30 Day Yoga Challenge Week 2

Sorry to get this one out a little late! I'm still on track with the yoga challenge and am officially half-way through it! 

Stuff I learned this week:

• Repetition of last week's lesson; be patient! Babies will decide that they are unhappy doing tummy time or back time or whatever, and they are hungry and want to be held NOW. I remind myself there's no shame in hitting pause on the video so I can hold my son. Yoga will always be there, but my baby is only this little once. I need to appreciate it, even when it seems inconvenient.
• Forward folds are a lot more fun when you don't have a gigantic belly in your way!
• Oh, the joys of twists. Again, without a belly, it's a lot easier.
• Yoga and running just work well together. I've started running a little bit this week with the jogging stroller. I took a long hiatus from running shortly after finding out I was pregnant. The extra relaxin in my system loosened my hips up and caused quite a bit of hip and low back pain. Yoga and lifting weights was much easier than running during pregnancy. Now that my hormones are stabilized, my tendons are stabilizing too! I have no endurance for running right now, but I'm out there doing what I can.
• Eating matters. I'm currently in the middle of a 5 day clean eating challenge as well. It's teaching me to check my portions, which got a bit large in the last trimester, and go for the whole grains whenever possible. I tended to lean on white bread and pasta during the postpartum period. The menu also calls for lots of veggies, which is great. I embarrassingly got out of the habit of eating a lot of produce (especially vegetables) after my husband got home, and especially postpartum. I can tell that I'm a bit in withdrawal from all the white bread that I usually fill up on, but I know good nutrition is ultimately going to help me get stronger faster. 

I'd like to be able to talk about how awesome I feel and how I'm really hitting my stride and finding a routine, but I honestly can't. Every day feels like I'm just trying to figure out how to fit in the chores that I need to get done and the things that remind me that I'm more than J's mom. Hmmm....maybe next week??

30 Day Yoga Challenge: Week 1

It's my first week back to practicing yoga consistently after having son J via C-section. What have I learned so far?

• My abdominal muscles are still weak and fairly separated, so I'm having to be extra careful doing a lot of the asanas. I don't like seeing my guts apparently dumping out through the  stretched out connective tissue, so I'm sticking to gentler versions of everything, like planking on my knees instead of on my toes, rolling to my side and pushing myself up instead of just sitting straight up, etc. (Another reason it's a good idea to practice with a close eye on your form and on any "problem" areas.) Also, it's very important to engage my core at all times, even when I'm not doing yoga. That means if I'm picking up and carrying J, doing laundry, sitting on the couch typing, etc. Brian Aganad wrote something really smart about what that engagement feels like and how to do it, so I'll just refer you to this: http://www.theasanaacademy.com/how-to-engage-your-transverse-abdominis-a-short-guide-to-floating-effortlessly-and-landing-lightly/
• Babies make everything much more difficult. Having a supportive partner around to hold the baby for 15 minutes is probably one of the best things ever. My husband walked J around the house on Saturday while I practiced. 
• Flexibility! I can't always practice when I used to, depending on when J naps. Sometimes, he's happy to play with his hands for a few minutes, but then quickly decides that he's pissed and needs food, a diaper change, and some interaction right NOW. 
• You gotta know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. Yesterday was just an all-around bad day. I couldn't practice in the morning and spent all afternoon in the car. J was unhappy and hot and I was stressed out. I finally got J down for bed and was ready to practice, but J was just unhappy and wouldn't sleep. I paused my 15 minute video twice in the first 6 minutes. The second time I went in, J calmed down once I picked him up......and then it happened. Remember my point about a supportive helpful partner? Well, it was really nice to be able to call my husband to help me out after J vomited a copious amount of curdled milk all over himself, me, and a surprisingly large puddle on the floor. After I got a shower, my husband got J and the floor cleaned up, and I got J re-fed and back down to sleep, I just didn't feel like practicing any more. My husband and I had beer, watched one of our favorite programs, and I finished the video (and did the next one in the series) today. 
• And finally, even tough moments can make interesting memories. After everything was cleaned up last night, I asked him why he just stood there and laughed for a while before helping. He told me, "This was one of those moments I just want to remember way down the road. My wife and my baby, just dripping with vomit, with a big puddle under the chair." I guess it's all about perspective!

What do you do when life tries to derail your goals, fitness or otherwise? How are you doing on the 30 Day Yoga Challenge? If you want to jump in, check out DoYouYoga's Youtube Channel for all the videos.

30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 1, Day 2

Day 1

I got up when my son woke up and decided to get on my mat right away. Before my son J was born, I enjoyed doing yoga first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, what I didn't plan on was the fact that J likes lots of attention in the morning. I ambitiously thought that he'd enjoy some tummy time on a towel next to my mat. That worked for maybe one minute. After that, he fussed quite a bit. I ended up getting through the video doing a combination of pausing to snuggle him, and doing some of the poses (pigeon, seated twist, butterfly) while holding him in my arms. I put him down when he seemed asleep, and as soon as he began to fuss again, I picked him back up.

My hips are extremely tight and I have very little core strength left, but it felt so good to finally breathe and stretch (even if it was broken up and a bit unfocused).

Lessons learned: wait until the baby is down for his nap, even if that means you don't get to work out at your "usual" time.

Day 2

Well, I *tried* to learn from yesterday's lesson, but sometimes I just need to get something done and J won't nap on cue. Luckily, he was pretty happy hanging out next to me. I did some full planks in today's practice which I haven't done in months. I checked myself for abdominal splitting (diastasis recti) and while there is a small separation, it's nothing to worry about. Today's practice focused on the chest and shoulders. Since I've only walked for exercise over the past 6 weeks, my shoulders were definitely burning!

With J being a bit calmer, it gave me a chance to actually breathe. This week I've been taking on a few shifts at my job (I work from home). It's really challenging right now to schedule myself to work for a certain period of time and keep J happy for the time I'm on the clock. I'm not sure how it's all going to play out, but a few deep breaths are really helpful when my brain is spinning in circles with worry.

(Re)Beginning Yoga

The last several weeks I've been focused on a whole lot of "other" stuff, namely preparing for my son's birth, having him, and then beginning a brand new phase of my life: motherhood. It's been a wild ride so far, starting with his delivery. I had a very long labor that ended up in an emergency c-section (if you get a choice in the matter, I'd advise either being in unmedicated labor for a long time OR having a c-section, but definitely not both).

Due to having my internal organs held in with superglue for the first few weeks after delivery, I decided that it would be a good idea to not push myself physically until I hit 6 weeks postpartum. (My midwife recommended it too, which made me feel a lot less guilty and lazy!). In the meantime, I've been taking our son for walks in his stroller and in the Ergo baby carrier. (I waited until I knew my incision was completely closed before I started wearing him.)

My 6 weeks is up on Wednesday, and I'm easing back into yoga with something fun: Do You Yoga's 30 Day Yoga Challenge on Youtube. I participated last October, and it's a great "intro to yoga." What's more, it is fantastic for promoting a beginner's mindset. To me, that means being open to new experiences and enthusiastic about the "try," not so much about the result.

Promoting this attitude towards yoga will hopefully bleed over into other areas of my life, like (big surprise) parenting! Instead of constantly worrying about my lack of perfection, maybe I should just focus on how adorable my son's chubby cheeks are. I want to celebrate his baby smiles and relish the moments when he tries to talk to me, instead of panicking about whether I'm stimulating his brain too much or not enough.

I'll write a minimum of one update per week, and hopefully I'll throw in some pictures too. Get ready for some gorgeous, well-composed shots that show off my messy house and poochy belly!

Do you want to go back to basics, in yoga or elsewhere? Anybody up to join me for 30 days of yoga?