Congratulations on your pregnancy! Whether this is your first or third, each pregnancy is a new journey in how your body changes and reacts to your growing little one.

You can do the commonly known basics of finding the best prenatal vitamin. But this helps your only baby and doesn't relieve the many possible discomforts you will experience along the way.

If you haven't considered prenatal yoga, then now is the time. There are many benefits to doing yoga that go beyond the physical. Here are seven to convince you to try yoga today.

1. Tone Your Muscles

Your pelvic floor and abdominal muscles are about to get a serious workout. Prepare them by doing exercises to strengthen them. If you didn't previously do any form of physical activity, yoga is a great way to get started while also being gentle on the baby.

2. Form a Stronger Connection With Your Baby

Sign up for a weekly yoga class and give yourself some dedicated time each week to focus on you and your growing baby. This one small act will help you remember that home life and bonding are vital for a strong familial connection.

You will notice your body responding to the different poses differently as your body grows and changes. This gentle reminder will help you remember that your body is going through a lot of change.

Some poses may even become deeply meaningful to you. For instance, the hero pose will have you stand up and lean back on your heels. Then you'll lengthen your spine and stretch tall.

Breathe deeply and feel your inner strength and power. Your body is performing a miracle, and you are an amazing human being for creating life.

3. Support Your Changing Body

Our bodies are in a constant state of change, but this is even more so when pregnant. This accelerated change means your body needs extra support.

Yoga can help you learn ways to stretch that are safe for both you and the baby. Stretching and strengthening your lower body muscles will help your body accommodate your growing belly.

You wouldn't try running a marathon without doing some training first. So don't go into the birthing process without doing some prep work.

Ideally, you want to strike the right balance between length and strength. This will give you perfectly toned muscles that can respond quickly during birth.

Toning these muscles throughout your nine-month pregnancy also means your body will bounce back to pre-pregnancy condition more quickly.

4. Prep for Labor and Delivery

Trust in prenatal yoga, and it will teach you to have faith that your body will open for labor and birth. When feeling fear, our bodies naturally clench up and become a tight ball.

This is the exact opposite of what you want your body to do during birth. It will make the process more difficult and painful. You will enter a "fear/tension/pain cycle".

This will sabotage your hope of remaining calm and experiencing minimal pain during childbirth. Practicing yoga, though can not only reduce the pain you experience but also aid you in remaining mentally present through meditation techniques.

5. Common Pregnancy Complaint Relief

There are a variety of ailments and discomforts that you will experience while pregnant. But you don't need to accept them and suffer. You can make your pregnancy more enjoyable by practicing yoga to give yourself some relief.

Yoga can help relieve your headaches, shortness of breath, insomnia, nausea, lower back pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome. The moves and poses you do during yoga stretch and tone your muscles.

When you do this, you encourage increased blood circulation throughout your body. When you deepen your breathing, you also bring an increase of oxygen to your baby and muscles.

The increase in oxygen will help your body function better, and your baby will feel better. In turn, your discomforts will be relieved.

Another common issue faced is depression, both pre and post birth. Yoga that combines both meditation and physical poses can help you gain relief from depression during this emotional journey.

6. Have a Healthier Pregnancy

It sounds obvious, the healthier you are, the healthier your baby is likely to be. One study in 2012 determined that women who regularly practiced yoga while pregnant were less likely to deliver preterm or have a low-birthweight baby.

Staying active during pregnancy will also reduce the risk of you gaining excess weight. This will reduce weight-related complications. It will also make it easier to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight post birth.

7. Gain Like-Minded Connections

You don't have to go through your pregnancy alone. There are over 3.8 million babies born each year. That is a lot of pregnant women.

By signing up for a prenatal yoga class, you have the chance to connect with fellow like-minded pregnant women. Yoga class becomes more than a fitness class.

It turns into a community of support where you can seek guidance, advice, or feedback on your pregnancy. You can feel a sense of trust with your fellow women as they have chosen to make the same healthy lifestyle choices as you.

One of the best ways to ease your anxiety is to bond with fellow women who are going through the same journey as you. Now you can calm both your mind and body.

Start Practicing Prenatal Yoga

It is never too early to start practicing prenatal yoga. The sooner you start, the sooner you begin to develop strong and supple muscles.

You can also begin to develop those meaningful relationships early. As you become more in tune with your body, you will enjoy the entire pregnancy journey more.

Check out the pregnancy section of our blog for a complete guide to your pregnancy journey.

7 Benefits of Prenatal Yoga You Need to Know About