Practice Point #7 - Yoga for Abdominal Separation

Today I want to answer Cristine from Ethiopia question.

Cristine asked for sequences or yoga that can be practice with an diastasis recti.

A diastasis recti is a postpartum abdominal condition in which the abdomen has separated and there is a gap that allows the belly to protrude.

This can be distressing for women and take quite some time to close especially if you have practiced incorrectly postpartum.

I remember after my first child how long it took me to grasp that my body had changed a great deal and I could not return to practice like I had during my pregnancy.

I remember feeling fantastic just weeks after baby and wanting to go back to class, but I was fortunate enough to be guided by my teacher that I should not return to class until baby was 12 weeks old and when I did there were only a few poses I could practice, but they were all focused on setting the uterus back into place and recovery.

Without better understanding your condition I cannot recommend an off the shelf practice.

However to give you something in the short term to work with I recommend looking at

Iyengar Yoga for Motherhood

This book is comprehensive on how a women should practice during pregnancy and after. Particularly the poses in the first 2 trimesters after baby.

Avoid poses that push the abdominal forward, particularly avoid any poses. You need to practice poses that sit the abdomen back for example Adho Mukha Savansana in the ropes, supta padanguthasana and viparita karani just to name a few.

I hope this points you in the right direction.

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