As if I wasn‘t tired enough already, and now I have to practice yoga?! If this is how you feel, there are lots of great ways to motivate yourself to do yoga during pregnancy.
Prenatal yoga can give you lots of energy, provide you with the opportunity to connect with your unborn baby, and set aside time every day to spend on self-care. Something that you can never have too much of, mama!
Make self-care your absolute priority during pregnancy - by making it a habit now, you’ll be more likely to continue your self-care habits into motherhood. Prenatal yoga practice is one of the best ways to show yourself some love, pay attention to and relieve pain in your body, as well as learn some amazing techniques that can help you through labor and childbirth. Despite all of the goodness that it has to offer, it’s normal to feel completely unmotivated to start practicing.
In this post, we will give you 5 incredible ways to motivate yourself to do yoga during pregnancy - you’ll be turning off Netflix and jumping (or shuffling) onto your mat before you know it!
Wake up earlier
Call me crazy, but waking up earlier is the answer for those looking to add a little self-care to their busy schedules. There’s something about waking up before the rest of the world that can really nourish the soul, and give us interrupted time to focus only on ourselves and our needs. This is especially important if you have older children demanding your attention throughout the day!
The morning is the most motivating time of day, so even if your schedule is clear, try to get out of bed. Getting up early is also great practice for the early morning wake-up calls that are coming your way once your baby arrives!
As tempting as it might be to lay in bed all day, try to get up, get on your mat, and start giving your body the love and the attention that it deserves.
Create yourself a loving routine
Create a self-care routine built around your yoga practice that you can’t wait to dive into every day. Maybe you incorporate journaling, a warm bath, or rubbing your belly with lotions and potions. Anything that makes you feel great should be added to your routine.
Assign each element of your routine a certain amount of time, and if you’re the least excited about yoga - do that first!
Dedicating a set amount of time to spend with yourself every day will make it easier to commit to a daily yoga practice - and remember, it doesn’t have to be a long practice every time. Even 10 minutes is enough to give you lots of benefits, such as relief from back and pelvic pain.
Prepare everything that you need for your routine before getting started to best avoid distractions - then get to it!
Design your yoga space
Even if you don’t have much space in your house, try to dedicate a little corner to your yoga practice. Leave your mat unrolled, find a spot for some delicious-smelling candles or your aromatherapy diffuser, and don’t forget to include any extras that make your yoga space a really lovely area to spend some time in.
For even more motivation to practice, you could treat yourself to a new yoga mat or some fancy cork yoga blocks (these will come in particularly useful during your prenatal yoga practice!). There’s nothing more exciting than practicing yoga on a new mat with new props - maybe whilst wearing a pair of new prenatal yoga pants...
Experiment
Find a style of yoga or a teacher that you connect with - this could be an online class or an in-person class. Maybe you’re more interested in learning breathing techniques and positions that will help you during labor and childbirth. Or maybe you prefer to spend your time in yoga strengthening your lower body and relieving tension in the shoulders.
Most teachers will incorporate lots of different elements in their prenatal yoga classes, so choose the one that you enjoy the most; And if you’re practicing alone, just go with the flow. If you want to spend half an hour meditating with your unborn baby, do that. If you want to spend 15 minutes opening us the hips and pelvis on your exercise ball, do that.
It’s always important to find what feels good when you practice yoga, but this is especially important during pregnancy! Listen to your body, it knows what you need.
Find a buddy
If you can’t bear the thought of heading to a yoga class alone or just cannot muster up the energy needed to practice at home, connect with someone who can be your accountability partner. This could be another expectant mama, or maybe a friend who is looking to begin or advance in their yoga practice. It could even be your partner!
It’s more motivating to hop onto your mat when you know that you’re encouraging somebody else to do the same. Maybe you both start with no desire to practice yoga whatsoever, but you’ll soon be feeding off of each other’s growing energy and planning your next team yoga session.
Pick just one, or implement several of these ideas together, and see which one works the best at motivating you to practice yoga during pregnancy. It’s also important to remember not to be too hard on yourself. There are some days during pregnancy when we just don’t have the energy to practice yoga, and when we would rather stay on the sofa being fed delicious treats all day. Just try again the next day!
Jennica Joyce Yoga is organizing Mommy & Me Yoga retreats and Prenatal Yoga Teacher Trainings (RPYT) in Southern California. Come Share Your Heart, Nurture Mom & Baby and Live Your Dharma with us! JennicaJoyceYoga.com