Which Class?

After having a baby it is really important to give your body, but also your mind, time to rest and restore. Giving birth can be a physical and mental challenge, so the body needs time before getting back into doing any type of exercise. More importantly you need to get to know that little person that has just entered your life. Allow at least 6 weeks, longer if you had a caesarean.

When it feels right for you, yoga is such a wonderful way to introduce your body into exercising again, but more so it is a lovely time for bonding with your baby. Mummy and baby yoga allows you the time to do yoga; strengthening, toning, stretching, calming your mind, helping digestion, breathing techniques, and helping you to deal positively with stress and challenges being a mummy.

Mummy and baby yoga allows you to do this whilst your baby is present, meaning they get to stay close to Mummy and feel stimulated, amazed and it would seem relaxed.

It is accessible to both beginners and regular yogis, getting back into exercise after pregnancy can be challenging, therefore we want to be kind to the body and just do what feels right for us. You are always giving options to work at your own pace in class.

What happens in the class?

We begin the class with your baby lying in front of your mat, on a blanket or bolster as you wish, whilst Mummy or Daddy partake in a gentle flow yoga class. They wave and click fingers while they move, swing arms around and pull funny faces to keep babies interested and stimulated.

The class and the parents yoga is very much dependent on the babies mood, it is completely up to your baby how much yoga you get to do. Usually we are able to do 30-40 minutes whilst the babies lie and watch. We then get to have some fun and incorporate babies in the movements. This is amazing to see, as you wouldn’t believe a room full of newborn babies could be so quiet. The swaying and pulsing of the asanas (postures) keeps your babies relaxed and quiet (usually). However, sometimes you will find your baby just wants to watch and you can have an entire yoga class focusing on yourself. We then finish with a poem to stretch and massage your baby, helping with digestion and to move your baby very delicately to encourage healthy bodies and joints. At the end of class there is time for relaxation, cuddles, feeding, changing, really whatever your baby needs from you.

It is a very relaxed and calming environment for parent and baby, and we encourage feeding, changing, cuddling as and when your baby needs.

Yoga is such a wonderful thing to do throughout your pregnancy, but in a regular class you may find there are many asanas (postures) that aren’t suitable for you at this time. Pregnancy yoga is a class designed specifically for women as they progress through their pregnancy, starting from 12 weeks taking them all the way through to the birth.

Pregnancy yoga is a practice that will help women to feel more comfortable throughout their pregnancy, focusing on lengthening and creating space for your baby to grow, stretching to ease away the aches and discomforts. This will be done through the use of asanas (postures) such as side stretches, leg stretches, and gentle forward and back bend. Stretching exercises promote circulation of blood and oxygen throughout the body, relaxing both body and mind and promoting a sense of general wellbeing.

An aspect of this class that is of the great importance when doing such a wonderful and amazing thing as to carry your baby through pregnancy, is to make you and the baby feel comfortable, happy, at ease, and to give you the time to connect with what is going on inside your body. An awesome experience should be observed and unfortunately there isn’t always the time in the day to do this, this class allows you to take the time to value your pregnancy and enjoy the amazing and unbreakable bond between mummy and baby.

Benefits:

• Give you the opportunity to relax and unwind from your busy life

• Create more flexibility through the hips and lower back to make you feel more comfortable during pregnancy and to help through labour

• Improve posture and alleviate back pain

• Give you more energy to help relieve fatigue

• Concentrating on breathing properly will give you focus and help to relax your mind and body in high stress situations, giving you breathing techniques to use through labour