Written By: Debjani Arora | Published : August 6, 2018 4:34 PM IST
The process of bringing a new human into the world is wonderful and magical. And every mother knows what goes into those nine months of pregnancy. Nourishing and nurturing the baby inside the womb her body undergoes a sea of changes her hormones, her mental health, her well-being almost every aspect of her life is affected. Yoga helps during this stage to bring in some semblance in a mother's life and once the baby is out, it is the breastfeeding phase that poses new challenges. While breastfeeding comes naturally to most mothers it also comes with a set of aches and pains that the mother has to deal with. However, yoga can come to a mother's rescue during this phase.
"Just like how yoga helps a mother carry on with the various changes of pregnancy helping her deal with different pains and stress, it also helps her during breastfeeding to heal and calm her mentally," says new age yogi Sarvesh Shashi, founder and CEO of Zorba Yoga. He further adds, "The breastfeeding stage is when the mom goes through some severe pains in the shoulder, the back, and the neck. The mothers are also physically and mentally strained during this time. Yoga helps them to heal and garner a lot of energy to carry on with demands of the baby while improving her own health."
Here are a few poses illustrated by yogi Sarvesh that will help the mothers keep the body pains at bay and feel gleeful and happy!
Markatasana aka the monkey twist pose: There are a few variations of this pose try the one that suits you the best. It helps to improve spine flexibility, digestion, get relief from constipation which is very common in new mothers, relieves from the hip and joint pains.
How it is done:
Bhujangasana aka the cobra pose: It stretches the muscles in the shoulders, chest and abdominal area decreasing the stiffness of the lower back and imparting strength in the arms and shoulders all of which makes a nursing mother strong to endure baby's every demand.
How to do it:
Ustrasana aka the camel pose: It improves flexibility and spine strength strengthens the lower back which rejuvenates a nursing mother in more than one way.
How to do it:
Dhanurasana aka the bow pose: It strengthens back and abdomen, imparts flexibility and helps to improve breathing too. This helps new mothers to sit long hours for nursing.
How to do it:
Bridge pose: This asana helps a new mother in various ways strengthens the back muscles, relieves tired back, stretches chest, neck, and spine, calms the brain, reduce the level of anxiety, stress and depression.
How to do it
Along with practising the yoga poses, the mother can also practice gentle breathing exercises like pranayama. The gentle yogic breathing will help her reach the state of meditation which will calm the nerves and lower stress. For the same reason, anulom-vilom pranayama and bhramari panayama might also be helpful.
These practices help keep the new mom in shape and fit, however, it's always good to consult a known expert before commencing the physical practices.
Image source: Shutterstock
