If you are a new mother then you know what it is like to be tired! A new baby usually comes hand in hand with a disrupted sleep pattern. You may find yourself unable to get back to sleep after a night feed or feel so tired in the day that you just have to nap when your baby is napping. Yoga can help with both areas as there are poses that you can do to either help you get back into a relaxed state to make sleep a lot easier and also you can use these same poses when you are tired but do not have the chance to sleep, just to give the body some relaxation time to get you back on track for the day. Half Lotus Pose is a great asana to use to deepen the breathing and provide quiet relaxation. All you need to do is sit cross legged on the floor and cross one leg over the other as in the photograph .

If you are a brand new mom make sure you are well recovered from the birth and engage the pelvic floor muscles. You can change legs half way through your time in the pose. Tree Pose is another pose you can use if you are feeling tired yet do not wish to sleep. Standing up, find a good centre of balance and lift one leg, placing it on the inner thigh (or below the knee if more comfortable). Lift the torso yet keep the shoulders relaxed. Focussing on a spot infront of you and deepening the breathing allows time for the body and mind to refocus and you will feel refreshed yet relaxed at the same time.

For those times when you need to sleep but the mind is racing try Fish Pose . This pose opens the chest, stretches out the shoulders and releases and muscle tension in the back.

Follow this with a lying leg lift relaxing the shoulders to the floor and breathing deeply into the stretch.

Roll over onto your stomach and take a locust leg lift.

Finish by sitting up for a shoulder stretch and then lie in Savasana, on your back with arms by the sides palms facing up and feet and legs relaxed.

Be aware of the breath and breathe in, hold for a moment and then exhale. Chances are you will fall asleep right here!

This week Heidi is my special guest for the second time. She has increasingly been joining me in my daily practice and enjoys yoga so much. Thus I thought it would be a nice idea to look at yoga for toddlers where mum can either join in or simply encourage your little bag of energy to stretch and explore what he or she can do. Little bodies ache when they grow and get tired after all that running around and yoga is great practiced at a time when your toddler can focus, after a play session or before bedtime (this should also help quieten your child and get them in a relaxed state for sleep). You can start todder yoga as soon as you feel your toddler wants to. If you let them watch you practice the likelihood is they will join in without being asked and of course is you have a yoga baby like Miller who has been brought up with yoga from the early days, they will see it as part of their routine. If yours are anything like Miller and Heidi they will get in the mood as soon as they see the yoga mat being rolled out!