This is such a common question! Not only for new mums, but I also get asked this question a lot from my middle aged patients too. So I thought I’d give you a blog post with my thoughts on the question.

What is the best type of yoga if you’re a sleep deprived mum?

There’s a lot of preference when it comes to yoga. People tend to find their style and stick to it. And realistically, to get good at anything, that’s exactly what you need to do! Maybe you’ve even done yoga a lot in the past but are finding that it isn’t working for you in the same way anymore.

There’s no right or wrong yoga. I’ll go further to say that unless you’re hurting yourself, there’s no right or wrong movement style!

When you have a baby, a lot of things change. Your body changes, particularly in the first 18 months postpartum. Yes, you might “bounce back” before then on the outside but often there are things happening on the inside that are still healing. Especially when you’re breastfeeding too. Not only does your body change but your lifestyle changes too. This post is more-so towards sleep deprived mothers who want to get more movement into their day, but is very much suited to anyone in those first 18 months after birth.

The best yoga for sleep deprived mothers.

When you’re sleep deprived, and depleted from breastfeeding, the last thing you need is something that overstimulates and depletes your system even more. Supporting your body through periods of sleep deprivation requires a lot of focus on your parasympathetic nervous system. You do not need anything that winds up your sympathetic nervous system (which at this stage is already probably pretty exhausted).

Yoga styles such as yin, yoga nidra, and if you’re feeling more energetic, Iyengar yoga will be supportive of sleep deprived mothers. In moments of sheer exhaustion, if you want to move I’d recommend you stick to one of those styles. I’d also recommend you stay away from ashtanga, vinyasa flows, any yoga with ‘flow’ in the title, and bikram. While these styles of yoga have undeniable benefits, they are not suitable for a mother trying to calm her nervous system and get through the storm of motherhood.

I also want you to keep in mind this coming point, because I don’t think our culture mentions it at all. It is ok to rest. The one thing that is needed when you exercise is time to rest and repair afterwards. If you are getting little to no sleep, and you are feeling as though you will not actually get recovery time, then it is better to rest your body rather than train. When my first born was a baby I used to be of the opinion that if you’re sleep deprived, you will feel crap whether you exercise or not so you may as well move your body. But having experienced severe sleep deprivation with my second, I realised how exhausted my nervous system was and there was no way I would have coped with adding in exercise.

Listen to your body. Don’t do what our culture expects of you, because it’s an external expectation. If you are in any way sleep deprived it is best you choose a gentle style of yoga that is going to calm your nervous system and upregulated your parasympathetic nervous system. You don’t need to lose your baby weight yesterday, or have it all together and get back to your previous yoga practice instantly. This time with your baby goes so quickly, trust me. Rest if you need to.

Are you feeling depleted and exhausted, and looking for some support? Drop into my inbox, let’s chat.