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New Session of Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Babies begins April 13th!

 

the little yogi patrick and his lovely parents

I'll be teaching a new Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Babies (newborn to crawling) 6 week session @ lil omm Tenley will starting on Friday, April 13th from 10:45 am to 11:45 am.

Join me for a class exclusively focused on the babies offering developmentally appropriate Itsy Bitsy Yoga poses that help you bond with your baby and build community among the cohort of mamas through discussion and support.  As a closed session without drop-ins, we will be able to build upon the poses and tailor them to the needs of class, such as increasing sleep, aiding digestion, etc.  

lil omm members can attend this session for free.  (Subsequent sessions will be half priced).  Have friends that are not members of lil omm but want to attend this session? The investment will be $100 for 6 weeks for non-members.  

Questions?  E-mail info@lilomm.com or call 202-248-6304

To register visit:  http://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ws.asp?studioid=8811&stype=-102&sTG=24&sVT=10&sView=day&sTrn=100000019&sDate=4/13/2012

Want to learn more about Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Babies? Visit: www.itsybitsyyoga.com. 

Cool video! Conception to birth--visualized.

Nursing as Meditation.

photo courtesy of Yenna

Lately, I've been nursing about 6 times a day/night.  Nursing is a wonderful way to bond with your baby, gaze lovingly at him or her and daydream about their future.  Well, at least that's a wonderful thing to do when you have just one baby.  By the time you have baby number two, you are nursing with one hand/arm, feeding your toddler with the other, reading to him or her, and talking on the phone (while interjecting "no, don't touch that!" every couple of sentences).  Or at least that's what it's like around these parts lately. This past weekend I had a few rare occasions to be in a quiet space with Eli while nursing him, which made me think about the beauty of silence and connection while sharing such an intimate activity.  I will not lie--I have virtually no meditation practice since the arrival of the small ones in my household, but I DO have nursing. And nursing can be a wonderful meditation practice if only we open to its possibility to quiet the mind and ground us in the present moment. 

I thought I would share (as a reminder to myself!) a little meditation that can/should be done while nursing.  If you don't have a baby to nurse feel free to follow along with the basics, all you need is just 5-10 minutes to feel completely transformed!

First, find a quiet place and a comfortable, supportive chair. Sit comfortably, but make sure you have a nice long spine, and that feet are grounded on the floor or on a stool.  Have lots of pillows to support your back, elbows and baby (maybe make your toddler bring them to you).  As you begin to nurse, close your eyes and connect with your baby's breath, perhaps placing a hand on his or her back, or tummy.  Feel the connection between your baby's breath and your breath, and just be a quiet observer of where you are in this moment.  Then slowly begin to deepen your breath, inhaling through the nose and filling the belly, ribs and chest.  Breath moves like a wave, back down the way it came on the exhale.  Breath again fills belly, expands ribs side to side and lifts the heart center (this breath is the same full, deep rich breathing that your baby experiences--life teaches us our shallow, harried pace of breathing).  Keep breathing deeply at your own pace, without pulling, straining or overachieving.  As you inhale, feel the inhale through the nostrils and the back of the throat and maybe think silently "inhale."  As you exhale, feel the breath as it leaves the body and maybe think "exhale."  As your mind wanders, as it inevitably will, keep anchoring it back to the inhale and the exhale.  Know there is no where else you need to be but right here, nothing else you need to do but just be present and open to this moment. and this moment. and this moment. 

After you have connected with your breath and have enjoyed its relaxation benefits, and the relaxation and positive feelings that come from nursing, slowly and mindfully open your eyes and bring your awareness to your baby.  Notice each perfect delicate feature of his or her face, the beauty of his or her hands, marvel at the effortless and natural connection between the two of you.  Share a little love note with your baby, either silently or aloud, a message that resonates from your heart to theirs.  Thank him or her for being a part of your life and your best teacher.  Kiss your baby on his or her perfect cheek and look forward to the next opportunity to connect! 

Namaste!

 

Free Event for Mamas! The Omm Mama Expo

If you are a new or soon-to-be new mama and local to D.C., please join us for this fun and informative event!

Announcing the 1^st Annual
OMM MAMA EXPO!
a FREE event for new parents and parents-to-be

Wednesday, 10/13
7:30 - 9:30pm
@ lil omm yoga

4830 V. Street, NW (map it)

Calling all mamas! Don’t miss this night all about mindful parenting. Enjoy nibbles by Treet and SouperGirl, wander the tables, and get advice about the choices you face you as a new parent, including:

-        birthing with a doula

-        baby-wearing techniques

-        cloth diapering options

-        baby-food making

-        activities for you and your baby

-        and much more!

There will be scheduled demos & discussions all evening long - featuring Chef Geoff, signing copies of his new cookbook, Baby Love (as seen on the Today Show).

 Hope to see you there, and please pass on to any expecting or new parents you know…

Questions? Visit www.lilomm.com, email info@lilomm.com, call 202.248.6304 or become a fan on Facebook @ lil omm yoga.

About lil omm: lil omm is a community dedicated to engaged, inspired and connected families. From the womb to the wisdom years, we offer more than yoga. Our mission is to create a place where everyone can learn and grow.

 

Reflections of Motherhood Video.

I love this video.  I wonder what I would say to myself if I could give myself advice before Jonah was born...? 

Probably something like this: "This will be the hardest year of your life.  It will be filled with the highest ups and the lowest downs.  It will test your marriage.  It will test your friendships.  It will test YOU.  But you will pass with a confidence yet before unknown to you, and you will eventually get sleep, and you will eventually regain clarity even greater than before.  And you will learn to love every single minute of it, even the ones you don't.  And the love you thought you knew before was just a fraction of the love you now experience making it ALL WORTH IT." 

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Cloth Diapering 101 Workshop!

 

Calling all pregnant or recent mamas! I am holding a Cloth Diapering 101 Workshop on Wednesday, August 25th at 7:30 p.m.  If you are local to the DC area and are interested in learning more about the "down and dirty" (haha!) of cloth, please feel free to email me at clothrocksdcatgmaildotcom to learn about the details.  The workshop is free and solely informational.  When I began my cloth journey, I was excited but also mystified by all the info on the Web and found it VERY helpful to have someone walk me through the process and offer personal advice and guidance.  So I'm happy to pay it forward and provide that to you! Cloth really does ROCK-- it's super easy, has tons of benefits and (most importantly?!) also incredibly cute for your baby's tush!

Love.

"It strikes me as best to begin with love.  The word will never again mean so much.  Of course you love your spouse.  Your love your parents and brothers and sisters.  You love your friends.  You love your home and perhaps your hometown.  You love your dog.  You may love your work.  You might attest to loving your alma mater, mashed potatoes, or reading on a rainy day. 

But this is love.  The feeling you have for your child is so indescribably deep and consuming that it must qualify as one of the few transcendent experiences in your plain old ordinary life.  It arrives spontaneously as though part of afterbirth.  It is miraculous and supreme and irrevocable.  It makes all things possible."

--Karen Maezen Miller, Momma Zen: Walking the Crooked Path of Motherhood

Who are you loving today?

Eli's little photo session.

Just a little yumminess for you on a lazy Sunday afternoon......

Brothers.

Do you think they look alike? Hmm...Jonah had more hair, but Elias has more pounds.  This comparison really reminds me of just how tiny Jonah truly was.  Eli is doing GREAT and this is probably the one and only time he'll make an appearance in my favorite newborn onesie.  (I could barely snap it!).  

Life is good here, if not busy!  It's been hard to get here to visit, but know that I've been thinking about all of you and wanting to check in.  Lots to say, but not much time to say it.  I promise we'll catch up soon.  Now off to fold 4 loads of laundry....the glamorous life never ends!

 

Elias, 3/17/10, 18 days old

 
Jonah, 4/15/08, 21 days old

Bed Chronicles: Day 37

This is a photo of the bed we stayed in almost exactly 2 years ago, at the amazing B & B, L'Auberge Provencale.  This was our last trip as "just a couple", before Jonah was born.  This was where we ate amazing French food, lazed about, and decided on the name of our child.  It will always hold a special place in my heart. 

So yes, I'm still here.  Thank goodness.  And today I'm at 34 weeks.  Didn't really think I would make it, so I'm quite happy.  The next big goal is to just be here for 2 more weeks to get to 36 and then I can get off the meds!  Woo-hoo! I feel like I've made it this far so I really really want to get to the end now, in the hopes of having a labor without too much monitoring and without a visit to the NICU.

Here's some stuff that's been happening around here: 

:: We are snowed in.  On Friday we got oh, maybe 26 inches of snow approx. and today we are supposed to get anywhere from 6-20 inches. At first it was beautiful.  Now it's just getting kinda frustrating, as I heard a rumor that there might be yet ANOTHER storm on Sunday.  The MD/VA/DC area just can't handle this kind of thing, so all schools, the gov't, etc. are closed, grocery stores are running out of food and people are without power.  Sounds like a good time to almost have a baby, huh?

:: During the Super Bowl (of which I saw about 10 minutes) I had A LOT of contractions close together and have been having them on and off for the past couple of days/nights.Getting a bit nervous about my 2 week goal, not to mention the impending blizzard.  I may go down in the record books for being totally crazy, but I crafted a plan to get our best guy friend (we love you C!) to stay overnight tonight in the event that we need to rush to the hospital.  (He can stay and watch Jonah if necessary).  And as a last resort, he could always deliver the baby, as he was an EMT during college days.  But we are all really hoping it won't come to THAT!

:: Every day before naptime and before bedtime, I've been reading The Giving Tree and I Will Hold You Till You Sleep to Jonah.  He picked The Giving Tree himself off his bookshelf and adores this book (I'm pretty astounded that a 22 month old will sit still long enough for the whole thing.)  This little ritual of ours has helped keep things a bit more consistent around here (making naps and bedtime easier) and allows for some pretty fulfilling snuggling for mama.  My heart melts when we get to the part when the tree is sad and Jonah in his little voice says over and over again, "twee, sad, twee, sad." As if he gets it.  He is really starting to pick up on so many words and experiment more with speech--it's fascinating to observe his tremendous love of reading emerge.  I am consistently bombarded with requests to "weed, mama, weed." ;)

:: I have taken up embroidery. I finally discovered a soothing craft I can do that is not messy, is cheap, quick and easy and is a throwback to they days of our grandmas.  I ordered this kit (thank goodness for online shopping!) and have already finished one bib, with one more estimated to be finished today.  Next, on to the onesies.

:: I have read a total of 12 books.  My two latest were the first two installments of The Twilight Saga, which I never thought I'd read, but like the rest of the world, was totally hooked.  (Thanks, Katie!!) It was a nice change of pace from my parenting, pregnancy, yoga, non-fiction kick that I was on.  Thanks, Mom, for instilling my love of reading at a very early age.  Who knew it would be so incredibly life-saving 30 years later? If it weren't for a good read, I would most definitely be staring into space  mumbling incoherently to myself right about now. 

:: We had a bunch of awesome visitors last week, which kept us on our toes and entertained, and kept me quiet in this space.  Definitely have had to listen to my body and conserve energy when I can or else the contractions keep rearing their ugly head.  Looking forward to the time when I can finally give in to my body and let nature take it's course.