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!

When yoga becomes part of your lifestyle rather than an exercise system, you begin to change other aspects of your life to fit with the new you. The physical asansas (or poses) are only part of yoga. The practice of the asanas brings calmness to the mind and creates space for you to think about the focus of your life. I am often asked if diet is important and the answer is yes, of course it is important! If you are taking so much care of your body and mind by practising yoga then you must look after the health of your body by means of diet.

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Yoga baby episode five looks at a couple of standing positions including the Tree.

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Enjoy

Yoga Baby episode 4 introduces standing positions to new moms and of course their little ones. Don’t forget www.yogababy.tv and that yogababy is available for iphone and ppc!

Enjoy the show and remember be safe at all times with your baby while following YB.

This episode of Yogababy features positions to tighten the tum. All done while spending time with your new baby. Don’t forget you can now get more info at www.yogababy.tv

A huge welcome to all of you to our new look website. We are pleased to tell you that Yoga Baby is gaining positive recognition around the globe, being featured most recently on a Sky News report on the future of television and last month we were interviewed by the largest parenting magazine in Norway, “Mamma”. It is also great to see our viewers are tuning in from near and far. We are in the process of setting up a forum so that you can all start to communicate with each other – it is always good to find people with similar interests so feel free to use the forum to talk about anything you like from those sleepless nights with a newborn to trying to stop your toddler sitting on your tummy whilst trying to get into bridge position!

As always, feel free to email us with any comments or suggestions for the show!