Favorite Yoga Clothes

     

We love mom and baby yoga and love getting dressed up for it in comfy separates for mamas and babies.  These baby yoga pants are handmade from upcycled t-shirts, and cost only $8!  The lotus flower onsies are hand-dyed and batiked and go perfectly with the adult tees.  *yoga photo of Emma and Olivia by Meg Fish.

New-Mom Groups / Circles in Santa Barbara

As far as I know, there are two main new-mom circles in Santa Barbara: PEP, and Mamatoto.  I joined both, although I no longer meet with my PEP group.  They are so different, and I have friends in both circles, but Mamatoto was the one for me.  PEP (postpartum education for parents) is open to both moms and dads, and all styles of parenting.  Mamatoto is a Swahili word for the mother-baby unit, and is an attachment parenting group.  (I'll have a post up about attachment parenting soon, but you can read a little about it here).  

My Mamatoto group has been meeting since last September, and we have become a close-knit group.  We meet twice a week for a play group / support group / chat, once for swim class with the babies, once for a morning beach walk followed by mom and baby yoga at SBYC with Emma and Olivia (see earlier post), and once for music class.  We have other random meetings as well for mamas-only happy hour or baby birthday parties.  Of course not everyone makes it to everything.  There are 30 of us in the group and usually between 5 and 15 make it to each gathering.

To give an idea of the feel, most of us use cloth diapers, at least part time, co-sleep (either crib in the same room, or share a family bed), baby-wear (we love our ergos!), hold our babies a lot, try to eat organic, locally-grown food, use homeopathic and /or non-toxic products on our babies, care about the environment, and respect our babies and their needs.  Some of us chose to vaccinate; others didn't.  Most of us selectively vaccinated; we all made our decisions after much thought and processing of information.  We are all different from one another, but the common thread in the Mamatoto group is that we all believe in and are practicing attachment parenting.  

Regardless of your parenting style, I suggest checking out both groups.  I still would be meeting with my PEP group every week if I had time, and it was really helpful when Isla was a newborn, just to get out of the house and connect with other new moms.

Mama and Baby (and Papa!) Yoga

I love yoga and am so excited that I can include my little one.  Santa Barbara has two great options.  Mama Emma and Baby Olivia lead my favorite class which is $12 at Santa Barbara Yoga Center.  Click here for a schedule of classes.  I love it for the workout, stretching, and zen-like state I leave the class in, no matter how frazzled I was when I came in.  Babies participate as much or as little as they'd like.  They crawl around some and play with each other, and crawl under and over their mamas who are holding poses or flowing through sun salutations.  They may give you a hand in your stretch like Olivia did for me today by crawling over and pushing on your leg!  They are remarkably entertained the entire time, and some even join in on the closing Om.  The babies I've met in this class are 3 months to 1 1/2 years old, and every age in between, and the moms are all different ages as well.  

The second baby yoga class available in SB is $16 at Yoga Soup with Dani.  Click here for a schedule of classes.  Also a blast for my daughter, this class is smaller and very different.  The first part of the class is more for the mamas, although babies are not ignored.  It is a mix with a kundalini emphasis.  Less poses and sequences than I'm used to, and more strength work.  Expect to do breath of fire and a serious arm workout, lifting Baby up into the air.  The last part of class is baby-focused and by far my favorite part.  Yogini kids music gets the little ones' attention.  A lot of the movements we did with our babies were more suited for young babies with colic, but were also fun for my 10 month old.

To sum it up, I get more of a yoga workout and stretching from Emma's class at SBYC, and leave feeling more balanced.  I think this is the class for moms who miss their yoga routine.  I also enjoy Dani's class at Yoga Soup.  For moms who prefer kundalini or strength training, you will love Dani's class, and my sense is older babies will really get into the yoga themselves in this class.  My daughter has a great time at both.  I really suggest checking them both out, since they are so different.