Now that I am 19 weeks pregnant, I am beginning to experience the joys of leg restlessness, that twitchy uncontrollable need to move the legs and feet, especially late at night, which often arises as a result of fatigue or dehydration. So the obvious first remedy – hydrate. When pregnant, the body’s circulation increases by 30%, requiring more fluid intake. The body also replenishes amniotic fluid at a rate of 1 cup per hour, so more fluid intake means greater hydration for your baby too!
Keeping the muscles of the legs and feet supple and the joints mobile is also crucial to reducing the “twitchies.” A combination of stretching, strengthening and massage is the best approach. I recommend yoga therapy poses such as Inversion/Eversion of Ankles (or Namaste Feet). You can find these yoga exercises as part of the 10 minute Quick Fix Yoga Tune Up for Feet and Ankles here.
I didn’t know about the increase in circulation…great small fact to share!
I will definitely keep this in mind when the time comes! Very interesting.
I get jittery feet all the time. I am going to double down on the water and practice feet inversion and eversion.
My sister is pregnant and had this come up. Glad to know I just have to tel her to hydrate. Never knew that the body replenishes amniotic fluid at a rate of 1 cup per hour, so more fluid intake means greater hydration for her baby too.
I need to share this with my pregnant friends – they are also complaining about their feet.
this is great too for people with restless leg syndrome
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I did not know that leg restlessness can be related to dehydration.
Wish I had known more about this when I was pregnant, I thought my grandmother had just passed down her “happy feet”, as we liked to call them.
seems like with all the talk about “restless leg syndrome” that this article has broad applicability beyond pregnancy. guess lots of plantarflexion and dorsiflexion at the ankles could be great too.
Another great one that I’m going to pass along to my twin-pregnant yogini friend!
I will recommend this to my pregnant friends!
One of my sorority sisters’ who is 7 months pregnant was just talking to us about all the weird things that have been going on with her body and she mentioned how her legs and feet sometimes twitch uncontrollably. I guess I have to first apologize to her because I told her she is having crazy pregnant lady syndrome and second give her some suggestions so this craziness can stop.
Right on. This is good stuff. Be it the yoga tune up dvds, this blog, or personal interaction with a yoga tun up teacher, it seems there is unlimited information that can benefit any person in helping them maintain comfort and integrity in their bodies.
My feet grew half a size from my pregnancy! I found it helpful to practice Viparita Korani every day, stay out of uncomfortable shoes, self-massage, use the Tune Up balls, plus I also recommend soaking the feet in magnetic clay and/or epsom salts.
To this day, I start my day on my back, legs up with ankle rotations to facilitate circulating the venous blood back up to the heart for re-oxygenation.
It is so amazing how pregnancy is looked at today. I wish I had this knowledge and support when I needed it. However, it’s never too late, maybe I can help my daughter-in-law to benefit from all this knowledge. I’m so happy for you ladies.
I have used the therapy balls on my feet with Jill in one of her workshops.
It’s amazing how they stretch the facia at the bottoms of our feet, which in turn will help lengthen the back side of our bodies.
If you do a forward fold before using the balls on your feet and compare it to a forward fold after, there is quite an improvement!
So interesting I was thinking that if our standing pattern with the feet is not even ( pronating or supinating) before we get pregnant, then maybe when pregnant the feet will create more preassure and pain, so its nice to work on the evenness of our stands before pregnancy as well. legs up the wall I agree is wonderful if when we can still lay on our backs or a fully supported elevated feet at the wall half navasana is sweet too.
I could work on my feet for an hour without being pregnant, I can imagine how transcendent it must be during that time. I love the inversion/eversion of the ankles but also really enjoy sitting with the top of one foot on the bottom of the other so that the top foot metatarsals sink into pressure points on the sole of the bottom foot. The YTU balls under the feet are great, tennis balls work and the small balls with the nubs are amazing if your feet are a little tougher like mine. I have so much more sensation and dexterity throughout the feet for a few days after a session w/ the nubby balls.
Our feet in general are so neglected and without them we would not be standing! With 26 bones in all, they need tending to. It makes sense that if you release the facia on the bottom of the feet your back lengthens.
Especially good for dancers or people who wear high heels all day/night.
If I hadn’t started taking yoga, I think my feet would be like a faraway land, rarely visited. As Peggy Sue notes, there are many bones in the feet, and as many or more muscles and other types of connective tissue (not just the plantar fascia, which is where our thoughts automatically go). Rubbing out tension in the feet is good for creating a solid foundation and awareness in our extremities. We rely so much on our feet to enhance the quality of our lives, that we need to coddle them daily.
Quite the opposite of pregnancy, but… I’ve often found that after a night of unladylike drinking, an intense yoga class is the perfect “reality check.” As we all know, dehydration is a beloved hallmark of “the day after” and while it’s tempting to sit on the couch– in the dark– and sip on Pedialyte, it’s a false indicator of when you’re body is back to balance. Going to that yoga class amps up the detox and forces my body to not only replenish was was lost, but go beyond that. I instantly feel heightened sensitivity in my feet and a lack of love in my joints because they’re thirsty and I’ve denied them a replenishing sip. (It’s also a friendly reminder that being overserved isn’t just hard on your head, but your yoga practice.) The connection is in realizing that when our body isn’t in it’s “normal” state, it’s not enough to just give it what it’s missing, you have to give it even more.
I think this is very important knowledge to share as self care for the feet often doesn’t happen. Bringing it to the attention of this specific population (pregnant women) is a great way to create this awareness. In general I feel like when recommendations are population specific people’s ears perk up and pay attention. What a great insight, only had from this specific blog!
good to know, i have not been pregnant and probably won’t ever be pregnant:) but often my students are so thanks for the helpful info!