Postpartum Mamas: Add These 5 Yoga Poses to Your Daily Routine

Finding some self-care time for an activity like postpartum yoga after giving birth isn’t always easy. More accurately, it’s often near impossible.

Between caring for a newborn, sleeping when you can, and tending to any household duties, work, or other children, there often isn’t much time to breathe deeply, stretch, and let go.

Even if you can’t get alone time, sneaking in five to 10 minutes of yoga a day while with your little one can make a world of a difference for your mental, emotional, and physical health.
 
 

New Moms: Enjoy This Pelvic Floor Restore Class

Practice muscle activation and contraction in order to strengthen and restore your pelvic floor in this class from YA Classes. Ideal for new moms but great for any yogi, take this class as often as you’d like to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. Not yet a YA Classes member? Try it out for free for 14 days.
 
 

Why Is Postpartum Yoga Good for New Moms?

Yoga is an excellent practice to do after having a baby, even if you’ve never tried it before. It’s gentle, connects movement with breath, and can help you feel more at home in your amazing, life-giving body.

Whether you’re a longtime practitioner or brand new to yoga, approaching postpartum yoga like it’s your very first class is a helpful outlook.

Showing up like it’s your first time helps eliminate expectations of what your body “should” be able to do and attunes your attention to each sensation a little bit more.

Ready to Begin Your Postpartum Exercise Routine? Read This First
 

Sneak These 5 Postpartum Yoga Poses Into Your Daily Routine Whenever Possible:

These five poses can be done with your little one right beside you or even while holding them!
 

1. Seated Pelvic Floor Tilts

 
Seated postpartum yoga postures are very grounding and can help decrease anxiety.

These seated pelvic floor tilts are a wonderful shoulder opener to counterbalance the typical “mom pose” of having rounded shoulders and looking down at your baby.

Bonus Option: Have your baby laying right in front of you on a blanket.

Let’s try it:

• Start in a seated position with your legs crossed
• Inhale and roll your pelvis forward as you lift your heart and open your arms wide
• Exhale and roll over your sitting bones as you round your spine, bringing your chin toward your chest and your wrists to touch in front of you

 
Looking for more yoga tutorials and yoga tips? Check out our full library of Yoga articles here
 

2. All-Fours Mama Swim

This moving shape opens up your chest and creates mobility in your shoulders and neck. It also helps to relieve pain in the soles of your feet.

Bonus Option: If practicing with your baby, you can place them right in front of you. This is an easy pose to make silly faces and sounds with your baby to keep them entertained.

Let’s try it:

• Bring your wrists underneath your shoulders and your knees underneath your hips in an all-fours position
• From all-fours, curl your toes under
• Keep your left palm rooted to the earth and reach your right arm behind you (leaning your weight back slightly toward your heels)
• Option to gaze back at your right palm if it’s okay for your neck
• Circle your right arm over your head and toward your mat (just like a front crawl while swimming)
• Repeat five times on your right and then switch sides

Mommy and Baby Yoga – 7 Yoga Poses Moms Can Practice With Baby In Tow
 

3. Bird Dog

Bird Dog works to engage your deep stabilizing core muscles and helps to strengthen the pelvic floor, so it’s the perfect postpartum yoga pose to strengthen your whole center after birth.

Bonus Option: If practicing with your little one, they can be placed right in front of you.

Let’s try it:

• Bring your wrists underneath your shoulders and your knees underneath your hips in an all-fours position
• From all-fours, curl your toes under
• Reach your right leg back behind you and stretch your left arm forward in front of you
• Point your right pinky toe to face toward the ground to keep your hips level
• Reach forward with your arm and kick back with your leg
• Hold for five deep breaths and then switch sides

4. Goddess Pose

Goddess Pose strengthens your legs, opens your hips, and strengthens your glutes – all of which are important for a strong pelvic floor. In other words, this is a great pose to use in your postpartum yoga practice.

Bonus Option: Hold your baby in your arms in this pose (facing your baby inward for newborns or if their neck is not yet stable).

Let’s try it:

• Bring your feet wide (about a legs-width apart)
• Slightly turn out your toes
• Take a deep breath in and then exhale as you gently sink into a squat
• When your knees are bent in the squat position, they should point in the same direction as your toes
• Hold for about five to 10 deep breaths

5. Savasana

There’s nothing quite like Savasana to decrease stress and anxiety, particularly in your postpartum yoga practice.

Bonus Option: If practicing with your baby, lay on your side and have your baby tucked in close to you.

Let’s try it:

• Lay on your back and bring your arms and legs wide
• Take a deep breath in, and as you exhale, let everything go and release any residual tension
• This pose should feel completely effortless
• Spend at least one minute here, although ideally as long as you have!

Postpartum Yoga Doesn’t Have to Be Long or Elaborate

If you’re looking for postpartum yoga classes, check out our offerings on YA Classes by YouAligned! We offer a variety of pre- and postnatal yoga classes to support moms at every stage. 🙂

You don’t need to attend a full-length hour-long class to reap the benefits of postpartum yoga. Try to incorporate five poses a day for five to 10 minutes into your daily routine.

Finding a few minutes (or even a few moments) helps – every little bit counts!

Remember to be gentle with your body, drop any expectations, and listen closely to what you really need in each moment.