Babies benefit from yoga in many ways. They experience better and longer sleep, improved digestion, ease of gas pains, and relief from fussiness and colic. Yoga encourages a healthy lifestyle, strengthens the bond between parent and child, improves the immune system and neuromuscular development, and promotes a positive body image. This essay will focus on how yoga creates healthy sleep patterns for babies, and in turn restores more regular sleep for parents.
I remember after giving birth to my daughter I wanted to introduce her as soon as possible to yoga. Yoga had been something I had done everyday with her while she was in my womb and as it prepared me to be a more loving, understanding, healthy, and patient mother I wanted the same for her. My daughter also developed colic symptoms around 3 weeks after being born so I found myself searching for any remedies for the fussiness, gas pains, and restlessness that she began to show. I remember feeling helpless and feeling that there was no support out there from the medical community on non-medicine techniques I could use to help my baby. I am in hopes that these four poses will help any mother in her struggle to find a few minutes everyday to calm and bond with her baby. The book, Itsy Bitsy Yoga by Helen Garabedian became my lifeline to the world of yoga for babies and toddlers.
To read more about this, visit www.yoga-teacher-training.org.