07/05/2022
Yoga doesn’t need to look flashy or picture-perfect to generate health.
If your IG feed is anything like mine, it’s full of tan, toned bodies contorting into impossibly flexible Acro-yoga poses. (A reflection of my twenties! 😅Now I want to know, where are all the postpartum bellies and mom bods?!)
At 6 1/2 months postpartum, THIS is what my practice looks like.
Gentle, receptive, and deeply nurturing. This is what my body needs because this is what I GIVE all day (and all night!🥱)
Most mornings, my husband takes my daughter for 10-15 minutes before he leaves for work. I lay in bed, stretch my creaky bones from the long night of nursing and co-sleeping, and set myself up in a restorative posture.
Some mornings I tap (EFT.) Some mornings I focus on my breath. Some mornings I do a simple body scan. I take these brief moments to come back into a felt sense and awareness of my OWN body and boundaries. Some days, these are literally the only minutes within a 24 hour period when my daughter is not attached to my body — sucking, pulling, clawing, clinging, sleeping, snuggling, nuzzling, or blowing raspberries on my tummy… 😂😘
If I don’t take this time, I easily begin to feel “touched out.” As a result, I become less patient and less present as a mother. Or worse — I resent my daughter for needing me. (😣 Painful mom confession)
I’ll be honest — 10 minutes is not enough. But it makes the day do-able.
These restorative postures are also incredibly effective in trauma-healing therapies and processes. They serve as gentle invitations back into SAFE sensations and experiences of the body.
From an Ayurvedic perspective, this particular posture (lying on your left side) is beneficial for the heart and facilitates lymphatic drainage.
In SomaVeda Thai Yoga therapy sessions, you receive the additional benefit of therapeutic touch and energetic balancing through gentle, rhythmic compression of all the meridian lines. YUM. (Currently booking very limited sessions, btw! 👋)
All this to say — rest IS productive. It is not a luxury we need to EARN or justify. It is a fundamental NEED for full and vibrant health! We can all embrace it more.
Rest well, friends.
