Yoga with a baby – is it possible?
Isn’t it a dream to practice yoga together with your baby or toddler? Almost all mothers suffer from severe back pain and a tense neck from all the carrying around and breastfeeding. In addition, it is almost impossible to find a second for yourself. The babies are enormously happy to be a part of the “yoga practice” and to be allowed to join in. Based on small massage sequences, lap games and movement songs, yoga can be practiced with babies. At the same time, the mother-child relationship is deepened in a playful way. Later, when the child is 1 year old, the child can be integrated into its own yoga sequence. While the mother practices yoga, the child watches curiously, but there are also some exercises for mother and child together. The child can be the target of the exercise or even an additional weight!
A newborn baby is massaged very gently. Therefore, it participates in yoga only passively. First, the little arms and legs are moved, then you stroke the little body again and again. The older the baby is, the more actively it can participate in the exercises and relax.
Baby Massage:
- 1) First, put some oil in your hands and move your palms together until it gets warm. A baby is happy to have warm hands caressing him. Caress your baby’s arms and legs. Gently grasp your baby’s left arm as well as right leg and bring them to your belly. Repeat the exercise with the right arm and the left leg.
- 2) Very slowly stroke from head to chest to the tips of your baby’s toes. Do two to three repetitions. If your baby likes it you can gently massage the temples.
I recommend calendula oil for baby massage.
Stroking song from Anke Löwenherz
Where is your head, look at it, let’s see if you can stroke it (stroke the baby’s head)
Where is your arm, look at it, let’s see if you can stroke it (stroke the arms of the child)
Where is your belly, look at it, let’s see if you can stroke it (stroke the belly of the child)
Where is your leg, look at it, let’s see if you can stroke it (stroke the legs of the child)
Where is your back, look at it, let’s see if you can stroke it (stroke the child’s back)
Where is your the (name of the child), look at him, want to see if you can cuddle him (cuddle child)
Postnatal yoga with baby
Mothers hardly have time for sports. Include your baby in the sports program! Put your baby next to you on the mat and let him watch, or do the exercises together.
1) Roll out your yoga mat, lie on your back and bend your legs. Place the baby on your belly. Then, alternately stretch through your left leg and then your right leg. Then put the baby back on the floor. Be sure to tighten the abdomen and pull the belly button toward the spine.
2) Staying on the back, raise the legs to a 90-degree angle with the lower legs parallel to the floor. Tighten the abdomen and place the baby on the lower legs. Balance the baby to the right and left.
3) Cat-Cow – Move your spine. Place the baby between your hands.
4) Trikonasana – Here you open the chest. Use a block for support. Your legs form a triangle with your torso. Bend your upper body forward. Attention, remember to keep your back straight. Touch your ankle with the flat of your hand. Later you can lie down and touch your baby.
5) Downward facing dog – Put your baby between your hands and breathe in. As you exhale, you can breathe out loudly and move lower toward the baby.
6) Uttkatasana – Take your baby in your arms, hold him up and then slowly squat down.
Sequence of a typical Baby Yoga practice
- Welcome and warm up
- Massage for babies
- Music
- Mama Yoga (pranayama, asanas, massage)
- Exercises for baby’s upper and lower body
- Handholds
- Exercises in walking with the baby and carrying handles
- Relaxation
Yoga exercises for babies
1) Stand up straight on the mat side by side. Inhale and stretch both arms upward. As you exhale, let your arms fall forward and down. Your hands touch the floor. Now move forward with your hands until they are in the push-up position. Then run yourself back to your feet with your hands and then slowly straighten up.
2) Bend forward: both of you sit cross-legged in front of each other and hold your hands. Gently pull your child toward you. By bending forward slightly, the child will feel a stretch in the back.
3) Hip Stretch: Stand upright side by side on the mat with arms hanging down in a relaxed manner and shoulders loose. Slowly move the arms to the right side and then to the left.
Children’s yoga is not fundamentally different from adult yoga practice. It is fun to move together, spend time together and relax.