Everything You Need to Know About Breastfeeding and Bikram Yoga

If you're breastfeeding and wondering whether it's ok to practice Bikram Yoga, here is everything you need to know!I’ve written a lot about Bikram Yoga and pregnancy, specifically in 16 Reasons Why You Should Practice Yoga During Pregnancy as well as my free e-book. But what about after your baby is born? If you have kids, you know that your body feels almost more foreign postpartum than it did during pregnancy. Add breastfeeding to the mix and you wonder if you can or even should get back to your regular activities. And what about starting something new when breastfeeding? Is it safe? Will your body respond? Will it make you feel ok?Over the past four years, dozens of women have talked to me about returning to their Bikram Yoga practice or trying it out for the first time all together when they are breastfeeding. After all, practicing the yoga itself is a great way to stay active. I recovered both physically and mentally during postpartum by practicing Bikram Yoga. Even when breastfeeding for months and months and months on end, Bikram Yoga whipped me back into shape and helped me wrap my head around my new role as a mom of one, then two, and now three yoga babies.I personally think that Bikram Yoga is one of the best things a new mom can do for herself, so if you're itching to practice but are nervous because you’re a nursing mama, here's a list of the top 10 things I want every new mom to know about practicing Bikram Yoga when breastfeeding:

1. You burn a ton, and I mean a ton of calories. According to the American Pregnancy Association,  breastfeeding moms burn on average an extra 425 and 700 calories per day, and that’s with no exercise. Throw a Bikram Yoga class on top of that and you’re burning at least another 500. Then add in the obligatory laundry, baby holding, baby bouncing, and baby rocking and you've got yourself one heck of an active day. So yeah. Bikram Yoga absolutely helps you lose pregnancy weight! But don't get crazy on me now and please be patient. Yoga embodies so much more than weight loss. If you have weight to lose you will lose it, but you'll do so in a steady, sustainable, albeit often slow way. Remember that gaining pregnancy weight took 9 months, so give yourself that amount of time and then some to get back to your (new) normal.
2. You will get hungry. Don't start an insane diet. Just don't do that to yourself. Due to the calories being burned both in and out of the hot room, make sure you eat to replenish everything that you’re burning and sweating out. I personally didn’t track what I ate or restricted in any real way, I just tried to eat wholesome foods until I was full. And then I'd eat ice cream. Hey, yoga is about balance too, right?!
3. You need to drink a lot of extra water. Breastfeeding moms should hydrate well anyway, and when you’re sweating so much on top of nursing, you need to stay super aware of your water consumption. I carry my Hydroflask water bottle around with me everywhere, and I highly recommend getting the straw lid. These 40 oz. bottles and 64 oz. growlers are great because if you fill up just a couple times per day, you know you’ll be getting enough. The straw lids are a must because they make sipping through class and sipping through nursing easy peasy. 
4. You might not be able to lie on your stomach. Depending on how soon you get back to practicing, you may be too engorged to be able to lie down on your stomach in between the spine strengthening postures. And that’s ok. You can always flip over on your back or even lie on your side in the recovery position until it’s not painful. For me, this was until I was about 10 weeks postpartum, but for others it may be sooner or later.
5. You might leak. But you’re sweating anyway so it doesn’t really matter!
6. You might feel a let down. I found it fascinating that up until about 20 weeks postpartum, I felt a let down during every single Camel Pose. Crazy right?! Crazy normal.
7. You might need some different sports bras. I had to invest in some larger, more full-coverage sports bras during the first several months of postpartum. The investment was worthwhile though, because I could practice comfortably and not have to squeeze into any of my pre-pregnancy yoga tops. Amazon has some super affordable options, like this one that I love.
8. You will heal achy nursing muscles. Ever notice that pretty much everything about breastfeeding does a number on your back? All the hunching forward whether nursing or pumping causes a lot of muscle tension and soreness. Bikram Yoga keeps your muscles mobile and staves off soreness because of the therapeutic healing benefits of the postures. You will undo all of that hunching forward with your backward bending in Bikram Yoga.
9. Your baby will learn to take a bottle. Bikram Yoga classes are 90 minutes, so I was gone long enough for my kids to learn how to drink from a bottle. This point might be good or bad depending on how you are parenting and nursing, but for me, it provided a big sense of relief; I knew they would be ok when I was taking time to care for myself.
10. You will receive mental and emotional healing. Breastfeeding and postpartum in general are roller coaster rides for your hormones. Practicing Bikram Yoga can help stabilize the ups and downs you feel and will provide a place for you to practice self-care.

The long and short of this post is to encourage you to get back to your yoga - or whatever activity you love - as soon as you can. Having a baby is a miraculous experience: it's natural and humbling and overwhelming and exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time. Finding that mama time for you to care for you gives you the strength, the commitment, and the totally and utterly completely necessary patience to keep on trucking through motherhood.