Pregnancy can be a pretty stressful part of a person’s life, what with carrying and maintaining a new baby’s life, getting ready to have the baby in your home, and dealing with all of the pregnancy cravings and symptoms that come along with being pregnant.
One of the hardest symptoms to deal with is the hot flashes during pregnancy, as once a hot flash starts, it’s tough to get it to stop with your own manipulation. Hot flashes in pregnancy are pretty hard to stop, so how can you avoid them altogether? That’s what this post is going to cover.
Meditation
One of the most common triggers for hot flashes in pregnancy is stress. High stress and anxiety levels can make hot flashes last longer, and they can also cause them to pop up a little more often. But stress is a normal part of pregnancy, so how can you avoid hot flashes during pregnancy if you’re experiencing stress?
Meditation is well known for lowering stress and anxiety levels. This happens in a couple of different ways.
Deep Breathing
Focusing on your breath, particularly making sure that your deep breathing follows a regular pattern, helps regulate your heart rate. So if your heart has been racing due to higher levels of stress, deep breathing as a part of meditation (or even alone) can be very helpful.
Not only does it help lower your heart rate, but deep breathing can also help lower levels of adrenaline, which also makes you feel more stressed.
Letting Go of Your Thoughts
Many people who practice meditation know that a critical element of the activity is emptying your mind. If your mind starts to wander to other thoughts, it can be useful to imagine these thoughts are being carried away by a balloon, for example.
By letting go of your thoughts and allowing your mind to be empty, you’re enabling yourself to let go of the things that are bringing you stress, at least temporarily. As a result, you’re more likely to avoid hot flashes during your pregnancy by lowering your stress levels.
Maintain a Regular Temperature
If you’re able to regulate the temperature in your home by opening the windows or using an air-conditioning unit, it’s good to use that to your advantage. Hot flashes during pregnancy are much more likely to happen if you are experiencing massive leaps in environmental temperature.
If you’re feeling warm, it’s undoubtedly a good idea to lower the temperature, but it would be good to lower the temperature slowly. The same goes for if you’re feeling freezing.
If you have an air-conditioning system that lets you set a temperature range in your home, utilize that and keep the temperature as comfortable for you as possible.
Clothing Matters
In line with the aforementioned tip of regulating environmental temperature, you can also do this with your clothing.
Wear Loose Clothing
Clothing that is less tight-fitting will help your body better regulate its temperature. This can potentially keep stress levels down by keeping you from feeling stifled, but it also comes with the perk of allowing any breeze to flow around you more easily.
This is especially the case if you’re prone to night sweats, as hot flashes are called at night during pregnancy.
Wear Several Light Layers of Clothes
As mentioned previously, it’s a good idea to allow the temperature around you to change more slowly and steadily if you’re feeling uncomfortable. If you are feeling too warm, it’s easier for your body to regulate its temperature if you take off a light layer of clothing than a heavy jacket.
Because of this, it’s a good idea to regulate your body temperature by putting on light sweaters in layers if you’re feeling cold, and then take those off one layer at a time if you start to feel too warm.
Avoid Spicy Food
According to Cleveland Clinic, spicy food can certainly trigger hot flashes during your pregnancy. So while you might have a craving for some spicy foods, it might be good to weigh the pros and cons of this before committing to your dinner plans.
Spicy food makes it more difficult for your body to regulate its temperature by tricking it into thinking it’s warmer than it is, occasionally causing your body to over-react to the food entering your body. This is why some people will sweat if they have spicy foods.
Drink Plenty of Water
If you’re especially prone to hot flashes during pregnancy, it’s a very good idea to increase the water you’re drinking. In addition to keeping you hydrated, your body utilizes water to regulate your body’s temperature more easily.
If you usually don’t drink much water outside of pregnancy, it’s good to increase your water intake. And if you usually drink enough water when you aren’t pregnant, it might be time to take the extra resources your body is using into account. Your body is growing and keeping another organism alive with your resources, so help it out.