Bengaluru: “Asanas can be a wonderful exercise to ease your aches and pains. When you are pregnant, parts of your body, that you didn’t know existed, will hurt. To tide through that phase you need yoga,” says Vikas Pandey, a yoga enthusiast from Delhi.

Natasha Mahindra, yoga teacher and founder of Anam Cara Yoga Retreats, who does proyog yoga, says, “Prenatal yoga is very different, and is often customised to the requirements of the mother, her medical profile and her doctor’s advice.”

Dr Gurudutta, founder of Anandamaya Wellness Center in JP Nagar, agrees, “It is important that an expecting mother does asanas under the guidance of an instructor who has formal education in physiology and anatomy, has worked with doctors and who understands the philosophy of yoga.”

Here are some asanas that Dr Gurudutta recommends for various stages of pregnancy:

Extended Side Angle Pose: Pregnancy causes sluggishness that slows you down. But in such a scenario, you have to tap into your reserve energy. Extended side angle pose works to open up the hips. “Extending the upper arm above the head at an angle stretches the entire body,” he explains.

Sitting Side Stretch: In the final stage, when you have a huge belly that makes it impossible to move around freely, try sitting side stretch that will open your side, waist and pelvis, and even stretch your hips. “It is important to find space in your torso during the last leg of pregnancy,” says Gurudatta.

Triangle Pose: With pregnancy comes a lot of anxiety… anxiety about new responsibilities and about the unknown. To calm yourself down, try the triangle pose to feel the sense of balance. This pose works the legs, stretches the side body, energises the hips and opens up the shoulders.

Cat / Cow Poses: Back pains are an inevitable part of the pregnancy journey. ‘Cat and cow poses’ will warm up the spine and stretch the body. It helps in taking the weight of the baby away from the spine, giving you some much needed relief.

Child’s Pose: The ‘child’s pose’ recommends focusing on relaxing the face and breathing deeply into the back — two important lessons to remember in between contractions!