Yoga Poses For 1st Trimester Pregnancy

Pregnancy Food Rules

Pregnancy is a natural physiological state of being. And as weird as it sounds, your body has been preparing for it right from the time that you were a teenager, in fact right after you turned eight. The reproductive system—the vagina, ovaries and uterus—grow and mature into a healthy state only if accompanied with the right mental preparation. And that’s why, traditionally, the formal education of the shastras, the scriptures, begins at the age of seven, so that the mind is prepared to grow and reach maturity along with the body.

Yoga Poses For 1st Trimester Pregnancy Photo Gallery

One of the things you study early on is the Taittreya Upanishads, also called the education chapter. They are full of instructions on anna or food; where it comes from, what it does, when to eat, etc., and interestingly, these are presented as a dialogue between a father and his son. They also talk about the journey of anna to become the Annamaya Kosha or the physical body, its ability to increase prana or energy, to stabilize the mana, sharpen the intellect and help you find bliss and joy in daily life. The view of the scriptures is that education is incomplete without understanding all aspects of anna, and without it progeny cannot grow, success remains elusive, and life itself becomes a burden.

So both the mind and the body are prepared for maturity through anna or the right food; more importantly, the right attitude towards it. Education without this understanding is considered incomplete.

Essentially, very different from today’s system where we learn about food as carbs, protein, fat, calories, etc., in school, and over a period of time develop a complex about our own body instead of understanding it. We go through weirdness about breasts and periods during our teenage years, and confusion about career or life itself in our twenties. And then, when we get pregnant, we fuss even more about what is happening to us or is about to happen, what to eat, what to avoid, and how to go about life in general from here on. And the big question—will the body shape change forever?