Perfecting Down Dog!

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!