Hellobee

Back in September, I posted some yoga stretches that I like to practice at home when I can fit it in. In that post I mentioned I signed up for a mom and baby yoga class in Tacoma. I thought I’d follow-up and share that experience and the pros/cons of doing a yoga class with a baby.

The class was a 6-week series called Yogimama Bodhibaby at Source Yoga. Here’s what the studio defined these as:

• yogimama (n.): a sometimes sleep-deprived, always nurturing, authentic practitioner of yoga; adept at overcoming impossibilities, both on the mat and in life.
• bodhibaby (n.): one who has newly awakened to this world; organically embodying the true nature of all things.

Cute, right?

As you can see, the class was designed for moms and babies to practice yoga together. The babies in my class ranged from 2 months to 10 months old. Petit Macaron was nine months for the majority of the classes, so he was one of the older kids in the class.

The class is much more laid back than your typical yoga classes with the dimmed lights, soft music, glowing candles, and everyone is in a zen zone. This class is much more easy-going — if you need to feed your baby, walk with your baby, calm a crying baby, that’s all fine. It’s all moms and we know how it is, not to mention, little ones crawling all over the place.

What really made this class great was the teacher. She was great with babies, and would help with them throughout the class. She would hold them or play with them to allow moms to get in a few poses. She was great at showing you how to do a pose while holding your baby. Also, she was sure to focus on poses that would benefit those tight areas so common with moms. Another thing she did was email during the week with some encouragement or tips to keep us motivated.

I had my doubts going into the class, especially since my little guy is super active and always on the move. But, now that the series is over, I’m glad I was able to go. As I reflected back over the class, I came up with a list of pros and cons of taking a yoga class with your baby.

Pros

• Meet Moms & Babies – This was probably my main goal for taking the class. Being new to Tacoma, I’m really hoping to meet some other moms and baby friends. As luck would have it, I did meet some wonderful people and hope to stay connected.
• Get out of the House – I looked forward to Tuesdays because it was yoga day. It’s amazing how much better I feel when I get to interact with people and do some exercise in my day. As a stay-at-home-mom, life can get pretty monotonous so this was a great activity for Petit Macaron and me to participate in together.
• Learn some Yoga to do with Baby – The teacher shared some ways to do poses with your baby, which I thought was great. Petit Macaron really enjoys the attention and fun.

Cons

• Challenging to Practice with a Baby – With Petit Macaron always moving, it was tough to stay in a pose for long. Petit Macaron loves to scooch his way (or pull himself up on) to other moms, babies, toys, furniture in the studio – anything he could get into. I was constantly getting up and grabbing him and bringing him back to my mat. The teacher would hold him for a bit, but she couldn’t hold just him the whole class as there were other moms and babies in need. And I always had an eye open to see what he may be getting into. But, it was good exercise – ha!
• Hard with Schedules (Feedings & Naps) – Petit Macaron’s nap usually fell right after class, which made him fussy during class. I tried to switch his schedule up and have a nap before class. This worked well, as he was in a much better mood for the class. But, in general, I had some anxiety every Tuesday about how I was going to adjust his feedings and naps to accommodate the class time.
• Expensive – This is just yoga in general…it’s not the cheapest activity. Given that I missed two classes of the six class series due to Petit Macaron being sick, I was a bit disappointed. I prefer the drop in style class, but that might be tough with babies.

If I could do it all over again, I’d still sign up and take the class. There is another series starting, but I decided not to take it given the holidays and Petit Macaron’s mobileness. I think mom/baby yoga classes would work best for babies that aren’t “on the move” quite yet. In a nutshell, I would recommend the mom/baby yoga, but just know it’s more for the experience than for the yoga.