Hellobee

I don’t know about you, but I am one tight and sore mama. I had no idea how taxing having a baby could be on your body (beyond the actually giving birth part). I did realize that my arms might get a bit sore from carrying a baby, but I didn’t know the rest of the story. My shoulders, back, legs, neck are all sore – actually, I should really say what’s not sore!

I’ve been doing yoga on and off for a few years now, so I’m still a beginner. I found it really helped me both during both prenatal and postnatal to do yoga and stretches. While I was pregnant, I went to a prenatal class once a week that I just loved — the instructor was great and I met some great mamas there, too.

Once Petit Macaron came along, I started doing yoga during his naps in the morning after my six-week check-up and returned to my weekly yoga class, as it happened to be for postnatal as well. This worked great for the first four months, but after that, things started to get busy and I found it harder to find time. Actually, I haven’t been doing yoga or stretches for a couple months now. But writing this post and taking the photos got me in the mood again, and I’m going to try and get this back in my weekly routine.

I moved to a different area last month, and just signed up for a mom and baby yoga class here in Tacoma. I’m curious to see how Petit Macaron does in a yoga class with me. I fear that he might be too needy and I won’t get any benefit. If anything, though, it’ll be quality time to spend together. Perhaps I’ll meet some new mom friends in the process as well.

I wanted to share some of the poses and stretches that I wrote down from the yoga class I took and share them with you. These are the poses I would do on my own at home. Please remember that I’m still a beginner so my form may not be perfect and I might not be calling the pose as an instructor would. Also, I am not a professional nor a doctor, so please be sure you’ve got the green light from the doctor before doing any yoga or exercise.

When doing these, I suggest keeping the pose for at least 30 seconds or longer. Take a break between with baby pose or laying flat on your back.

• Baby Pose – Arms out in front, legs in a wide V
• Table Top – Keep your back flat, pull your tummy up & in
• Cat Cow – Arch your back up and then down
• Arm/Leg Extension – Extend arm and lift your opposite leg
• Arm Up/Leg Out – Extend leg out perpendicular, lift arm up
• Arm Under – From above pose, bring your arm down and under
• Baby pose for a break
• Pelvic Lifts – Lie on your back, and lift your pelvis up & tuck your arms under
• Clam – Lie on your side, lift knee but keep your heels connected. Bring your knee up & down
• Lie Flat for a break
• Tree – Stand straight, bring your foot to your thigh or calf, try to balance
• Pigeon – Bring your leg up towards your chest, and lie down
• Forward Bend – Legs spread out, bend forward
• Warrior 2 – One leg forward and bent, the other leg straight out, your body facing outward, arm out
• Triangle – From Warrior 2, lean down with arm opposite of bent leg and put your other arm up
• Squat – Squat down with arms pushing out at knees
• Eagle Arms – Cross one arm over the other, palms face each other (like a twist)
• Downward Dog – Butt up, slight bend in knees, push down on heels
• Baby pose or lie flat to relax

Take it easy and be nice to yourself! Don’t stress and if you can only fit a few minutes in, that’s still awesome. Remember, if you just had a baby, your body has gone through a LOT so keep it gentle. I’m at eight months postpartum and I still keep it easy and gentle.

Comment and share if you have any great stretches/poses, or if you’ve found other ways to work out those sore mom muscles!!