6 months postpartum yoga at home

It’s not that time of the year without scrambling through the goals list and realizing that only 88 days are left to tick the checklist that was so ambitiously prepared at the beginning of the year. Since I was pregnant, my list was pretty simple. Read 30 books and get back into my yoga practice after the delivery of the baby. The former is embarrassingly lagging behind with only 13 books completed, but I have made good progress in getting back on track. My core strength has improved since the last time I wrote about fitness at 4 months postpartum. So here’s a massive update on 6 Months Postpartum Yoga and fitness.

I had a Diastasis Recti (abdominal separation) measuring three and a half fingers after delivery. So until the gap had reduced to about 2 fingers I did a lot of pelvic core exercises, concentrating on strengthening my TVA muscles. The exercises are very simple but extremely essential to strengthen core post-birth. A weak pelvic core can result is long term issues, one of the most common being bladder incontinence.

I am happy to say that my DR is gone. Yayyy!! Which means I can now happily do deep core workouts. 😀

Yoga Inversions

Initially, after 6 weeks of giving birth, I could do headstands with wall support. But I have seen a lot of improvement after working on my core and back strength. I am now able to hold headstands without the wall and do other variations as well. Balancing headstand with Eagle legs adds a little more challenge.

yoga headstand pose tutorial
6 Months Postpartum Yoga – Headstand

When I first started my Yoga practice in 2015, I practiced a lot of Tripod headstand and then built my strength to do other inversions. After pregnancy, I am back to building my foundation and improving yoga asanas that I could do before.

tripod headstand yoga pose

I learned about Mukta Hasta Sirsasana on Instagram, which is my favorite platform to find inspiration and stay motivated. This extended shoulder variation is certainly a lot more difficult to balance than the supported headstand.

yoga pose - extended headstand
Mukta Hasta Sirsasana

I still haven’t gained back the strength to do a Forearm stand and Handstand. But since last month I have started doing Handstand drills in this tight corner of my room. My first handstand in over a year. 🙂

6 Months Postpartum Yoga - handstand

Hanumanasana or Front Splits

I tried to find articles on when to start doing splits after episiotomy but there isn’t much information available online. So I waited till 5 months to start transitioning into splits. Most days I would do warmups and stretches that improve hip and back flexibility. You can read about how I learnt to do splits in this blogpost.

splits progress
Just one block away from the floor.

Now that my abdominal separation (DR) is healed, I can do planks again. But it is all about slowly building up the strength. 10 breaths … 20 breaths … 30 breaths. I haven’t done minute holds like I used to do before. But hopefully, I will be able to do them soon.

As I couldn’t do front planks for longer interval, I would challenge myself with these side plank variations. Side planks are said to be much more safer than front planks after pregnancy.

side plank variations

Increasing core strength meant I could start practicing other deep core yoga asanas like Bakasana, baby Grasshopper, and Chaturanga Dandasana. I have always found Bakasana really hard, but after pregnancy, it seemed to have increased a notch higher.

Yoga poses

The one yoga pose that I really want to do again is Wheel or Chakrasana. Working on shoulder and back stretches have helped me to achieve Camel or Utrasana again, but wheel is still a distant dream.

6 months postpartum yoga at home - Yoga poses
Yoga binds
6 Months Postpartum Yoga at home
Camel pose or Utrasana

My baby has started sitting up now and soon he would be crawling. I can only hope that I will be able to fit in my practice while running after a mischievous baby. 😀 Practicing Yoga helps me find my balance – physically and mentally. It is my happy place where I can concentrate on nothing else but only my breathe. And trust me, we all need a happy place like that.

With that thought let me conclude this post. Stay strong and humble! 🙂

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I received this tag from Tulika at https://obsessivemom.in/. It’s my pleasure to pass on this tag to Anamika at https://thebespectacledmother.com/. There are 38 of us on this Blog Hop and it will be spread over 3 days – 4, 5, 6 October  2019. Do follow the #WordsMatter Blog Hop and prepare to be surprised!

Related Post – Postpartum Yoga and Fitness

31 thoughts on “6 months postpartum yoga at home

  1. Yay, DR is gone! You are doing awesome, Raj. Hey, why don’t you do a post on the exact workouts you followed after delivery, the exercises you refrained from due to DR, how long it took your DR to vanish, and the ones which you started with gradually since diastasis recti was gone. You should have done that post 10 years ago for me! 🙂

    1. That’s a great idea. I will try to post something like that. There were a lot of things I followed. Will prepare a list and post. Thank you.

  2. You are just an astounding yoga practitioner for me. I am in awe of how you have built up your practice by following stuff online and teaching yourself. These asanas look incredibly tough and need a very flexible; not to forget strong body to be able to do. You have them both just 6 months after pregnancy – is AMAAAAAZING!!!

    Hats off to you girl 🙂

  3. YogaGirl your unfailing enthusiasm and cheeriness always brings a smile to my face. Baby and Yoga ? your hands are already full just take a deep breath and enjoy your life with both.

  4. Where were you 22 years ago? I wish I knew about all these back then! Now with stubborn fat and aching joints and muscles, I wonder how much yoga I can actually even do! Six months after delivery??? I will need some time to digest the images of your yoga poses! Keep Going!

  5. That’s great Raji.yoga In a few months after delivery. All the best and I hope you will start catching up on book reading goals too.

  6. I’m so glad that you decided to share your story and also inspire us with all the great reasons to do yoga regularly! Staying fit needs commitment and support which is the main reason why women lag behind as postpartum issues take a precedence! You always inspire us, Raj!

  7. You are one great inspiration. How I wish I knew someone like you when I was at the stage as you are! A woman’s life changes massively after child birth but who said she cannot pursue something, anything which can help her to find her balance. We all need our happy place, you have said it right 🙂

    1. Thank you so much. Yes, life is so much different now. Takes a lot of effort to get back to older routine. 😊

  8. This is inspiring. So many women can never get back to their lives after having a baby. It’s wonderful to see you debunking that myth and slowly getting back to your old self. That last picture brought a smile. He’s the cutest.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing!