Mom and Baby Yoga: take baby steps back to fitness!

Becoming a new mom, whether with your first or a subsequent child, is, without any doubt, a strange place to be. As a new mom, you are extremely well prepared – you have shopped for the child, readied the nursery, been judicious about what you eat, walked and exercised regularly and carefully: in short, you have spent 9 months training for just this one moment: when a new life comes into the world… and throws your old life completely out of whack!

No matter how prepared, a new mom is always overwhelmed by the tiredness, the demanding schedules, and the physical healing that she herself has to do. Enter Yoga. With its combination of relaxing pranayama and healing asanas, it is the ideal way to increase your energy levels and get back into your usual form. Imagine then, how great it would be if you take your little one along for the ride… and do yoga with your child!

Mom and Baby Yoga has been trending for just a short while, but its benefits have already made waves for its long-term gains. You can either sign up for a class near you, which means you can meet other new moms, trade notes, and get new inputs to solve baby issues you may be having. It also means you can safely take your baby along to a safe, clean and baby-friendly environment where you and your precious little one will feel welcome. Add the fact that these places come fully equipped with baby changing stations, feeding rooms and readily available assistance, and your visit there will feel almost like a session of self-pampering!

In case you feel you cannot make it to a class, no worries. Set aside a space for you and your baby to do a mini-yoga workout at home. Set up your space in a way that makes you happy just walking into the room and spreading out your yoga mat there. Improvise, modify and customize your workout the way you and your baby like it. The important thing is to have fun, to bond with your baby, and to finish your routine rested and rejuvenated.

Here are some added benefits for baby and you that will help you make the decision to try baby-mom yoga:

• Easy physical activity: Birthing is heavy-duty, and it is said that a new mother’s body takes 18 months to get back to its pre-pregnancy form. As your body strives to cope with the new normal, you can help it along by easing into yoga, one baby step at a time.
• Emotional benefits: Find relief in the fact that every new mom has the same incredible highs and dreaded lows, sometimes in the span of a few minutes. As your hormones run through your system making you ready for the multiple duties of mommyhood, yoga can help bring balance and composure, make your mind more steady and your emotions more controlled. The effect is cumulative so the more yoga you do, the calmer and happier your initial months with your baby will be.
• Better baby-bonding: Every time you hold your child close, gently rocking, or kissing your child, you are laying the foundations of a bond stronger than any other your child will know. Since Mom and Baby Yoga poses are modified to enable closer intimacy between the two, this is a great way to strengthen your baby’s first relationship with the world.
• Baby get benefits too! Colicky babies often get relief through the gentle exercises you do with them, restless babies get tired enough to drop off to sleep – and sleep longer. In all, when you remember that the pluses of yoga are not just for you but also for your baby, there is every reason for you to just start your yoga workout with your little one, right away.

Here’s a video that you can watch and follow, along with your baby joining you.