I’ve just started doing yoga, yeah, me.I’m not very good at the whole exercise lark. In the past I’ve been easily sold on the idea that going to the gym for fee a month would make me super fit but most of the time I’d sign up, then be easily tempted by the pub or more importantly life to be faffing around sweating on a running machine. Now that I’m a mum, finding the time to do exercise to get rid of my bump is a lot harder than I imagined.
Emily weighed 6lbs 9oz when she was born and I put on 4 stone. Some say you lose at least a stone when you give birth but that didn’t happen for me. I lost 9lbs that day and my weight has gone up and down in the past 10 weeks. Every woman’s weight loss timeline is different after labour and it should be noted that it did take 9 whole months to grow a baby and if you put on weight it’s not going to be as easy as clicking your fingers to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight. I don’t want to rush it because now that I’m older, losing weight fast generally means it won’t stay off for long so I must be sensible in my decisions to lose weight. My diet is terrible, I do try to eat sensibly and 3 times a day but it rarely happens with a newborn. Some days I’m spot on following all the right rules, drinking 2 litres of water, meals 3 times a day and other days I completely forget to eat till Sam comes home from work. I suppose that’s a standard new-mum thing. I’m a good walker and can easily walk miles around Ramsgate to go down the town, up to Westwood, meeting Emma or popping to Tesco.
Finding the time is the main culprit. It’s difficult with Emily. She’s not one to sleep during the day unless she is having a growth spurt and even then, it’s a catnap. I’m not by any means complaining because she sleeps so well at night. It’s uncommon I’m told that a baby at this age sleeps a good 6-8 hour a night. Yes, that’s my girl. So, her not sleeping during the day is the least of my worries. With her being so awake and alert and the weather not being the best that it can be at this time of the year, if walking is off the agenda, being at home there’s little else I can do bar stretches to keep my blood pumping and help tone my tum and bum.
My midwife mentioned yoga as a great way to exercise and tone my body, relieve my mind of stress and anxiety (which I’ve experienced a lot recently) and I can do it at my own pace. I’ve had visions over the years that yoga is for skinny people who can twist themselves into abnormal shapes to find their inner peace but yoga isn’t like that at all. It’s a 5,000-year-old practice of breathing and moving exercises that strengthen your entire body and help calm your mind, perfect for us mum’s!
So, I’m trying Yogaia. It’s an online platform where I can do yoga at my own pace all in the comfort of my living room. I’ve been lucky enough to try Yogaia for free for a month and I’ve been slowly getting myself into it. Whilst Emily plays on her play-mat, I’ve been doing morning stretches, participating in live classes, exclusive workshops, all available on my laptop which works perfectly for me as it’s never too far away from me.
The benefits of yoga:
- It’s helping me become better acquainted with my body. I can focus on different areas of my body – what to tone or stretch, which area I want to concentrate on the most, in this instance my tum!
- Yoga is such a great exercise that helps with the way you breathe and move. It can help you relax and calmer which can be difficult when your baby gives little time for both!
- I have terrible posture and although I didn’t have backache until the last few weeks of my pregnancy, I’ve gained a few knots here and there. Yoga helps to open your chest, making it easier to stand up tall, it helps strengthening your shoulders, which improves your posture for all those moments when picking up your baby. Especially helpful as they get older!
- In the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the worst anxiety. My doctor says it’s normal as Emily gets bigger and yoga helps this. She sleeps brilliantly at night (6-8 hours) but that doesn’t stop my need to panic at 2am but introducing breathing techniques are helping.
Yoga, like every other exercise out there is not a miracle worker. You can’t just zap away your weight, it takes time, commitment and patience.
If you want to give yoga a go, try out Yogaia today. Signing up is pretty simple, you can get 14 days free by clicking on this link http://discover.yogaia.com/friend
Missy, Me & Him 