Yes-vember!

It’s been far too long since I wrote. It’s because it’s been far too long since I practiced! Then a conversation with my best friend about yoga and a subsequent IT outage at work led me back to my mat again on Wednesday afternoon. It wasn’t my usual time or location (our spare bedroom…I prefer the gym or at least the living room) but that was my opportunity, so I took it. I took up a little spot in front of my mirror, set up some music on my phone and simply went where my practice took me. I hadn’t planned anything as I wasn’t intending to do any yoga that day (read: this week) so I did whatever popped into my head.

I did have a time limit but I tried not to focus on that as I find if I do, it makes me rush, it makes the session feel stilted, uncomfortable and then I feel frustrated that it didn’t feel good. I must have only done 15 poses but I took my time with them and tried to focus on my technique. Although I did create heat, that wasn’t my primary goal, I favoured strength this time. I’m still having to work hard at looking after my tummy and my knees so getting the right muscles to fire to a) look after them and b) make them stronger was really important to me.

I’m exceptionally lucky too, I have lots of snowboarding coming up this winter so making sure I am as strong as I can be for that is a real concern. I’ll give you an example:

Here, my transverse abdominals are fully engaged in boat pose.

Here, my transvers abdominals are not engaged and you can clearly see doming. If I don’t take care, because the gap is a weak area, it could cause a hernia. Worst case scenario, but I really don’t fancy that.

My body isn’t the same as before I was pregnant.  I love it just the same, more even because of the gift it gave me with little girl, but it can’t quite handle things in the same ways as before.  I have to take extra care of it, but I’m OK with that, I apply that approach to the rest of my life too.  Or at least I try to.

What next?

This cheeky, unexpected session reminded me again how much I love yoga; from feeling the warm sun on me through the window to that lovely ‘post exercise ache’ that I felt the following day.  Another chat with my best friend (thanks lady) and I came up with a little idea, a way to motivate myself and possibly other to make yoga part of daily life.   I’m an eternal optimist, I love positivity.  It genuinely makes my life happier, and I hope it brings the odd ray of happiness to others.  I’ve been in sad places, and I don’t suggest that looking on the bright side during those times would have made them better, but now those times are over, being positive casts off those shadows, it helps remove fear and worry about things that have passed or that I can’t change.  I like being positive because it makes me a happy person, friend, wife and most importantly, a happy mummy.

Stop-tober has passed and No-vember doesn’t really fit my mind-set; instead I will be having Yes-vember.  Yes-vember is a month of daily practice.  It doesn’t matter if it’s for 10 mins or 90 minutes, but it will be at least 1 sun salutation long!  I decided that a little accountability would be motivating so have asked my friends to join me, if you would like to join me too please like my page on Facebook New Page Living found here https://www.facebook.com/newpageliving/

It’s free and just for fun, but on New Page Living I will post a range of videos, written plans, top tips, progress updates and lovely quotes that help keep me on track throughout the month.  It’s completely flexible too, everything is for you to do with as you wish.  Say…

Yes to 30 days
Yes to good health
Yes to a calm mind
Yes to yoga
Yes to happiness

Nameste x

Doing what you need

Having recently got in to the rhythm of doing 15 minutes of yoga as soon as I get up with little girl, I have suffered a bit of a setback. For a good month now I have been battling with a cough and cold. I’ve lost my voice, regained it, had headaches and just generally felt pretty run down. This week has been the worst though, and my yoga practice has fallen right off! After 2 nights with no sleep I was of to the doctors and prescribed with some antibiotics.

So I’ve been feeling like a bit of a yogi failure! I’m writing a blog about reconnecting with yoga after the arrival of little girl but I’m not doing any yoga – I didn’t even feel well enough to make my usual class when my husband was home last week! Then I started thinking a little more about it all: this is reality! I have a child, things will change, plans and routines will be disrupted and sometimes simply making it through the day unscathed (most likely still in our PJs with unbrushed hair!) will be our only goal. And actually, that is perfectly ok.

There are other ways to keep connected with yoga. Little things. The 8 limbs of yoga (explained here http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6391/8-Limbs-of-Yoga-A-Brief-Overview.html) cover a variety of life elements. I clean my house. It isn’t immaculate but I make an effort to keep it feeling like a positive space. I do things for charity (I don’t want to say what as it’s quite personal and if I’m honest publicising it all would feel a bit wrong…that isn’t what it’s about) and I read about yoga. OK, so I’m not quite reading sacred scriptures but I like reading things that make me think about yoga. Often this can be blogs (thank you fellow blogging mummas) but at the moment I’m reading a book called Warrior Pose. A war correspondent’s memoir of how yoga (literally) saved his life. Again, it’s a different perspective of something that I love and is important to me…what will I learn and take from it?

In a nutshell mummas, I find I can beat myself up a bit about not always getting to class, about not feeling up to doing yoga first thing and a hundred other things that I think I should be doing. It’s silly. I’m cutting myself a break: I will do what I can when I can. My worlds of yoga and motherhood won’t stop blending together simply because I haven’t practiced any asanas this week. I’ll just chalk it up to a theory element of this course called life.

Morning mat time.

Firstly, happy new year everyone!  I’ve a brief hiatus from NPY over the Christmas period, simply for ease.  Our little family unit travels about quite a bit and this time of year was no exception.  We had the joy of sharing little girls first Christmas with all the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, which was a truly wonderful thing.  Now, however, I am back to blogging about my return to yoga now that I am a Mum, and little girl’s introduction to it.

So, on with the blog…

Once again, my husband is away again, for 4 of the first 5 weeks of this working year, which means that if I want to practice yoga it will be with baby.  Granted, I could have a session whilst little girl naps but frankly, when she’s sleeping, I just want to sit down for 30 minutes myself and relax.  This means little girl and I need to yoga it up together.  I find that my day is often busy, bouncing from a baby class, to a feed, to play time, to the laundry and back again.  I struggle to structure our day enough to put a yoga session in the middle of it.  As daft as it may sound, getting the mat out, getting changed (jeans aren’t always the best choice for yoga, let alone a dress…), creating space and then putting everything back again, all take time:  minutes are precious, and sometimes deal breakers.  How do I fit yoga in?  I need to do it, I know it will give me the lift I’m desperately after.  How did I do it before life got busy?  Well, in the morning, before I did anything.

A mat in place is a plan in place.

Last Tuesday night, after two particularly blue days, I decided enough was enough: change was required.  Just before I went to bed, I rolled out my yoga mat outside my bedroom door on the landing and placed my little music speaker at the top of it next to the wall so it was ready to go but out of the way.  Wednesday morning I woke up, fed little girl and before I could even get to the nursery with baby to get her clean and dressed for the day I was greeted by my yoga mat.  I started my music up and in my PJs, with little girl, I managed a rather lovely, rather fun 20 minute session to music.  This has subsequently worked every day for me since (except Sunday…Daddy took baby and I slept).  i know for me that simple preparation is key so this is my little set up routine:

– Roll out my mat just before I go to bed and put out my music speaker.  Go to sleep.
– Wake up, feed little girl, get up with little girl.
– Do 20 minutes of yoga to music with little girl on my yoga mat.
– Head in to the nursery, change nappy, dress little girl.
– Put little girl in her cot, roll up yoga mat and pick up speaker, put them in my bedroom.
– Get dressed, brush my hair and teeth.
– Pick up little girl and start our day.
– Repeat.

What poses are baby compatible?

The poses I am doing can be seen in some pictures below.  The way I have approached it is to see what naturally flows for me and modified them a little so I can either hold, touch or look at little girl.  Yes, this means my asanas aren’t perfect but little girl finds it all very entertaining this way and it gives me reassurance that she is happy.

Mountain pose into forward fold.

Forward fold (chest should remain in contact with thighs so I need to bend my knees a bit to do this) into flat back.

Downward dog into dolphin pose.

Plank into cobra.

Warrior 1 and warrior 2.

Triangle into revolved triangle. I’m very lightly resting my hand on baby with these. She enjoyed a little tickle.

Fish pose. Little girl grabs on to my ankles during this quite often.

Garland into goddess…lots of eye contact and giggles.

Crow pose – do not do this unless you are very confident with it. You can always keep your toes on the ground if you are unsure.

Staff pose, practiced by mumma and bubba!

Seated forward bend, again with one hand on baby.

Boat pose holding little girl (she makes an excellent weight!) followed by kisses and cuddles.

Childs pose whilst blowing raspberries on little girls tummy, again followed by cuddles.

It goes without saying that this blog is simply an account of what I am doing with yoga and motherhood, please take my routine as that and only do what you are confident and comfortable with.

What did I notice?

The greatest difference I noticed was toy my mood. Since doing our early morning yoga, I have felt soooo much more positive during the day and have also been remarkably and unintentionally productive. I think this is down to a few things. Firstly, I reconnect with an activity I love so feel a little bit more like “the old me”. Secondly, the first thing I do when I get up is spend 20 minutes smiling and laughing with little girl, before we do anything else! It’s wonderful! A 20 minute session may not be a mega workout but it’s enough, it gives me some very valuable benefits.

Top tips.

– Preparation is key, as is positioning… Being greeted by my yoga mat as soon as I open my bedroom door means there is no escape or excuse.
– Be realistic. Little girl enjoys 20 mins but any longer and she’s going to get fed up.
– Do what works. I really enjoy pursing news asanas I haven’t tried before or working on ones that I find difficult but these early morning sessions just aren’t the time or place for that.
– Adapt how you need. Tweak poses as you need to accommodate your little person.
– Enjoy it.

So, we are ready to go again tomorrow morning. You don’t need much space or anything fancy, just a way to trigger a little practice.

Plank-tastic

This week is the first week I have felt physically strong. Not pre-baby-train -5-times-a-week strong but able-to-hold-plank-pose-without-wobbling strong…and that is exactly what I did! I even went nuts and joined in the vinyasa sequence this week (down dog to plank to cobra to down dog in one long, controlled flow of movement). It was the perfect place to pause yoga classes over the Christmas holidays. Little girl is 17 weeks old now. Could I have achieved this earlier? Maybe. Do I wish I had? No. I’ve reached a milestone whilst being in tune with my body. And I’m seeing the difference in my body shape. I’m still at least half a stone heavier than I’d like, but that will go with time. Right now I’m just keen on everything going back into place like it’s meant to. Yoga has really helped with this as has practicing good posture.

Here are some photos to show how I’m progressing. Once again, I’ve toned them down a little because, as pleased as I am with how my body is healing, I’m still not quite ready for a full technicolour display. Please excuse the crinkles…

Tummy relaxed

Abdominals engaged

Tummy relaxed

Abdominals engaged

Personally I’m quite proud of how I’m healing and regaining my strength. For me, it isn’t about getting down to my pre pregnancy weight, it’s about repairing my muscles, not being in pain daily from carrying and holding baby and reconnecting with an important part of myself.

As a pre-Christmas summary, what are the 5 key lessons I’ve learnt about postpartum yoga?

1. Organisation is key, for mum and Dad. When I know Dad and baby have everything they need where they need it, I can focus on my practice much better and even relax a little.

2. There is no rush. Not expecting too much from my fragile, healing body has not only stopped me feeling disappointed that I can’t do what I used to right now, but has saved me from injury.

3. There is a lot of benefit in going back to basics. I feel like I’m becoming a better yogi by relearning asanas. Focusing on my technique in an asana I can hold well is better for me than pushing myself into one that I find too difficult.

4. Posture is vital. It’s key to repairing well, gaining strength and reducing general baby-carrying pain. Without it, some of the benefits of a weekly yoga class are lost.

5. If you can’t focus on your practice, dedicate it to someone else. When you become a mummy, something in your brain hardwires itself to care for others always over yourself. Doing yoga for someone else keeps you fully committed to each asana.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a happy New Year.

The sling thing

This last week I have been on holiday in Portugal so unfortunately missed my usual yoga class and this Tuesday I decided not to go. As relaxing as our holiday was, adjusting back to normal life has caused a slight disruption to our feeding so instead, my husband went. Initially I felt a little sad at missing my usual class two weeks in a row but then realised that this is the life of a mummy, sometimes my routine will be disrupted and I will need to find other ways to do the things I enjoy. In fact, recently I’ve been thinking about this a lot. When the lovely structure of a class isn’t available – baby, work or home commitments – how do you incorporate yoga in to daily life?

Obligatory holiday beach yoga

This wouldn’t be a true yoga blog if it didn’t have some pictures of yoga on the beach now, would it!

I spent our entire holiday wearing my little girl in our sling as we chose not to take the pram (side note: this made life a lot easier. Stairs, hills and restaurant space were never a problem!) so if I wanted to do any yoga whilst away, it needed to be with baby or close by. There is obviously a limit on what asanas you can do with a baby strapped to you, but I found the following ones worked well.

Little girl slept throughout!

Do less when carrying more

Obviously I couldn’t do a whole range of asanas with little girl strapped to me, but I also found I couldn’t quite go as low or as deep into a pose as I would usually. I was after all carrying a 5kg weight on my chest! This was mostly because I found that my knees hurt or it put too much strain on my back. Again, I am brought back to balance: benefit (& desire) vs harm. My ligaments are still returning to normal after all the Relaxin floating around my body during pregnancy and I’m not used to doing a great deal of physical exertion so need to build up my ability with each asana slowly – without or without baby on me! Carrying a baby will naturally place extra stress on joints when under pressure.

Short but sweet sessions seem to work well too. I don’t often get a large expanse of time to do with as I wish any more. Even if little girl is sleeping, there are chores to be done or showers to be had. I found myself doing a couple of asanas for a couple of minutes as a time on a very ad hoc basis. On a rare occasion when I found myself darting off sans baby to fetch some laundry, I ended up doing half moon poses in the lift, simply because that’s what my body was asking for and I had the opportunity.

When the mood strikes

As I’ve already mentioned in this post, a plan doesn’t often survive first contact with baby. I have found that if I want to do yoga or a particular asana then to do a small bit (literally just 1 asana sometimes…) whenever I felt the desire. This included whilst playing on the beach and pottering in our apartment at the start or end of the day. It wasn’t always much but I did feel better for it. One thing I could always do whilst carrying little girl in the sling was remember my posture and engage my deep abs, and what a difference that has made. More on that later though….(in my next post).

In other news

Whilst on the beach, during a brief spell where little girl kicked back in her travel bouncer and enjoyed being entertained by Daddy, I took the chance to carry out a 10 minute “mini session”. Afterwards I looked down at the pattern I’d left on the sand and it made me smile, physically seeing the evidence that I was able to keep doing this! Long may it continue!