The best postnatal yoga poses for new mamas
Four gentle stretches to help your body recover.
By Eliza Hayward from Divine Flow Yoga
During this tender time of healing, recovery and rather large adjustment to the arrival of your baby, our self care routine or any kind of routine has most likely not yet been established nor should it.
We often hear, ‘What kind of sleep routine is your baby in?’ but how wonderful would it be to hear from other women, ‘What is your self care practice post baby?’
Give yourself permission to be in the now and in the slow. It can be so refreshing and empowering to read that you simply just don’t need to do it all.
Here is a practice dedicated to the mother that is ready to roll out her mat and fumble her way to the ground to take a slice of stillness for herself.
As a mother of two, I quickly learnt how powerful a practice was for my mental state, to help ride those early foggy days with calming and steady breaths.
Cat & Cow
From a neutral spine use your inhale breath, surrender abdomen and lift tail
Exhale and push the floor away and lift up through the shoulders, rounding the spine, curl tailbone and tuck chin towards your chest.
These two gentle postures are paired together to move the spine through two degrees of its rotation, flexion and extension. The movement massages lower organs, stimulates the kidneys and adrenals glands whilst creating a calming, emotional balance.
Tip: Take deep breaths in and out through your nose and sync the movement to your breath.
Melting heart pose
From all fours start to shift your hips back and melt your chest and arms forward. Release your head onto the floor or a block and allow gravity to open your heart. This is a great one to open the shoulders for those nursing mothers.
Tip: Try to stay here for two minutes and breathe deeply to calm your mind. This relaxing pose offers a slight stretch of the belly, helping to comfort. Get more from the pose by stretching deeper on each exhale and allow your belly to expand forward. To take out the intensity around the shoulders, take the arms slightly wider than shoulder width and bring a bend to the elbows.
Supine or seated twists
Start with both knees in the chest rocking from side to side. Let go of the left leg and twist right knee over to hover and extend right arm out to the side – optional: Allow gaze to follow. Stay for 5 belly breaths, allowing the body to feel rested and supported by the mat. To move toward a calmer state, stay for 10 breaths.
Repeat on the left side.
Tip: Adjust your pelvis and feel the spine aligned. This will allow energy to transfer up and down the spine with least resistance.
Forward fold
With feet hips width apart and standing tall, take your hands to clasp behind you and hinge from your hips. Fold forward with your arms over head to release the entire chest and shoulders.Bend your knees here to support the lower back. Combat the compounded shoulder effect from nursing and hang here bringing new oxygen to the brain.
Tip: Take a few large breaths and sigh out of your mouth on your exhale breath.
Complete your practice by rolling out your head in circular motion on both sides.
Eliza Hayward is an influential yoga and meditation teacher, empowerment coach, retreat host and the founder of Divine Yoga.
