Wondering how to use Ayurvedic wellness practices to enhance and support your postpartum recovery experience? This article covers what to know before giving birth.
As a trained birth doula and Ayurvedic health practitioner, I never knew or heard about the sacred window from my mother, women, or anyone else until I studied the ancient practice of Ayurveda and learned birth history through my doula training.
In Ayurveda, the saying goes, “42 days for 42 years”; What does this mean the first six weeks are necessary for bonding with your new baby and deep healing for a life of vitality, strength, and well-being for you.
Our society has created a “bounce-back” culture and often a culture where because of money and obligations, Women will re-enter life as it was before healing and bonding with their baby.
Taking the time to plan your postpartum phase is most important to your health and not an indulgence but a necessity.
At a glance: postpartum Vata dosha imbalance
When we turn to the ancient knowledge of Ayurveda, pregnancy and childbirth create a Imbalance of Vata dosha. Vata dosha is characterized by the elements of air and space; the qualities of Vata are rough, dry, mobile, and light.
In Ayurveda, the principle of “like increases like, opposites decrease each other” is a guiding principle as we restore balance to mind, body, and spirit.
We can think of this vata imbalance literally as we are “full” when pregnant; the low energy of Vata brings our baby to us, and then, our body is empty and full of space. This space creates plenty of room for air movement, so vata becomes imbalanced.
Vata imbalances can manifest in:
- Anxiety or anxious feelings
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
- Hair loss
- Dryness of the physical inner body and outer skin
- It’s cold
- Constipation or indigestion
- Feelings of isolation
- Baby blues
We can rebalance vata after birth through proper diet, rest, and self-care practices such as abhyanga (warm oil massages), aromatherapy, and postpartum healing herbs/teasBesides others.
Using Ayurvedic principles for your postpartum healing
The sacred window period can be a time of maximum rejuvenation, possibly the most enjoyable period of a woman’s life.
Hugging a new way of life and identity postpartum is multi-faceted and challenging in many ways; we need many practices in our repertoire, including pranayama, yoga, Ayurvedic daily routines, and diet, aromatherapy, and enough time for rest and deep rest.
While this “ideal” is certainly not a reality for most families, you can incorporate bits and pieces of this practice into your daily life for even more support and healing.
Ayurveda’s main focus is to heal, prevent, and preserve, which is also the goal during the sacred window: to heal during the post-delivery period and from birth, to prevent future health issues, and to preserve the balance in a period. of rapid hormonal, and physical, emotional and mental changes in women’s lives.
The pillars of Ayurvedic nutrition are:
- Ahara (diet)
- Asana (yoga/meditation)
- Pranayama (breath)
- nidra (sleep)
These categories combine to create wellness in one’s body, mind, and spirit. We address these pillars by creating a dinacharya, or daily routine, to provide a grounding anchor for the nervous system.
During the postpartum phase, however, routine is not always an option. At this stage, attention should be focused creating a warm, soft, gentle atmosphere with rest that may occur in between moments throughout the day.
Any additional stimuli such as loud tv, social media, screens, excessive noise, or too many visitors should be eliminated or avoided as much as possible.
Read next: New baby? Six Tips for Setting Family Boundaries
Stay warm in body and mind; with warm clothes and socks, hot drinks throughout the day, and a daily warming massage after bathing.
Although the task seems impossible, we can find a routine by removing any excess or not needed at this time, so the focus is on rest, healing, and bonding with your baby.
Five ways to prepare for postpartum using Ayurveda
1. Plan your meals and meal prep ahead of time
After birth and in the coming weeks, all the food you eat should be warm and easy to digest.
Think iron-rich beet soups, vegetable or bone broths, cooking with ghee, grounding vegetable soups like butternut squash, and nourishing herbal teas like Alevan Botanica Postpartum Mama Tea.
Foods that should be limited or completely avoided include anything dry (dried fruit, chips, crackers), raw salads, cold foods or drinks, heavy foods such as dairy and meat, cold milk, tomatoes , and other acidic nightshades, coffee, and alcohol.
Make batches of soup or broth to freeze, stock pantry essentials, and create a weekly fresh produce grocery list ahead of time.
2. Set boundaries with friends and family
As a new mother, your main goal is to rest and heal while nurturing and bonding with your new baby. If you choose to visit family or friends, set time limits or have a task in mind that they can help you while visiting.
Read next: The Best Newborn “No Visitor” Signs After Birth (And Why They’re Great)
This is not the time to host and care for others (besides your new baby, of course!) Really take this special time to connect, rest, and healnot only for your physical health but for your mental health.
3. Daily self-massage
If it is a full body massage when you can spare the time, also known as abhyanga, or simple a quick 5 minute foot massage before bed, you will notice the effects.
Add an organic carrier oil, such as jojoba, with a few drops of your favorite essential oil blend. It is beneficial for relaxation and it is very important to keep our skin hydrated as dryness is a characteristic of Vata imbalance.
Read next: Watch Now: A Guide to Postpartum Self-Massage at Home
4. Use aromatherapy to balance your emotions
Postpartum often means not a lot of time to have luxurious rituals because whatever you have is hopefully spent relaxing. Try incorporating essential oils into your routine to balance body, mind, and soul.
Organic citrus essential oils, such as sweet orange and bergamotis uplifting, helpful for anxiety, stress, or anxiety, and good to diffuse during the day.
5. Organize, but keep a daily routine
As a new mother, our dinacharya, or daily routine, changes a lot and, unfortunately, can sometimes get lost. That doesn’t have to happen.
What is important at this time is carving out small moments throughout your day, even for a few minutes here and there, to meditate or focus on your breath, rest if needed, journal, or anything else that helps you feel stable, grounded, and calm.
Also important is eat regularly, don’t skip meals, because that will maintain an imbalance in Vata, and prioritize rest whenever possible.
Final thoughts on ayurveda and postpartum care
Finding ritual and routine doesn’t have to be over the top or complicated in this crazy time of life, with many things happening simultaneously in body, mind, and space.
Find and use support if you have it; otherwise, prepare as much as you can before your baby arrives.
My own Ayurvedic teacher told me that our daily morning and evening rituals can be five minutes or three hours, which is insignificant compared to consistency: small, not overwhelming steps each day on the journey of motherhood and life.
Both Ayurveda and aromatherapy complement each other in many ways, including a focus on inner and mental healing, physical healing or maintaining physical health, as well as a connection with our feelings and a presence or way of thinking to carry out all our obligations, activities, and relationships.
The benefits of Ayurveda and aromatherapy during the postpartum period allow for this period of transition to be thoughtful and intentional as you begin your journey of motherhood.
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