From the unending trunk of stereotypes and superstitions in India comes the oft-repeated one, unboxed right after the delivery of a newborn, for the would-be mommy. One that presumes a mother’s health is secondary to everything else. Which considering that it is the mother who will be involved in all aspects of raising the child, is rather obtuse.
The postnatal health of mothers is only an afterthought for many urban families. And while the mother is busy juggling the household chores with the task of raising a kid (or several), she misses out on taking care of herself. In-laws and the spouse are around for emotional support perhaps, but the act of giving birth, of spending nine months with a baby in your belly irrevocably changes the human body.
Photo Credits: @ruchikarai
The Combat Yogini Program:
Meet Ruchika, a fitness trainer who specialises in post-pregnancy health. With the growing interest of Indian women in postnatal recovery, Ruchika came up with the Combat Yogini Program (CYP). She experimented with combat techniques and yoga combined with a healthy diet plan to come up with CYP.
Photo Credits: @ruchikarai
This is the first time that someone has thought of using combat-based exercises for post pregnancy fitness plan, customised solely for Indian women.
Photo Credits: @ruchikarai
Stigma, Stereotype and the Glass Ceiling:
Photo Credits: @ruchikarai
Excerpts from our conversation with Ruchika:
On the need for post pregnancy fitness:
“It’s surprising how little awareness exists for postnatal fitness in India. The female body literally breaks down with the challenges of childbirth and traditional axioms assert that a woman is “reborn” after delivering a child. This cannot be put more accurately.
You really do have to start from scratch, after childbirth, and slowly build your body strength and shape back.This is one of the most delicate stages in a woman’s life, physically, and mentally, therefore women must approach fitness from a larger, more holistic perspective.”
“Women are constantly under pressure to be a standard body type, lest they wish to be ‘undesirable’. Body image issues are so pervasive that an entire “fitness” industry thrives on it. Ill-equipped fitness professionals, who have no option but to self train themselves, owing to the lack of quality fitness certifications, in India, make careers out of this rampant social insecurity. There’s little awareness about Diastasis Recti or abdomen separation, which is a common condition after pregnancy. As the abs separate, to accommodate the growing foetus, they seldom come back to their original position, post partum. Common exercises like abdomen crunches worsen the situation, and may even lead to extreme ab separation, or hernia. Women find it difficult to attain a flat belly therefore the “Mummy-Tummy” is a common problem.
Photo Credits: @ruchikarai
Also Read: This photo series has women in cow masks to point out our twisted priorities
Approaching fitness with an open mindset then becomes imperative. It is absolutely critical for women to understand the need to focus on her own body after childbirth. It can take quite some time before she can build her body strength and shape back to her former self. Take that step forward, you won’t regret it.
You can follow/ contact Ruchika Rai here: @ruchikarai/instagram
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