Hello lovely Yoga Mamas,
I hope the last few weeks have offered you small pockets of ease — a moment of quiet while the kettle boils, a breath that felt just a little deeper, a smile that surprised you. Motherhood rarely hands us long stretches of calm, but it does offer these tiny glimmers, and sometimes they’re enough to steady us.
With Mother’s Day drawing near, I’ve been reflecting on how best to nurture as many Mamas and Mamas‑to‑be as I can — and this year, that support is unfolding in two very different ways.
First, I’m launching a new free mini‑course beginning 3 May, designed to help you step into Mother’s Day feeling fresh, fabulous, and filled with yoga’s gifts for your mental and physical wellbeing. I want to spoil my existing community and welcome new friends into our circle. This time I won’t automatically enrol existing newsletter subscribers — I never want to overwhelm your inbox — but if you’d like to join, you’re warmly invited to register here: www.bemamayoga.com.au/offers/zScqUFXL. Please feel free to pass the link (or this whole email) on to any other Mamas who might enjoy it too.
The second offering is for those who have loved and lost. I spent two years walking the path of recurrent miscarriage, feeling lost, broken, and alone in a grief that was both silent and consuming. Healing wasn’t linear — it rose and fell like the tide, and probably won’t ever entirely leave - sometimes it comes crashing over me without warning, other times it gently washes near my feet. I recorded parts of my journey in real time, in the hope that my pain might one day help another Mama feel less isolated. Later, after Caitlin turned one, I added reflections on what I wish I could have told my younger self at the start of the journey — when I was afraid, grieving, and unsure of what came next.
The result is a free pregnancy loss support page on my website, with written and video reflections and yoga practices. You can find it here: Loss support. If you’re walking a similar path, Mama, I see you. I honour your pain, and I’m wishing you tenderness and steadiness as you heal. Please reach out if you ever need extra support or information — I’ll share whatever I can.
Now for this newsletter’s theme – finishing out our journey through the Niyamas. After exploring Ishvara pranidhana (surrender), tapas (discipline), svadhyaya (self‑study), and saucha (clarity), we now arrive at santosha — often translated as contentment, but in motherhood, it becomes something far more tender and real.
🌿 Monthly Inspiration: Santosha — finding balance in the in‑between
Santosha isn’t about loving every moment. It isn’t about pretending things are easy. It’s the quiet practice of meeting life as it is — messy, beautiful, exhausting, miraculous — and finding steadiness inside it.
For mamas and mamas‑to‑be, Santosha often looks like balance in motion:
✨ 1. Effort and ease – releasing perfectionism
Some days you’re soaring, but some are wobbly – it might be all you can do not to fall over. The exercise goal you didn’t meet. The nap that didn’t happen. The toys on the floor. The frustration.Santosha whispers: You’re doing enough. This moment is enough.
It’s not resignation — it’s release.
✨ 2. Letting go of comparison
Every mother walks a different path. Every body heals differently. Every baby unfolds in their own time.
Santosha is the practice of returning to your centre, again and again.
✨ 3. Finding steadiness in small rituals
A grounding breath before you stand. A hand on your heart before you speak. A moment of stillness before you move.
These tiny pauses become anchors — balancing points in the swirl of daily life.
When we practice Santosha, we’re not aiming for perfection. We’re learning to stand, wobble, breathe, and begin again — with kindness.
🌸 Poses of the Month — Finding Balance & Presence
Preconception
Eagle Pose (Garudasana) – see it on YouTube
Stand tall, shoulders back/down/together, soften your knees. Fix the gaze on a non-moving spot 1-2m in front of you (on the wall or floor is fine).
Cross the right foot over the left, then if comfortable continue to wrap the right leg around the left until the right foot hooks comfortably on the left calf. If balance feels tricky, use a wall, go for less ‘wrap around’, or even keep the toes on the ground.
Lift the arms out in front at shoulder height, and cross the right arm under the left. If comfortable, continue wrapping the right arm around the left – maybe the palms end up touching together, maybe not - stop wrapping wherever the edge of your comfort zone ends. As you breathe steadily, option to lift elbows gently on each inhalation and move hands away from face on each exhalation.
Release gently after a good number of breaths. Shake out and repeat on the other side.
Benefits: Builds focus, steadiness, and circulation through pelvis and legs; supports mental clarity and emotional grounding.
Contraindications: Avoid deep wrapping if it strains knees or hips; keep the stance wide or use a wall for support. Once pregnant, safest to choose another balancing pose as you may begin to compress the abdomen with this one.
Prenatal
Tree Pose (Vrksasana) – see it on YouTube
Stand with feet hip‑width apart. Shift weight onto one foot and place the opposite foot to ankle or calf (avoid pressing on the knee). Hands can rest on hips, at heart, or reach overhead. Keep gaze soft and steady on a non-moving object.
Benefits: Supports balance as your centre of gravity shifts, strengthens quads and hip stabiliser muscles, and cultivates calm focus. May help with symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD), but see contraindications below for care notes.
Contraindications: If you feel unsteady, use a wall or keep toes on the floor. Avoid placing the lifted foot on the knee joint. Avoid compressing Bump. Take care with SPD and sacroiliac joint pain – keep the hips as stable as possible, imagine all muscles squeezing towards midline, and if feeling shear or pain bring the knee of the bent leg closer to midline - or come out entirely.
Postnatal
Airplane Pose (Dekasana) – see it on YouTube
Ground through both feet, exhale, engage pelvic floor and core then gently hinge forward from hips, extend one leg back, and reach arms wide like wings. Breathe here as long as comfortable before inhaling back to centre.
Benefits: Strengthens glutes, back, and deep core; supports balance and functional movement; encourages mindful pelvic‑floor awareness.
Contraindications: Take care if you feel pelvic floor heaviness, doming, or instability; keep the torso higher or use a wall or chair for support. Come out if you are unable to stabilise or improve the heaviness/doming with conscious engagement of these areas on each exhalation.
💬 I’d love to hear from you
If any of this content resonates with you — or if these balancing poses bring up anything in your practice — reply and let me know. Your insights help me shape future offerings, and I’m always grateful for your voice in this community.
🌿 Until next time, may you find moments of balance — in your body, your breath, and your beautiful, unfolding journey.
I honour the Mama you are becoming,
- Emma
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