Postpartum Yoga

Yoga is an ideal choice for postpartum health! A gentle practice can resume within a week or two after a vaginal delivery. After a c-section, it is recommended that you wait at least 6 weeks to start a practice. Always get the "ok" from your doctor and listen to your body before beginning or resuming a yoga practice!

Highlights of a postpartum practice:

• retrain and strengthen muscles, particularly the pelvic floor and abdominals
• focus on core strengthening
• restore, renew and energize
• reconnect to a sense of your own body and its needs
• improve circulation
• identify whether or not a diastasis has occurred (a separation of the rectus abdominus muscle) and learn techniques to help it heal

Getting back to exercise after having a baby should be a gradual process. Before you do anything, you should talk to your doctor about simple exercises you can do the first couple of weeks after the birth.

How soon after delivery can I start exercising?

Generally, if you exercised right up until delivery, you can probably safely perform your pre-pregnancy workout — or at least light exercise such as yoga and stretching — within days of giving birth, as long as you had a normal vaginal delivery. (Expect to wait about six weeks if you had a c-section.) If you stopped exercising during your pregnancy or are a newcomer to fitness, you'll need to take it slowly for the first month.

What about my belly?

Many new mothers complain about that post-baby belly and are eager to get to some ab exercises to help firm up the middle. Unfortunately, abdominal muscles often don’t just snap back into their prenatal state. And most of the time, it takes more than a little coaxing before you can slip comfortably back into those pre-baby jeans.

However anxious you are, start slowly and with simple exercises. A great place to start is with pelvic tilts and simple isometric contractions. As you get stronger, you can progress to more difficult exercises.

Recovery Yoga

Now that you've gotten the go ahead from your doctor and are feeling sufficiently ready to get moving again, you might need some ideas on exactly what to do. Yoga is one of the best post-natal exercises there is. Yoga is a wonderful way to get back in shape. It works the whole body to build strength and flexibility.

The following yoga poses are recommended for postpartum fitness:

Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana): Start on the floor on your hands and knees. With your hands at shoulder width, spread out your fingers, distributing your weight evenly through your hands. Spread your feet apart (about hip width), tuck your toes under and forward, and arch your hips towards the ceiling. Keep your back, shoulders, and head aligned while extending your hips back. This energizing position stretches the spine, the legs, and the entire body; it also eases mild depression.

Triangle Pose (Trikonasana): Stand with your feet about five feet apart and turn your right foot so that it is perpendicular to your left (the front heel should align with the back foot). Reach both arms out at shoulder height to your sides and extend your torso sideways over your right leg while keeping your hips facing forward. Place your right hand just above your ankle and extend your left hand straight up to the ceiling (look up toward your left hand). Repeat on the other side. This side bend pose helps reestablish the pelvic floor and regain leg strength.

The Son of Brahma Pose (Marichyasana I): Sit with your legs extended on the floor in front of you. Draw one leg back toward your pelvis and plant your foot on the floor. Reach your arm around your torso, around your vertical shin, and latch onto the fingers or wrist of your other hand. Draw in a breath and with the exhalation, lean forward over your extended leg. This position stimulates the abdominal organs and relieves mild back and hip pain.

Cobra (Bhujangasana): Lie with your stomach to the floor, your toes extended, and your palms flat and planted at shoulder width. Press your thighs and pelvis into the floor and inhale, pressing your palms into the floor and extending your arms. Extend and distribute the bend evenly throughout your back. Cobra opens the upper back and chest, and strengthens the lower back, inner thighs, and pelvic floor; it also helps relieve stress and fatigue. (Practice this pose with caution in the last months of pregnancy.)

Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose (Vipariti Karini): Place a pillow or folded blanket approximately five inches from the wall (experiment to find the best placement for your comfort). Sit sideways on the end of the support with your side against the wall. Exhale and slowly swing your legs up the wall and your shoulders and head down onto the floor (this may take some practice). This restorative posture is good for circulation and the repositioning of the uterus; it also can relieve leg cramps and mild backache.

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