I recently stumbled upon Catherine Middlebrook’s Pinterest page while searching for how to heal diastasis recti following the birth of my second child. I started pouring over her free masterclasses at brb YOGA and knew right away that she was going to be an incredible resource for postpartum recovery!
Fast forward a few months and I’ve just completed her 8 week online “Heal Your Core With Yoga” course for postpartum mamas. Holy smokes. My mindset about what is NORMAL and what is NOT after having a baby has been completely transformed! I’ve had such a good time easing my body back into movement and seen such positive results that I am so excited about sharing my experience and getting the word out about her amazing material. Read on for why I think Catherine’s classes are the best postpartum yoga classes and my full Heal Your Core With Yoga review!
Disclosure: I received Heal Your Core With Yoga by Catherine Middlebrooks for free in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are completely my own! This post contains affiliate links.
About Catherine Middlebrooks
Catherine Middlebrooks is a yoga teacher, postpartum health expert, wife, Mom and the founder of Brb Yoga. She is currently taking yoga on the road, traveling the United States in an RV with her husband, Paul, and their two pre-schoolers. You can even join her on Facebook for live tips and tutorials from parks and beauty spots everywhere.
I describe Catherine to my husband as the brain of a body mechanics nerd, paired with the heart of an encouraging teacher, inside the body of a Mom. Essentially, she’s the PERFECT person for new moms to take a course from.
And let me just say this – she is SO DANG sweet and encouraging and an all around pleasure to take a course from. I loved every second and am kind a huge fan of hers now, if you can’t tell! Here’s what I loved about the 8 week program.
What I Love About “Heal Your Core With Yoga”
It’s Packed with Knowledge
They say knowledge is power and this course is SUPER informative! With a strong focus on learning correct posture after pregnancy and re-training our body to do things the right way (yes, there is a right and wrong way to carry your baby in a sling, lift a toddler in and out of a bathtub, etc.) you will learn so much about our core muscles and how to literally strengthen them as a busy mom.
It Focuses on Building a Strong Foundation
It’s such a perfect pace for returning to exercise after birth, and each lesson builds upon the next. This is KEY for so many reasons, but for me it meant when my family all got sick for a month and I couldn’t do any of the exercise plans, I was still healing and could feel improvement in my core just from practicing my breathing techniques and making some simple posture changes.
Helps Heal Diastasis Recti
This is a big issue for a lot of women after pregnancy! I’ve personally had a pretty severe diastasis since my first baby was born and haven’t received much help outside of my OBGYN’s advice to avoid crunches at my 6 week check-up…
I actually cried after one of the first lessons because I was filled with so much hope after months of being in back pain and wishing I had the money to get a professional massage every week.
It’s Realistic for Busy and New Moms
Having been there herself, Catherine totally gets it. She just gets it! That’s why I believe her course is so perfectly geared for new mamas.
She not only provides an easy-to-follow weekly schedule, but it only requires a 4-5 day commitment of about 20 minutes at a time. Plus, all of her yoga practices and most of her video modules include additional audio files or PDF downloads available to walk through the yoga practice for convenience.
(I found the PDF’s super helpful once I’d already done a practice a couple of times! I could just glance at my cheat sheet and didn’t have to fight my toddler away from my laptop during a yoga practice.)
Helps You Invest In Yourself
Lastly one of my favorite things about this course is that it helps you to invest in yourself and make it a priority! And honestly this is something I haven’t found easy to do after baby. Self care is so important, and the guided yoga practices are very refreshing physically and mentally once you take the time to do it. (Even with kids running around screaming. It’s still so good. I even get my 2.5 year old to do it with me when I can!)
My Results & Final Thoughts
While this course took me longer than the projected 8 weeks because….two kids two and under (which is perfectly OK as it is go at your own pace) – I had some amazing results! My diastasis isn’t gone yet, but it has healed about a finger’s width and my connective tissue feels stronger and healthier. (She teaches exactly how to test this!) The best part is knowing I now have the tools to keep improving.
I really had no idea when starting this course how much KNOWLEDGE I was going to get about body mechanics…phew. I thought it was really just going to be some basic yoga exercises but as someone who loves school and learning I was blown away by what I was learning about my body in the lessons. It is so empowering! Thank you, Catherine!
These are the reasons I love Heal Your Core With Yoga by Catherine Middlebrooks! I can’t recommend this course enough to any mama in any walk of life interested in healing their diastasis recti and improving core strength – especially if you enjoy yoga!
Want to know more? You can find more details about Heal Your Core With Yoga and check out Catherine’s free trainings (yes, free!) right here on her site!
I promise it’s worth your time. Don’t miss it!
Did you get a diastasis recti during pregnancy? Have you taken any of Catherine’s free or paid courses over at brb Yoga? Let me know in the comments!
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