When my daughter was somewhere around the six month mark and I was starting to lose my mind in a serious way due to lack of sleep…I stumbled upon a book, “Itsy Bitsy Yoga – Poses to Help Your Baby Sleep Longer, Digest Better, and Grow Stronger“, on one of my many internet searches. I immediately searched my library records to see if they had a copy that I could get my hands on. How could I not want to check this book out? The title spoke about my life, help my baby sleep better? Help her digest and grow stronger? Spend some time bonding with her and hopefully making her happy? It sounded almost to good to be true. So I got the book and started reading. Each night we would do a little routine and each night she started to go to sleep more easily and I felt more grounded myself.

I realized very quickly that I needed to look into this further. So I made the decision to take the training. I went down to Portland, leaving my girl with her daddy, grandma, and Oma for 7 days. Good thing I was training with other moms as I cried almost everyday from missing my girl so much. It’s hard that first trip away without your kidlet, at least mine sure was. During those 7 days I became even more inspired and excited to share this with other new moms. I remembered how fragile I felt after bringing my daughter home, and how much I wanted to share these fabulous exercises with other moms.

So now it’s been 1 ½ years that I have been teaching Baby and Tot Itsy Bitsy Yoga. I have met many moms who are going through hard times adjusting, whose baby isn’t sleeping, or who just want to build that bond. I cannot tell you how much I love teaching these classes. It means the world to me to see the joy on the babies faces, to watch them grow (since many of my customers are repeat clients) and to feel many moms becoming more and more confident in their own abilities to parent their child.

Itsy Bitsy Yoga can be done with newborn babies as young as three weeks old. The benefits include those in the book title above of course, but also extend far beyond. Getting your baby used to moving their body right from the beginning of their life has long standing benefits including strengthened immune system, enhanced motor skills, stress relief for toddlers, and improved body awareness.

Not to mention a calmer more grounded mommy and daddy which always makes the whole house feel like a better place. If you have the chance to try this program out, I highly recommend it. You will be shocked at how quickly your little one begins to enjoy the poses and then starts to anticipate them, and then moves onto doing them all by themselves.

Within those first three months, one of the most beautiful activities you can do with your newborn is having them lie down on your chest and just becoming aware of their breath and your breath. Building that bond while being 100% present in the moment starts to show your babe that already they are a respected, valued member of your family and important in your life. As they grow from newborn to full fledged baby you can work on matching your breath with theirs or taking turns leading. Being present and aware of the life force prana (life energy) through the breath.

With your mobile little one. a great breathing exercise is to use a Kleenex and to practice blowing it. You blow and then you encourage your tot to try it. Your turn, you blow. This is lots of fun and starts the idea of action and reaction with them.

Taking a few moments out of your busy day to share these simple activities can make a world of difference. Enjoy the time with your little yogi!

-Anita Kaiser