Mama Glow: 5 Yoga Poses That Will Help Pregnant Women Prepare For A Seamless Birth
There are so many benefits to practicing yoga as an expectant and new mama – from improved circulation and firming of the skin, to strengthening of the muscles and connective tissue, to stimulating lymphatic flow. You see, yoga is not just about asanas. It’s about softening, a dance of effort and surrender, and deep listening to your body.
“When I was pregnant with my son, my yoga practice was my saving grace. I developed my own prenatal practice that made me feel strong and capable,” doula and prenatal yoga teacher Latham Thomas shares, “I learned how to tune in to what was happening in my body and ease my mind through meditation and deep breathing. Yoga also informed my birth ritual from beginning to end.”
“I was able to relax into my breathing techniques at the onset of contractions, and I visualized the baby moving farther down the birth canal during each contraction. I knew that every sensation was taking me closer to bringing the baby into the world.”
Latham Thomas is the name behind the brand Mama Glow, a lifestyle brand and website that acts as a resource for new and expectant mamas looking to lead a healthy and holistic life. She breathes life into women in an effort to help them rise from the ashes of their former selves and into the divinity of their best selves and she is a birth doula that celebs like Alicia Keys and new mother Angela Simmons swear by. Today, she shares some of her favorite yoga prenatal poses exclusively with xoNecole.
Follow along to get familiar with your inner “Om”:
Yoga For Labor: Prenatal Yoga Poses For An Easier Delivery
Meditation Posture
There are six ways that you can sit for meditation. The most common and most recommended way is the quater lotus method. Sit in your meditation seat with your legs crossed and both feet resting below the thigh or knee opposite of that leg. Sit in silence or with calming music and focus on centering your thoughts and awareness to the space around you. Feel free to chant "Om", it is the chant cosmic consciousness.
Reclined Cobbler's Pose
This pose is a restorative posture that supports the spine and opens the chest and heart area. This is especially comforting for expectant moms who have heavier breasts and need mid-back relief.
"Stack blocks on an angle and lay your bolster over the blocks so it's at a 45-degree angle. Bring your sacrum to the base of the bolster, press hands into the floor and feet into the floor as you gently lie back. Allow the spine to rest over the bolster, relax your neck and head and open your chest. Draw the soles of your feet together and let the knees splay out to the sides. Rest your arms to the sides, palms face up."
Supported Bridge Pose
This is a great pose for postpartum moms as well. You can even do a lighter version of this- the pelvic tilt hours after birth.
"The anatomical focus of this pose is the uterus. The Supported Bridge stretches the chest, neck, and spine and allows you a gentle backbend with total support. Some of the benefits include stimulation of the abdominal organs, lungs, and thyroid; improved digestion; and reduced anxiety, fatigue, backache, headache, and insomnia. This pose calms the mind and helps alleviate stress and mild depression."
Pigeon Pose
This pose stretches the hip flexors, outer hips and groin. There is nothing more elegant than a mom-to-be in this posture.
"From Downward Dog, step the right foot forward and place it just inside your left hand. Tip your knee to the right, until it touches the floor — your shinbone should be almost parallel with the front of your mat. Extend your chest forward, while supporting yourself on your fingertips.
"Try a few rounds of spinal flexion — waves of the spine — for 4 counts. You may also use a blanket or blocks underneath your hip to prop yourself up with a little support in this pose. Hold this pose for a minimum of 5 breaths. Once you are finished, tuck the back toes under, press the hands into the floor and step back to Downward Dog. Repeat on the other side."
Goddess Squat
This series gets your legs in shape for the final stretch of labor — the pushing phase, or breathing your baby down. Your hips will be ready to deliver by opening the pelvic girdle, strengthening the thighs, opening the chest and strengthening the arms.
"Take the legs wide with knees slightly turned out. Inhale the arms up overhead and exhale, bending the knees, bringing your thighs parallel with the floor. Open the arms out to either side with palms facing forward in Abhaya mudra — no fear. Inhale back up again and repeat up to 20 times."
Child's Pose
This gentle stretch calms the brain, helping to relieve stress and fatigue, relieves back and neck pain, and stretches hips, thighs and ankles.
"From Downward Dog, bend your knees and kneel down to your mat and touch your big toes together, press your hips back toward your heels, separate your knees to hips-width and lay your torso down onto the floor or a bolster. Rest your forehead on the mat, with your arms alongside your body and your palms facing upward. Breathe deeply into the back body for 5-to-10 breaths."
What are some calming practices that helped you before, during, and/or after your pregnancy? Let us know in the comments below!
Latham Thomas, aka Glow Maven, is a celebrity wellness/ lifestyle maven and birth doula- transforming not only how women give birth to their babies, but how they give rise to the best version of themselves. Named one of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul 100- a enlightened group of leaders elevating humanity with their work- Latham is helping women embrace optimal wellness and spiritual growth as a pathway to empowerment. Follow her on Twitter & IG: @GlowMaven
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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You've Never Seen Luke James In A Role Quite Like This
Over the years, we've watched Luke James play countless characters we'd deem sex symbols, movie stars, and even his complicated character in Lena Waithe's The Chi. For the first time in his career, the New Orleans-born actor has taken on a role where his signature good looks take a backseat as he transforms into Edmund in Them: The Scare—a mentally deranged character in the second installment of the horror anthology series that you won't be able to take your eyes off.
Trust us, Edmund will literally make you do a double take.
xoNecole sat down with Luke James to talk about his latest series and all the complexity surrounding it—from the challenges taking on this out-of-the-box role to the show's depiction of the perplexing history of the relationship between Black Americans and police. When describing the opportunity to bring Edmund's character to life, Luke was overjoyed to show the audience yet another level of his masterful acting talents.
"It was like bathing in the sun," he said. "I was like, thank you! Another opportunity for me to be great—for me to expand my territory. I'm just elated to be a part of it and to see myself in a different light, something I didn't think I could do." He continued, "There are parts of you that says, 'Go for it because this is what you do.' But then also that's why it's a challenge because you're like, 'um, I don't know if I'm as free as I need to be to be able to do this.' Little Marvin just created such a safe space for me to be able to do this, and I'm grateful for everything I've been able to do to lead to this."
Courtesy
Them: The Scare, like the first season, shines a light on the plight of Black Americans in the United States. This time, the story is taking place in the 1990s, at the height of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. While the series presents many underlying themes, one that stands out is Black people and the complicated relationship with the police. "For the audience, I think it sets the tone for the era that we're in and the amount of chaos that's in the air in Los Angeles and around the country from this heinous incident. And I say it just sets the tone of the anxiety and anxiousness that everybody is feeling in their own households."
James has been a longtime advocate against police brutality himself. He has even featured Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Colorado man who died after being forcibly detained by officers, as his Instagram avatar for the past five years. So, as you can imagine, this script was close to his heart. "Elijah was a soft-loving oddball. Different than anyone but loving and a musical genius. He was just open and wanted to be loved and seen."
Getty Images
Luke continued, "His life was taken from him. I resonate with his spirit and his words...through all the struggle and the pain he still found it in him to say, 'I love you and I forgive you.' And that's who we are as people—to our own detriment sometimes. He's someone I don't want people to forget. I have yet to remove his face from my world because I have yet to let go of his voice, let go of that being [because] there's so many people we have lost in our history that so often get forgotten."
He concluded, "I think that's the importance of such artwork that moves us to think and talk about it. Yes, it's entertaining. We get to come together and be spooked together. But then we come together and we think, 'Damn, Edmund needed someone to talk to. Edmund needed help... a lot [of] things could have been different. Edmund could have been saved.'
Check out the full interview below.
Luke James Talks Ditching Sex Symbol Status For "Them: The Scare", Elijah McClain, & Morewww.youtube.com
Featured image by Getty Images