Club Business International Magazine
October 2004

From Downward Dog to Crawling to Triathlons?
Experts debate the utility of yoga for babies, but students gurgle their approval

While the conventional wisdom holds that babies must learn to crawl before they can walk, a new exercise discipline is teaching babies the downward dog before they’ve learned to crawl. The experts seem divided in their opinions about yoga instruction for babies, but some contend that it can improve motor skills, increase parent/bonding, and, conceivably, help set the stage for a life of good health.

Helen Garabedian, who teaches Itsy Bitsy Yoga classes to babies as young as three weeks old in Marlborough, Massachusetts, observes that yoga-like moves occur naturally during a child’s early development. Christine Roberts, of Nurturing Pathways, in Kirkland, Washington, points out that classes that use music and props help babies focus, improving their eye tracking and coordination.

One convert to the notion is Kate, the mother of a seven-week-old baby “athlete” who takes part in yoga classes in the U.K. where the trend has caught on. “You do things like bend their legs, push their knees up to their chests and make hip circles, or touch the foot on one leg to the opposite hand.” She told the BBC News.

Some medical experts, however, suggest that such classes do little to make pint-sized students physically fit because very young children aren’t capable of the continuous exercise that’s required to improve flexibility, strength, and cardiovascular health. But with nearly one-third of children and adolescents ages 6-19 overweight or obese, baby yoga might also be the first downward-dog step on the path to a healthy lifestyle.