Happy Spring everyone! Or if your in AZ, whatever you call this season before triple digits. I've had lots of new things happen over the past few weeks and I am so excited to share! Personally, I am happy to report that everyone in our house FINALLY seems to be sickness free! Thank the lord! Finally getting back into our normal routines, healthy eating, working out, etc!
Yoga-wise, everything is going great! I've added a Mommy and Me Movers Yoga class at Modern Milk. For those local, it is Wednesday morning at 10:30am. Perfect to get energy out before nap time. Ages will be crawling to 2 years! I'm so grateful that a place like Modern Milk exists for moms. If you are expecting or are a new mom, please come check this place out. Stephanie, the owner, is a former labor and delivery nurse and certified lactation consultant. They have weekly support groups, breastfeeding 101 groups, infant sleeping classes, and of course all the prenatal and mommy and me yoga you could ask for! Check out the website here for class times and pricing.
Another fun venture has been adding Toddler and Family Yoga to Aloha Yoga and Hula in Chandler! The toddler yoga is for ages 18 months to 4 years old and the time is Fridays at 3pm! It is still in it's testing phase, but I know the want for a class like this is high so I'm hoping that attendance picks up! Family Yoga is Sunday at 4pm. This class is for anyone ages 6 and up! You can come with kids, or feel free to come just by yourself or with your husband and friends. I've designed the class as a fun beginner flow style!
I did end up dropping two classes from my weekly schedule, one by circumstances and one by choice. My fellow co-teacher at Modern Milk did a great blog post recently on how we sometimes glorify being busy. Society seems to value us as better functioning members in society if we have our plates full. However, where is the glorification in having so much prep work to do for classes your teaching that you don't have any patience and energy left for your family? I am teaching double-digit classes a week. A lot of people think that it's as simple as time spent driving to the studio and then teaching an hour or a 75 minute class. The truth however is I spend at least 5-10 hours prepping all my classes for the week. Mostly I do this at night after Leia has gone to bed, which means I'm working exhausted. Now, I love teaching. I find that my body is getting used to practicing almost daily while I teach (I like to run through the sequence with the students as a lot of them need visual cues over verbal ones), I love teaching Prenatal and Mommy and Me and then relaxing into my Yin and Restorative classes. Right now, I feel like my body can handle everything! Plus, the money isn't half bad. I love being able to contribute to our bills and still have money for coffee, shopping, spoiling haha. However, I had to face the fact that I was getting burnt out. So the Universe took care of one class, and I took care of another. Of course, I got offered to teach another class on a day that better suits me :) So I will stick with it and see how long I can go on teaching 12 classes a week!
Enough of that! Do you have plans for Easter? I am off from all teaching jobs! So my 1 and only goal is to RELAX! Hopefully you can do a bit of the same!
Namaste! Until next time!
Showing posts with label mommyandmeyoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mommyandmeyoga. Show all posts
Friday, April 3, 2015
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Mommy & Me Yoga---what is that?
Hi there!
When I tell people I teach Mommy & Me Yoga, I am usually met with a wide eye stare and a confused grin. Some comments like "what do you even do", "how is that beneficial", or my personal favorite..."they are just babies, why do THEY need yoga".
....le sigh....
First, let me start off by saying that yoga is for EVERY BODY. Yes everybody, but also every----body. Big, small, thin, plump, old, young, flexible, tight, missing legs, extra toes...you get the idea. Many people know that asana is a big part of yoga, but pranayama (breath) and meditation are really where yoga starts to transform peoples lives. They are the core of yoga. How does that tie in?
When you just have a baby, things change. You are altered almost forever, not in a bad way, but in the way that change NEEDS to occur. First, your hormones are completely out of whack. The placenta, which was housing your baby inside your uterus for 40+ weeks is now released from the body (btw, fun fact-placenta encapsulation can help level out those hormones amongst other things) causing a big drop in your hormone levels. Second, breastfeeding itself can not only be challenging to get down, but it puts a lot of new tension on the body, particularly between the shoulder blades and on the lower back. Third, lack of sleep will cause you to feel run down, exhausted, stressed, and inadequate as a new mom, because the mind does funny things when we are low on sleep. Now, this isn't a post to scare you, it's just a taste of some of the things that new moms go through! Mommy & Me Yoga can help with all of these things and we haven't even touched on why it is good for baby!
Each yoga teacher will instruct differently, so if you have the option, feel a few classes out. If you find one that sticks immediately, SWEET! If not keep looking! Here is just a small rundown of what I like to do in my Mommy and Me classes (which you can find info for here).
Benefits For Baby
In my class, I like to do a lot of movements that target and encourage the growth of gross motor skills. We move the legs and arms quite a bit (as long as baby is willing, they are in charge after all), we encourage vocabulary growth and language skills by singing songs, and they see you moving your body, and deepening your breath which can release happy and relaxing hormones in the body. Here is a great list of things that baby benefits from during a yoga class (click here).
We do a mixture of standing postures, letting baby rest and also having them join. In the class, you are always following your babes lead. If they like what is happening, we keep going! If they don't, we change it up! We also do tummy time activities and finally end with a svasana, either lying on your back, or side with the option to breast/bottle feed.
My goals for class are for moms to have fun, babies to get lots of one on one attention, and lots of bonding for both. It's important for mothers to get their postpartum bodies moving again, and some can be resistant because their body is different then it used to be. My hope is that they see they can move their body and feel great afterwards. A happy mother that takes time to devote to herself also benefits baby. Here is another great article about the benefits of yoga for mother and baby:
http://www.woombie.com/blog/7-benefits-of-mommy-me-classes/
Have you been interested in trying a yoga class with your baby? Check in your area! If you are local, you can find mommy and babe classes that I teach at Spa Lamar in Scottsdale and NEW at Modern Milk in Scottsdale as well! Ha Yoga in Tempe (where I teach Prenatal on Wednesday nights) offers mommy and me classes 3 times a week (and there is NO age limit for the babies).
Namaste, until next time!
When I tell people I teach Mommy & Me Yoga, I am usually met with a wide eye stare and a confused grin. Some comments like "what do you even do", "how is that beneficial", or my personal favorite..."they are just babies, why do THEY need yoga".
....le sigh....
First, let me start off by saying that yoga is for EVERY BODY. Yes everybody, but also every----body. Big, small, thin, plump, old, young, flexible, tight, missing legs, extra toes...you get the idea. Many people know that asana is a big part of yoga, but pranayama (breath) and meditation are really where yoga starts to transform peoples lives. They are the core of yoga. How does that tie in?
When you just have a baby, things change. You are altered almost forever, not in a bad way, but in the way that change NEEDS to occur. First, your hormones are completely out of whack. The placenta, which was housing your baby inside your uterus for 40+ weeks is now released from the body (btw, fun fact-placenta encapsulation can help level out those hormones amongst other things) causing a big drop in your hormone levels. Second, breastfeeding itself can not only be challenging to get down, but it puts a lot of new tension on the body, particularly between the shoulder blades and on the lower back. Third, lack of sleep will cause you to feel run down, exhausted, stressed, and inadequate as a new mom, because the mind does funny things when we are low on sleep. Now, this isn't a post to scare you, it's just a taste of some of the things that new moms go through! Mommy & Me Yoga can help with all of these things and we haven't even touched on why it is good for baby!
 | |||||||||
| Leia, mesmerized by the camera |
 |
| Suzanne, and her sweet babe August. |
Benefits For Baby
In my class, I like to do a lot of movements that target and encourage the growth of gross motor skills. We move the legs and arms quite a bit (as long as baby is willing, they are in charge after all), we encourage vocabulary growth and language skills by singing songs, and they see you moving your body, and deepening your breath which can release happy and relaxing hormones in the body. Here is a great list of things that baby benefits from during a yoga class (click here).
 |
| Nicole, and her babe Willow, taking a feeding break during class :) |
http://www.woombie.com/blog/7-benefits-of-mommy-me-classes/
Have you been interested in trying a yoga class with your baby? Check in your area! If you are local, you can find mommy and babe classes that I teach at Spa Lamar in Scottsdale and NEW at Modern Milk in Scottsdale as well! Ha Yoga in Tempe (where I teach Prenatal on Wednesday nights) offers mommy and me classes 3 times a week (and there is NO age limit for the babies).
Namaste, until next time!
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
WYCFMTW December 20-21st & Some Thoughts On The PYTT This Past Weekend
Hello friends!
Here is where you can take a class from me this week :)
Prenatal Yoga at the gorgeous Aloha Yoga in Chandler! Click here for some great holiday pricing on yoga classes! Your first class is free!
This week is Mommy & Me Yoga at Spa Lamar! I love this class! Seeing the littles grow every week and enjoying movement with their mommas :) This class is open to ALL caregivers! For babies 6 weeks up to crawling! 1pm-2pm!
After completing the prenatal yoga teacher training at swiha this past weekend (for the 2nd time) I have this renewed passion about natural births (true natural births) and helping women own their power as a mother. As soon as I am able to, I want to do my doula training, preferably through Sacred Pregnancy. I just have this passion about the whole birthing process, and want my life to really be about building women up as they prepare to give birth and raise babies! I could go on and on about my love for everything related to this topic, but the babes are waking up from their nap! Until next time my friends,
Namaste!
Here is where you can take a class from me this week :)
Prenatal Yoga at the gorgeous Aloha Yoga in Chandler! Click here for some great holiday pricing on yoga classes! Your first class is free!
This week is Mommy & Me Yoga at Spa Lamar! I love this class! Seeing the littles grow every week and enjoying movement with their mommas :) This class is open to ALL caregivers! For babies 6 weeks up to crawling! 1pm-2pm!
After completing the prenatal yoga teacher training at swiha this past weekend (for the 2nd time) I have this renewed passion about natural births (true natural births) and helping women own their power as a mother. As soon as I am able to, I want to do my doula training, preferably through Sacred Pregnancy. I just have this passion about the whole birthing process, and want my life to really be about building women up as they prepare to give birth and raise babies! I could go on and on about my love for everything related to this topic, but the babes are waking up from their nap! Until next time my friends,
Namaste!
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