This article first appeared on the Nottingham Baby Fayre website on 1st April 2012; The Nottingham Baby Fayre
Also on the Yoga Home
What this class is
Pampering is the right word to describe this three-hour extended yoga session for Mums, a regular one-off Saturday event at the Yoga Home. Run once every term, three times a year, Yoga Home students who are also Mums are invited to a well deserved rest and relaxation event at the Iona School in Sneinton, an ideal venue for a few hours away from the kids. In this calming environment, in the schools kindergarden, students are led through two one and a half hour yoga sessions, broken by a short break for tea and healthy nibbles (Green and Blacks chocolate, oat crackers and homemade flapjack). At the end of the morning students can stay for a fuddle, a shared lunch, which always includes Ameet’s delicious homemade dahl, plus lots of other scrumptious food brought in by attendees. The whole event is a wonderful combination of yoga and socialising; three rare hours of yoga, plus a chance to meet up with friends from past pregnancy and postnatal yoga classes.
An inner sanctuary
As mums we are constantly on the go, thinking about and serving the needs of our children, juggling running a household, caring for our children and often our partners, plus for many doing paid work outside of the home as well. There is rarely any time in the day to simply sit back and just be, enjoying the present moment and taking a long, slow breathe, collecting our thoughts and paying attention to ourselves. In this electronic, fast-paced age our need to just be is more necessary than ever, as we are rarely unplugged, seldom in a space where we are able to listen to our inner mind and let go of all the clutter we are holding on to. In this constant chatter, racing about serving the needs of others, it is very easy to neglect ourselves. This is where yoga comes in. It is a safe, quiet place in which to let go, to listen to our bodies and our minds, in an attempt to unite them. Whilst everyone benefits tremendously from yoga, or some other form of deep relaxation practice, for mothers the benefits may be even more apparent, because in giving this gift to ourselves we are also giving this to our children, offering them a calmer, happier role model in which to follow.
