Post-Natal Yoga Styles

Very popular among women that practiced yoga during their pregnancy, post-natal yoga is an effective way to lose extra weight put on during pregnancy and readjust the body to its previous way of understanding itself. Post-natal yoga does not require any additional equipment, however, it does require a careful approach and proper training.

Depending on whether you gave a natural vaginal birth or had a cesarean, your doctor may recommend six weeks or more of recovery before resuming normal physical activities such as fast-paced yoga or other intense forms of exercise. In any event, it is highly recommended that you receive permission from your doctor before resuming yoga to avoid any discomfort or injuries.

The body will most likely be different than the one present before the pregnancy. It's important not to get too caught up in the opinion that what worked before pregnancy will work the same way after it. At the same time, getting as close back into an old routine as possible can greatly help to reduce stress and raise self esteem.

Precautions for Post-Natal Yoga

Approach every pose as if you have never done it before. This includes poses with which you were very familiar before and during your pregnancy. As an example, if you are breastfeeding, poses in the prone position may be uncomfortable. Most teachers will be sensitive to the issues that their students face after pregnancy and some classes are even geared toward women after they have given birth.

Some women face an issue of time after giving birth. A great deal of their time will be spent with the newborn infant. This is often not an issue with yoga as classes that either have nurseries or are geared towards a setting where babies are welcome. The baby spends the class beside the mother and she is free to attend to it whenever necessary during the class.

The Benefits of Post-Natal Yoga

There are several benefits of participating in post-natal yoga (particularly when involving the infant):

Most classes are geared towards getting you back into your pre-pregnancy body by focusing on the abdominal muscles, pelvis, and lower back.

Breathing exercises can be helpful in addressing the almost guaranteed stress that comes with being a new mother.

Classes that allow babies into the setting can have a very positive effect on the development of the infant as it grows in social settings and begins to explore the world.

Most classes have workshops that specifically target the physical drains that new mothers face every day such as physically manifested stress, shoulder pain, and back aches.

Many classes that involve the infant also have special poses that you can position your baby into. Some mothers have claimed that the Knees to Chest pose is very helpful in relieving the baby's gas or constipation.

Poses for Post-Natal Yoga

A Sun Salutation is great for post-natal yoga as it will strengthen the abdominals and make the spine flexible. A 12 step salutation is provided here. Do this salutation very slowly and carefully as to maintain good form and avoid injury:

Part 1: Begin by placing your palms together while standing like you're praying. Let your breath out slowly.

Part 2: While breathing in, lift your arms over your head while keeping your hand held together.

Part 3: Breathe out and bend at the waist, touching your feet with your hands.

Part 4: Breathing back in, place your right leg behind you and make an arch with your back. Let the chin lift.

Part 5: Exhale and place the left leg back with the right one. The legs and spine should form a straight line to the floor. You should look like you're about to do a push up.

Part 6: Without breathing, lower your body gradually beginning with the knees and progressing to the head. Keep your hips elevated and curl your toes.

Part 7: Inhale and arch your back once again. Bend your head back and straighten your arms.

Part 8: Exhale. With your feet and hands flat, lift the center portion of your body. You should look like a bridge that is being raised at the center.

Part 9: Inhale and place your left leg behind you once again. Bend your right leg into a squatting position. Allow your chin to lift.

Part 10: Exhaling, repeat part 3.

Part 11: Inhale. Carefully bend your body back at your waist and reach backwards with your arms behind your head. From the side you should look like the letter "C" turned diagonally.

Part 12: Exhale and return to the standing position.

Is Post-Natal Yoga for You?

New mothers face a great deal of challenges when recovering from a pregnancy. Yoga has been shown to help mothers into this transition very carefully and successfully. There are many methods that you have to choose from that include a regular exercise plan and Pilates. The restrictions of exercise following a pregnancy are far less rigid than during it for obvious reasons.

Just be sure that your doctor thinks you're ready to move back into a regular exercise plan before doing so. You may cause a lot of damage to your sensitive body if not patient. Spending time with your baby should be top priority and any exercise plan that does not allow this is unacceptable. take care of health films how to protect health we have one life

Facts and Statistics

More women use yoga to recover from a pregnancy than Pilates and martial arts combined. In fact 36% of all women claim to have used yoga at some point during or after their pregnancy.

Most women that practice yoga (89%) and are successful in returning to their former body say that yoga was essential in the journey.

An interesting study done in 2002 revealed that babies who were involved with their mother's physical activity after birth were more likely to graduate high school (86%), graduate college (65%) and obtain a postgraduate degree (17%) than babies who were not involved in their mother's exercise plans as infants.

The same study revealed that of all the subjects only 22% were overweight and only 17% had at some point suffered a serious mental disorder. As is evident, regularly performing a yoga exercise routine can be beneficial to not only the mother, but the child as well.