What are the benefits of Yoga for infants and how does Yoga relate to an infant's movement repertoire, answered by Helen Garabedian

Question: What are the benefits of Yoga for infants?
Helen Garabedian answers: Yoga is a key part of an infant’s developmental movement repertoire. In my research as a yoginî and Infant Developmental Movement Educator, I have correlated 22 Yoga poses/techniques and 22 infant developmental movements.

From birth, babies instinctively draw their knees up toward their chest as if trying to come into knees-to-chest pose (apanâsana). The infant’s digestive system is sometimes underdeveloped at birth, and apanâsana aids in digestion and relieves gas discomfort.

Sphinx pose helps the four-month-old lengthen the spine, energize the organs, and tone the upper body. Sphinx pose is a necessary precursor to weight-shifting and one-hand play as a baby rests on her tummy. As the five- or six-month-old baby is beginning to lift the head and torso to higher elevations, sphinx pose evolves into cobra pose (bhujângâsana). Postures practiced on the tummy strengthen the muscles and connections needed for crawling and may help prevent future lower back pain.

Bridge pose (setubhandâsana) is practiced at five months of age and helps connect the feet and pelvis for the baby who is learning to sit. Bridge pose is one of the earliest self-initiated experiences a baby will have of supporting weight in the feet. The feet-to-pelvis relationship helps form the triangular base used in early sitting.

Locust pose (shalabhâsana) is practiced around six months of age and is essentially the Landau Righting Reaction. The full-body extension pattern of the Landau can be viewed as the counter pose to the flexion pattern most babies are born with. Locust helps develop the muscles needed for rolling over, standing up, and walking. After this begins, a baby strives to elevate its center away from the earth's surface horizontally and later verticality.

Child’s pose (balâsana) helps balance the tone between the front and the back of a baby’s body. Pre-crawlers, of six to nine months, begin rocking back and forth between table and extended child’s pose as part of development. This offers vestibular stimulation, and babies are revving up their locomotion engine and learning to propel themselves forward through space. This spinal reach and pull pattern provides babies with the lightness and connectivity needed to crawl. (Editors' note: Two other alternative names you may sometimes encounter for child's pose are garbhâsana [embryo pose] and pindâsana [little ball pose].)

Downward-facing dog (adhomukha-shvanâsana) is first practiced before a baby starts to crawl, and later is a favorite pose of one-year-olds. Developmentally, downward-facing dog helps connect a baby’s upper and lower body. After crawling is integrated into a baby’s movement repertoire, a baby may begin to walk in downward-facing dog (or bear walk.) This helps an experienced crawler get a feel for moving through space at a higher level than crawling, but at a lower level than walking.

The Itsy Bitsy Yoga program I developed contains over 75 Yoga postures for babies from birth to 24 months. I teach parents to calm themselves and their babies so they can see and facilitate their child’s Yoga and developmental movement practice. Itsy Bitsy Yoga helps parents reap the benefits of Yoga practice for their offspring, which include better and longer sleep, improved digestion and relief from gas discomfort, increased body awareness, increased neuromuscular development, and, of course, parent and child bonding.

About the author: Helen Garabedian is a Registered Yoga Teacher, Infant Developmental Movement Educator, Certified Infant Massage Instructor, and Reiki Master Teacher. In April 2004, Helen’s book Itsy Bitsy Yoga: Poses to Help Your Baby Sleep Longer, Digest Better, and Grow Stronger will be released by Simon & Schuster. She is currently offering instructor trainings and workshops throughout the United States.

© Helen Garabedian 2003 All Rights Reserved.

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