Yoga and Pregnancy

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ABOUT THE BOOK Yoga and Pregnancy places the unique experience of pregnancy within the total experience of human life and the vast reality of creation. Nine months may seem brief in a woman's life, short but forever life changing.

Living a yoga lifestyle and imbibing yoga samskaras through the various branches of yoga as developed by the Satyananda Yoga Bihar Yoga tradition enhances the quality of mother and child, the family society, and ultimately the quality of humankind.

This is not a self-help book for expectant mothers, nor a medical guide. The aim is to suggest attitudes, disciplines and practices of yoga so that the new life can begin in the most beneficial mariner.

The child's education begins in the mother's womb.Whatever habits of thought, action and feeling are formed in a child's early days lost throughout life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati, MBBS, DA, MD (Mumbai), was born in 1952 in Mumbai, India. She completed her medical studies in 1978 and worked as a consultant anaesthesiologist in Mumbai hospitals until 1997.

Her association with Swami Satyananda Saraswati began in 1986, and in 1997 she was initiated into poorna sannyasa by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati. Until 2014 she was based at Bihar School of Yoga, Munger.

Dr Swami Nirmalananda has taught and lectured ex tensively in yoga, particularly applied yogic science, and coordinates the research work of the Yoga Research Foundation.

INTRODUCTION Since time immemorial humankind was awed by the mystery of day and night, the seasons, the regularity of the low and high tide, the secret of birth, life and death. Looking at the infinite space of the night sky, the countless stats and the ever-changing moon, wonder and reverence filled their hearts. With the birth of human consciousness, questions were born and the search for answers which continues until today.

Yoga is one answer to these questions. In the vastness of yoga vidya, the science of yoga, answers can be found and experienced.

-Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati.

The aim of this book is to engage its readers in the reflection and connection between the vast cycle of creation at the universal level, and the cycle of the individual human life.

Yoga and Pregnancy is therefore not a self-help book for expectant mothers. The aim is to place the nine-month period in the greater experience of human life and live it in the most beneficial manner with the attitudes, disciplines and practices of yoga as developed by the Satyananda Yoga-Bihar Yoga tradition.

Understanding human life as part of a universal, cosmic experience, acknowledging the wisdom of the ancient seers and sages, and reconnecting to the power and beauty of Shakti can enhance the time of pregnancy for the woman and her Emily Around the world, yoga classes for pregnant women have become popular they prepare the expectant mother for the event of giving birth and the arrival of her child. However, most of these classes consist of yogasana and methods of breathing that can be applied so that discomforts during pregnancy and the various stages of birth can be more easily. Yoga vidya is a holistic approach to yoga and life. The six branches of the yoga chakna, the wheel of yoga, hatha yoga, raja yoga, kriya yoga, karma yoga, bhakti yoga and jnana yoga can be introduced into everyone's daily life. This integral system of yoga along with the yama of happiness and the niyama of japa, as well as disciplines and attitudes of a yoga lifestyle, cater to all the needs, aspirations and dimensions of human existence. The physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual dimensions are embraced in an appropriate and uplifting way. Applied with awareness, wisdom and common sense, yoga is an ideal system for the welfare of mother, the growing child and the family.

A chapter on adolescence and the need to guide the young people has been included. With the onset of puberty, the teenager is physically in a position to procreate, to create new life. Curiosity and the urge to explore sexuality is natural, yet if not guided and managed in a suitable way it can lead to imbalance and suppression. The rise in teenage pregnancy shows that the physical maturity is not matched by mental and emotional maturity. Parents can support their children to understand and cope with the many changes in body and mind, and bring the family closer together. An understanding of yoga as a way of life can help prepare the adolescent physically and mentally and allow them to explore their spiritual dimension.

**Contents and Sample Pages**