How To Practice Yoga as a New Mother
So many mothers have asked me how to keep up a yoga practice with a newborn baby at home. It was tricky but here are three yoga practices you can do as a new mom.
Children read their mothers like they read their favourite bedtime stories. There’s not much you can get past them, and rightfully so. You can think you are hiding an emotion from them, but they know that you’re not yourself, and they remind you when you’re not being your authentic self.
I have two children and integrating them into my yogic life has been a very important goal for me. I didn't realise how difficult it was to put it into practice until I brought my babies home. I loved the experience of being in love with my infants, and at the same time, I desperately craved quiet time to practice.
Practice 1: Pause the postures, start the Sutras
When you first come home from the hospital, your primary focus is healing and establishing a feeding routine. Mothers may have had incisions during the labour process, so asana needs to take a step back. Here is where your Raja Yoga or yoga philosophy comes in handy.
Being a mother is “Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodah” in action. (This is the second Sutra of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.) Let me explain. The Sanskrit means, “Restraining or slowing down the thoughts in the mind, to experience yoga.” Motherhood requires us to stop... pause... think about what we are about to do next that will influence our children for the rest of their lives.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a wonderful read, but to be honest, I don't think I ever had any time to read. Sri Swami Satchidananda has a very easy to understand translation, and now Integral Yoga offers an audiobook of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Practice 2: Pranayama to prevent you from heating up
Motherhood required (and still requires) me to breathe deeply and chill out. Pranyama has been my best friend in the worst of times. When my second child was born, I had a toddler going through her tantrum phase. Amidst the tears and tantrums, when I want to pull my hair out and throw a tantrum myself, I remembered to breathe.
Getting steamed up is very “un-yogic,” and my children absolutely remind me of when I am being “un-yogic.” I get bugged, but I use that as my cue to try Pranayama to calm my mind and bring my blood down from boiling point. Sithali -- the cooling breath -- is my particular favourite as it teaches me to cool down physically and mentally. Using the mouth position appropriate (either rolling my tongue or gently clenching my teeth) I breathe in cool air through the mouth and then slowly exhale out the nose.
Practice 3: Short sessions only
When my newborns would nap, I would use that time to speed clean the house, throw in a load of laundry, prepare a quick and easy meal or take a shower. Other times, I would try to roll out my mat to get some practice. One of two things happened: my child would wake up or I would lay on the mat and fall asleep.
The honest truth was that at least for that moment in time, a full practice was not possible at all. I began five minute sequences that would at least set me straight. I chose to practice both when my children were sleeping and also when they were awake and needed attention. Here is a sequence for you that helps with aches in your upper back and neck.
Practice 4: Let go of the need to do it all and just enjoy your kids
Motherhood makes you keep your sense of humour intact. Throughout all of it, your kids are the cutest, most wonderful things that happen to you. I can’t even imagine what my life was like before they came into it. Even when your whole house is covered in mess or dirt or pen marks or food or accidents... their little faces of “Oops... now what is Mom going to say,” makes me want to just cuddle them.... right after they’ve helped me to clean up their messes.
I am like my children’s favourite bedtime story. I may not be treated wtih care and am definitely not in pristine condition. My pages are torn, corners folded, and I am never kept neatly on a shelf. However, I’m read over and over again, and kept very close by. It reminds me to keep my life as an open book... a funny story of how truth and love are the most important parts of being in an imperfect yet wonderful world.