Last updated: December 21, 2023
What Does
Postnatal Yoga Mean?
Postnatal yoga is a style of yoga that addresses the physical, mental and emotional challenges of being a new mother, as well as the aftermath of pregnancy. Yoga poses focus on helping new mothers tone their body and regain their figure, relieve stress and even bond with their newborn.
There's no one particular practice that falls under the definition of Postnatal yoga, but there are many types of classes and personal practices that seek to ease the transition from pregnancy and birth to this next stage of life.
Yogapedia Explains Postnatal Yoga
Among the physical concerns for new mothers, there includes a weak pelvic floor from delivery, aching neck and shoulders from feeding baby, loss of endurance from the physical strain of labor, weak and stretched-out abdominal muscles, and fatigue from getting up to feed the newborn every few hours. Postnatal yoga addresses these issues with meditation, pranayama and asana practice. For example, gentle stretching poses nurture the fatigued body, while poses such as boat pose and plank tone the core muscles and help flatten the belly.
Some Postnatal yoga includes both mother and infant with such bonding techniques as baby massage and poses that parent and child can do together or that mom can do while breastfeeding.
Some of the benefits of Postnatal yoga include:
- Strengthen and tighten abdominal and hip muscles
- Restore and nourish the internal organs
- Relieve back pain
- Strengthen and stretch the lower back
- Calm the nervous system
- Boost the immune system
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