Baby/Tot Yoga: Moon Toe!

Penelope is growing up!

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!

Burnt Out

{Mama's Musings; a Monday tradition. Or at least, trying to be a tradition}

I am feeling very burnt out these days. And I am not sure why exactly. It's easy to blame the baby and say I am just exhausted (which I am), but I think it's more than that. I feel like I am running on empty and not just in the sleep sense. I have not done anything for myself in almost 9 months. Well, I take that back. I have gone to the bookstore by myself, for an hour. Once. I have gone to the movies, for two hours. Once. I have had a couple of pedicures, but have taken Penelope with me. I work out twice a week, but it's with Penelope. I have gotten several massages, and they have gotten the job done of taking the physical pain away in my neck and back, but they are not the same anymore- in a relaxing way. During the massage, I am still in the house with Penelope and can hear her if she is fussing while Peter is taking care of her, so the entire time, I am itching to get off the table and tend to her. And it's not that I want to be away from her either, because when I have gone to the bookstore or movies, thinking that is what I needed, was to just get away for a bit. I ache to be back with her. I miss her ridiculously.

Everything I do is for someone else. Whether I am cooking or cleaning or caring for Penelope. My life right now is all about service to others. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but I feel like its been way too long since I have had anyone take care of me. Peter, my husband, helps out at the house a lot, but still something feels not quite right. I am not sure what I am even craving. I thought I really just wanted to go see a movie but when I did that, it didn't help. In fact, it stressed me out more than not seeing one. For one reason, like I mentioned already, I miss Penelope too much to be gone for several hours and two the amount of effort it took to coordinate me going to see a movie, in between nursing to sleep and pumping times, at time that Peter was available to watch Penelope, that my friends were both available to go, and find a time a stinkin' movie was playing that fit in that schedule, was insane. I would rather just not see a dang movie for all that effort.

Maybe its a yoga class I need? I haven't' been to a class since I was pregnant. I practice at home, in spurts, again mostly with Penelope, but its. not. the. same. Maybe its going to church? I have only been to Mass a couple of times this year. Ok, two times. And one was Penelope's Baptism, and there wasn't even Mass at that! The other, you guessed it, was Easter. My Priest recently sent us a letter, asking if there was a health problem he should know about to add to his prayers (a.k.a. why the heck are you not in church?) Does having a baby count as a health problem?

I remember a conversation I had with a mentor of mine, a few years ago, when I was so burnt out from running the yoga studio. She gave me a breathing meditation, in which on each exhalation I was to send my breath back to myself and give myself some energy and love. Maybe I will give that a try.

I don't want to alarm anyone, I am not on the brink of a meltdown or anything, its just this little itch that something is missing and I can't quite put my finger on it!

What do you think? What is something you do to restore your soul?

Baby/Tot/Mama Yoga: Twistee!

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!

Baby/Tot Yoga: I Love You

This pose is a Penelope favorite. She soaks up all the eye contact and love. For babies that still don't mind being on their back, lay them down with their feet going towards your body. Take their hands and bring them into the middle of their chest. This simple action of bringing their hands to the midline of their body, helps them with crawling and clapping. And then you say Iiiiiii!




















Next, bring their arms out wide, give them a big stretch, but be gentle. Remember, the younger the baby, the slower your movements should be, so they can process what you are doing. As their arms are out wide, you say Llllloooooovvveeee!

Then bring their arms back to the midline of their chest, but cross one hand over the other and sort of rock them back and forth and say Yyyyooooouuuuu!
Do this several times. For older babies and toddlers, who don't want to lay down, you can do this with them sitting in your lap, facing out to be able to look around.

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!