I’M NOT WHAT YOU’D CALL a yogini by any stretch, but I do like to have de-stressing fun with my 18-month-old daughter. So, on a day when we both needed an outing—even her baby dolls were arguing—I dug out some yoga pants and her leggings, and we hit Together with Toddler yoga at Yoga on York.
If you’re a busy mom like me, here’s what you need to know first: Bring coins for the meter. Yoga on York has mats if you do not. They take credit cards. They do not have those glorious climbing gyms toddlers so love called “stairs.” As a parent of a toddler, you are already winning.
So relax. Instructor Jess Klaitman starts her Monday class with a song and a few “cow,” “cat” and “dog” positions. The littles love it. Then she dumps out a bag of stuffed animals and the kids scramble to scoop up their favorites. They reach them up to the ceiling and hover them over their feet—they bring their stuffies to their hearts and practice hugging, rocking, stretching and balancing the animals on their (our) backs, and they (we) crawl around.
We pretend to be butterflies and try to bring our toes to our nose, while fluttering our knees. My daughter grabs my nose and stretches it to her toes. This makes us butterflies giggle until we fall over.
Next up, bubbles: Jess blows bubbles and, with my tot on my stomach, we roll on our backs and try to pop the bubbles with our toes. So far, I’m feeling more and more like a toddler. And my daughter is delighted.
Music comes on! We dance, jump and clap. Then we “freeze dance” and practice balancing.
The class ends with a slow song, a blanket and some chill time. Kind of exactly what my tot—and I—really needed on that cold morning.
Obviously, Toddler Yoga isn’t the sedentary, quiet yoga where you listen for the sound of one hand clapping. It’s more like the experience of running into a toy store where there are only mats, mirrors, bubbles and music—except no price-tagged toys and definitely no dolls arguing. yogaonyork.net
