7 Breathing Drills
One of the first core exercises we can do postpartum is Breathing Drills! During pregnancy, these drills are great to help you learn how to shift your pelvis around. This will ensure that you have the required range of motion in your pelvis to help baby descend and rotate through the pelvis with more ease! Sometimes babies can get “stuck” or have more difficulty rotating when the pelvis lacks the mobility to shift into internal rotation due to an emphasis on external rotation.
Try these drills out! They progress from the floor to standing, which may be easy to hard. But you may find that one position is much more challenging, or one side is more difficult than the other. Explore it! Aim for 10-30 breaths in a position, or 5-10 minutes. Try only one or two drills per day; no need to do them all!
1. Supported Bridge
This posture may be helpful if you do feel heaviness or prolapse-like symptoms. The elevation can take some pressure off the pelvic floor.
2. Supine
3. Side Lying
4. All Fours
5. Seated
6. Half Kneeling
7. Standing: Squat & Hip Shifts
We have incorporated these breathing drills into our prenatal fitness warmups, so that you can work on connecting with your breath and core before starting your workouts! Our 40-Week Prenatal Fitness Program can be started at any time, and syncs with your week of pregnancy. If you are 20 weeks, you’ll start on week 20, for example. One time and monthly payment options.