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Itsy Bitsy Yoga! 10 Itsy Bitsy Yoga Facilitators in the LA/San
Diego area just completed their training and are offering classes starting
in September.
Yogi Times Magazine ~
September 2003
By
Sophie Parienti
Helen Garabedian, Infant Developmental
Movement Educator, Certified Yoga Teacher and Founder of Itsy Bitsy Yoga
believes that over 5000 years ago when yoga was first developing, the yoga
masters studied the movements of babies to create yoga postures or asanas.
Through the practice of yoga, adults are returning to the unrestricted innocence
and bliss of an infant. In a sense, yoga for babies has always existed. Yoga
is a part of what babies do naturally. However, the natural existence for babies
is being reduced with the excessive, overuse of confining babyholding devices
such as infant car seats, walkers, seated activity centers, and strollers. Itsy
Bitsy Yoga is one of the first programs to focus on the baby or toddler’s
exploration of yoga, developmental movement and parent/child bonding. IBY founder,
Helen Garabedian has spent years examining Hatha Yoga postures with the intention
of readapting it for the non-verbal baby to do with or without a parent’s
help. The result of her extensive research and experience in teaching yoga to
thousands of babies and toddlers (with a parent) is shared in Itsy Bitsy Yoga
Facilitator training nationwide.
Over seventy five unique yoga postures and techniques have been designed by Helen
Garabedian to specifically soothe and support the development of a baby’s
body. Yoga unites and helps deepen the bond between parent and child.
For babies from 3 weeks old to pre-crawling Itsy Bitsy Yoga offers a calming
and nurturing yoga class designed to help babies unfold their motor skills, sleep
better, be happier, and digest with ease. The Toddlers’ yoga class is similar
to the Baby class, except it matches the freedom and activity that is appropriate
for almost crawling babies up to those 24 months of age. Helen Garabedian’s
forthcoming book is titled “Itsy
Bitsy Yoga: Poses to Help Your Baby Sleep
Longer, Digest Better, and Grow Stronger.” It will be release in April
2004 by Fireside/Simon & Schuster.
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