Start with a few poses and gradually work back to your regular routine. If postpar-
tum bleeding gets heavier or brighter red, stop and call the midwife or doctor. Filling
your body with energy through breathing exercises may promote self-healing after
childbirth.200 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TOALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
The Absolute Minimum
■ Yoga is an Indian system of health, postures, and living that aims to produce
in its practitioners a state of perfect health and bliss.
■ Most of the Western practice of yoga focuses on the physical exercises and
postures, which promotes the flow of blood and energy through the body and
can promote deep relaxation and health.
■ A yoga practice can begin with matters as seemingly simple as breathing and
standing, and can deepen into a full awareness of one’s body, self, and place
in the universe.Resources
■ Yoga Journal Magazine
http://www.yogajournal.com
■ American Yoga Association
http://www.americanyogaassociation.org/
■ Bikram’s Yoga College of India
http://www.bikramyoga.com
■ The Yoga Site
http://www.yogasite.com
■ Light on Yoga
B.K.S. Iyengar, 1994, Schocken Books, New York