Yoga Through Motherhood: Finding Balance on the Mat and in Life.

My yoga journey started back in 2018, the moment I stepped onto the mat for my first class. Very quickly, practice became part of my daily rhythm. I found it strong, steady and deeply grounding. At the time, I was navigating a hectic life and yoga was my happy place. I practiced most days and found so much joy in regular studio classes several times a week, diving into the world of Ashtanga and Vinyasa Yoga.

Then, in 2021, everything shifted—I was over the moon to fall pregnant with my son. From the very beginning of pregnancy, my relationship with my yoga practice changed. My body changed considerably and I became slower. My movements grew more intuitive. I began to let go of what I thought my practice should look like and leaned into what it needed to be. Even with all the changes, I stayed connected to yoga—right up to teaching my final class at 36 weeks pregnant.

Motherhood has been the most humbling and transformative journey. It's emotionally rich, physically intense and often overwhelming. And through it all, yoga has remained my anchor. In the moments when I no longer felt like “myself,” my practice helped me feel like me.

Why Yoga Becomes Even More Essential in Motherhood

Postpartum, the practice becomes something new again—gentle, deeply healing and often surprisingly emotional. In those early months, yoga supported my recovery in so many ways. Breathwork and gentle movement helped rebuild strength in my pelvic floor and core, soothed the tension from holding and feeding my baby, and gave me tiny windows of calm and clarity amid hectic days and sleepless nights.

As my strength returned, so did a more dynamic practice—and I found that motherhood had made me stronger, not just physically but emotionally too.

Most importantly, yoga taught me how to pause. To breathe through the tantrums. To stay present during 3am feeds. To soften into the unknown. These small, quiet victories on and off the mat are what carried me through.

Reclaiming the Mat: A Postpartum Return

The early stages of postpartum are sacred. Your body has just carried life—it deserves tenderness, patience and reverence. There’s no need to “bounce back” or rush into strong asana. Instead, begin gently. Pelvic floor work, breath awareness and mindful movement are enough. Truly.

As you regain strength and your energy shifts, you’ll know when to begin exploring more. You might not return to the exact version of your pre-pregnancy practice, but you’ll uncover a deeper, more attuned one.

Making Space in a Full Life

Long, uninterrupted practices may be a luxury in the early years of motherhood—but that doesn’t mean your practice is gone. It just looks different.

In the newborn days, I’d roll out my mat with toys scattered around, music playing softly in the background and allow my baby to be part of my practice. It was messy, imperfect—and beautiful. Those short moments helped me feel grounded and whole again.

Even now, with a toddler, I rarely get full hour-long practices outside the shala. But 10–15 minutes during naptime or after bedtime still carries the same depth—especially when done with intention. Sometimes, a few sun salutations and a seated forward fold are all I need.

Eventually, I was fortunate to start Mysore classes with Jake at Ashtanga Yoga York when my son was seven months old. That step into a community and supported practice was pivotal for me. It reminded me that I could still show up for myself—even before sunrise and allowed me to return home as my son was having breakfast. Around the same time, I began teaching weekly vinyasa classes in my village, Tockwith. That small offering has grown into something much greater: a nurturing circle of fellow mothers, practitioners and friends.

Your Practice is Enough—Exactly as it Is

There’s a myth—fueled by social media and unrealistic expectations—that to progress in yoga, you must practice daily, with discipline and intensity. But as mothers, our practice often takes other forms. And that is still yoga.

For me, some days it looks like squatting in malasana while tidying toys or breathing deeply while folding laundry. It’s not about perfection. It’s about presence.

Ashtanga teaches us to surrender to the process, to show up again and again—even if our showing up looks different every time. This practice is not a performance. It’s a remembering of who we are, beneath all the roles we play.

So to every mother on this path: your practice is enough. Youare enough.

Carve out the time that you can and show up for yourself. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

Ellie Bye.