A series about home yoga practices with my baby, as I build my strength up again after a C-section.
Disclaimer: I have no formal yoga training and cannot comment on whether this practice is safe for you and your baby. You must assume responsibility for any risk incurred should you choose to engage in this practice. The information that follows represents solely my own experience and opinions, it is not endorsed by Yoga With Adriene, LLC.
Key Information
- Link to the Practice (on Youtube)
- Length of Practice: 30min
- Style of Yoga: Gentle / Restorative
- Personal Info:
- I had an emergency lower segment caesarian section in September 2022
- At the time of this practice baby was 13 weeks old
Welcome to this new series! I’m unsure if anyone will be interested in reading this, so please do let me know if you like the concept. Here’s a bit of background information. I’m currently trying to build strength and fitness again after my first pregnancy and an emergency c-section in September 2022. I first started practising yoga in April 2017, when I was working a stressful PGY2 House Officer job and desperately needing some kind of outlet to process my emotions. I joined a studio and was so fortunate to find an amazing group of instructors. As was the case for many others though, my home practice only really took off during the pandemic. Throughout my pregnancy I continued to practice antenatal-safe yoga at home. I attended my first “Mum and Baby” class ten weeks after giving birth and resumed a gentle home practice at the same time. These posts document my experience in getting back on the mat with a small baby in tow.
How We Found It
This is one of those deceptively slow and simple practices that somehow goes way deeper than you realise at the time. I would recommend it for anyone with a sore back, chest, neck and shoulders, for anyone tired or low on energy (hello sleep regression!), or for anyone anxious who carries tension in the upper body and/or struggles with shallow breathing when feeling stressed.
The first ten minutes are spent in a cross-legged position, focussing on deepening your breathing and grounding you on the mat. During this part of the practice I kept my baby on my lap, swaying side to side as I followed Adriene’s cues. He was quite happy and still the whole time, which is unusual for my little baba, who is usually in perpetual motion when awake. But he seemed to find my deep breathing really soothing – I suppose in a way it’s similar to the white noise he must have been used to antenatally.
The practice then moves on to some cat cows, tabletop variation with knees off the mat, downward / three-legged dogs andwide-legged forward fold variations stretching out the spine. At this point I placed my baby on a blanket at the head of the mat, integrating him into the practice so that my hands were either side of him and my face directly above him as I flowed through the poses. I would pull faces and chat to him as I moved above and around him, swooping down to kiss him and tweak his nose, and he loved this part so much, laughing and squealing the whole time. (Anyone else’s baby learnt how to squeal with joy? This little one loves shrieking when he’s happy!) Adriene goes through this sequence slowly, cueing you to breathe deeply into the areas that are tight, and it felt delicious. I could really feel my body stretching out and opening up as I repeated the poses and I particularly loved the twist in the forward fold. I also find that these poses really help with building strength in the core and legs, which is something I’m really trying to regain after my surgery.
After ten or so minutes we drop down to the mat again with a toe balance that recruits your pelvic floor and really targets those lower abdominal muscles that were weakened by the c-section, a crow pose that I skipped today (faceplanting onto baby not a good look), and then a boat pose, some reclined twists and a supta baddha konasana. I sat my baby on my lap for the boat pose – which makes it significantly more challenging! – and then let him do some tummy time on my chest as I finished up with the remaining stretches. He loves being held and being close to me, so this had him smiling and babbling contentedly until the end of the video.
All in all, a really enjoyable restorative practice that I found quite easy to adapt to involve my baby at this current age. Will be really interesting for me to see how things evolve as he gets older and more mobile! At the moment I don’t think we’d manage more than half an hour due to his attention span / hunger / need for naps, so it’s the perfect duration for us as well. I love restorative yoga, and it’s exactly what my body is crying out for right now: the constant nursing, awkward broken sleep, and baby carrying leaves me feeling so sore and stiff every day. If you try it and enjoy it, I’d encourage you to subscribe to the Yoga with Adriene Youtube channel. And if you’re a mama at home practising with your baby – reach out! Would be lovely to connect and share tips!
Mad to Live 