Authoritative yet thoroughly accessible, this user-friendly book provides yoga techniques for your journey from bump to birth and beyond, helping you to deal with all the physical and emotional changes you experience along the way. The authors explain the importance of breathwork to relax your body and reduce stress. They also provide guided meditations and visualisations to help you feel calm and positive, as well as fully illustrated step-by-step routines to energise you and relieve muscle tension and pain. There's a guide to the beneficial postures for a range of common pregnancy-related conditions, including back pain, breathlessness and swollen ankles, and there's detailed advice on preparing for labour and childbirth. The book concludes with a range of post-natal exercises to get you back in shape and energised as a new mum. Throughout, the emphasis is on how every woman can take charge of her whole self to ensure a happy and healthy pregnancy and birth. The foreword by internationally celebrated Dr Gowri Motha, creator of the Gentle Birth Method, reinforces the message that pregnancy and childbirth is a positive experience to cherish and enjoy.
