I am Zenmuma Cat, a baby and postnatal yoga teacher working in Aylsham North Norfolk.

Having spoken to my mums recently about yoga I thought I would write a blog to explain what yoga is and how it can have a positive impact on everything you do and can change your life for the better.

Yoga is so much more than poses and postures. It is a way of life. It is a spiritual guide to enlightenment. Yoga can help people with all aspects of daily living, including supporting with how to cope with challenges in life. It is all about stilling the mind and uniting the mind and body to create oneness. Everyone and everything experiences the world differently through their senses. Yoga is combining the internal and external world of energy in order to focus and achieve enlightenment. Yoga is helpful in every aspect of life in order to appreciate and experience a calm, happy and healthy life. This is helpful in order to support families to have time in their busy lives to really focus on themselves as individuals as well as bonding with each other. To learn techniques to help them appreciate their bodies through movement and stretching. It also promotes positive wellbeing by preparing the mind through breathing and concentration. The same techniques are useful in achieving calm and a level of preparedness everyday stresses such as struggling to sleep, babies crying, illness, colic or any other kinds of stress and struggles in family life.

Yoga is made up of eight elements which are referred to as “limbs”. The first is Yama which means ethical standards. This includes being truthful, non-violent, to have self-control, give and take fairly and have positive attachments in order to lead a peaceful and happy life. This is useful in order for families to hold themselves in a positive manner yet being honest about how they are feeling during this time. Having a baby can be stressful. Understanding changes that are happening in our lives, changes to our physical bodies as well as everyday lives can be challenging. We should be positive and celebrate new family life however we must also be mindful that it can sometimes be hard and stressful. Many women may be struggling with physical changes to their bodies such as weight gain. Others may find it challenging to change their social lives, may be missing their work life or may be struggling with changes to social lives and habits. Ensuring new mums feel safe and are encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences in a non-threatening and open minded environment is very important for yoga. It is also helpful in reminding Mums to have self-control and balance in life as well as relationships and with, exercise, food and drink. Yoga is an opportunity for sharing time to show love and for bonding with each other.

The second limb is Niyama or contemplation. Step one (yama) must be mastered before this. This involves cleanliness inside and out, feeling content with what we have. Adapting to life as a new family. There must also be inner self discipline, self study and accepting that we can only control our responses and not others. This is very important when having a new baby. Mums often feel completely out of control of their lives. This could be a completely new experience for them. Suddenly they are thrust into a world where a baby completely relies on them for everything and they cannot always stop their baby from crying or control all aspects of their lives anymore. It is important for mums to know that other people feel this way too. That they cannot control how a baby behaves or reacts to things but that they can learn ideas to support and entertain their babies, which could have dramatic effects on their reactions. They will also learn to control their own thoughts and learn calming techniques to use when they feel out of control.

Mothers having a healthy lifestyle is important to help them remain active to look after their families. Understanding that we cannot control the external world and can only control our behaviours will help mothers to stay calm and focussed for whatever happens during their early stages of family life and beyond. Baby yoga sessions and during private practise at home, families should feel they are able to stay calm and balanced understanding what it is her body needs to focus on being in the moment together. Using techniques such massaging our extremities linked to our proprioceptive systems to regulate our emotions can support this also. These are our hands, feet and head. A light massage to these areas can promote full relaxation. Using these techniques to calm babies as well as on themselves. These techniques are important in creating a strong bond between mother and baby. It also gives Mum’s a chance to see other mothers and babies and how they are all different, observe how they interact and know their differences are ok.

Poses and postures or Asana is the third limb. This is particularly useful to keep the mother and her baby physically healthy and to strengthen muscles and joints to recover from the pregnancy and birth experience. This can be to strengthen particular muscles, to physical challenges that have arisen due to pregnancy itself such as pelvic girdle pain, carpel tunnel and heartburn. It can also be used to teach a range of positions and movements to practise outside of class in order to continue heeling. These poses and postures can help a new mother to feel strong and balanced. Linking body and mind together. Positions and postures to strengthen babies joints and muscles as well as relieve pains and aches for babies. Different movements support the process of the different body systems including the digestive system.

Pranayama is the fourth limb which is focussed breathing. Learning and practising breathing techniques are fantastic for everyone and in particular keeping mothers calm and relaxed. Our breath changes when we go through difficulties in life. Different types of breathing can be used to help control our physical responses to stress. This includes to support mental health and wellbeing. Practising different types of breathing can bring new mothers into deep relaxation which is especially good for promoting their positive wellbeing. This breath helps the body to remain calm and therefore activates the parasympathetic nervous system which tells the brain that the body is completely calm. This means that they work together to remain in a relaxed state and will trigger a release in hormones such as endorphins, serotonin and oxytocin. These hormones continue the cycle of calm relaxation. These hormones can therefore help reduce anxieties and help recover from lack of sleep. A calmer mother will also be more comforting to a baby and therefore baby is more likely to be calmer and more relaxed. Songs, games and rhymes used alongside movements. These songs and rhymes support using breathing techniques and being calm.

Pratyahara is withdrawing our senses in order to shut out the external world and focus on oneself. Western society is a busy and often chaotic society, especially for new mums and their families. Yoga provides a time for reflection and self-care for mothers and a time to bond with their child. Ensuring that mothers take the time to “check in” on themselves to see how they are feeling is imperative. Once they have been able to shut out the external world and think about how they feel they will be able to focus on what they need to support them at this time. For example, someone who is feeling anxious may need an affirmation during yoga practise to use to help her stay strong and balanced. This is also useful for new mothers to focus in on themselves and their babies and not get distracted by the external world. This can also be useful for everyday life. Once a mother has had time to practise this in a yoga session they may use these affirmations at any time of their choosing. It is also an opportunity for Mum’s to feel safer and more confident to follow their own intuition.

Dharana is awareness, mindfulness and learning to focus. Being able to shut out what is happening outside of their bodies again means that the mother can stop worrying about work or their homes and other people’s ideals in order to put space between their thoughts and themselves and focus on themselves and their baby. Using the affirmations and meditations to stay focussed on thinking positively about life. Especially when they are going through a difficult time where they may not be getting as much sleep or time to themselves.

Dhyana is meditation. Keeping yourself calm and focussed is imperative. Showing ourselves love and kindness as we adapt and learn to live life as a family.

Samadhi is ultimate peace. Being able to completely focus on uniting the mind and body and achieve the sense of calm and happiness wherever you are and whatever you are doing. Practising yoga where possible to promote the release of hormones to support a positive relaxed and calm body and mind.

Environmental stimulus can be used in conjunction with the above yoga practises to help a new mother and her family to remain calm and focussed. These include relaxing music and fun songs as well as lullaby’s.

I started baby yoga classes as a great way for Mums to socialise with others, to make like-minded friends with babies of similar ages. It is about creating a community of Mums. For my classes in Aylsham and surrounding areas in North Norfolk particular. It is also an opportunity for Mums to learn skills which can be used at home too. It gives people a sense of being able to do something well when life is unsettled with a new baby.

Yoga draws on many different aspects of the human mind and body in order to support physical and emotional wellbeing. It draws on the science of physiology to use breathing to promote deep relaxation in order to encourage our brains into the parasympathetic nervous system and release hormones to support further relaxation. It draws on the science of our anatomies to stretch and out ligaments and muscles to relieve tension and strengthen muscles. A mind and body working as one to promote positive mental wellbeing and an opportunity for mothers and babies to connect with each other.