Yoga after miscarriage – what you can and can’t do
To be honest, yoga was definitely not the first thing I felt like doing after any of my losses. For the most part I came home and curled up on the couch for a few weeks before I even felt like I wanted to move again.
Eventually I started to feel like I wanted to move my stiff and sore body again. Yoga after a miscarriage though doesn’t look like what it did before. I was tender and soft. My emotions and hormones were all over the place. I felt anxious and spacey.
Yoga after miscarriage is:
+ gentle
+ slow
+ restorative
+ nurturing
Yoga after miscarriage helps you to:
+ relieve physical tension
+ soothe emotions of grief
+ balance hormones that are often all over the place after a miscarriage
+ manage stress and anxiety
+ find a positive mindset and hopefulness again
+ learn to listen to your body (which helps with overall health and fertility)
3 yoga poses to practice after a miscarriage
Child’s Pose
Child’s pose helps to soften through the front of the body and gently release tension in the back and hips. It’s also helpful in calming your mental state.
Wide legged Seated Forward Fold
This pose helps to release tension in the groin and hamstrings (which helps to relieve back tension as well). Bring the hands to the belly and practice softening this area as well.
Butterfly pose
Butterfly pose helps to improve circulation to the reproductive organs which helps to restore balance after a miscarriage. Place blankets under the knees to make this pose even more gentle on the body.
What to avoid after a miscarriage
Anything too strenuous
Remember your body is still postpartum and experiencing all of the hormonal changes that go along with that. Avoid building too much heat or stretching too far as relaxin is still creating a lack of stability in your body.
Belly compression
You should definitely avoid putting any pressure on the belly whilst you’re still bleeding. I’d also recommend avoiding belly compression about about six weeks after your miscarriage to allow your body to recover.
Over-heating
Avoid heating the body too much after a miscarriage. Instead our yoga after miscarriage focuses on cooling the body down to restore balance.
If you’d like to practice some yoga after miscarriage with me, I’ve created this class for you below. It’s a part of a series for healing after a miscarriage. If you want to check out the whole series you can do so here.
I’ve also written more about my journey through three losses and then carrying our third son in my book Watering the Flowers – A guide to find healing and hope after losing a baby. If you’re in Australia you can find it here. Or if you’re international it is available via Amazon.