Yeay!!! You are now a MOTHER. The struggles of pregnancy now seem irrelevant. The days of morning sickness, achy backs, insomnia seems like a thing of the past once you set your eyes on the tiny miracle that you brought into this world. Now that you are responsible for another life apart from yours, it becomes very essential that you care for your health. And what is better than Postpartum yoga for health?
Postpartum care is the first few weeks upon delivery where the body heals itself from the harrowing experience that is childbirth. This is the time to take it easy, rest as much as possible and heal. The period after delivery is sometimes referred to as the fourth trimester and this is the time to recover physically with yoga after delivery and a great time to bond with the newborn.
Some women think that they will return back to their pre-pregnancy bodies as soon as they have given birth. But your body has seen enormous change- there are bruised and torn tissues that need to be healed, labor itself is pretty hard on your body, you need to recover from it, milk production needs to get underway. Plus the uterus that has been stretched to its limit needs to contract to its pre-pregnancy size.
According to our Yoga therapist, women with vaginal deliveries can start after 2 months and C section moms after 3 months can start Postnatal or postpartum Yoga. Mommies are encouraged to take light walks and also advised to wrap their bellies with postnatal wraps. This not only helps stabilize their stomachs but also supports lower back and boosts confidence.
The key word here is taking it slow. Everything has to be done in a slow and steady pace so as to not shock the body. Care has to be taken while practicing asana and yoga for new moms as the pregnancy hormone Relaxin, which helps in relaxing of joints and thereby allows for widening of hips to facilitate childbirth, is also elevated and will remain so for the next six months or so. This means all of your joints are looser hence less stable.
Read: Preparing childbirth with pre natal yoga
The pushing done during labor makes for a compromised pelvic floor. Shishuasana or child pose asana helps in not only strengthening of the pelvic floor but also provide the hips and the spine with gentle stretching that it needs. One of the major joys of motherhood is tending to the every need of the newborn from breastfeeding to rocking her back to sleep. This results in a tired neck and shoulders to loss of endurance. Gomukhasana and Virabhadrasana not only help build stamina but also provide well needed relief to those tired muscles.
One of the most common physical changes a new mother finds is her protruding belly. There are a lot of asanas and yogas and breathing exercises which go a long way in strengthening your abdominal muscles. But remember, it took nine long months for your stomach to increase, so don’t expect results overnight.
The advantage of postpartum yoga is that it not only boosts your immune system but also improves your posture and balance. Lack of sleep is one of the features of a new mom. Sleep deprivation not only results in depression but also adversely affects the quality of breast milk and decreases your memory and focus. Yoga for mommies not only helps you to focus but also ups the production of serotonin which decreases the chance of postpartum depression. Balancing of wayward hormones and stress can be tackled with various asanas and yogas and breathing exercises. Although, all exercises and post pregnancy yoga should be done under supervision as the wrong type could have an adverse affect on your body and sometimes leads to umbilical hernias.
In conclusion, giving birth is a life changing experience. It is also a body changing experience. Postpartum Yoga may be the last thing on your mind but a few minutes a day practicing it can help you reconnect with your mind and body and help you stay in shape both mentally and physically for the adventure called Parenthood.
Read: Make your pregnancy easier through Reiki
We offer different alternate therapies, so speak to our counselor who will help you create a customised plan
Healclinic is a wellness platform which offers energy healing therapies like Reiki, Pranic Healing, Theta, Past Life, Inner Child, Family Constellation, Redikal, Graphotherapy, Akashik Records, Tarot Reading, Numerology, Astrology, Chakra Healing, by expert Healers.
Some of the energy healing therapies which we offer are reiki, pranic healing, past life regression, theta healing, redikal healing, family constellation, akashic records reading, astrological healing, inner child healing, hypnotherapy, tarot reading, numerology, astrology and many more. The basic tenet of all these therapies is that the human body is self healing and a person needs to be treated and not the disease.
They work on the cause of an ailment rather than the symptom and are more holistic in nature. It uses body’s own power to heal. These theraies are execllent ways to become aware of why you are facing a particular challenge and start healing from the root cause
