I remember reading somewhere, in the early postnatal days with Lily, that as a mum our sympathetic nervous system is triggered every time we hear our babies cry, sending us into fight and flight mode, and this is why we are constantly so exhausted, especially in the 4th trimester.
And it just makes so much sense, doesn't it?
Our bodies are fine tuned to release a spike of adrenaline any time our little ones are upset, and how many times a day (and night) does that happen (especially in those early postnatal days)? Countless times!
Between that and broken nights, it’s no wonder we can find ourselves so depleted, and it makes the need for self care more important than ever before.
Meditation and Yoga are such wonderful ways of regulating our nervous system, and tapping into our parasympathetic system, creating our rest and digest response, that feeling of calm and inner peace where our bodies know it’s safe and our blood can start flowing back to our vital organs rather than our extremities (ready to fight or flight).
Even a couple minutes of slow, deep breaths can help the body and mind relax and move into a different and much calmer state (which let's face it, is sometimes all we can manage in those early postnatal days).
Give it a try now, just close your eyes and take three slow and long rounds of breath. How much better do you feel after that?
Noticing the shift after just a few breaths, imagine what a few minutes of breath work or movement could do!
Below is a quick meditation you can practice whenever you need a few minutes to ground yourself, or sign up to the Postnatal Yoga Library for a full selection of Postnatal Yoga and Meditation Videos, available to practice whenever you find the time.
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