Having carried a sizable bump around for a very long, very hot summer, I really wasn’t in
mood for a work out.As Gwyneth Paltrow and all of my other coat-hanger thin celebrity peers snaked their way, all skin and bone about tabloids, I scowled and knew that, even if mood did ever take me as I sat covered in powered milk, I would just never have time to get back in shape now that I always had my baby in toe. After all, its not as if I could balance Harry on rowing machine as I made for nearest treadmill – I didn’t think they’d like that down at health club.
I did try gym. Once. Inspired by Gwynnies size eight flat chestedness I did deposit Harry at my mums’, and went for one swim amongst well toned – but my self-esteem could just not cut it. Having been a large pregnant woman and having had a difficult birth, my body was not as it should be, and I didn’t stay for long. I’m sure no one cared about my having varicose veins now, but I did, and I suddenly felt very much like a mum, and nothing else. Loosing faith in idea that I’d ever have a waist again, I pooled my NCT friends to see if they had any tips on how to regain a good shape, without embarrassment.
There was no way I was doing yoga. It turned out after speaking to girls that they already had a fitness plan, and were meeting to go to some yoga class following week. I’d only ever seen yoga on television, and I wouldn’t have even considered trying it pre-Harry – I was never that skinny and stealth. The women all looked like they hadn’t eaten for at least five years, and there was no way I was ever learning how to be a ‘delicate lotus’ with all of cellulite I’d accumulated now. I lied and told them I couldn’t get a babysitter…
Turns out you can take your little ones to baby yoga. I was worried it would be new agey, but our first session soon dispelled all worries I had about that. Friendly and chatty, class was only for parents, and I met a whole gaggle of new local mums. We chatted about our babies, their first rolls, nappies and missing socks, and Harry played merrily with other tots that were there – something which really made me smile as he’s an only child and I was worried that when it came to mixing with other babies he’d wouldn’t cope. Turns out he’s a bit of a socialite – that’s my boy!
A qualified baby yoga teacher, our leader, Sue, started us off with some very simple stretches, which were fine for any physical type. Her training with Birthlight means she knows exactly what our bodies have been through, and so nothing was too much. I was petrified that Harry would cry when it came to including him in work out (the baby isn’t put under any stress either by way – there’s just lots of great, gentle skin to skin contact and muscle stimulation, no sun salutations just yet!) but he just smiled. It must feel good, after all, to have shouty tired woman who’s been harassing you for all this time give you some proper, physical warmth and lavish attention.
