Yoga Child, Schmoga Child

Photo by Flickr user UpSand

On paper, the baby class at Yoga Child looks perfect. The website description of the class conjures up an idealistic vision of gently rediscovering yourself as your infant lays peacefully beside you, cooing, and you stretch yourself back to the person you used to be. I just wrapped up my stint in the Saturday morning class and I have to say...

...I'm underwhelmed.

And its a shame because their prenatal classes are incredible and I was hoping that the same level of excellence and thoughtful care would carry through to the postpartum program. I thought if their couples' classes were so comprehensive, well then the actual baby classes were gonna blow me away.

Not so much.

A lot of people talk or write about Yoga Child when listing "things to do" with a baby in Philly, but there are very few ACTUAL reviews. I'm hoping to shed a little light for all of those considering signing up for this twelve-week series.

Lets start with...

The Positive:
It got me out of the house every week for twelve weeks and quite frankly, that might be worth the two hundred-some-odd-dollar price tag. When you're pushing through those first months of new motherhood, its hard to remind yourself you are not, in fact, a glorified cow. Knowing you have something to look forward to, knowing that if you just hold on for two more days there is a something other to do than go to the grocery store, feed the baby, and stare at the wall, can get you through some tough spots.

I also partially credit going to yoga with helping my child conquer her fear of strangers. She got to see other adults in a calm and quiet environment-as opposed to what usually happens-somebody or another trying to take her from her mother, making googly faces inches from her own, all the while screaming about how cute she is. That's a lot to handle and I've never understood why people were surprised when the baby would recoil in terror. I think class helped with teaching our child not all people are asshats.

There were a couple of things my instructor said that made a lot of sense. I was able to bring a few lovely one liners home. The one that I really meditate on is the action of trying to give from an empty basket. The gentle reminder that its okay to take time, just for me, has been exceptionally beneficial. I try to remember that metaphor when I feel myself overextending or trying to take on too much.

I also got a little bit of exercise and now know just how out of shape my abs are.

They are very out of shape.

Moving on to...

The Negative
As opposed to the birthing classes, what with the hand outs, well planned lessons, and confident teacher, this instructor seemed to be making things up as she went along. She kept trying to give us these calm, focused meditations, these insightful little tidbits of wisdom as we were doing our mat work... only they were kinda based on the toys I'd brought for my baby to play with. One day she started talking about butterflies and cocoons, citing the Eric Carle book, The Hungry Caterpillar. I know this book very well, mostly because my child has both a stuffed caterpillar and stuffed butterfly from said book

...which we bring to yoga to keep her amused...

...which she was chewing on as this woman was going on and on about our metamorphoses.

She also had everyone try to do infant massage on our last day, which left the outfit my baby was wearing smeared with oil, which doesn't really come out in the wash. Don't get me wrong, she was a very nice woman, I just don't know how experienced she is, or well thought out the actual classes were. This leads me to my next point.

The schedule that the class was supposed to follow was, apparently, more of just a suggestion than an ACTUAL time line for when we were to meet. I was supposed to be done with yoga the first week of August but my instructor had to cancel so often it was pushed back four weeks... right into the middle of my vacation. To be fair, the studio would have let me make up two of the classes I missed with either the alternative baby class on Thursday or any adult class I'd like. And that's very nice... but I didn't sign up for the Thursday class and I don't have the time to take a class without my daughter... that's why I took the Saturday baby class. Another scheduling conflict arose when I showed up for class... only to be informed that there was no class that day. My instructor had canceled it the week before (I was absent) and no one had bothered to call me.

Yoga Child is a great studio. The owner is wonderful, the staff is warm and helpful, and they're are right next to South Street Whole Foods so parking is free. I wanted to write a happier review of my experience, but this is the mucky hand I was dealt. Maybe Thursday's class is better; maybe we just stumbled into rough cycle of the program. It's possible, and I sincerely hope that's the case. Yoga Child deserves nothing but great reviews and I'll be hoping to get lots of email citing the awesome experience other people had in the same class. It's also important to note that you are welcome to go and observe the class for ten dollar fee, so if this article has made you think twice, we urge you to check it out for yourself.