Balancing Dosha in Pregnancy

If you find yourself overly enthused about the pregnancy and already finished the nursery have the first year of toys (before the baby is born) or with inflammation in places, this is the pitta expression of pregnancy. Pitta dosha can make you feel like there is nothing those around you can do right, no matter how hard they try. You feel the weight of the world on your shoulders whilst you keep yourself busy with the external high achievements who cannot “take time off”. Although hormonal changes are part and parcel of pregnancy excessive bursts of anger are often part of the pitta imbalance.😉

Kapha has an important role in pregnancy as it is what creates structure and builds the cells of a growing fetus, leading into a full weight baby. Ojas is the subtle essence of Kapha and the final product of digestion. An aggravation of Kapha displaces ojas, if this is ignored it creates Kapha related disorders like diabetes, excessive elasticity of joins and numbness of limbs.

Usually, mothers can feel Kapha related imbalances as sluggishness, adding to slowing down at the later stages in pregnancy. Being aware of diet and lifestyle are the best active way to counterbalance this. Find options to keep raising your heart rate and breathing deeply by dancing, swimming, yoga or daily walking for 20 – 30 minutes.

It’s been shown in studies that babies do favour sweet flavours in the amniotic fluid by opening and closing its mouth to swallow (1). But this is the time to show caution to excessive sweet tastes, as high blood sugar levels are not good for your baby or yourself. The rate of gestational diabetes is 16 out of 100 women in the UK and puts your child at risk of type 2 diabetes (3) as your body struggles to produce enough insulin. Eat more slow-releasing sugars from carbohydrates like GF oats, wholegrain, chia, flax, seeds, wholegrain bread and basmati rice, couscous, pasta and quinoa, whole fruits and dried fruits eaten with nuts and seeds. These foods are all going to provide you with both the right quality sugars and a way to avoid spiking your insulin levels.

According to Ayurveda the practice of yoga, the spiritual science of life is a preventative measure ensuring the stability of mind-body. Moving with awareness benefits both you and your unborn baby as the senses develop in the fetus throughout the entire time of pregnancy. Postures that focus more on balancing, opening gently the spine, sides and pelvis, and postures which help focus on the pranic current and breathing. Yoga, when done correctly, brings a natural state of tranquillity and balance as it works on the neurohormones and the metabolism, improving endocrine metabolism (4) and treatment of stress.

Table pose (Bharmanasana) with its water and Earth quality asana is a wonderful place to start on hands and knees and you can sequence this into a balancing table pose Dandayamana Bharmanasana opposite leg and hand extends upwards in line with the truck of the body and return back to all fours after the breath is exhaled. This is a lifting and aligning posture for your core, and a wonderful way to focus in on breath whilst keeping your gaze down between the hands. Next, move into the downward facing dog with a wide feet position and walk the hands back into mountain pose for four deep grounding breaths. Standing on the left foot, come into Tree pose (Vrksasana), and breath deeply into our navel space to feel centred and ground with the foot into the floor. ( If you find this is painful in the pelvic region then do not practise this posture.) Ground both feet in mountain pose for four more deep breaths, awaken the arms alone, tracing the shape of the sun, cycle the arms in sun salutation holding the exhale when hands reach the heart centre.

Repeat the tree pose on the right foot whilst remaining connected to your core by holding the navel down to the pelvic floor. Or skip this if there is a pain in the pelvis. Then the transition from mountain pose into walking the hands forward to the downward-facing dog gives your baby a chance to feel gravity in a different way, make sure you stay in connection with your navel integrity here.