Itsy Bitsy Yoga

Like spit, yoga happens.

When a parent relaxes, a baby relaxes.

Infants never remember a messy house; they remember the attention and love you share so freely.

Growing is a two-way street; you grow as your baby does.

Yoga anytime, anywhere.

Mattimeo in his favorite pose: Dandasana

Itsy Bitsy Yoga, or Baby Yoga, is something I have been doing with Mattimeo everyday since he was 2 weeks old. What kind of nonsense hippy crap is she talking about now, you may be wondering? Well its probably not what you are thinking (and admittedly what I first pictured when I first heard of it).

This is NOT Itsy Bitsy Yoga.

Itsy Bitsy Yoga is "a unique blend of yoga postures, infant developmental movement, and parent/child bonding" (Garabedian 2004). It is not contorting your baby into strange, complicated poses. It is not a way for moms to discretely show off how developed, flexible or strong their babies are. Rather it is a way to bond with your baby in a gentle, physical way that promotes better sleep, healthy digestion, and strength; traits that aid in development and overall well-being.

Mattimeo doing "Toes to the Nose"

While I was pregnant with Mattimeo, I found a used copy of Helen Garabedian's Itsy Bitsy Yoga book in a used bookstore.

Having never heard of baby yoga and as someone who is a yoga enthusiast, I was intrigued. Upon reading through the introduction and newborn section of the book after Mattimeo was born, I was convinced that baby yoga was an awesome idea and something worth investing a little time into everyday. The book breaks down into different developmental stages: newborns, head-holders, almost sitting, almost crawling and tots, to ensure that you only do poses that appropriate for your baby. You don't have to have any yoga experience. These poses are so simple! After describing how to preform each of the poses for a developmental stage, the book gives suggestions of pose sequences (series) to make doing yoga with your baby even more convenient: good morning series, developmental play series, happy baby series, daddy series, and sleep well series. I have found this book very useful, and regularly flip through it as a guide. Here are the top twelve reasons Garabedian claims babies and toddlers need yoga:

1. To help them sleep better and longer
2. To improve digestion and ease gas pain
3. To turn fussiness into happiness
4. To promote a healthy, physically fit lifestyle
5. To strengthen the parent-child bond
6. To increase neuromuscular development
7. To cultivate self-esteem and a positive body image
8. To boost the immune system
9. To reduce stress and develop relaxation techniques
10. To reduce anxiety
11. To increase body awareness
12. To aid the natural development of movement from birth to walking

I feel like I can already attest to many of these benefits. When Meo was two weeks old, I started doing yoga with him everyday. It became part of our morning routine before breakfast. Usually it was just a short session. I would lay him in my lap and gently push his knees towards his chest then stretch them out as I recited "chair pose" in a sing-songy voice. At such a young age, babies have a difficult time coordinating all their little muscles to poop and simple asanas (poses) like chair pose and cork screw among others aid in the digestion process. I could actually see it working. He would be little bit fussy and struggling to poop. A few poses later he was happy as a clam. Whenever Meo was feeling a bit fussy or agitated about something (even now at 6 months), poses like Divine Drops have been magical. Poses like Divine Drops (holding your baby close to you as you quickly drop down into a wide squat and then rise back up) activate the baby's calming reflex and soothe them in a jiffy. Through doing yoga each day with Meo, I also have been able to notice subtle developmental changes and be amazed with how he progresses.

Kissy Feet

Twinkle

I think the most wonderful aspect of Itsy Bitsy Yoga for us however, has been the amazing bonding opportunity it has provided.  For the five minutes or hour or however long Mattimeo feels like doing yoga that day, it is time that we are completely focused on his body and one another. Yoga provides him with the opportunity to explore his body and capabilities. As I guide his limbs to move in new ways, I can't help but smile as his eyes grow wide in amazement, "Wow, that's my foot touching my hand!" Or, "Who knew rolling back and forth on my back was so fun and could feel so good!" (doing the Rolio pose actually helped him learn how to roll at 3 months old). Okay, maybe that's not what he's thinking. But her really does seem interested and amused, and you you can really see him learning about himself. Yoga is pretty awesome.

And fun! Sometimes Mattimeo simply is not in the mood for stretching and bending. Those days we play around with active poses like hop-along-yogi (bouncing him on my outstretched legs), dinosaur (doing lunges across the room while holding him in my arms) or super-baby (or as we like to call it, super-Meo: laying him on his belly on my bent knees while I lie on the ground and letting him float around above my head. Poses like these my him smile and sometimes even laugh. Yoga is fun! When Meo was just starting to learn how to laugh, doing yoga was one guaranteed way to get a giggle out of him.

Studying his hand touching his knee in "Brain Builder"

Rolio

Super-Meo!

What makes Itsy Bitsy Yoga even more fun is doing it with a group of other moms and babies. I knew after I had Meo that I wanted to get back into yoga (beyond my home practice) as soon as possible. So I did some research to see if there were places I could do yoga with Mattimeo. To my astonishment, I found a place that not only did "mommy and me yoga" but also did Itsy Bitsy Yoga at Lila East End Yoga, just a block away from our apartment. Meo and I signed up for the next series (they had not been offering it for a while because not enough people were signing up, but they were going to start offering it again because enough people showed interest). So since little Meo was about 6 weeks old we have been going to Itsy Bitsy Yoga class at Lila East End Yoga every first and last Saturday of the month.

Robbie and Meo doing lunges across the room while saying, "Dinosaur!"

Itsy Bitsy Yoga Class

Itsy Bitsy Yoga Class

Itsy Bitsy Yoga Class

The class is fantastic. Some of the moms who go I've known from prenatal yoga and/or Birth Roots classes, and others I've had the pleasure of meeting there. It's such a great opportunity to talk to other mom and dads (sometimes Dad's come too, including Robbie), and to let the babies socialize. We sing songs, do all sorts of poses (each week has a new theme), and even do some baby massage. We love going. For me, it also provides a chance to reinforce that I am doing the poses I do daily with Meo correctly. If you are interested in taking an Itsy Bitsy Yoga class near you, check out the official Itsy Bitsy Yoga website.

Socializing in Itsy Bitsy Yoga Class

Robbie and Meo at Itsy Bitsy Yoga Class

Meo and I at Itsy Bitsy Yoga Class

So if you are a parent and are looking for a way to help your baby sleep better, have less gas, want him to be able to be focused and relaxed, want to help him to grow strong and be enthusiastic about exercise, or you are just looking for something that you and your baby can do together, I encourage you to try Itsy Bitsy Yoga. Its fun, it's easy, it can last as long or short as you and your baby need it to, and it will create the foundation for a lifetime of healthy habits. We love it, and I hope that yoga will continue to be an important part of Mattimeo's life.

I honor the place in you
in which the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you
which is of love, of truth, of light, and of peace.
When you are in that place in you,
and I am in that place in me, we are one.
Namaste.

All phrases in italics come from the book:

Garabedian, Helen. 2004. Itsy Bitsy Yoga: Poses to Help Your Baby Sleep Longer, Digest Better, and Grow Stronger. Simon & Schuster: New York.