The other week when we went to the beach, we did a little yoga. Miss Penelope and I love to do yoga outside spontaneously.Yoga has so many benefits, but one of the reasons I love sharing it with Penelope is that it is a form of play. And playing with your child is so important. It shows them that they are important for one. But it is also a way to work through any tension or stress from the day and reconnect.
Star pose is one of her favorites right now. Especially, since she has been working on standing with her feet together and jumping in dance class.
For this pose, they start in mountain pose, with their feet as close together as possible and their hands in prayer position in front of their hearts. Then they do an explosive jump and jump their feet into a wide angle and their arms out by their sides.
When you do it, to show them how, be very expressive, excited and always look them in the eye. I am not sure why looking them in the eye helps them learn, but it does. Say, Star Pose! As you jump into the pose and then wiggle your fingers as you say Twinkle! Twinkle!
Another variation is to move one hand up and one hand down, alternatively, as you rock from one foot to the other, all the while singing Twinkle,Twinkle Little Star, or the Itsy Bitsy Yoga version of it.
For babies or toddlers, you sit them in your lap or lay them on the floor on their backs and move their arms for them as you sing the song.
You can see a full list of all my yoga tutorials here.
What is your little one's favorite yoga pose right now?
You can find this yoga pose and more in the awesome book by Helen Garabedian.
Here a few pictures of Penelope doing yoga on our trip to California. Pretty much where ever she goes, she will bust out into some spontaneous yoga. It's amazing to watch.
I posted some of our trip pictures here and here on the blog, but here is the rest of our trip pictures if you want to see.
I also tagged some of these pictures to the Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby Facebook page. I put a call out the week for our HMHB fans to post some pictures of their little ones doing yoga, or themselves, or pictures of working out, cooking, sewing, baby-wearing, breastfeeding, you know, all the things we are into...I want to see of your pictures!!
Frog Pose, for your child, is essentially Garland Pose (also known as Squat Pose.) So Mamas, when you are demonstrating this pose for your child, YOU get all the benefits! And whether you are trying to conceive, pregnant or somewhere on your post partum journey, this pose is SO good for you.
What I love about watching Penelope do yoga, and other kids for that matter, is witnessing how natural yoga comes to them. Check out her form-absolute perfection on her first try!
Her heels are firmly planted on the ground, and the weight of her body is evenly distributed throughout her feet.
Her knees are pointing up and her toes are directly forward. Often times, the only way and adult with tight hips can get into this pose, is by turning the feet outward at angle and splaying the legs open a bit.
Her pelvis is under and her spine is perfectly straight.
She was even able to put her hands in prayer and balance.
When they are in frog pose, you can say "What does the frog say?!" And reply with; ribbit, ribbit!
I also will do the Baby Signs for frog (you just stick your tongue out.)
As they get older, they can start hopping and jumping around like Frogs!
Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!
Donkey is the next stage of advancement after your child has learned Down Dog and later mastered. It's such a fun yoga pose for your child. The pride they feel when they can accomplish it, is priceless.
So just like any other pose, you show them the pose first and then ask them to do it.
For Donkey, you show them Down Dog first and then say "lift your leg for Donkey!" You can say; "What does the Donkey say? He says Hee Haw!
This is the child version of one legged Down Dog, but when you show them, lift your leg slightly and keep it somewhat bent. They are not going to be able to do a perfect one legged Down Dog, so show them the version of the pose that is attainable to them.
And remember, however your child express this pose or any other pose, is absolutely perfect. They are perfect, their little bodies are perfect, their individual gross motor skills development is perfect just as it is.
As long as you are breathing, you are doing yoga!
Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!
Butterfly pose is such a fun and easy pose for your toddler. You can start teaching this pose as soon as they have mastered sitting up. In fact, most babies, as they are learning to balance while sitting up, will naturally put their feet together in front of their bodies, to create a more stable foundation for themselves.
First you need to do the pose yourself and show little one what it looks like.
As a totally unrelated side note, I am having a really hard time finding the right word to describe our babies/tots/toddlers/little ones/kids. It's starting to drive me insane. Penelope is not a kid but she is not a baby, clearly she is a toddler, but the poses I talk about here are not just for toddlers they are for babies too and even older kids for that matter. Ahhhhh!! So if anyone has a good word that encompasses all those things PLEASE let me know.
Ok, back to Butterfly pose.
So once you have done the pose your self you can help your little one (see what I mean!!!) by putting their feet together for them. Then show them how to move their knees up and down by gently, doing it for them.
Then move your own knees up and down and show them again. And say Butterfly!!! You do it!!!!
I like to say Butterfly slowly and rhythmically, almost like I am chanting and I move my legs in the same rhythm that I am speaking.
Then I like to say, now open up your feet like a book! I do the sign for book, and then I open up my feet. So the outside of the feet stay together and inside of the feet open up. Then again, I say your turn!!!
Then I usually do the sign for Butterfly and go back to "flapping my wings".
In an older kid class, I may take my first two fingers and use them as my "antennae" and play around with them really getting into pretending we are butterfly's.
Butterfly pose is a great pose for Mama's too, it is one of the best poses for releasing tension in your hips, groin and inner thighs. Which is oh so important if you are trying to conceive or are pregnant.
And as always give them lots of praise when they do the pose. Try not to say good job, but other things like yay! you did it! what a beautiful butterfly! how does it make your legs feel?!
Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!
This is one of Penelope's favorite things to do. She likes to play yoga teacher and put her dolls into yoga positions. Oh, she makes her Mama proud.
Here she is putting Dolly into Plow Pose or maybe its Toes to Nose.
And now she is rolling her over to do Kicky Cobra. So fascinating to see all the ways that yoga becomes intertwined in her daily life and how she expresses herself through yoga.
Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!
Sweet baby girl is perfecting her Down Dog these days. It's so beautiful to see her do yoga throughout her day. She will just be playing or crawling around and get the urge to do some yoga and bam! She wipes out Down Dog. She is really into Warrior and Kicky Kobra too.
When I first posted the Down Dog tutorial she was just beginning to learn the pose. The learning progression was so fun to watch as she figured out how to do Down Dog on her own. First, she would just watch and watch as I did Down Dog. Then she started cocking her head to the side, because she was trying to imitate how my head looks upside down while in the pose. Then, when I started helping her, by lifting her hips up, she would keep her head up and want to look around. Then, she figured out that when I lift her hips, she puts her head down. Then, she start getting on all fours and just putting her head down. And finally, she put her head down and lifted her pelvis!! All by her self!
I will never forget her little face the first time she did it independently and perfectly. The look of pride and accomplishment was priceless. She knew she did it just right and she thinks she is so awesome for it. Which of course she is. I think the self esteem that children get out of yoga is one of the best things about practicing yoga with them.
As they continue to grow and learn, there is always an opportunity for them to learn a new pose and to praise each milestone as the learn they complexities of each pose. Yoga gives me more opportunities to say Yay! Penelope! You did it!
Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!
This is kinda a lazy yoga tutorial, but its been a crazy busy week so far, and today I am keeping a friends baby, who is about the same age as Penelope. Let's just say, I am really glad I don't have twins!
Here is a great site that a friend posted on her facebook page this week. It's a book, that shows pictures of kids doing yoga poses. They are all animal related and it looks super cute! I will have to add this to my wish list for Penelope.
They even have a coloring book and poster.
And they offer a couple of free downloadable coloring pages that are just adorable.
On a side note, Itsy Bitsy Yoga classes start up TOMMOROW. I am so excited! Hope to see you there!
This is the tot pose for Warrior. This pose is so much fun once baby can stand! They don't have to be able to stand by themselves, just be able to stand while holding onto something. They love it!
First to get them to come over to the wall. Try to let them crawl over or walk over themselves. You can stand facing the wall and pat your hands on the wall to get their attention. To get them to comprehend this pose, you do it to give them a visual. Stand facing the wall, with the palms of your hands touching the wall, then lift one leg up behind you and say Warrior! Don't lift your leg too high, just below knee height, similar to what they will actually be able to physically accomplish.
If they don't pull up by themselves you can try and place them in a standing position. Then lift one of their legs up and say "Warrior!!" "Yay! You are doing Warrior!" "Good job!" Then lift their other leg up and repeat the praise.
When they crawl or walk over to the wall, give them praise. When they pull up and put their hands on the wall, give them praise. When you or they lift their leg, give them lots of praise! Don't expect them to be able to do it right away, most times its takes them seeing you do it and having you help them several times before they can do it on their own.
Here is a quick little video of Penelope doing Warrior. Her first in fact! Sorry it's not right side up, I have no idea what the hell made it come out like that. I swear, the second I think I have all this online, web, blogging stuff under control, something else pops up I need to learn. Stay tuned folks, I'll get it together one day. ;)
Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!
In honor, I am giving away one 5 class card ($40 value)!!!
You can enter up to SIX times in the following ways, but remember to leave a COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY. 1) add MBL to your blog roll (1st timers only) 2) become a fan on facebook (1st timers only) 3) mention the giveaway on your blog, or 5) on facebook, or 6) on twitter. If you don't have a blog, you can enter two additional shares on FB or Twitter. A winner will be randomly selected on September 8th 12p EST. Good luck!
This is a video of Penelope learning how to take a deep breath and say Om! She JUST figured this out. All it took was one hour of yoga with older toddlers (This week I starting teaching a local preschool, one hour a week) doing it and she figured it out. I am constantly amazed at how quickly babies learn and how much yoga they can actually do.
To do this with your child, simply take a deep breath. I exaggerate the breath for her now, but when she is older, I will be less dramatic and more "yoga like." And you say something like, "Mama is taking a Deeeep Breath! It makes me feel calm and happy. Can you take a deep breath?!" For an older toddler, you can add, "Put your hand on your belly and feel it move up and down when you take a deep breath."
Below is the description and information about my new yoga classes I am starting the beginning of September. So if you are local, come on out! If your not local, don't worry I am still going to keep doing a yoga tutorial every Wednesday here at the blog.
Join Stephanie Brandt Cornais, and her tiny assistant, as they share their yoga journey with you. Stephanie has been a yoga teacher for 10 years and teaching kids yoga for the last 5. She previously owned Mama and Baby Love yoga studio. She is a new mom to Penelope was born on 11.11.09. You can find her at her blog, MamaAndBabyLove.com
Class will be in her home (in Southwood. 3801 Piney Grove Drive), in her dinning room turned yoga/playroom! Baby Itsy Bitsy Yoga classes contain dozens of unique yoga postures designed to support baby’s development. Each class is filled with calming, nurturing ways to enhance bonding and improve baby’s sleep and digestion among other things. During a Baby Itsy Bitsy Yoga class, babies enjoy yoga while on their backs, tummies, or held in loving arms. For parents, this class is a special opportunity to meet other moms, get support, and learn about baby's emerging personality. Most of the yoga we do in Itsy Bitsy Yoga is for baby, but you will also learn breathing and relaxation techniques as you practice a bit of yoga yourself. No yoga is experience required.
If your baby is not yet crawling being with our Baby Itsy Bitsy Yoga class. Baby Itsy Bitsy Yoga class is Mondays, 9:45 to 10:30a.
Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Tots is a supportive, fun-loving, and active yoga class. As tot’s mobility increases, classes offer tot-centric poses that encourage and support their physical explorations. Tots become more confident in their moving bodies as they practice yoga both in and out of class. During a Tots Itsy Bitsy Yoga class crawlers and walkers playfully practice yoga postures while they are standing, sitting up, walking, and jumping. Parents also get to do a little yoga, but no yoga experience is required.
If your tot is mobile but less than 24 months join the Tot Itsy Bitsy Yoga. Tot Itsy Bitsy Yoga is Thursdays, 9:45 to 10:30a
**Tot Yoga starts September 9th. Baby Yoga starts September 13th.**
Registration not required. Just show up! Price is $10 for a drop in, or you can purchase a 5 class card for $40 ($8 a class).
If you have an older toddler, they are welcome to come. They are welcome to watch, participate, or we can set the older kids up in the living room with age appropriate toys or even some cartoons.
If you are pregnant, most all poses are safe, gentle and appropriate.
For questions or more information please email Stephanie Brandt Cornais at Info@MamaAndBabyLove.com
I look forward to sharing yoga with you and your family!
This is a video of Penelope doing her first yoga pose all by herself! It's called So Big.
The way you do it is you sit on the floor with your legs together and feet pointed up towards the ceiling. Make sure both sits bones on are the floor (your sits bones are the bony bottom part of your pelvis). You can feel those bones better by rocking side to side slightly. This pose is a modified from the adult yoga Staff Pose.
Then raise your arms up over your head, as if you are trying to reach the ceiling. Your spine is nice and straight and you are looking straight ahead at your child. When you raise your arms, you say "SOOOOO!!!"
Then you bring your arms down and try and touch your toes and say "BIIIIIGGGGG!!!" I do it pretty dramatically, as you can see in the video and make a thump on the floor when I bring my hands down.
It's a great stretch for Mama's.
For a baby Penelope's age (9 months) or older, till about 20 months, you alternate between showing them how and helping them by raising their arms for them and bring them down for them, as you say "SO BIG!!"
If you have been doing yoga with your baby since they were born, like us, this the time yoga gets really fun and exciting. You can really start to play and interact with your baby at a different level. Its so amazing to watch them learn. Their little brains are like sponges! They are just so smart and absorb everything you do and say.
Penelope will do So Big if I prompt her or she will just randomly do it when she is playing the floor with a toy. All of sudden she busts out the yoga and makes her mama proud!
And let me know what you think about the video! Do you like it better than pictures for our weekly yoga tutorial?
The one today was kind of haphazderly planned. She was doing it and I grabbed the camera real quick. If you guys like it, I can do more videos, but spend more time on the explanation of the pose in the video.
Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!
We have recently started to only do Tot yoga poses! She no longer wants to be on her back, whether we are doing yoga or a diaper change. A lot of babies naturally do Moon Toe as a part of their body development. If you see them doing this on their own, say "Yay! Moon Toe!!" and you are a head of the game, as far as word association goes, in teaching them how to do this pose on their own.
To start, you put them in your lap, facing out. Then gently hold their toe out, like so. Eventually, you want them to grab their foot and then you move their legs, but when they are just learning the pose, they usually don't grab their foot. Once you have moved them into position, you sing/say "Moon Toe!" You go back and forth, doing the pose on each leg.
Then you can do "Double Moon Toe!" By bringing both feet out.
You also want to show them how YOU can do the pose.
Especially for older tots, who will not let you "move" them into the pose and only want to do it themselves. It's a great stretch for Mama, but if you haven't stretched in a while, don't bust your leg up fast. Be gentle with yourself, until you are more flexible, and bend your knee if you need too. Once you have your leg up, say things like, "Watch Mama do Moon Toe!" or "Mama's Turn!" and then you would say to them, "Now, its your turn!" Don't be discouraged if it takes awhile for your baby to pick it up on their own. Repetition is key. Eventually they will get it, and then you wont be able to get them to stop!
Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!
This pose is a great back stretch for our little babies. Its similar to the adult yoga pose Supine Spinal Twist. Supine means to lay on your back, by the way. :) To do this pose, for baby, tot or mama, lay on your back. Bring your knees together and drop them both to one side. Slowly turn your head the in opposite direction of your knees, while keep both shoulders on the floor.
For babies, you move their legs for them. To move their head, try and use a toy, or in my case, during this picture, a sweet little friend to get babies attention and get them to look in the right direction. And as you are doing the pose, you say Twistee!!! Doing this on tiny babies, is great to help them learn how to do eye-tracking and builds up neck strength. For tots and older kids, just show them how to do the pose by you doing it yourself. Then say, "You do it!" or "Now, its your turn!" Remind your tot or child to breath in through their nose and out through their nose while they are doing the pose.
Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!
