Baby yoga
...ver be strong enough. The benefits of yoga are endless. For babies, yoga is even more beneficial. On top of all of the benefits that all people get from practicing yoga, babies also get several more. According to Itsy Bitsy Yoga, the “top twelve reasons why babies and toddlers need yoga [are] 1) to help them sleep better and longer; 2) to improve digestion and ease gas pain; 3) to turn fussiness into happiness; 4) to promote a healthy, physically fit lifestyle; 5) to strengthen the parent-child bond; 6) to increase neuromuscular development; 7) to cultivate self-esteem and a positive body image; 8) to boost the immune system; 9) to reduce stress and develop relaxation techniques; 10) to reduce anxiety; 11) to increase body awareness; [and] 12) to aid the natural development of movement from birth to walking.” Yoga has been found to be especially helpful to babies with colic. Some of the postures really help relieve the discomfort and soothe colicky children. Babies also really enjoy the yogic activities especially because many of the postures come to them quite naturally as just a part of their development. Yoga benefits many parts of the babies body including their nervous system, endocrine system, brain and muscles needed to learn to crawl and walk. Now that we know how wonderful yoga is for our littlest ones, how do we implement it? Well, I’ve found that there are two ways you can divide yoga postures: by energy centers or by developmental level. If you chose to divide them into energy centers, there are seven energetic centers in the human body (and Yoga Baby adds one more unofficially). They are the permanent center (the one Yoga Baby added), the root center, the regenerative center, the solar plexus center, the heart center, the throat center, the head center and the crown center. “The permanent center is located at the belly button and is related to being centered both physically and spiritually. The root center is situated at the cockerel plexus and is associated with the eliminative organs as well as feelings of self-preservation and physical synchronization. The regenerative center is found at the sexual organs and glands and is related to self-gratification and emotional synchronization. The solar plexus center is associated with the digestive organs and adrenal glands as well as psychologically to self-identity and synchronization of the will. The heart center is located at the heart, lungs and thymus gland and is related to self-acceptance and being synchronized empathetically. The throat center is associated with the thyroid and parathyroid glands and is psychologically related to self-expression and being synchronized expressively. The head center is associated with the brain and pituitary gland, is psychologically related to self-reflection and being synchronized mentally. The crown center is associated with the pineal gland, is psychologically related to universal identity and being synchronized spiritually.” Thos who separate the yoga postures in this way often believe that the movement is not what is important but the quality of relationship developed between parent and child. If you chose to divide the postures into different deve...