Yoga for Babies

After enjoying the benefits of antenatal yoga, many women like to join a postnatal class. The postnatal period is a time of massive change for many new mothers, and a yoga class can provide a safe and supportive sanctuary. Yoga can help mothers recover strength and vitality, relieve back ache, joint pains and re-tone the muscles, thus regaining shape and fitness safely. It can improve and recover the pelvic floor muscles and abdominal region. Simple breathing exercises can bring a feeling of calm through times of anxiety, hormonal imbalance and lack of sleep. The first few months of motherhood can be exhausting as the mother and baby settle into a routine that works for them both. Postnatal yoga classes emphasise the need for relaxation for physical and emotional recovery after birth. The practices are fun (some integrate nursery rhymes with movements) and help assist in the different stages of baby’s development (sitting, rolling, crawling, walking). Mothers report that their babies sleep well after the baby yoga sessions, and the common problems like constipation and colic are eased by integrating the yoga into daily routines.

Yoga for Children

Children are natural-born yogis. Their spontaneity, flexibility and energy are inspirational and sometimes challenging for parents. But because Hatha Yoga follows a systematic system to eventually reach a state of complete mental and physical wellbeing (and ultimately attain union with the eternal aspect of ourselves), the benefits of yoga for children are very much the same as for adults. Through practising yoga children can discover a quiet place inside themselves and eventually, feeling calm and centred becomes a vital component of their identity. Their behaviour and relationships with others improve, which in turn reflects on their school work and all areas of their life.