Yoga for Motherhood

Motherhood is the most important job in the world, and it's also the most demanding. It calls upon your every resource - mental, physical, spiritual - and while it is frequently a source of unmatched joy, it is also often depleting like nothing else. Naomi Annand shows you how yoga can help you navigate its emotional highs and lows, how to tap into the creativity of motherhood and also how to nurture yourself so that you might nurture others. Using breath-led sequences and simple two-minute life hacks, this beautiful practical companion teaches you how to soothe rattled nervous systems and uplift tired bodies whatever your age and whatever your experience.

Naomi Annand has been a yoga teacher for 20 years and a mother for seven of them. Naomi lives in east London with her family and runs her own yoga studio, Yoga on the Lane. She published Yoga: A Manual for Life in 2019 (Bloomsbury).

Directory of poses and techniques Introduction Yoga for motherhood The whole mother Yoga and motherhood My story Mother to mother How to use this book Yoga, motherhood and humility Grace, power and creativity Early motherhood Getting started (including glossary) Pose libraries Restorative poses Seated poses Standing poses Kneeling poses Arm balances Supine poses Back bends Three essential vinyasas Half Sun Salutation Sun Salutation Moon Salutation Sequences Yoga for profound exhaustion Yoga for compassion Yoga for selfhood Mum and baby yoga Yoga for resilience Restorative yoga for anxiety Yoga to ride the high Yoga for creativity Family yoga Final repose Meditation for Now Legs Bent on Chair Meditation as a Self-hug Bee Breath, seated Breath Washing to clear and clarify Body Scan Seated Meditation 'Inhale let, exhale go' Seated Face Massage Nesting and Resting Micro-practices for mothers A meditation to reclaim your body, your centre, your core Self-massage Yoga play Journaling Rituals Lion's Breath to release rage A meditation when you're losing focus Rest well Mini masterclasses Wrist and tendon relief The diaphragm The shoulders The vagus nerve The pelvic floor The core The spine and posture The feet Mother to mother letters Fourth trimester Egg donation Mothering without a mother Mothering through grief Twins Preparing for what's to come Agony and ecstasy Yoga for life Mothering as a state of mind Womanly curves Raising boys and raising girls Mothering through divorce When they've left Breath for motherhood The Loving Kindness Meditation Acknowledgements