Amélie and myself had our first Mother and Baby Yoga class today. I have done yoga before but I was still not sure what to expect. Both of us had a fun time so whilst the class is still fresh in my mind I will tell you more about it.
The Mother and Baby Yoga Class consisted of 18 mothers and their babies. The baby age group ranges from 6 weeks old until the baby is walking. The class can be attended by Mothers once the Midwife is happy with the Mother's health. This is usually when the baby is 6 weeks old. No equipment was needed for the class. A mat is provided for you and a smaller mat for your baby. I wore tracksuit bottoms, t-shirt and trainers. The class costs £4.40 for both Mother and baby and the class lasts for an hour.
There are two other Yoga Classes one of which is Pregnancy Yoga, which I will attend if we are lucky to get pregnant again. The other class is Mother and Toddler Yoga class. I will attend this class in the future if the Mother and Baby yoga class turns out to be good
The class started off with babies on their mat in front of mum (some sitting, some lying down) and mum sitting behind the baby cross legged. We then proceeded to do eight Sun Salutations.
This was done by sitting cross legged and inhaling as you take your hands out to the side and above your head, you then exhale as you bring you arms down the same way as you took them up with the move ending with your hands in a prayer position against your chest.
We then moved onto stretching our arms out behind our lower bodies, still in the sitting position, babies still either lying or sitting in front of us. After doing this for a few minutes we then stood with the babies just in front of us and did leg stretches. Keeping your legs straight and apart you touch the floor all the time smiling and talking to your baby. This is called the Downward Facing Dog. We stretched both sides of our legs and our waists.
We lay on the floor with baby sitting on our stomachs and we did bicycle movements with our legs. This we did for about eight minutes, wow this was tiring. We then stayed in the same position with baby on your tummy legs slightly apart, head on the floor and lifting your bottom off the floor and raising your hips. Amélie loved this and spent the next five minutes giggling away.
We then stood up and did an exercise for our thighs and bottoms. This consisted of holding baby in an outward position doing squats swinging baby between your legs. At this point the class became quite noisy as all the babies seemed to enjoy this.
It was now time for the babies to have some fun. The teacher put a music CD on with a long version of Incy Wincy Spider playing. We all trotted around in a large circle swaying baby to the rhyme and at certain points in the song we lifted baby into the air. Some Mothers with the younger babies were less vigorous and gently swayed their babies. The older babies were swung about a lot and had a lot of fun. I must say this was quite tiring as the Mothers had to not only throw the babies around but lift their legs up high as they trotted around in the circle.
Still in a circle we walked all the babies to the centre of the circle so they could see each other. Once again the class became noisy as the babies all cooed and giggled to each other.
Back on the floor we put our legs out in front of us and baby seated on our legs and sang a long extended version of Row Row Row Your Boat. The younger babies were leaning against mum whilst mum rocked backwards and forwards. The older babies were facing mum and mum had hold of the babies arms or hands and rowed the baby backwards and forwards. This move was Amélies favourite, she squealed with delight.
The next rhyme we sang was Humpty Dumpty. Still sitting on the floor we put our knees up and sat baby on our knees. We then sang the song and was told to pause at the point where the rhyme goes had a great (pause)... fall. This teaches the baby anticipation skills. At the fall part the baby falls between your legs.
The class ended with the babies lying on our legs ready for a bit of a massage. We massaged the baby's stomach in a clockwise direction to help aid digestion. We then moved the baby's legs backwards and forwards in a bike motion. I had difficulty with this one as Amélie loves kicking so she wanted to do it by herself.
We came out of the class feeling relaxed and both Amélie and myself enjoyed ourselves. We will definitely be going back so I will keep you informed as to what happens at each session.