Phase 3 · A Practice You Can Keep

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

30 Minute Postpartum Yoga Sequence to Return to Movement

Weeks seven and eight and beyond. A full practice, in the order that keeps it safe, and no jumping.

The last two weeks look like an ordinary practice: standing poses, a fold, some floor work, a rest. What is different is the order and what is left out. No planks, no boat pose, no sit ups, no full backbends, and nothing with impact in it. The honest headline for this phase is that eight weeks is where a practice starts, not where recovery finishes.

30 min · Level 1

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When it helps

For weeks seven and eight, three times a week, and afterwards for as long as you like. Thirty minutes. A wall, a strap and a blanket. 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.

Whole body

Standing, folding, twisting and lying down, in a form that leaves out everything which loads the abdominal wall from the front.

Deep core

The same breathing, now underneath a fuller practice rather than instead of one.

Mood

The best evidenced outcome of postpartum yoga, and it is not in the title of this program. In one trial, 78 percent of the yoga group had a clinically meaningful improvement in depression.

Standing

Twelve minutes upright, low impact, wall in reach.

Tadasana

2 min

Mountain Pose

Feet hip width. Rib breathing, pelvic floor lifting gently on the out breath and letting go on the in breath.

The breathing has been in every session since week one and it stays here.

Learn more about Tadasana

Urdhva Hastasana

2 min

Upward Salute

Both arms overhead. Keep the front ribs from flaring as the arms go up, which is what the breath is for.

Overhead reach without the ribs escaping forward. It is a small distinction and it is most of the exercise.

Learn more about Urdhva Hastasana

Virabhadrasana II

90 sec each side

Warrior II

Wide stance, front knee bent, arms long. Longer holds now.

The legs carrying the load, held long enough to count as strength work.

Learn more about Virabhadrasana II

Trikonasana

1 min each side

Triangle Pose

Feet wide, hand on the shin rather than the floor, chest turning open.

A long side body over a wide base, with no reason to reach lower.

Learn more about Trikonasana

Uttanasana

2 min

Standing Forward Bend

Knees soft, folding from the hips, coming up slowly.

The hip hinge again, and coming up unhurried.

Learn more about Uttanasana

On the floor

Ten minutes down low. Still no planks and still no sit ups.

Marjaryasana

2 min

Cat Pose

Hands and knees, rounding on the out breath. Fuller range now if the midline stays flat.

Full range only when the abdominal wall stays quiet through it. That condition is the progression.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Bitilasana

2 min

Cow Pose

Chest forward on the in breath, belly gently drawn.

The pair, unchanged since week one.

Learn more about Bitilasana

Balasana

2 min

Child's Pose

Knees wide, forehead down.

The back of the ribs, one more time.

Learn more about Balasana

Bharadvajasana 1

90 sec each side

Bharadvaja's Twist

A seated turn, now to about three quarters of your range, still watching the midline.

Three quarters rather than full. End range twisting stays out of this program.

Learn more about Bharadvajasana 1

Lying down

Eight minutes on your back, finishing flat.

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

1 min, five times

Bridge Pose

Five hip lifts on the out breath. Midline check every time.

Five repetitions, and still no height contest.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Supta Hasta Padangusthasana

90 sec each side

Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose

Strap around one foot, other leg heavy on the floor.

The last thing that asks for anything.

Learn more about Supta Hasta Padangusthasana

Apanasana

2 min

Knees to Chest Pose

Knees towards the chest.

On the way out.

Learn more about Apanasana

Savasana

3 min

Corpse Pose

Flat, covered, cushion under the knees.

Three minutes. The most reliably skipped and most reliably useful part of this program.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 3 · Weeks 7 to 8

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to A Practice You Can Keep, the third 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.

See the whole program →

Integration

Three times a week for weeks seven and eight, then keep going. Continence outcomes in the research are usually measured at three to six months rather than at eight weeks, so continuing is where the benefit sits. Running and jumping come later, after three to six months and ideally after a pelvic floor check.

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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Go deeper into the poses

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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