Postnatal Yoga for Back Pain

Back pain is all too common in the postnatal period, often due to constant baby-carrying, weakened core muscles, and your body adapting post-pregnancy. Read down for 10 postures to help stretch and strengthen your back and core and leave you feeling great! These can take 5-10 minutes, and you just need comfy clothes - no special sportswear needed. If you have more time you can do the whole routine again, or just lie on your back to chill.

Child’s Pose - Return to your Breath

One of the best ways you can care for your back is actually to improve your breathing! The muscles that work when we breathe also help stabilise the spine, so learning to use your breath differently can help take the work away from the back muscles, allowing them to soften and relax. Child’s Pose is wonderful for redirecting the breath into the back and helping it to relax.

Let’s do it:

1. Start by kneeling on the floor with your knees and feet together.
2. Walk your hands forward and away from you until you feel a nice stretch.
3. Stay here as long as is comfortable, focusing on big breaths into the back.

Through the Needle - Twist and Release

There are a lot of muscles that specifically work to help the body twist and yet we often neglect them, just working on crunches or planks instead. Through the Needle gives these overlooked muscles a wake up call, so they can help support the core and take the strain off back muscles.

Let’s do it:

1. In all fours, breathe in and reach your right arm up to the sky, looking up and opening through the shoulder.
2. Breathe out and take the right arm underneath the left armpit, bringing your right ear to the floor. If your ear won’t reach the floor, place a pillow or yoga block to help bring the floor towards you.
3. Repeat 3 times and swap sides.

Cat Cow - Stretch and Reconnect

Cat Cow is a classic yoga warm up to bring some movement into the spine and help release any tense muscles. I love to close my eyes when I’m doing it to really feel into the body and feel the movement in time with the breath.

Let’s do it:

1. Come into an all fours position. As you breathe in, look up, and allow the belly and spine to drop towards the floor for Cow Pose (N.B. if you’re newly postnatal take care stretching out the muscles in the abdomen (tummy) as Cow Pose can be a bit too strong for them for the first few months - just feel into the muscles and don’t over stretch if they feel weak or tender).
2. For Cat Pose, breathe out and push the floor away, allowing the shoulders to round and the back to arch, for a wonderful stretch in the back and shoulders. Allow the head and neck to release towards the earth.
3. Keep moving in time with the breath for 3-5 repetitions, or if you feel really great in either pose, feel free to slow it down and stay here for a few breaths.

Balancing Table - Building Strength

Balancing Table is a pose that helps to build strength in the back, core and legs, so it’s a great all rounder. Depending where you are in your postnatal journey, you can alter this pose, so instead of lifting a leg and an arm, you can just lift an arm, a leg, or place anything onto the floor to rest as need be. It makes it really accessible for all levels. After this pose, take a break in Child’s Pose.

Let’s do it:

1. Get into an all fours position, knees lining up under hips and hands lined up under shoulders, keeping length in the back.
2. Keeping your hips level, on an in-breath stretch your right leg out behind you. If this feels OK, lift the opposite arm as well.
3. Breathe out to bring elbow to knee.
4. Breathe in to reach again. Repeat 3 times and then swap sides. If the hips rock from side to side, just do an arm or a leg and instead of bringing elbow to knee, come back to all fours.

Upward Salute - Open and Smile

This feels so yummy and is so easy to do! It’s a part of the Salute to the Sun flow, and it feels so heart opening, so let some sun and some love into your body!

Let’s do it:

1. Standing tall, reach up towards the sky and feel a lovely stretch down the whole body!
2. To jazz it up, you can bring hands together and banana over to one side and then the other for more of a side stretch.

Forward Fold - Let it Go

I looooove Forward Fold as a way to release all the muscles through the back and shoulders. It’s super simple and feels amazing.

Let’s do it:

1. From standing tall keep the back straight as you bend at the hips.
2. When you can’t go any further, bend the knees a little and allow the back to round, thinking tummy to legs, then chest, then let your neck release (shaking or nodding the head here can help release excess tension).
3. You can stay here or hold onto opposite elbows in a ‘ragdoll’ shape.
4. Breathe into the back and let go with every out-breath. The longer I stay here, the more I feel a great stretch, so stay here as long as you like.
5. Take care rolling back up, moving slowly to avoid dizziness.

Halfway Lift - Protect your Back

In the middle of the night, you might need to change a nappy or feed your baby, in which case you probably find yourself leaning over the crib to pick them up. Normally the advice is to lift with legs and not your back (in a squat shape), but when you’re bending over the side of a crib, this is impossible and all the baby’s weight has to be supported by your arms and back. Halfway Lift is a wonderful way of practising this motion so that when you’re tired, you can rely on your practice to help you lift properly and avoid any nasty twinges.

Let’s do it:

1. Standing upright, reach up towards the sky, stretching and finding length in the spine.
2. Keeping arms outstretched, hinge at the hips until your head and arms reach towards the front of the mat, parallel with the floor. DO NOT LET THE BACK ROUND. If you can’t get into this pose without the back rounding, bend your knees.
3. Stay here for a couple of breaths, drawing the belly button to spine on each out-breath whilst keeping the back long.
4. To come out, breathe out with core engagement, bend the knees a little and, keeping the spine long, engage the leg muscles to bring you back upright.

Pelvic Tilts - Reset your Hips

Pelvic tilts are a lot like Cat-Cow but on your back instead. It can feel really nice to push your back into the ground, providing a massage to the muscles, whilst also resetting your posture after pregnancy and birth.

Let’s do it:

1. Lie on your back with your knees pointing to the sky and feet flat on the floor.
2. Breathe out, lift the pelvic floor, draw your belly button towards your spine and press your back into the floor
3. Breathe in, release the pelvic floor and reach your belly towards the sky, making a big curve in the lower back so there’s a big gap between the back and the floor.
4. Repeat for 5-10 breaths or as many times as feels good

Bridge - Building Bottom Muscles!

Bridge is a great posture for working on the muscles around the back of the legs and bottom (glutes). These muscles help support the back muscles, so by strengthening them, you take pressure off the back (and reduce postnatal ‘flat bottom’).

Let’s do it:

1. Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
2. Breathe out, draw your belly button towards your spine and press your back into the floor (like in the Pelvic Tilts exercise) and then lift the hips towards the sky, keeping your knees over your feet.
3. Stay here for a few breaths to engage the glutes (the muscles around the back of the legs and buttocks) and then release to the ground. Do 2 more reps.

Supine twist - Just Feels Amazing

This is a beautiful releasing twist that can feel amazing in so many places - the hips, core and shoulders all benefit!

Let’s do it:

1. Lie down on your back and bend the knees so your feet are flat on the floor.
2. Allow the knees to fall to the left and look over the right shoulder, rooting down through the right shoulder.
3. Stay here for as long as it feels good, taking lovely deep breaths, then swap sides.

I hope you love doing these as much as I do! Remember that your healing journey is your own. Be kind to your body, go at your own pace, and know that even a few minutes of mindful movement can make a big difference. For more tips, tutorials, and postnatal support, check out the rest of my blog and YouTube channel.

Always check with your doctor or midwife before starting new movement routines post-birth, especially if you had a C-section or complications