When is Firebreathing/Nauli safe postpartum?

Firebreathing and nauli would be fine once lochia stops - just take it slow and gently to start with.

Second wheel DVD - the routine is only about twenty mins so give it a go if you feel ready and see how you feel - if it's too full-on for you, try again a fortnight or month later. Personally I was a few months postpartum before I tackled it.

New kegels - right now!

Planking? I have a feeling "never" or "only in an emergency" might be the response from Louise/Christine/fab.

Hi worried new mom,
Congratulations! I'd agree with kiko that you could start new kegels whenever you feel ready. Re doing the dvd work I would say start gently, slowly and with awareness. See how you go. Definately work within your comfort zones and don't overdo it. If it feels too soone, leave it till later and until it feels ok. Everyone's different and had different experiences so it's hard to give a blanket rule. Personally I feel waiting for lochia to stop seems sensible.

I'm not too sure when it's ok to start doing nauli and fire breathing. Intuitively I'm thinking it may be a good idea to wait for your body to settle naturally before embarking on these. I would have thought start with fire breathing and move on to nauli at a later stage. However tbh although I'm a yoga teacher I'm not sure. Anyone else any further thoughts?

I'm used to the sanskrit asana names. What is planking?

Great questions - thank you.
Wishing you all the best, xwholewomanuk

Chaturanga or chaturangadandasana I think. It's part of some versions of the sun salutation.

I think you're right - fire breathing first then nauli later. I'm 9 months PP and for nauli I just gently pump my upper abdomen on the empty breath as my stomach muscles are still very soft, but another woman might be fully nauli-ing by now, or much earlier.

Hi worried new mom

Your body will tell you if these exercises are too strong for you. Definitely leave firebreathing and nauli until after your lochia ceases, then proceed with caution. If your body is not ready you may start spotting or full bleeding again. If so, stop immediately and leave it for another few weeks to test it again. If you decide to start as soon as lochia ceases, don't go into it full on for a start. eg, start with one the first day, then do it twice the following day, then three times the third day, then when you reach eight, do eight for a week. It you spot, give it a break for a day then go back a couple of stages. This is not a hard and fast method. It is just illustrating that you can build them up slowly, and pull back if your body tells you to.

Your body will revert all by itself, given the opportunity. Some WW exercises are very strong, and designed to move the organs around inside the abdominal and pelvic cavities. Others are gentler, designed for increasing your overall flexibility and strength so that WW posture is sustainable for all your waking hours.

With the second wheel yoga video, it is a pretty strong workout! I would just do some of the exercises for a start, and build up to the full workout in time.

Someone wanting to run a marathon doesn't start off by running the full distance in a performance time. She starts off by conditioning her body and jogning and walking shorter distances. She builds it up slowly until she can run the full distance in performance time. There is no point in exercising muscles hard when they are weak. Muscles need to be strong before they can handle, and benefit from, exercising hard.

That's my opinion, anyway.

I wonder at what stage postpartum that other Members have started The Second Wheel workout, and how they have fared?

Hi,
Thanks kiko for the translation.
re yoga postures post partum. I would think a sensible rule of thumb would be to start gently and gradually work you way up to a more demanding session. Basically sthira-sukha; finding tha balance between working with joy and ease and strength. Work in WW way at all times. There's no hurry.

Re caturanga dandasana or the plank - I would suggest working gently in cobra pose first, then progressivley working more intensively in this posture, before moving on to the plank with feet on the floor when you're ready. I would think caturanga with feet off the floor would be ok as your abdominal organs are facing down - if/when your ready and able to do it. (I currently can't - too heavy/not enough arm/abdominal muscle strength perhaps?).

It's interesting that the WW and WW exercise work is not only body based work but also mind based work. Different women have different tendencies re their engagement with the physical exercises. It's worth developing an awareness of what one's tendencies are. Is it to do as much as poss as soon as poss, to push yourself quite hard? Or to do as little as poss and just ding anything is an effort? Or you vary a lot, sometimes energetic and enthusiastic, sometimes lethargic and cba'd? You like a varied routine, or change it a lot? You like regularity/don't? Work within your means or tend to extend them? It's fascinating to observe ones own tendencies and ways of being - with the awareness we can cultivate postive change until that positive change becomes a habit and the norm. Of course observe oneself non-judgementally. We're all ok, we're all different and we all need to develop the love...

Love, wholewomanuk

Hi new mom - I think that just reading through this entire thread should give you the answers you need. Unless another post-partum guru has anything to add. Do what feels good and don't overdo. - Surviving

Mom, my personal response to you is this: Knowing what I know now, if I could turn back the clock to when I was early postpartum, I would be doing what I could to properly reposition my organs during this critical healing time. I'm not a nauli practitioner myself, but I'd certainly be practicing posture religiously all the time, and doing whatever else felt right to me. That being said, I know from 3+ years of reading this forum, that there are setbacks that can happen during postpartum for which we are not sure of all the reasons. Overdoing in general may be one. But I think you are on the right track for yourself, now and for the future, so just be alert for signs that you are not resting enough or that you are trying to do too much, and go for it! - Surviving

I hear ya, safelyheld, firebreathing is one of the best tools in the tool box, but it is also a very intense tool. It is good that you are paying attention to how you feel, that is the best indicator as to how far to push things, and now you know to ease up on it.