Babywearing Yoga: Mind, Body & Spirit

I believe sharing what you are passionate about with your children can be such a gift to them.  In my opinion, it inspires your children to find things in life that they are passionate about.  For me, it is Holy Yoga (a Christian based approach to yoga).  I'm a certified yoga instructor, and I am currently going through Holy Yoga training to become a Holy Yoga instructor.  Next to being a mother and wife, it is what I am passionate about.  I love incorporating my faith into movement of body, mind, and spirit. It can be difficult finding the time to exercise as a new mom.  But it doesn't have to be! Incorporate your time on your mat with your little ones!  Below are a few yoga poses you can do with your little one in your Ergo. I would suggest having bare feet when you practice, and to stand near a wall or a sturdy chair to balance yourself while practicing yoga with a little one in tow.  Take all the precautions you would regularly take while wearing your baby.  Don't do anything that would compromise your balance, or your babies position in the baby carrier.  As a rule, if anything doesn't feel right, or if baby isn't comfortable, DON'T do it.  And lastly, have fun with these poses!  In yoga, you have to have a sense of humor.  For instance, my youngest wasn't up for yoga, so I switched to my two year old half-way through my pictures. Begin in mountain pose.  Root down through the four corners of your feet, and feel your crown to tail length (tailbone to the top of your head) extend long.  Draw your shoulder blades gently back behind your heart, and open up your chest space.  Allow your shoulders to lower away from the ears and drop into their sockets.  If your tailbone is arching back (the weight of your baby may cause you to extend your tail back and out of alignment), gently bring your hips and tailbone into alignment.  From here, engage your core.  Think of engaging the pelvic floor (kind of like a kegel) and zipping up your lower abdominals to the belly button.  Try not to lock your knees, but keep them soft and engaged.  Like someone was pulling your inner thighs towards the back of the room, gently spiral your thighs towards each other. Allow your arms to rest at your sides with your palms facing out. Once you feel grounded in mountain pose and feel like moving forward, try lifting your arms up overhead.  Drop the shoulders into their sockets, away from the ears.  Once you are grounded here, gently twist from the belly and allow your right arm and shoulder to twist behind the body, and bring your left arm in front of the body.  Try to keep the hips as square as possible.  Take a couple breathes here, untwist and bring the arms back up overheard.  On your next exhale, do the opposite side.  Twists are great to keep the spine lubricated and limber, and may help with digestion. Another pose you can try is warrior two.  From mountain pose, bring your right foot forward and bend into a ninety degree angle and keep the knee pointing towards the pinky toe.  Bring the left foot behind you, slightly angle your left toes towards the left corner of the mat, and really blade the left side of the foot into the mat (think of lifting the left arch of your foot).  The tendency here, especially with the weight of your baby on your front, will be to let your tailbone arch back.  Slightly tuck the tailbone here, and engage your core (pelvic floor and zip up to your belly button) until your hips are in alignment.  Gently allow the right hip to rise, and the left hip to lower.  This action allows the hips to very square.  Draw your shoulders back behind the heart, and open your chest and bring the arms out with your palms upward.  Allow your shoulders to gently fall away from your ears into their sockets.  Now, slightly draw your skull back.  Everything should be very square here; skull, shoulders, hips should be in alignment.  Take a few deep yogic breathes here, and come back to mountain pose, and switch sides. Warrior pose is great for building strength all through out your body.