help you move and come into your body.
• For additional restorative exercises with a birthing ball, check out more birthing ball exercises Ideal exercises to practice relaxing your body and brain, especially if you are in your third trimester.

Wall pose

The number one exercise for a pregnant mum and mums in general is:

• Legs-Up-The-Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)
  • Benefits of this pose
    • This yoga pose is an ideal all rounder for motherhood but especially in pregnancy and postnatal times. I still do this pose most nights.
    • Most mums nervous systems are switch on full power all day. This exercise resets the nervous system bringing us into a calm relaxed state.
    • It lowers blood pressure which helps our heart
    • Aids sleep
• How to get into the pose pregnant?
  • Sit right bum cheek sideways to the wall
  • Try to keep your right hip as close to the wall as you can
  • Roll onto your left side and then onto your back
    • Use cushions where necessary to raise your back, so you’re not lying directly on the floor, but have some raised back height.
  • Put feet up the wall
    • Lie here for at least 5 minutes, ideally 20 minutes.
    • Breathe through nose.
    • Close your eyes.
•  Butterfly pose
  • Keeping body where you are, bring the souls of your feet together.
  • Allow your hips to open naturally
  • Stay here for at least 5minutes

⚠️ Try to always remember to roll on left side when transitioning, getting up, and negotiating poses.

Breathing exercises to help sleep

We want to calm the body down by bringing our mind to our breath.

Relaxing our body by tuning into our breathe, helps us to learn and tell our body, it’s time for sleep now.

These breathing exercises can help sleep better:

• Alternate nasal breathing
  • With your thumb on your right nostril, index finger on forehead and pinky of left nostril side, inhale through your left nostril close the nostril with pinky finger and exhale through right nostril. Inhale through right nostril, exhale through left nostril. This is one round. Repeat 9 rounds.
• Mothering lotus breath
  • – inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Imagine a golden thread (your breathe) escaping your pursed lips. The breathe, is long and gentle. No pushing of the breathe, just allow it to come in and out and become longer as you repeat as often as is needed. Start with an inhale and exhale of 4 counts and increase the count to your ability.
• Inhale through your nose for 6 and exhale through nose for 6

Tips to prepare you to sleep better

An important top tip in any sleep is breathing into your belly as fully and calmly as you can.

Dedicating night time too resting and quietening down the mind by slowing the heart down in limiting must do tasks, will support you sleep better.

Try too:

• Do the restorative sleep exercise sequence above a couple of hours before bed
• Meditate
• Limit caffeine intake at night
• Try Pukka herbal tea
• Stop using technology an hour before sleep
• Reading a book before bed, mentally tires the brain out
• Dim the room light
  • Turn on a lamp, turn off main light
• Go to bed earlier
• Listen to music that relaxes you
• Have a bath with epson salts
  • Having a bath is much easier in the first trimester, however can become awkward after. Enjoy it while you can. I apologise in advance if you are in your third trimester and can’t just now. Your time will come back.
• Use essential oils
  • ” Edwards adds here “These include lavender, chamomile, and ylang ylang. To read more on essential oils in pregnancy, I found this really useful article https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-body/pregnancy-health/essential-oils-during-pregnancy-whats-safe-and-what-to-avoid/
• Use a Pregnancy pillow
  • Pillows, cushions, blocks can aid more comfort when exercising, sitting and sleeping. Be kind, loving and gentle towards your growing body.

Tools to aid better sleep

These are the products I use for sleeping better:

• birthing ball
• Liforme Travel Yoga Mat
• Deluxe Comfort Pillow Side-Sleeper Prenatal Pregnancy Unique L-Shaped Design-Superior Comfort-Body, White
• PharMeDoc Pregnancy Pillow
• Pukka Love, Organic Herbal Tea
• Westlab’s Sleep Epsom & Dead Sea Salts with Lavender & Jasmine, 1kg

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