My First Birthday As a New Mom

…was my 43rd.

Many Iyengar practitioners take what I call the Light on Yoga birthday challenge every year – they practice the number of asanas from the book corresponding to their age. I’ve just recently started to feel my old flexibility coming back, after a deep tissue massage last month. But things had been so busy that I remembered this challenge only on Feb 1st. With everything else going on (read ramping up classes, taking care of a wriggly 11 month old, trying to get the nanny situation under control), I couldn’t really prepare for the challenge as I used to in previous years. In the end I just did my best and accepted whatever came my way. So my first birthday as a new mom was about acceptance.

What I Learned From the LOY Birthday Challenge

1. Everything, absolutely everything in your body is linked. With strength training becoming a buzz-word now, I see people focusing on building strength to the exclusion of all else. Often flexibility is relegated to the bottom of the priority list. During this practice session I realised that if you’re not flexible you won’t be able to balance, or maintain good posture or even do simple things like raise your hands up.
2. Every little bit counts. In the last couple of months I’ve added barre classes to my routine. I also try to do a few walks with my baby around the building a couple of times a week. Also cardio, whenever I get the time. As I got deeper into the sequence I found I could keep going, a marked improvement in my endurance and strength levels. Even my mobility has improved – I was delighted that I could do the nakrasana, an asana I had attempted only once before at Kalarigram. This asana draws upon your strength, flexibility and mobility, so I was stoked I had it in me.
3. Variety is the spice of life, and health. My pregnancy and postpartum fitness journey have convinced me that its essential to keep challenging your body. Whether it’s a 5km run a couple of times a week, climbing, hiking, practicing kalaripayattu, barre or even mixing up your usual yoga routine with a different style – the body needs to be able to adapt and keep up with a variety of different movements.
4. Rest is so important. That said, rest and recovery are paramount. My postpartum healing, despite a c-section, was fast because I was (well) advised not to try to ‘bounce back’ a la many a Bollywood celebrity. Rest helped me recover faster. Today it’s not always possible for me to get a good night’s rest, but I try and make up for it by finding pockets of time when I can rest. I’ve also restarted reading fiction before bed, I find it helps calm down a frenzied mind.
5. Deep tissue massages are pure magic. A couple of months ago I noticed my right knee had started to hurt. I went to my physiotherapist who said there’s no injury and advised a deep tissues massage. It was the most painful massage I’ve ever had, but the next day my body had magically opened up.
6. We can’t/shouldn’t hurry the journey. When I was pregnant I hyped myself up for this particular practice session like I was training for the Olympics – I was going snap back into shape, doing asanas better than I ever had in my entire life. In my last trimester, I made mental notes about the practice schedule and diet I would follow to blaze through the finish line of the postpartum marathon, leaving a dramatic cloud of dust in my wake. It took me a long long time to realise that this thought pattern was unrealistic and harmful. I finally made peace with weaving healthy habits into my days – eating clean, resting better, journaling and exercising more.

I’m no longer in a marathon towards my pre-pregnancy weight, and healthier for it!

Finding My Balance

At 43, as a new mom, I feel my health is pretty good overall. I am stronger, I enjoy exercising, my yoga practice is more explorative, I’m reading and journaling every day. I’m not constantly falling sick like many around me, and unlike what social media will have me believe – I’m not on the lookout for an anti-inflammation and anti-aging diet. I could definitely use more rest, but I trust that as Kalindi grows and my hormones find their rhythm, that piece will fall into place too.

Below is a significantly sped-up recording of my practice, done the day after my 43rd birthday. On Feb 17, 2025.

Here’s a video from four years ago, when I could never conceive of the body I have now.