Glasgow Yoga with Baby

Eight women sit – backs to the wall, legs crossed - in deep thought.   All look still, but much is going on beneath their tranquil exterior.

“Tighten, release, tighten, release…

Last time and… tighten, release.”

Veronica our Iyengar Yoga teacher has reached the quick fire stage of our pelvic floor exercises and impresses upon us the importance of maintaining good muscle tone in this most delicate of areas.  The pelvic floor provides vital support for internal organs and the spine. It is responsible for bladder and bowel control, not to mention the all important subject of sensation during sex.   I had a 3^rd degree tear whilst giving birth to JP and am keen to strengthen this area.  Note to self – practice pelvic floor whilst brushing teeth. No joke. Every day, for the rest of my life!

Moving from our sitting positions we are guided by Veronica into downward dog.   Now I find this dog tough! Always have. I simply cannot get my heels to touch the ground. I put it down to a history of short hamstrings in the family and am sure at least one of my siblings will back me up.  Iyengar yoga places great importance on correct posture. One by one, Veronica checks each downward dog and pulls us up using a belt prop to ensure we are in the correct position to gain maximum benefit from the stretch. Miraculously, over the last ten weeks, the top of my triangle (euphemism for butt) has heightened, my hamstrings relaxed and my heels are just about making contact with the mat.

Throughout the yoga class, we are accompanied by our own personal cheerleaders giving it their all from the centre of the room.  Our babies babble, laugh, cry, screech, crawl and, if we are lucky, sleep on scattered cushions in the middle of the room.

I value the “me time” during the Yoga.  Instead of thinking about baby’s; feeding, bowel movements and differentiating baby’s cry – hunger, wet, tired or bored – it is, for just over one hour a week, all about me.  Yes, me, me, me!  It’s all about my perineum, my weakened ligaments, my spinal twist and my dodgy hip tilting posture.  By the end of a yoga session my body feels stretched, smoothed and restored.  The focus on my body has effortlessly emptied my mind of its worries about money, mortgages and that unfinished blog post.  I feel pleased for myself.

Afterwards, we take over a few tables in the Tramway cafe, order a coffee and catch up on our offspring’s latest developments.  Yes, try as we might to discuss the rising toll of swine flu, the MP expenses scandal and European elections, our conversations inevitably return to the crucial stuff – sleeping through the night, ‘to immunise or not to immunise’, benefits of a routine, when to start weaning, good nurseries – the babies.  I joined the class when JP was just six weeks old and have found the information shared by Mums more useful than any book.

Now that Yoga with Baby has finished up for the summer holidays, I am going to continue to meet up with the girls from the class.  I’ve also lined up Buggy Fit as a fitness replacement.  Still, I’m at a loss as to where I will find the same clear head space over the next six weeks.  Time to find a good post natal yoga DVD!  Any recommendations…?