Phase 1 · Three Weeks of Breathing

Part of the 8 Week Postpartum Yoga Program for Core and Pelvic Floor

10 Minute Postpartum Breathing and Core Sequence

Ten minutes, on the floor or a bed, for the days when that is all there is.

Ten minutes, five things, and it works on a bed with a baby asleep next to you. The breathing is the same as in the long session because the breathing is the part that does the work. It stays useful for the whole eight weeks and long afterwards.

10 min · Level 1

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When it helps

Any day the longer session is not going to happen, from six weeks after birth. Ten minutes, on the floor or a bed. Start no earlier than six weeks after birth and only once your midwife or doctor has checked you over, later after a caesarean or a complicated birth. Nothing here should make your abdomen dome or cone outwards along the midline: if it does, come out and go back to the breathing. This supports pelvic floor physiotherapy rather than replacing it, and ongoing leaking, a feeling of heaviness or dragging in the pelvis, or pain at a scar all need a physiotherapist rather than a video.

Deep core

Rib breathing and the transverse layer. Three minutes of it beats twenty minutes of the wrong thing.

Lower back

A few minutes on hands and knees, which is the position that unloads it completely.

Availability

Ten minutes, no props, no floor transfer if you use the bed.

Ten minutes

Breathe, move on hands and knees, and finish on your back.

Sukhasana

3 min

Easy Pose

Sitting up on a cushion, hands on the lower ribs. In breath: ribs widen sideways. Out breath: ribs come in, pelvic floor lifts gently. Ten rounds.

The whole method in three minutes. If nothing else in a week happens, this is the part to keep.

Learn more about Sukhasana

Marjaryasana

3 min

Cat Pose

Hands and knees, rounding a small amount on the out breath. A quarter of the usual range.

The lower back unloaded, and the breath easy to feel.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Bitilasana

1 min

Cow Pose

Chest forward a little on the in breath, without letting the belly drop.

The counter movement, kept small on purpose.

Learn more about Bitilasana

Apanasana

2 min

Knees to Chest Pose

On your back, knees towards the chest.

Somewhere for the lower back to rest.

Learn more about Apanasana

Savasana

1 min

Corpse Pose

Flat for a minute, cushion under the knees.

One minute. It counts.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 3

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Three Weeks of Breathing, the first phase of the 8 Week Postpartum Yoga Program for Core and Pelvic Floor. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

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Integration

Whenever it is needed, throughout the eight weeks and afterwards. On this evidence, continuing past week eight matters more than what happens inside it.

The teacher behind this sequence

Gründer & Autor

Manish Rana

Gründer von Asanaverse.de. Manish schreibt über Yoga, Ayurveda und Meditation und verdankt seine tiefe Verbindung zum Yoga seinen indischen Wurzeln. Mit über 1000 Stunden Yoga Alliance Teacher Training gibt er sein Wissen an die Community weiter.

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Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

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