In those first few days and weeks after having a baby, all you want to do is rest – even if your baby has other ideas! That’s not surprising – you just spent nine months growing a whole human and now, you have to feed it and care for it while recovering from birth yourself.

Be gentle with yourself in those early days and weeks, and don’t push yourself too hard. Eventually, though, you’ll start to gain a little more energy and begin feeling like you want to start exploring the world around you with your newborn in tow. An easy neighborhood walk with your baby in a carrier or stroller can provide enough fresh air and sunshine to ward off the baby blues and calm your little one as well. I know that just a 15-minute walk made a world of difference in helping me emerge from a postpartum haze.

When you’re ready to be more active with your baby, see if a local gym, fitness center or yoga studio offers postpartum mom/baby exercise classes. For about an hour, you can engage in easy exercises to help regain strength and flexibility you might have lost during your pregnancy while also enjoying a fun activity with your newborn. I know my weekly Mommy and Me yoga class was one of the highlights of my maternity leave.

Wait, you’re thinking. How can babies do yoga? (I think my brother asked that exact question!) Well, the baby itself isn’t doing yoga, but the class incorporates beginner yoga poses for Mom that allow for lots of interaction with the baby, who simply lays flat on the mat for most of the class. Picture many seated poses where baby can sit between your legs or a downward-facing dog pose where baby is strategically placed on a mat so you can bend and kiss him on the cheek. Moms farther along in their postpartum recovery can also lift their baby while in a lying position, using baby as a weight for strength building.

If you’re expecting a quiet, relaxing yoga session, well, don’t bother. After all, it is a class that welcomes babies, and babies cry. Our instructor, trained in prenatal and postnatal yoga, encouraged us to abandon a pose at any time if we needed to feed our babies. We were quite a sight with some of us planted firmly in warrior pose with our babies looking up in awe, while others rarely left a seated position, spending much of the 50-minute class nursing or bottle-feeding. (A few lucky moms had their babies sleep through the entire class!)

Since my foray into mom/baby yoga seven years ago, I’ve discovered other classes in my mid-sized town I wish had been available when I was in that postpartum period. I’ve seen mom/baby barre, Zumba, swimming, and stroller walking classes advertised, with many positive reviews. Not only do the classes provide a sense of community among new moms looking to meet others in the area, but they also help with mental, physical and emotional recovery from pregnancy and childbirth. If your area doesn’t offer those options, search for YouTube videos that can provide an at-home workout.

Before starting or restarting a fitness regimen after birth, make sure you’re cleared by your doctor to work out. My yoga instructor wanted moms to be at least six weeks out from a vaginal birth or eight weeks from a c-section before getting started, lest we hinder our recovery. This was about the time I started getting cabin fever anyway with my firstborn after limiting my early outings to doctor’s appointments and quick errands, so I felt ready once I hit the 6-week mark.

Even if your fitness level was high before pregnancy, be patient as you ease back into exercise. You might find yourself struggling with a weak core or pelvic floor or a loss of endurance. Having your baby present for your exercise class can help remind you how much your life has changed, and for the better.

I always looked forward to the end of yoga class, and I anticipated it more in mom/baby yoga. As I moved into Savasana, or “resting pose,” I brought my baby close to me under my armpit like we were napping at home. The other mothers did so as well.

Like magic, not one baby made a peep.