Safe Postpartum Exercises for Pelvic Floor Recovery (2025)

Birth is not just physical—it’s sacred transformation. Whether your delivery was vaginal, surgical, smooth, or traumatic, your body has crossed a threshold. Your pelvic floor has held, stretched, and surrendered. And now it’s time to support it back into strength—not through squeezing, but through softness, breath, and integration.

Symptoms like:

• Leaking urine

• A feeling of pressure or heaviness

• Pain during sex

• Low back aches

• Core weakness or numbness

…aren’t “just part of being a mom.” They’re signs that your support system is calling for attention—not punishment.

Read: Early Signs of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Explore: Pelvic Floor & Back Pain

Kegels teach force. We teach fluidity.

Kegels isolate. We restore integration.

Kegels often lead to clenching and breath-holding—exactly what we want to avoid in postpartum healing.

At MoonRise, we use:

• Breath to awaken dormant muscles

• Posture to align your system

• Hypopressives to decompress and lift

• Fascia and scar release to create space

• Somatics and stillness to regulate your nervous system

Learn: Why Kegels Don’t Always Work

We invite you to start from Day One—not with movement, but with awareness.

In the first few days postpartum:

• Tune into your breath

• Place your hands on your belly and ribs

• Begin to feel the rise and fall

• Allow your body to settle, your nervous system to soothe

By Week 2–4 (if you feel ready):

• Begin diaphragmatic breathing

• Explore side-lying or supported hypopressive poses

• Begin light scar care (if no pain or medical issues)

Read: Gentle Bed Exercises for Pelvic Floor Recovery

Diaphragmatic Breathing + Pelvic Floor Reconnection

Inhale softly into the ribs and belly. Exhale gently and imagine lifting your pelvic floor like a soft hammock—not squeezing, just lifting. This reconnects breath, core, and pelvic awareness.

Hypopressive Breathing (Posture + Pressure Release)

This revolutionary approach reduces intra-abdominal pressure and reflexively reactivates your core and pelvic floor. It’s gentle, non-invasive, and works even when everything feels “disconnected.”

👉 Complete Guide to Hypopressives

Scar and Fascia Work

If you've had a C-section, perineal tearing, or episiotomy, gently begin scar awareness—touch, hydration, and release. Scar restrictions can pull on the pelvic floor and core and create tension patterns.

👉 Scar Tissue & Pelvic Dysfunction Explained

Alignment-Based Movement (No Crunches)

Start with:

• Supine pelvic tilts (with exhale + lift)

• Gentle glute bridges (after 4–6 weeks)

• Side-lying heel slides

• Wall sits with supported core engagement

Each movement is done slowly, with breath, and only when it feels good. No pushing. No rushing.

 Daily Practice (adjust by week):

• 2 minutes of lateral ribcage breathing

• 2 rounds of soft hypopressive holds (if safe)

• 1–2 gentle pelvic tilts or heel slides

• 1–2 minutes of guided stillness or soft scar touch

• Whisper or write: “I’m healing in exactly the right time.”

Want to deepen your practice?

👉 Functional Breath for the Pelvic Floor

• Jumping into HIIT, crunches, or running without foundational support

• Ignoring warning signs like leaks or heaviness

• Comparing your healing timeline to someone else’s

• Using waist trainers or "slimming" tools that increase pressure

• Doing nothing and hoping it resolves on its own

You are not broken. You are becoming.

Postpartum pelvic floor healing isn’t about “getting your body back.” It’s about reclaiming trust. Trust in your breath, your core, your strength, your softness.

This phase is not a detour. It’s a return.

Next Steps:

• Take our free pelvic health checkup

• Join our next free workshop for guided postpartum flows

• Explore our 12-week Total Pelvic Freedom program for full recovery here

• Or start today with just 10 mindful minutes.