Postpartum Yoga: When Can I Start?

Many women who did yoga before and during pregnancy are in a hurry to return to school, some just want to learn the basics. Young mothers are afraid of harming an exhausted body, so they are interested in when you can start training and are there any contraindications? In the article, we will consider how yoga after childbirth affects health, when it is better to start exercising and why it is worth postponing classes.

Yoga Benefits

In the past few years, yoga classes have become a kind of trend and are gaining more and more popularity. Practically in all sports complexes classes on different types of yoga are held. With the help of simple breathing techniques, techniques and certain postures, you can significantly reduce body weight, improve your health and find peace of mind.

To the question of women when to start yoga after childbirth, many answer - in a couple of weeks. They argue that in this way it is much faster to return to the previous parameters and normalize the state of an exhausted organism. Are they right? Let's see below.

Regularly doing yoga, you can achieve the following results:

• lose weight;
• tighten the figure, get rid of excess body fat, flabby stomach;
• reduce diastasis, that is, a divergence of muscles in the abdomen;
• restore elasticity to ligaments and skin, thereby preventing the formation of stretch marks;
• improve metabolism;
• tidy up the muscles;
• establish the nervous system;
• stabilize the hormonal background;
• get rid of postpartum depression.

In addition, classes can be carried out at home, without being separated from the newborn. You will not need exercise equipment and sports equipment, which are only in fitness centers. Enough comfortable rug and a bit of free time.

Contraindications

Even all the best and the most useful have their contraindications. Women who ask when it is possible to do yoga after childbirth should know some nuances:

• You can not start classes too early, despite the great desire to return to their previous form. The doctor and instructor will advise you to refrain from exercise for several weeks.
• If stitches were placed during childbirth, you should definitely wait until they are completely healed.
• If childbirth was performed using cesarean section, this is a serious stress for the whole body, so first of all, you need to wait until the scar is properly tightened and only then gradually begin to exercise.
• Some asanas are accompanied by significant power load, which is extremely undesirable for a woman in the postpartum period.
• In exceptional cases, yoga can enhance or decrease lactation, so during breastfeeding you need to carefully monitor the effect of training on milk formation.
  

Postpartum Yoga: When Can I Start?

Women who have given birth to a baby in a natural way, without surgery, can start practicing asanas 40 days after giving birth. Due to the physiological characteristics of the body, the first 1.5 months, any physical exercise can injure the uterus, since the recovery period takes some time.

After a cesarean section or episiotomy, yoga classes can be started only six months later, since power loads can cause irreparable harm to a weakened body.

Women who have never played sports are also advised to wait about 6 months after the baby is born, and then start the classes with the simplest exercises. To be sure of the safety of training, 2-3 weeks after the start of classes it is necessary to visit a women's consultation.

Yoga during lactation

Each woman, due to individual characteristics or circumstances, the lactation period lasts differently. Postpartum yoga, as a rule, has a beneficial effect on the health of mothers:

• increase immunity;
• contribute to the rapid restoration of its former form;
• improve overall physical condition;
• charge positive.

It is better to conduct classes after feeding the baby, as the pressure on the chest will decrease. To maintain water balance, you need to drink more fluid. If training negatively affects lactation, you need to try other asanas, reduce stress or give up classes for a while.

Recommendations

In order for yoga after childbirth to benefit and in no case harm the health of mothers, it is necessary to adhere to the following recommendations:

• It is best to conduct classes in the morning, if this is not possible, then it is necessary to allocate time in the middle of the day, between meals.
• Morning workout must be carried out after all hygiene procedures.
• After class, it is advisable to wait 10 minutes and then take water procedures.
• You need to practice in a clean, well-ventilated area.
• Avoid training under the scorching sun.
• If a woman is not feeling well, it is worth moving classes to another time.
• In a cool room, it is recommended to wear extra clothes. It should be free so as not to hamper movement.

For the pelvis and abdomen

Yoga exercises after childbirth at home:

1. Sit on a fitness mat, stretch your legs in front of you, and relax your arms as much as possible. On inspiration, you need to tighten the muscles of the uterus and anal opening, hold the tension for several seconds, relax and exhale.
2. Get on all fours so that your arms and legs are shoulder width apart. During exhalation, bend the lower back, while fixing the arms and neck in a straight position. Lift the buttocks up, stretch the legs into a string. Stand a minute and relax.
3. Sit in the lotus position, draw in the muscles of the vagina and hold the tension for several minutes, then relax.
4. Lie on your back, spread your arms on both sides of the body, palms up. Raise your legs, straighten and tilt in one direction, pressing as much as possible to the mat. Frost in a pose for a few seconds, then repeat with an inclination in the opposite direction.
5. Lie on your back, arms outstretched to the sides. Bring the left foot to the right and press it with the left hand, while the left hand remains lying on the rug. Do the same with the right foot.
6. Bend your knees while lying on your back. When you inhale, raise your pelvis, leave your hands motionless along the body. Exhaling, slowly lower the pelvis.
   

For the back, shoulders and neck, chest

Postpartum yoga exercises include:

1. Stand up straight, straighten your back. On the exhale, make a gentle forward bend, touch the floor and stay in this position for 1 minute, then take the starting position.
2. Lie on your stomach, put your hands behind your back and lift into the air. On the exhale, raise the body, at the same time, tighten the head, legs and thigh muscles. If possible, hold the pose for as long as possible.
3. Lie on the mat face down, put your legs underneath. Put your hands back and close in the lock. Inhaling, pull your shoulders and arms back, raise your head. Keep in this position for a minute, then relax.
4. Get on your knees, put your hands on your hips, and straighten your back. Exhale and bend back. Head back, back and arms straighten. Fix the body in a pose for 30 seconds and return to its original position.
5. Sit on the mat, put your hands behind a basin at shoulder width and lean on. Toes unfold towards the legs. On inspiration, stretch your legs and raise your pelvis, tilt your head back. Hold the pose for a few seconds and sit down again.
   

Exercise Features

During yoga after childbirth, you must take into account some rules:

• all poses are taken smoothly, without sudden movements;
• Do not perform exercises where you need to widely spread your legs;
• after epidural anesthesia, do not do exercises with bends and deep bends forward;
• strength exercises are best performed after a full recovery.
  

Yoga classes have a beneficial effect on the overall physical and psychological well-being of a woman in the postpartum period. They help to avoid depressive states, increase self-esteem. The main thing is to listen to your body, not to rush things and gradually complicate the exercises.