Reconnect to your Pelvic Floor and Core Anytime After Childbirth with this Yoga Pose
This is for all those new mom’s out there who have given birth during this crazy time of social distancing and isolation. You might be scrolling through social media of everyone doing home workouts and wondering if there’s anything you can do to prepare your body to return to activity. You’re not cleared by your doctor, and you probably don’t feel quite ready anyways.
You can do this shape on on the floor, on the couch, or even in your bed!
First and most importantly, don’t push yourself to physical activity before you feel ready. You will return to running, dancing, yoga, weightlifting, swimming, whatever it might be; just not today. To push yourself before your body is ready risks injury including bleeding, pelvic organ prolapse, diastasis recti abdominis, and urinary incontinence.
However, if you’re itching to do something there are some movements you can do to prepare your body to safely return to activity.
Breathing Techniques
Fun fact: During pregnancy your diaphragm and ribcage shifts up about two inches to make room for your growing baby. Women spend 9-10 months adapting to breathing with less air space and many take on this non-optimal breathing pattern well after childbirth and their diaphragm returns to its lowered position. It’s best to relearn optimal breathing techniques before returning to activity. This allows for maximizing air supply and connection to pelvic floor. Early postpartum is the perfect time to reestablish an understanding of your breath and the power of your breath in healing and recovery.
Reconnect to your Pelvic Floor and Inner Core
Gentle, intentional, subtle movements are going to go further than high frequency, high intensity exercises right now. After understanding how to maximize your breath, increasing awareness of your pelvic floor and inner core will begin to strengthen the muscle, but also create the connection of the brain to utilize those muscles when you’re bending down to pick up a car seat or pick up your baby.
Below is one of my favorite restorative yoga shapes that is perfect for calming the nervous system, expanding the breath, and reconnect to the pelvic floor. As I say in the video, I’m using a bolster, but that is often too intense to start with. Roll up a towel or blanket and place under you hip bones. You may need to make slight adjustments and tweaks to find the ‘just right’ spot for your body. If you find that in angle between the hips and chest is too intense or uncomfortable, place a small pillow under your chest.