Baby yoga

Downward facing bub!  (And yes, I will once again touch my
toes....)

Getting a baby to do anything
on cue is a challenge, getting
him to do it for 45 minutes, is
a miracle.  All the bubs did
remarkably well!

The benefits of yoga is well established, as is the benefits of pre- and post-natal yoga.  I, for one, continued to practice specially adapted yoga classes throughout my pregnancy and believe that it helped tremendously not only during labor and birth, but also in the post-delivery phase.  Needless to say, immediately following our delivery there was not much time to spend in downward dog since all my waking time was spent shuttling to and from the hospital, but I resumed my practice in Cape Town as soon as it was viable.  I have found many wonderful resources on DVD that I highly recommend, including Shiva Rae's post-natal class.
If you plan on doing yoga during and after pregnancy (especially after a C-section) it as advisable to consult your doctor. As with most exercise however, if you are a regular practitioner, and use common sense - you should be fine.  Either way, doing yoga helps with balance, core strengthening and the much-needed relaxation and 'me time' so needed by moms-to-be and new-moms alike.  I finally got into my groove with spinning, yoga and pilates after joining a gym in Cape Town and spent the last month of my maternity leave working out almost daily.  What a difference it made in my emotional and physical well-being.

As moves go though, it  pains me to say however, that since relocating back to Dili, I have managed to do absolutely zero exercise (unless you count the unpacking, shopping, hauling of baby equipment (and baby) up and down the stairs, and general sauna-like environs we live in).  So I am thrilled to say that Luka and I joined the lovely ladies from our prenatal pilates class for a morning of baby yoga at the lovely Ba Futura rooftop training facility in Dili. Hosted by new-mom and super-yogi Ms. Tanya.  We were thrilled to share the stage with the likes of all the lovely new bubs in town (sans a few still in route from Darwin!)  What a lovely experience to meet all the little ones outside their mommies' bellies, which is where they all were last time we were together in spandex.  The benefits of yoga for babies are also very well established as excellent for improving digestion, working against stiffness (very common in ex-preemies), and in establishing that bond between mother and baby thanks to the gift of touch.

Tanya walked us through a series of massage techniques, then moved through a number if simple baby-yoga stretches, hip openers, cross-overs and other soothing and stimulating poses before shifting focus to the moms with a few twists, downward-facing dogs and other basic poses.  I look forward to seeing how we all grow and develop together.


What a pleasure to see everyone together once again.  Let's keep it up ladies - and I'm serious, perhaps a baby yoga retreat to Tibar?