Yoga bonds babies with dads

MARLBOROUGH - Since Helen Garabedian started offering baby yoga classes in Natick and Marlborough a year ago, mothers have clamored for an opportunity to bond and actually relax with their babies.

Yesterday, for the first time, Garabedian opened the doors of her Marlborough studio to area dad in honor of Father’s Day.

Five pairs of parents with their newborns took 90 minutes out of the heat to stimulate their senses and share a unique bonding experience with their children. In most cases, the mothers in each couple are regular yoga and baby yoga attendees, while their spouses were setting foot in a yoga parlor for the first time.

“ I have always looked at this as a New Age thing but it has made mom and baby happy, “said Botlon native Chris Rogers. He attended yesterday’s session with his wife Ninotchka and daughter Grace.

He admitted that he was not ecstatic when Ninotchka brought home news that Garabedian was holding a dad and baby yoga class.

“ I am a builder, so I am a hammer-and-nails type guy,” Rogers said. “But this basically is an hour-and-a-half of playing with the baby, so I said ‘I’m in.’”

Mark Devereaux, of Grafton, attended because of a lost wager. “I lost a bet one night, so I had to skip hockey and come to yoga,” he said. After the class, he said the trip was worth it to spend time with his wife Geton and daughter Aurora. “It’s entertaining to see how much more flexible she is than me. And it’s great to dedicate an hour and a half.”

For Southborough native Paul Weber, the class was just another opportunity to spend time with his son Benjamin, to whom he dedicates his entire lunch hour every day.

“He comes every day and makes a bee line to the kid,” said his wife Katherine. “He doesn’t even say hello to me.”

“This is the first time I have seen (Benjamin) with other kids and it was great to see how happy he was,” Paul said after class, with his son sound asleep on his shoulder. “And he eventually fell asleep, so I know he was relaxed.”

Baby yoga, Garabedian said, helps babies sleep better, improves digestion and circulation, helps relieve gas pains and colic, stimulates neuromuscular development, increases immunity and boots self-esteem and awareness.

The class consists of several different stretching sessions where parents move and contort their babies into several positions, a period where each child’s name is sung, and a 10-minute final relaxation period.

“Name singing helps to boost their self-esteem,” said Garabedian. “It grabs their attention and brings them into a better place.”