The morning sickness is over, the restless legs and lower back ache gone, and you finally hold that beautiful new baby in your arms. Postnatal yoga will allow you to regain your strength and energy that your body lost while working on keeping you healthy through your pregnancy and childbirth. Yoga teacher training helps guide instructors to focus on postures (asana), breath work (Pranayama) and bonding exercises with your baby. You can spend the time still nurturing your baby while providing some pampering for yourself. At the end of each class session you should feel rested and restored and ready to battle the job of being a new mom.

Benefits to Mom

Practicing postnatal yoga, moms will slowly start to rebuild their stamina that they lost during pregnancy. All the exercises that you practice with your yoga teacher are safe and focus on the condition of your postnatal body.  This practice will focus on helping you rebuild the strength within your abdominal area, back and pelvic muscles. Slowly you will be guided how to release the tension in your neck and shoulders as well as being able to bring balance back to your spine.

Benefits to Baby

Making sure you bond with baby yoga teacher training will help guide instructors to make sure tactile, auditory and visual contact with baby is met which will help the development and emotional well-being of your baby. This will lead to building trust and security which is the base for the development of self-confidence and the balance of mind and spirit. Practicing certain poses and sequences can help create a routine, which establishes a certain awareness of what baby can expect next and helps develop language. Practicing yoga with baby can also benefit both of you because it may allow baby to sleep better and longer due to the physical and mental stimuli baby gains during practice.

How soon can I start yoga after delivery?

Make sure to get a clear bill of health from your physician and then make sure wherever you go there is someone there with yoga certification and is aware that you just had a baby.

• Mothers that are healing from a cesarean delivery should hold off for at least 6-10 week before beginning exercise
• Mothers that are healing from a vaginal birth should give themselves 4-6 weeks to allow for their bodies to heal before beginning exercise

Our bodies are always in a state of transition, so do not feel that you are going to naturally bounce back to where you were before your pregnancy in weight or strength. With yoga practice you can be healthy and strong again safely.

Yoga teacher training will provide information on the best poses to practice after your pregnancy. Some of the best poses for moms will address certain concerns they may be experiencing.

Do you have a weaker pelvic floor?

While pushing during labor you may have weakened your pelvic floor. You could be experiencing less sensation or have an annoying leakage problem with urine if you sneeze or laugh. This is something that you can work on to make stronger and should not ignore.

Fix: Start practicing Kegel exercises

These exercises are meant to correct incontinence and strengthen the pelvic floor. You can begin by choosing which position is most comfortable to you: cross-legged, Child’s Pose, or lying on your back. Squeeze the muscle that stop the flow of urine and make the contractions gradually last longer.

Do you have an aching neck and shoulders?

Many moms face this because we spend a lot of time bending over baby during feedings.

Fix: Cow Face Pose-Arms

While you are feeding the baby try to focus on keeping your shoulders down away from your ears and your shoulder blades down in your back. For more stretching you can bring your right arm overhead and turn you palm to face inward. Then bring your left arm out to your side and parallel to the floor while turning your palm outward. Bring both palms together behind your back and hold for five breaths. Repeat as needed.

Are you fighting loss of stamina?

Most mom experience a loss of stamina and even running up a flight of stairs is enough to exhaust them. You need to remember that your body is healing from labor, you are tired from taking care of your newborn, and any shift or change in your exercise routine during pregnancy can make changes.

Fix: Warrior II Pose

Standing poses can help us build our stamina and are easily done for most women. Warrior II pose allows moms to feel the strength building in their bodies as they practice. Standing with your feet four feet apart, turn your right foot in and your left foot out 90 degrees. Bring your arms out to both sides keeping them parallel with the floor and you slowly bend your left knee over your left ankle. Reach your arms out and hold for five breaths. Repeat on other side.

Pregnancy is 40 weeks and during this time your body changes. Yoga teacher training will help get you back into shape after your pregnancy with postnatal yoga so that you can be as healthy as possible.