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Postpartum

Books Postpartum Pregnancy/Parenting Notes Wellness

On the Asceticism of Motherhood: Agi Wittich

July 12, 2025
Yoga Readers Book Club reading Geeta Iyengar’s Yoga: A Gem for Women

How I Found Agi Wittich

I first came across Agi Wittich and her work on Facebook. I saw a post about ‘Yoga Readers‘ — an online book club that reads and discusses books on yoga. Agi is unique in that she brings structure and academic rigor to reading yoga, a direct result of her extensive work in academia. In a world where yoga is a popular buzzword and just about everyone claims to be a teacher or expert, I find her approach refreshing—it compels me to think about my postpartum yoga practice and what it means to me as a woman, mother and yoga teacher.

It was in one of these meetings that Agi said, “As a woman, I’m in postpartum until I’m in another phase of a woman’s life.” As someone who had crossed the one-year postpartum mark, I was intrigued by this statement. It made me question the idea of ‘normal’ that women in postpartum often think about. I often wonder if I’m irrevocably changed and should put the past version of me to rest. I decided to ask Agi to speak with me about her experience and thoughts on motherhood and postpartum as a yoga teacher. I was sure that, just like her book club meetings, our conversation would also be remarkable and insightful.

Yoga as a Tool for Postpartum Presence

Agi’s statement stems from her study of Yoga: A Gem for Women, Geeta Iyengar’s seminal book — the first book to focus on yoga primarily for women. In the book, Geeta details how yoga can benefit women in different phases of life (menstruation, pregnancy, postpartum, menopause) and provides detailed yoga sequences for each phase, including postpartum yoga practice. She speaks from a point of kindness and compassion for a woman’s changing body, focusing on nurturing women through these phases for long-term health and happiness. I love what this means for the yoga practice — that it’s not a static sequence of asanas that limbs execute day after day. Rather, it’s a practice that curves and bends and twists with us as we navigate what it means to live and breathe and interact with the world, and have a body that is receptive to life.

That our practice serves our bodies and not the other way around.

The Asceticism of Motherhood

Agi also put into words an experience me and other mothers know intimately – the ‘asceticism’ of motherhood. As our babies start to explore the world, they grab and pull at our earrings, our hair, our jewellery, and our clothes. Mothers find themselves removing anything that ‘gets in the way’ (of our babies, but also our lives). This process of shedding the unnecessary goes beyond just the physical and also reflects in out emotional landscape — we let go of relationships, thought patterns, even just things that can no longer be adjusted to the complexity of our new lives. (Postpartum is often about reassessing and then reclaiming these things — perhaps discarding them was a momentary need and they are useful after all.) In a strange way, this act of asceticism helped me assert myself  — I would take for myself what served me and leave the rest to its destiny.

Why These Conversations Matter

My conversation with Agi helped me see my postpartum phase not as a recovery period, but as a lived, ongoing practice in its own right. Motherhood—like yoga—needs presence, flexibility, and a willingness to keep evolving. The postpartum phase doesn’t have a fixed end point, it’s a stop on the journey. These conversations help me approach this phase without losing myself, and that’s why I share them—because if listening to others helps me, then it might help you too.

Agi Wittich and postpartum yoga practice.

Agi Wittich and postpartum yoga practice.

I recently also had a conversation with Ashtanga yoga teacher Mariela Cruz about her experience with motherhood and yoga. You can read it here.

Postpartum Pregnancy/Parenting Notes Wellness

Postpartum Healing with Acupuncture: Boost Energy, Balance Hormones, and Sleep Better Naturally

April 29, 2025

As a yoga teacher I knew that after I had a baby, I would have to be extra careful with the healing process. To rush to ‘get back’ could lead to nagging aches, chronic weakness, and a disconnect from my practice. But simply waiting for things to sort themselves out was also risky — a slow drift away from the strength and vitality I had worked so hard to build.

To answer my queries I caught up Dr. Shruthi Rao at the Bodhsara Wellness and Salt Studio. Our conversation focused on the benefits of acupuncture for postpartum women. From hormone support and emotional balance to better sleep, lactation, and pelvic healing — Dr. Shruthi Rao breaks it down beautifully.

Keep reading to learn what happens in a typical session, how it complements pelvic floor therapy, and how you can begin at home.

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Postpartum Pregnancy/Parenting Notes

Pelvic Floor Health After Childbirth: Why Every Woman Should See a Specialist

March 28, 2025
diagram of pelvic floor muscles postpartum

The pregnancy and postpartum journey have been eye-opening for me.  My fitness and yoga journey have been about building strength and flexibility.  Post pregnancy I found myself in the somewhat daunting position of having to re-build my body, muscle by muscle, sinew by sinew. And like most women, pelvic floor health was the last thing on my mind.  Sure, I’d heard about it on Instagram, but at the rate Instagram is devolving into a quagmire of sensationalised, fear mongering false news, who pays attention? Post delivery the focus is largely on regaining strength, losing ‘baby weight’, or simply getting through the exhausting newborn phase, but what about our pelvis – the part of our body that has endured immense strain and stress during pregnancy?

Unfortunately pelvic floor health is often overlooked in postpartum care worldwide. Whether you’re weeks or months after childbirth, seeing a pelvic floor specialist can significantly improve recovery and long-term well-being. I was also not sure of when to see a pelvic floor specialist after childbirth, but when my friend Shruti told me about her experience and recommended Dr. Anuja, I decided to book an appointment.  My consultation with her was eye-opening, and I walked away with insights I feel are valuable for all women – regardless of whether you’ve had a baby or not.

I decided to delve deeper into the mysteries of the pelvic floor as an integral component of a woman’s overall health.  In this conversation I had with Dr. Anuja Chandrana, we delve into the significance of pelvic floor health for a woman’s overall wellbeing.

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Postpartum Pregnancy/Parenting Notes

10 Overlooked Postpartum Symptoms You Shouldn’t Ignore

March 17, 2025

The three of us at Kalindi’s cousin Kai’s first birthday party. Attending this was poignant, as we were also about to reach this milestone.

When I had my daughter, I expected the usual postpartum struggles—sleepless nights, sore muscles, and a rollercoaster of emotions.  As a new mum, the tendency is to focus on the baby’s well-being more than your own, so you largely write these off as “normal”.  However, when my metatarsals began to ache, I was caught off-guard and promptly scheduled an appointment with my doctor.

Although it was nothing to worry about (she prescribed a calcium supplement), I realised that there are many symptoms that are typically ignored, and deserve more attention.

Here are ten commonly overlooked postpartum symptoms that you should discuss with your healthcare provider.

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Postpartum Wellness

My Journey to Aging Gracefully

March 8, 2025

I turned 43 this year.  43 looks different today than it did, say 10 years ago.  At 43 women are now starting families, changing career paths, finding love….question and challenging their world views.  I certainly found myself re-evaluating long held beliefs, thought and behavioral patterns.  Including my approach to my yoga practice.

I’ve written extensively about my conception and pregnancy journey and the role yoga played in it.  In retrospect I feel it’s important to point out that it was only the allopathic medical fraternity (“Western medicine” as many would say) that used the words “geriatric” or “old”.  Alternative health practitioners, including my yoga teachers, never once saw the idea that I was too old to become pregnant as credible. To them, my body’s potential mattered more than my age.  The irony is that many people think that this means according to yoga age doesn’t matter – but it’s quite the opposite.

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Postpartum Pregnancy/Parenting Notes

My First Birthday As a New Mom

February 19, 2025

…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.

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Postpartum Pregnancy/Parenting Notes

Exercising After a Cesarean Delivery – 4 Things to Remember

August 4, 2024
new haircut

I’m five months postpartum and this past week I fit into my old low-waisted skinny jeans.  I’ve written about honouring the first forty days and the importance of postpartum repletion.  I believe that’s something every woman who has given birth should do, regardless of c-sec or normal delivery.

After those forty days I was eager to quickly get back into my ‘usual’ routine.  I was being inundated with old wives’ tales about exercising after a cesarean  – such as not walking too fast or bending forward for an entire year, and even the myth about the chronic pain after an epidural.  So, as usual, I did some research.

I believe the following four guidelines optimised my recovery.

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Postpartum Pregnancy/Parenting Notes

9 Things New Moms Should Stop Feeling Guilty About

June 28, 2024
Luxuriating in the water while my baby sleeps.

Pregnancy is often projected as a glow-y, rosy time.  Very little is written about postpartum.  Pregnancy is a time when everyone is extra careful and kind to the expectant mother.  This often changes very quickly post delivery.  For me it was as though within only a couple of hours reality changed beyond recognition.  Sudden it’s all about the baby, and as the mother you’re at the receiving end of unsolicited advice and stifling opinions.  With the fireworks of hormones that’s going on in your system, most women I know (including me), have found this time stressful and difficult, compounded by feelings of mom guilt.

The best advice I received when I was pregnant was to maintain balance.  To not let the baby consume everything, including me.

But new mom-guilt is real, and not something we can wish away easily.  But, there are certain things I feel we should stop feeling guilty about.

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Books Postpartum Pregnancy/Parenting Notes

My Postnatal Repletion

June 5, 2024
Many women swear by ajwain water and silver glasses. It tastes good!

Many women swear by ajwain water and silver glasses. It tastes good!

The strangeness of postpartum isn’t written about enough.  There are few books about the state of new motherhood.  It’s as though the mother is pushed into oblivion by mountains of dirty diapers and midnight feedings.  No one talks about learning to inhabit the postnatal body and mind.  A mind that is usually bewildered.  A body whose contours are unfamiliar.  A depleted body.  In need of postnatal repletion.

I recently read ‘The Postnatal Depletion Cure‘ by Dr. Oscar Serrallach.  In it he describes postnatal depletion, and validates the millions of women struggling to find themselves postpartum.  Postpartum depletion comprises all the symptoms a woman experiences post delivery, such as the change in sleep cycle, the psychological strain and the emotional disturbances, social isolation and the hormonal changes.  He argues that the postnatal body is nutritionally depleted, especially if the mother is breastfeeding.  This depletion combined with a lack of sleep and the expectation that a woman seamlessly slip into her new role contribute to women experiencing long-term health problems even years after birthing their babies.  He suggests post delivery women focus on postnatal repletion.

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