| Having carried a sizable bump around for a very long, | | | | us off with some very simple stretches, which were |
| very hot summer, I really wasn't in the mood for a | | | | fine for any physical type. Her training with Birthlight |
| work out. | | | | means she knows exactly what our bodies have been |
| As Gwyneth Paltrow and all of my other coat-hanger | | | | through, and so nothing was too much. I was petrified |
| thin celebrity peers snaked their way, all skin and bone | | | | that Harry would cry when it came to including him in |
| about the tabloids, I scowled and knew that, even if the | | | | the work out (the baby isn't put under any stress either |
| mood did ever take me as I sat covered in powered | | | | by the way - there's just lots of great, gentle skin to |
| milk, I would just never have the time to get back in | | | | skin contact and muscle stimulation, no sun salutations |
| shape now that I always had my baby in toe. After all, | | | | just yet!) but he just smiled. It must feel good, after all, |
| its not as if I could balance Harry on the rowing | | | | to have the shouty tired woman who's been harassing |
| machine as I made for the nearest treadmill - I didn't | | | | you for all this time give you some proper, physical |
| think they'd like that down at the health club. | | | | warmth and lavish attention. |
| I did try the gym. Once. Inspired by Gwynnies size eight | | | | The stimulation that babies receive doing yoga |
| flat chestedness I did deposit Harry at my mums', and | | | | releases endorphins in the brain, and so they clearly |
| went for one swim amongst the well toned - but my | | | | glow after a session, just as we do after a turn at the |
| self-esteem could just not cut it. Having been a large | | | | gym. It was great to know he felt so cared for. |
| pregnant woman and having had a difficult birth, my | | | | As time went on, our classes did become more |
| body was not as it should be, and I didn't stay for long. | | | | adventurous. The stretches we learned started to |
| I'm sure no one cared about my having varicose veins | | | | actively include our babies (they are fabulous weights!) |
| now, but I did, and I suddenly felt very much like a mum, | | | | and we all became far less inhibited, and felt happy to |
| and nothing else. | | | | move onto the more complex movements. |
| Loosing faith in the idea that I'd ever have a waist | | | | To calm the babies, Sue introduced music into the |
| again, I pooled my NCT friends to see if they had any | | | | classes, which soothed them no end - in all the time |
| tips on how to regain a good shape, without the | | | | I've been going now, I don't think we've ever had a |
| embarrassment. | | | | baby have to be taken out for crying. After Harry's |
| There was no way I was doing yoga. It turned out | | | | bath, I often do yoga with him at home now, and the |
| after speaking to the girls that they already had a | | | | heat of my hands and the slow, rhythmic nature of the |
| fitness plan, and were meeting to go to some yoga | | | | movements send him to sleep with much greater |
| class the following week. I'd only ever seen yoga on | | | | ease than a simple cuddle and a song tape ever could. |
| television, and I wouldn't have even considered trying it | | | | He started sleeping through the night months before a |
| pre-Harry - I was never that skinny and stealth. The | | | | lot of other babies that we know, and I'm in no doubt |
| women all looked like they hadn't eaten for at least | | | | that that has sonething to do with our yoga. |
| five years, and there was no way I was ever learning | | | | Being an enthusiast now, I've read up on the later |
| how to be a 'delicate lotus' with all of the cellulite I'd | | | | benefits of what baby yoga can do and I'm excited. It's |
| accumulated now. I lied and told them I couldn't get a | | | | clear from the fact he rolled early that Harry has good |
| babysitter... | | | | spatial awareness, and plenty of confidence in what |
| Turns out you can take your little ones to baby yoga. I | | | | his body is capable of. When we took him for his |
| was worried it would be new agey, but our first | | | | eight-month check my health visitor told me he will |
| session soon dispelled all the worries I had about that. | | | | miss out crawling stage - his spine is strong, and having |
| Friendly and chatty, the class was only for parents, | | | | been made aware of the limitations of his body |
| and I met a whole gaggle of new local mums. We | | | | through yoga, he doesn't need to go through the |
| chatted about our babies, their first rolls, nappies and | | | | exploration that crawling allows. |
| missing socks, and Harry played merrily with the other | | | | As well as the very evident physical benefits of baby |
| tots that were there - something which really made | | | | yoga, it's also been a lifesaver for me. On maternity |
| me smile as he's an only child and I was worried that | | | | leave I was a bit of a lonely mum, and now I have |
| when it came to mixing with other babies he'd wouldn't | | | | something of a network. Size ten again and happy, |
| cope. Turns out he's a bit of a socialite - that's my boy! | | | | there is never a morning goes by when Harry and I do |
| A qualified baby yoga teacher, our leader, Sue, started | | | | not have a play date. It's turned things around. |