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

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!