How to reconnect with your body
A gentle stretching routine can help you reconnect with your hardworking body and ease tensions common to motherhood. OHbaby! fitness expert Renée Vincent explains how.
During pregnancy, your posture and movement altered completely. And after birth, they changed again. Your new role as a mum may be exciting, and you may find plenty of joy in caring for your new baby, but you'll probably also find that your new ‘job’ is very physically demanding. Mothers perform physical tasks for long hours every day, with little time for self-care and less sleep and rest than ideal, so it is common for mothers to experience pain in their bodies while their children are young.
Repeated postures can cause some areas of the body to tighten and shorten, and others to lengthen, leading to uneven alignment over time. When breastfeeding, for example, you may spend long periods of time sitting with your upper back bent, head down and arms rounded as you cradle and feed your baby. This means that the muscles in your neck, upper back and shoulders are working continuously for the length of the feed, which can leave them feeling tight and eventually painful. Obviously mothers carry their babies repeatedly too, either up on one shoulder or on one hip. Even pushing a stroller requires continuous holding of the handlebar and pushing through the arm, significantly changing your normal walking posture.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Our body has an amazing capacity to adapt to these tasks. Stretching is a way to help your body recover, by gently countering these repetitive postures and loads that are part and parcel of being a mum. Research shows that regular stretching can help to relieve back and neck pain —even when that pain has been around for a while. Therefore, building a gentle stretching routine into your day can work wonders to ease areas of tension in your body and keep you feeling great as you meet the physical demands of your role.
Moving mindfully and carefully, with your attention focused on your body, is also a positive way to improve your movement awareness. This is called proprioception, an internal sense that tells you where your body parts are without having to look at them. Proprioception relies on receptors in your joints, muscles, ligaments and connective tissue, which pick up information as they are stretched and moved, and also while they are still. This means that by stretching we are giving our brain information that allows it to outline the contours of our body in our mind. In other words, we are literally ‘re-connecting’ with our body.
While there are many different types of stretching, the routine that follows focuses on static stretching. This type of stretching allows the connecting tissues to lengthen and the muscles to reflexively let go in response to the stretch. We focus on the upper and lower back in this routine, as this is often where mothers experience the most pain.
Pelvic tilt warm-up
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, arms resting by your side. Take a breath into your belly and as you breathe out, allow your rib cage to settle into the floor. Now rock your pelvis backwards so that your lower back flattens onto the floor. Hold for five seconds, and then rock your pelvis forwards so that your lower back arches off the floor. Repeat this a few times in each direction. As you do the stretch, concentrate on your lower back and really try to feel the full movement. After pregnancy, some women find that their back has become used to resting in an arched position and as they flatten it out, it feels like a stretch. Others feel like their back has adopted a flattened posture and feels stiff as they try to arch. The aim is to finish in what is called a ‘neutral’ posture, with your lower back halfway between arched and flattened, i.e. with a small hollow. Rest here for a minute and then progress to the chest opening stretch.
Chest opening stretch
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet fl at on the floor. Slide your arms up until they are level with your shoulders and then bend your elbows to 90º with your forearms still resting on the floor. You should feel this stretch across the front of your chest and in your upper back. If you are very tight you may need a small pillow under your neck. Once you feel that you have eased into the position, slowly lower your legs down one at a time, keeping your upper body in the same position. If this feels like too much, bring your legs back up. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds.
Spine rotations
Starting from lying on the floor with your knees bent up and your arms outstretched, slowly rock both knees over to the side, resting with them as far as they will comfortably go. Hold here for 30 seconds and then slowly take your legs to the opposite side. This stretch can also be performed with the top knee bent and the bottom leg straight, but this puts a lot more stretch on the spine. You can try this if you have no back problems and the gentler version doesn’t provide a stretch.
Hip and buttock stretch
This stretch is to ease out hip tension. Lie on your back with your legs out straight. Bring your right knee up towards your chest and grasp it with your right hand. Reach your left hand across and hold the middle of your right shin. Use your hands to gently pull your right leg up and across towards your left shoulder. You should feel this stretch in the right buttock. Hold for 30 seconds and then swap over to do your left leg.
Hamstring stretch
The hamstrings are often tight and the tension can add increased strain to the lower back, so it is great to take time to lengthen them out. Lie on your back and bring one knee towards your chest. Place both hands around your lower thigh so that you are supporting your leg. Slowly straighten out the leg you are holding until you feel a stretch in the hamstring muscles at the back of your thigh. Only straighten as far as you can comfortably. Hold for 30 seconds and then swap to do the other leg.
Thread the needle
Start on your hands and knees with your hands shoulder-width apart and your knees hip-width apart. Take your right arm and slide it along the floor under your left arm. Bring your head to the floor and turn the side of your face to the floor. Relax your head and neck — this is very important so that the weight of your head is supported by the floor. Press your left palm down directly in front of your face and turn your head to look up toward the ceiling. Hold for 30 seconds and then repeat on the other side.
The child’s pose
To finish I have chosen a relaxing position that stretches both your upper and lower back. Start on your hands and knees with your hands shoulder-width apart and knees hip-width apart. Shift your weight back over your heels, straighten out through your arms, and lengthen through your spine with your head and neck relaxed. Hold for one minute and try to breathe and relax.
OHbaby! fitness expert Renée Vincent is a physiotherapist at Total Mums in Auckland and mum to an energetic pre-schooler.
Yoga mat and top from Cotton On Body, cottoneon.com. Hat and leggings model's own.
A gentle stretching routine can help you reconnect with your hardworking body and ease tensions common to motherhood. OHbaby! fitness expert Renée Vincent explains how.
During pregnancy, your posture and movement altered completely. And after birth, they changed again. Your new role as a mum may be exciting, and you may find plenty of joy in caring for your new baby, but you'll probably also find that your new ‘job’ is very physically demanding. Mothers perform physical tasks for long hours every day, with little time for self-care and less sleep and rest than ideal, so it is common for mothers to experience pain in their bodies while their children are young.
Repeated postures can cause some areas of the body to tighten and shorten, and others to lengthen, leading to uneven alignment over time. When breastfeeding, for example, you may spend long periods of time sitting with your upper back bent, head down and arms rounded as you cradle and feed your baby. This means that the muscles in your neck, upper back and shoulders are working continuously for the length of the feed, which can leave them feeling tight and eventually painful. Obviously mothers carry their babies repeatedly too, either up on one shoulder or on one hip. Even pushing a stroller requires continuous holding of the handlebar and pushing through the arm, significantly changing your normal walking posture.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Our body has an amazing capacity to adapt to these tasks. Stretching is a way to help your body recover, by gently countering these repetitive postures and loads that are part and parcel of being a mum. Research shows that regular stretching can help to relieve back and neck pain —even when that pain has been around for a while. Therefore, building a gentle stretching routine into your day can work wonders to ease areas of tension in your body and keep you feeling great as you meet the physical demands of your role.
Moving mindfully and carefully, with your attention focused on your body, is also a positive way to improve your movement awareness. This is called proprioception, an internal sense that tells you where your body parts are without having to look at them. Proprioception relies on receptors in your joints, muscles, ligaments and connective tissue, which pick up information as they are stretched and moved, and also while they are still. This means that by stretching we are giving our brain information that allows it to outline the contours of our body in our mind. In other words, we are literally ‘re-connecting’ with our body.
While there are many different types of stretching, the routine that follows focuses on static stretching. This type of stretching allows the connecting tissues to lengthen and the muscles to reflexively let go in response to the stretch. We focus on the upper and lower back in this routine, as this is often where mothers experience the most pain.
AS FEATURED IN ISSUE 31 OF OHbaby! MAGAZINE. CHECK OUT OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE BELOW
