Postpartum recovery

Postnatal Rituals

In this episode of The Fourth Trimester podcast we discuss; 

Her beautiful online yoga class, Postnatal Rituals. 

A beautiful weekly space for mothers to feel really held and cared for after birth. For lots of women who attend, their first class is also the first time they are taking any movement or time for themselves. 

This is a class about feeling strong, moving intuitively, and taking time for yourself. Giving yourself the opportunity to land and learn about the new body, respecting all the changes that have occurred and continue to unfold. 

Each class begins with a sharing circle with the opportunity to share honestly, how you are feeling that week. Time to be you and reconnect and move some of those complex feelings through physically. Surrounded by other women who are walking the same path. 

A supportive and caring group that provides accountability and space to give yourself some time. 

How she found connecting back into her body after the recent birth of her son. The changes as a second time mother and how she found time for herself when there wasn’t much available. Using the time when the baby is feeding as her opportunity to practise her yoga. Focusing on breath work and meditation when movement wasn’t possible. 

We discussed some of the themes that come up for women in the class, their feelings after the birth, and unpicking what’s happening. Showing up for themselves and focusing on what they are feeling, experiencing, noticing is often the first step in healing a difficult birth experience. How powerful it is to see the change in the women who attend over the weeks and the time they spend together, watching mothers find more strength and take more control. 

We discussed what Anna would love to give the women in her class, if she could gift them anything; 

• The space for them to feel back into themselves 

• The connection of themselves and the mother they are now. This understanding that the two don’t marry straight away but will come together in time

• The ability to find home and comfort in your body

• Exploring what is happening for you and to face up to how you are feeling 

We laughed about the lack of a break to recover from birth. Harriet Kemsley speaks about this beautifully on the Parenting Hell Podcast with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe. 

In our discussion on birth, I shared the concept from Traditional Chinese Medicine about birth as a transition from most yang to most yin. You can read more about this in my recent blog post. 

1. We talked about the fact that new mothers need to be held, supported and cared for. The consideration of if people are coming to help or coming to visit. The former is very welcome but visitors can wait. Wait until you are feeling strong, healed, have got feeding sorted (however you are feeding). Thinking about who is in your tribe? Who will support you? Who makes you laugh? 

The Midwives Cauldron podcast interviewed Sophie Messager, early last year. On it Sophie spoke about a client who was surrounded by flowers with nothing to eat. It was heartbreaking for me to hear as it so accurately summed up how I felt in the early days with my first child. There is lots of advice out there to make sure that you are getting enough rest but I also encourage you to make sure you are getting the right support too. 

Finally we talk about the need to focus on the mother. That, as mothers,  we are constantly giving, a source of constant love, care, support. We discuss the fact that the better we are doing, the better the whole family is doing. Anna shared a lovely moment where a stranger in the supermarket told her how lucky her children were to have her. We often think about how lucky we are to have our children, but don’t often think about how lucky they are to have us. They are!