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This is a visualization practice to help you connect to your ideal birthing experience.

As you approach birth, a naturally mysterious process, it can be beneficial to practice allowing.

What I mean by 'allowing' is that you are able to allow events to unfold without attempting to change or control them. It means that parts of your birth experience may be different than you expected or planned for. How can you practice allowing birth to happen and ride the waves it brings? This meditation is part of that practice.

As baby moves downward and prepares to be born it's helpful to practice movements that bring strength and space into your pelvis.

This restorative practice is meant to create space in your abdomen and pelvis as well as create a sense of relaxation and restoration as you prepare for birth.

'Week' 2 is meant to be spent on the bed. Make sure you are sitting and resting for at least 30 minutes every 2 hours. No chores during this week. Your uterus is trying to return to normal. Your abdominals and pelvic floor are not able to engage to support you like they used to, baby wearing puts a lot of pressure on your core and pelvic muscles and they just aren't ready yet for that kind of action.

Remember, this 'week' can be 5 days, 7 days, 10 days long... whatever you need.

Many clients start to feel a rush of energy and desire to 'get back to normal' during their second or third 'week' postpartum. This energy and desire to 'get back to normal' doesn't mean your body is really ready. I know it's hard. I know this is going to be a big challenge for me in my postpartum, but please, please, don't go on long walks, don't carry/wear baby for long periods of time (no more than 15 min), don't do a yoga class.

This is the perfect time for breathwork, meditations, and gentle shoulder stretches if you're feeling energetic.

This meditation is meant to bring ease to your feeding session through a body scan meditation.

Breath a little deeper and more easeful with this practice.

This self-massage practice is meant to bring about a greater sense of clarity in your body and maybe even a greater sense of being 'awake' as you are still likely not getting much sleep.

Allow ease and clarity in your body with this gentle meditation focused on observing your breath.

This week is all about finding your new normal. Many new parents feel like week 4 brings a bit more clarity, a routine is starting to take hold, and the birthing parent is able to physically do more.

Spend this 'week' around the house. Going on short trips and adding some time/distance to your walking route are good practices this week. You might start wearing baby more this week - opting to wear baby while doing chores or going on walks (30-40 min).

We often sit on our sit bones. As you start to move around a tiny bit more you may notice some stiffness or discomfort in your pelvis or lower back. Start practicing sitting up on your sits bones for 5 minutes every couple hours. This will help your body get stronger and alleviate some of the discomfort on your sits bones.

Watch this video by Lisa Gillispie

Loving kindness, or metta, is a powerful meditation meant to bridge connections and bring about a greater sense of community and 'oneness'. A great practice to do during matrescence (the journey into motherhood).

This is another staircase breathing practice. Instead of the 'stairs' being on the inhale, the 'stairs' are on the exhale. This will bring about a gentle engagement in the abdominals, toning those muscles as the uterus is now much smaller, almost returned to normal.

Legs up the wall is a great posture to rebalance the pelvis postpartum. It helps to draw the pelvis organs back into the body, especially if there is a prolapse. It also helps to draw the pelvic floor muscles back together, which is why a strap around the shins to hold the legs and feet parallel and a pillow under the pelvis are beneficial to this practice.

If you don't have a yoga strap that's okay! Use a belt or a scarf to tie around your shins. And have 2 pillows or 1 thick pillow for this practice.

Here's a link to learn how to do the posture and it’s benefits:

https://www.yogauonline.com/yoga-pose-primer/take-5-recharge-viparita-karani-legs-wall-pose

This 'week' is meant to be the week that you're cleared by your health provider for movement again. If this isn't you, if you're not yet ready for big movements, that's okay! Six weeks isn't a magical amount of time in which all people are now back into their pre-pregnancy bodies. Six weeks is meant to be seen as a time of restoration and transition. Ease yourself, at your pace, into movement, exercise, etc. Feel free to take as long as you need through this course.

I encourage those who are still experiencing incontinence (fecal or urinary) and prolapse to check out my Postpartum Yoga Therapy Course focused on rebuilding strength and stability throughout the pelvic floor.

Enjoy these longer and more active practices!