Exercise and postnatal depression

Postnatal depression is fucking awful. Depression with a baby or child means you can't wallow feeling suicidal in bed. You have to keep going, and going, and going. So how the hell is exercise going to help when all you want to do is curl up by yourself, sleep and try and escape the hell that is your own head?

It helped me as it forms part of who I am. I love running (no shit) so to be able to exercise again helped me feel more like the old me - maybe with a bit more of a saggy tum - but me all the same.

But for mums who hate exercise it can also help for a huge number of reasons. First, when I talk about "exercise" I don't mean training for a sub 4 hour marathon (though that's cool too if that's your bag), I mean getting out of the house. Putting some structure into your crazy kid-filled day. Peeling yourself away from your phone. Putting on your and your kid's shoes and getting out of the door. Going for a walk around the block. Listening to some music. Coming home, feeling just a little brighter. You will feel better for it. I promise.

It's the change of scene. Raising your heartrate a little, deepening your breathing. Getting some fresh air. Saying hello and smiling at someone. Feeling like you've achieved something with the day. Walking (fast or slow) is really, really good for the soul. It helps clear your head, level the anxiety out a little and settle your mind. Exercise releases endorphins which make you feel better about yourself and the world will seem not quite as tilted as before.

Second, exercise can be as social or antisocial as you want it to be. I know when I'm feeling low I really ought to get out there and be friendly, but sometimes I just can't face it. So I go for a walk (or a run or swim if I'm lucky) with just the baby. But, it really, really does make things infinitely better by going for a walk with a friend. And, perhaps not surprisingly, there are now more and more groups springing up for mums who want to go walking. The journalist Bryony Gordon even set up Mental Health Mates as a non judgmental social place to meet other people who were also suffering from mental health problems and to go for a walk. Double hit. If walking isn't your thing, there are plenty of other mum-friendly exercise classes around like yoga or buggyfit.

Third, if you can find some help, taking time out from being a mum to do some exercise can work wonders to ease depression. I try to go to a yoga class or swimming once a week when my husband is at home, or go for a short run before he goes to work. Even just 20 minutes to go for a walk around the block. Exercise WITHOUT THE KIDS really, really helped my sanity. No one else to think about. Time to breathe, listen to a podcast, do some stretches, whatever. I think that's the key thing about exercise - when your body moves, it allows your mind to be still, and that's worth gold dust in these crazy motherhood times.

Fitness classes for mum and baby

I'm completely out of shape (as you would expect) after pregnancy and birth and the early days of having a baby are just so physical, it's no wonder my back is whinging and I get puffed walking up the stairs still.

So as well as a gentle easing back into running I've signed up to a couple of fitness classes for me and the little guy to help get my poor old body back up to speed.

First up is mum and baby yoga. There are tons of these sorts of classes about. I tried to find one that was equally balanced for baby and me. I have found many classes do tend to be much more for baby when what I really want is a bit of time to do a set of downward dogs and stretch my back out back to its normal height.

I've found a fab class that progresses each week as you improve. Honestly I feel like I've been for an hour long massage it's that good. Plus the little guy loves it too and usually conks out midway through. 

Yoga or Pilates is so important for mums to do. First it helps with regaining core stability and strength and second it helps with realigning the body back into a good posture. My body at the moment is mainly spent hunched over my baby feeding him, or carrying him around in a sling which tilts my posture out of shape. Finally it just makes you feel good and is a bit of time well spent just for you.

The second class for general postnatal fitness that I do is not quite as common as mum and baby yoga but classes can be found in most areas. Again I've been really lucky as this hour-long session concentrates solely on mum but babies are welcome to attend. The class focuses on strengthening and toning all major muscle groups plus working on core strength post birth - so no sit ups but lots of bridges, pelvic floor work and so on.

I feel like a knackered old mare in these classes as the moment but am so excited to have found this sort of class as  its more important than ever to build my strength and cardio back up if I want to get back to running effectively.  I can't just rely on running and shouldn't either as I've lost so much strength through pregnancy. 

There are lots of other mum fitness classes available. Buggyfit run classes countrywide. They are held outside with babies in the buggies and Busy Lizzy (only in the Southeast) run a membership scheme for mums to attend various postnatal fitness classes such as yoga, pilates, boot camp and aerobics. I feel a bit sorry for the little guy as first time round I spent all my time doing classes and groups for baby, but this time round I'm being a bit more selfish and doing stuff for me, but happy mum equals happy baby so the downward dogs will continue.