Staying active is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your little one. This is true during pregnancy, as well as throughout life. Not only do you get the physical benefits of exercise, but your mind is stimulated as well. Exercise creates endorphins – your feel good hormones – which help to lower your stress and relax. And, the more active you stay, the easier and more fun it is to continue to play with your little one once they are outside of the womb and growing into their own person. All good things, yes? So here are a few simple things to remember…
WALKING! Yep – it seems so simple, so classic, and is certainly one of the top things you can do to just stay active. You can take a brisk walk in the morning and even a few short ones throughout the day. Just fit it easily into your schedule to keep your body moving!
SWIMMING is another wonderful and low impact exercise you can do for yourself and your baby. Depending on where you live and the time of year your options of location might be limited. If it was possible to get in a salt water pool rather than a chlorinated pool that would be fabulous!
Another great thing for expectant mamas is YOGA! Yoga is really great as it helps to stretch and strengthen your body while keeping you mindful of breath and your movements. It can be very relaxing and quite satisfying. You can do it in the comfort of your home, and you could even find a local prenatal class. A local class would give you the added benefit of a professional instructor, as well as some of the first folks in that elusive village you will continually hear about on your voyage! There are even virtual classes! And remember, you can just do some good ol’ fashioned stretching – you don’t have to stress about finding the time for a full workout 🙂
And finally – SQUATTING! Woot woot! You might not be excited about squats now – but you will be! It just feels so good to get into a squat position and stretch your muscles that way! It helps to stretch and strengthen your hips, quads, your glutes and also your pelvic floor muscles. Now I’m definitely NOT saying you should be doing 500 squats a day. I’m saying to work squats into your day. If you have to get something off the floor for example, squat down to pick it up. Little things like that. Also, maybe when you first get out of bed in the morning or before you go to bed at night just do a squat – like a leap frog – and hold if for 10 – 15 seconds. It will feel so good! You can even squat to the floor and use the handles of a door for support. If you lean back a little it feels incredible!
So yes – the more active you can be now, the easier it will make your pregnancy, birthing and on into the baby & toddler years. And even beyond that 🙂