Yoga together
Seven babies and their mums are doing yoga together. There is almost total silence as the class comes to a close. The mums rest and are guided through a simple breath awareness technique to enter a state of deep relaxation. There is a quiet peace in the room, punctu ated by the soft sounds of babies suckling, or squeaking gently.
Yes. This is really true. If you do yoga together with your baby you do
get to relax. Some of the time! The class has a co-operative spirit of 'give
and take', alternating yoga for babies, with yoga for mums and yoga together.
A typical session includes baby stretches to take small bodies through a full range of movement which often astonishes (and inspires) their mums; breathing with movement for the mums, and postures-for-two to give mums and babies new ways to relate to each other. The babies respond with evident delight to the use of gentle sounds, so chanting and humming helps everyone to wind down. By the end of the class peaceful relaxation comes quite easily.
Many of the Brixton baby yogis' mums report that their babies are calmer and sleep more soundly after yoga sessions. They also observe their babies' delight: 'She really enjoys her yoga!' At a more visceral level, some of the practices often provide babies with immediate audible relief from wind and constipation.
Babies are natural born yogis. They start life as open-hearted, flexible little creatures who live completely in the moment. Mothering a new baby demands that we too move into the present moment, the better to adapt to the changing needs of our little sons and daughters.
The practice of yoga enables us more easily to respond with ease and grace
to the physical and emotional demands of mothering. Yoga postures can
alleviate some of the common bodily stresses such as 'feeding hunch' and
lower back pain which many mothers experience. Breath work, deep relaxation
and meditation can help us to ride the emotional roller-coaster of mothering
with equanimity and loving confidence.
But it is crucial to learn a practical and baby-friendly way to integrate these beneficial practices into busy daily lives. It's not always realistic to find time and space to do a yoga practice alone. It can be stressful to try and keep a curious babe out of the way whilst you try and relax! It makes so much more sense to do yoga together with our babies. The experience is mutually beneficial: babies love it, mums actually get to do it, and each can delight in the benefits which the practices evidently bring to the other.
If you're at home full-time, individual yoga activities can be integrated into the daily routine. If you're back at work, then the special closeness and delight of sharing a yoga session with your baby can provide a valuable bridge between home and work. Whatever your approach to parenting, yoga sessions can be a relaxing form of 'structured play' through which you and your baby can enjoy each otherÿs company and do each other some good!
Uma Dinsmore-Tuli
(first published in National Childbirth Trust Lambeth and Southwark
Branch Newsletter Summer 2000)