This pose is a great way to sneak in some tummy time for those babies that want nothing to do with laying on the floor, stomach down. The words for this pose are: kick, kick, kick-ey co-bra.
Every time you lift up a leg, say one word. So you are moving their legs and singing on the same beat. Hold their legs gently. If they squirm away, just keep singing and smiling and try again in a minute. You always want to keep their knees on the floor, to protect their low back.
Mama's can do Cobra pose too! Lay on your belly, with your legs together, and your hands underneath your shoulders. Then lift your chest up off the ground as far as is comfortable. Its a nice ab and low back stretch and strengthens your arms as well. You can keep your elbows on the ground if your low back doesn't like too much of a stretch.
The more you do yoga in front of your child, the more they are going to want to do 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!
I am following you on facebook! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI happened upon your blog from the link on Prudent Baby (which I looked at due to being featured in Young House Love) and I LOVE it- definitely my best discovery in a while. Reading it (from London) has become part of my daily routine along with doing the baby yoga which my little William absolutely loves.
ReplyDelete@Heather...isn't Prudent Baby the best? I also love Young House Love. I am not sure what I did with myself before I found the blogsphere!
ReplyDeleteSo exciting to have a reader from across the pond! So glad to hear little William loves his baby yoga. Try and snap a picture next time and send it to me. I want to start showing pictures of other mama and babies doing yoga together!
I like how you explained how mommy can do it. Can you put ideas on how to do these moves with energetic toddlers too? ;)
ReplyDelete@Kristy! Yes! I plan on doing more mama poses and poses for toddlers and kids as the blog goes on. But for this one, the directions would be the same as mama, except you are still singing kick, kick, kick-ey co-bra to engage and play with your tot.
ReplyDeleteWith tots, mama does the pose and shows them how fun it is. Your tot may join right in, or he may watch or a couple or even several days before deciding it looks like fun. When he does give it try, give lots of reinforcement, i.e. "Yay! You do it! Good job! Wanna do it more?