You’re still in there, even as you navigate the ever-evolving nature of postpartum and motherhood.
We’re here to remind you that you’re still well…you. And, to reflect back your luminosity just when you think you’ve lost it.
Afterglow Perinatal Care offers Yoga Classes, Postpartum Care, and Women’s Health Education with roots in the ancient wisdom traditions of Yoga and Ayurveda. We’re expanding the definition of “perinatal” to include the many, many years it takes to feel fully integrated as a mother.
“If you want to know the health of a people,
look at the health of the mothers.”
— Rachelle Garcia Seliga, Innate Traditions
We envision a world filled with nourished mothers and children.
We believe postpartum and the motherhood journey is an opportunity to experience profound healing, connection, transformation, and personal growth.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be sleepless nights, lots and lots of tears (yours, your children’s, your partner’s, your dog’s - just me?), struggles with feeding, aching backs and pelvic floors. Of course not. It just means you need a guide. A soft place to land. A place you can come As You Are to heal your body and honor your heart.
You’ve heard about the benefits of yoga. Let’s also dish the dirt on yoga for the perinatal journey specifically:
-
“Through fostering relaxation, emotional resilience, and self-regulation, yoga addresses the distinctive psychological challenges new mothers encounter, including mood fluctuations, disrupted sleep, and feelings of isolation” (Yoga based interventions for enhancing psychological well-being in postpartum women: Randomized Control Trial).
-
Yoga practice helps you reacquaint yourself with your physical body after carrying a baby or babies for three trimesters. With proper movement practices designed for the perinatal period, you can re-establish strength, mobility, and flexibility.
-
Hormones like relaxin cause the body’s joints to be a little more relaxed during the perinatal period, which can contribute to chronic pain and aches. Couple this with babywearing, breastfeeding or bottlefeeding, rocking/swaying, sleeping at awkward angles/sleep deprivation…it’s no wonder you might feel discomfort! Yoga helps to alleviate these sensations with reverse patterning.
-
Yoga is a divine practice of presence, a gift for you and your baby. During practice, you are bonding through touch, sound, breath, and movement together. Mothers and babies (and young children) share connected nervous systems, so by practicing yoga and relaxing your own body and mind, you’re helping your baby to do the same. Yoga also improves hormone levels like prolactin and oxytocin, necessary for breastfeeding.
-
Diastasis recti happens for 100% of women during pregnancy. It has to in order to accommodate a growing uterus! Yoga practice and breathwork supports the closing of your abdominal separation, effectively strengthening your core, with subtle breathwork, gentle abdominal strengthening, deep core and pelvic floor work.
-
Pelvic floor healing and rehabilitation is required for postpartum women whether you’ve had a vaginal or belly birth. Oftentimes, the prescription is to strengthen the pelvic floor, but that is not always the key. The pelvic floor is dynamic and needs mobility, flexibility and strength like the rest of the body. Too much strengthening (like Kegels) can actually decrease healthy functioning. You require a practice that gently and effectively rehabilitates the pelvic floor with breathwork, stretching, and gentle exercises.
-
Sleep deprivation is incredibly common for new mothers and parents. Yoga can soothe your anxieties and worries, which help improve your sleep. Your own regulated nervous system then supports baby’s nervous system, aiding in his/her relaxation. Yoga Nidra is a form of yogic meditation that offers deep rest in as little as 20 minutes a day, which we share at Afterglow, as well. Many mothers need to re-learn how to properly rest.
-
During the postpartum period - even years after birth - mothers report the sensation of “mommy brain.” At Afterglow, we teach you how “mom brain” is actually an asset, a deeply intuitive resource that can help you improve your life. Read more about that in this piece.
Afterglow Offerings:
-
![]()
Yoga Classes, Series + Workshops
Baby + Me Postpartum Series, Mothers in Bloom, Family Yoga, and Preparing for the 4th Trimester
-
![]()
Root + Remember Personalized Postpartum Care
A 4-week private journey for mothers ready to reconnect, soften, and be held.
-
![]()
Afterglow Perinatal Teacher Training
The Afterglow Perinatal Yoga Training is for anyone who feels called to support the well-being of mothers and the children. It’s for the mothers and mothers-to-be. It’s for the yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and physical therapists. It’s for the birthworkers, mental health therapists…
When I came to Afterglow, I would describe myself as exhausted, wounded, and hopeful that life didn't have to be the way.
Now that I've gone through the experience of Afterglow classes and postpartum mentorship with Leanne, and am practicing what I've learned, I feel far more grounded, balanced, and empowered. I know the chaos and stress will continue in life; however, I now am able to recognize my body and mind’s signals and effectively work with them.
I'm in a position where I not only have a much deeper sense of myself, but also a better sense of how to most effectively and lovingly be there for those around me, especially my children.”
— Chrissy