Baby Yoga has many physical and mental benefits for both babies and parents. It can help with movement and posture, circulation and digestion. It helps them sleep. It can even motivate babies to start moving when they are old enough. Tunes and rhymes and showering Baby with praise and affection mean it is great fun and helps with bonding. You may discover that Baby is capable of a lot more movement than you realise and loves being lifted and swung around. Baby Yoga classes will furnish you with techniques and exercises to help soothe your baby and give you confidence in handling them.

Sensory benefits

The sights and sounds at Baby Yoga classes are a sensory experience that stimulates brain development. New connections are being made and connections between the left and right hemispheres of the brain forged. Yoga stimulates the vestibular system in the inner ear, benefiting the entire nervous system as fluids pass over it during lifting, swinging or rolling. Messages about the position of the body in space are sent to the brain so your baby learns to negotiate gravity and to control eye movements. Coordination is boosted and gross motor skills tuned with simple exercises like touching opposite toes to shoulders. It helps with postural reflexes. It improves awareness of their surroundings as well as a sense of their own bodies.

Strength gains

Baby Yoga strengthens muscles and develops tone. Motor skills are the ability to move muscles with a purpose and gross motor skills are that are needed for standing, crawling, running and jumping. Tummy time develops their neck strength and gives them an understanding of where their head is as they prepare to roll over. Yoga helps with balance through the practice of poses. It prepares them for each developmental stage like crawling and standing so that they are less frustrated. It maintains their natural flexibility in their spine and joints.

Sleep and relaxation

Baby Yoga helps with sleep as it regulates breathing and increases the amount of oxygen in the body. Babies will sleep for longer stretches at a time and more deeply. This in turn helps the functioning of the immune system. Circulation is encouraged through movement. Digestion is also stimulated becoming more regular. This can prevent colic, wind and constipation. Baby Yoga is calming and relaxing. Babies will usually be falling asleep by the end of a class or home session. If it helps your baby sleep and buys you a few hours for yourself, it could transform your life!

Baby Yoga gives parents confidence in handling their baby and tools to soothe them. The eye contact and interaction through a yoga routine encourages a strong connection between parent and baby, as does the release of feel good hormones like oxytocin and dopamine. It's a shared fun experience you can draw on at any time.

You are establishing exercise as a normal part of every day, taking care of body and mind, which will have a lifelong benefit for the child.

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