An exercise in futurity: Yoga class helps new moms bond with babies

By Jennifer Rosinski

Nestled atop her mother's knee yesterday afternoon, Kayla McNamara's tiny face was a picture of serenity as her mother gently tapped her lower back.

That effect is just what Kerri McNamara was looking for when she signed herself and her 9-week-old daughter up for a baby yoga class at Maya's Dream in Natick last week.

" She's been very colicky and I wanted something to relax her," said the Bellingham resident and first-time mother. "It also helps me get very comfortable with touching her. I know better now what she likes by holding her and not being so afraid.”

The class is a way for moms to interact with their infants while both get the benefits of yoga, said certified yoga instructor Helen Garabedian.

It always works better when there’s something you really believe in and you can share it with your baby. It’s good to have some spiritual way to connect with your children,” said 29-year old Garabedian, who is not a mother yet, but loves children.

Garabedian, who lives in Framingham with her husband, Dave, started teaching baby yoga last month and offers classes for newborns up to 11 months and babies 12 to 14 months. She also teaches yoga to toddlers, teens and adults at Maya’s Dream, the Earthsong Yoga Center in Marlborough and in Waltham.

Garabedian said the yoga classes can give babies relief from gas pains and colic and may help them digest better. Mothers see results in the name of reduced stress and anxiety and improved muscle tone and flexibility, she said.

“Babies become fully aware of their limbs, their bodies, their movements,” said Garabedian, an Ashland native. “It also gets moms to relax.”

The greatest benefit of yoga, however, is its ability to create stronger emotional, intuitive, physical and spiritual bonds between mother and child, Garabedian said.

“If a mom can quiet down her mind, she can almost be able to think what her baby’s thinking,” she said.

Moms at yesterday’s class agree with Garabedian and said yoga is a great experience they are glad to share with their children.

“ I didn’t know what it was going to be," admits Laurie Hull of Shrewsbury, who takes the class with her 4-week-old son Matthew. "But, it’s just a relaxing time for both of us."

Waltham resident Judy Araujo, who takes the class with her 3 month-old son Jack, is happy to have a special way of connecting with her son.

"It's a different way to bond with him," she said.

Araujo, a first-grade teacher Garabedian, who is on maternity leave, said she has seen the benefits after only one class. "Sometimes he gets cranky at night. I can do some of these exercises and and they calm him down," she said.

The infants, because of their delicate nature and limited mobility, can't hold typical yoga positions. What they can do, Garabedian said, are moves that have been altered to include both mother and child.

Those include moms moving their babies' legs in bicycle motions, rubbing their tummies, lengthening their limbs with gentle caresses, hip rotations, bringing their legs up to their tummies and bending their knees.

Mothers guide their babies through the moves, which Garabedian said are both easy and safe for infants to practice.

"Everything has to be very comfortable. I tell the moms if they're given any resistance to stop it," she said. "It is very loving and gentle. We don't do anything too challenging."
Garabedian hopes the class is just the beginning for these babies.

"I know yoga has transformed my life ... For me it's uniting my mind and my body and the connection of those two is bliss," said Garabedian, who began doing yoga almost 10 years ago. "If the babies start doing yoga now maybe it will carry with them through life."