What is Baby Yoga & Play?
Our class is a little different . . . .
There are a lot of yoga studios advertising parent & baby classes, but it’s sometimes hard to tell from the descriptions what will actually happen in class.
Some instructors focus exclusively on mom. They keep the lights low and the room warm in the hopes that baby will sleep.
Some instructors incorporate infant massage and movements in the first few minutes of class and then shift their attention to adult yoga for the rest of the class.
In a lot of classes, baby’s roll is relegated to being used as a weight, albeit a very cute one.
While there’s nothing wrong with any of these approaches, that’s not what we are doing at Breathing Space.
Baby Yoga & Play focuses on the interaction between baby and caregiver with lots of baby-centric activities, but we do incorporate postpartum appropriate stretching and strengthening for caregivers.
Babies participate while on their backs, tummies, or held in loving arms. For grownups, this class is a special opportunity to meet other parents and caregivers, get support, and learn about baby’s emerging personality
As a parent and a long time yoga student, I just loved the baby-centric Itsy Bitsy Yoga classes I took with my daughter during maternity leave – way back in the 5th Street Capitol Hill Yoga studio era.
My zen baby (ha!) upside-down
I was back to working 3/4 time by the time my daughter was 2 months old. Our weekly baby yoga class was a time for me to drop-the to-do lists and rushing around that is a fact of modern life and just enjoy my baby in a community of parents for an hour a week.
Yes, I always left feeling better in my body than I arrived, but during a time in my life that was sometimes disorientating and not all sunshine and rainbows, I left feeling just plain better.
We blend baby moves with postures for parents
So, grownups in Baby Yoga & Play will also get to do a bit of postpartum-appropriate yoga themselves, including strength- and flexibility-building postures, breathing exercises, and relaxation techniques to address common physical complaints and mental/emotional stressors during the new-parent period.
Breathing Space Baby Yoga & Play series also incorporates developmental topics and time for parent-to-parent support during class. Our hope is that the community built in yoga will carry over into friendships and playdates off the mat.
Yoga class was a special time and both my daughter and I loved it. That’s what we are trying to continue with Baby Yoga & Play at Breathing Space.
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We know it’s hard to get out of the house with a newborn, that naps are sometimes unpredictable, and life can be complicated . . . and that’s why we are requiring series registration for this class. 
Because it’s hard to convince babies to be born and maternity leaves to be set on our schedule, we offer lots of flexibility:Baby Yoga & Play series registration:
