The Mantra of Mommy & Me

Most Angelenos are familiar with the sight of people filing into yoga studios, mat under arm or slung over the shoulder in a cozy carrying bag. Add strollers to the mix and you have the scene at JIVA Yoga Studio, where moms gather for Patti Asad’s Mommy & Me class’an hour and 15 minutes of strengthening and toning exercises that includes parent-and-child bonding through massage, yoga, singing and dancing. ‘We touch on every body part, plus we have time to connect with our babies,’ says Asad, 33, mother of 6-month-old Gabriella. A Palisades resident, Asad has been teaching prenatal yoga as well as adult classes since the studio opened on Sunset in January. She started Mommy & Me two months ago, after she realized she couldn’t bring Gabriella with her to any yoga classes. ‘I developed a sequence [of yoga postures] and found what worked for strengthening my body,’ she says. ‘And I thought, ‘I have to give this back to mommies’.’ Asad recommends that mothers take about six weeks to recuperate before starting the class, which focuses on strengthening the body parts affected during pregnancy and increasing flexibility. She teaches basic postures that strengthen the hips, abdominal muscles, arms, glutes and quads, as well as the chest, upper and lower back, since nursing and carrying a baby can put a lot of pressure on those areas. Babies also benefit from the class as mothers gently move their infants into certain postures that loosen the spine, back and shoulder areas, and help prepare them for crawling. ‘Babies are born yogis,’ says Asad, who earned her master’s degree in education from the University of Miami. ‘We work their bodies to keep them flexible.’ According to Asad, a mother’s touch can provide her child with a healing energy. For this reason, at the beginning of class, moms rub their hands together to create heat and then place their palms on their babies’ backs to make a connection. ‘Your baby’s going to be your guide,’ Asad tells the 11 moms and one dad in her class on a recent morning. ‘Your baby’s going to tell you if you should be slowing down or speeding up your pace.’ As the parents begin on their hands and knees in cat’s tilt, alternately arching their backs and lifting their chests while they inhale and exhale, the babies lie on their backs on mats or blankets, watching them. Some moms take a break to hold or nurse their babies. ‘If they are fussy or need to eat, it’s okay, because everyone’s in the same situation,’ says Palisadian Jennifer Munakash, who took Asad’s prenatal yoga class and then started Mommy & Me with her son, Oliver, when he was about 8 weeks old. ‘Oliver loves the music and he loves looking at other babies.’ For parents like Munakash, Mommy & Me yoga is important because ‘I don’t have any help [to take care of Oliver] so it’s nice to get out and exercise and meet other mothers.’ Throughout the class, Asad plays a mix of songs, from the Beatles’ ‘Across the Universe’ and John Lennon’s ‘Beautiful Boy’ to music by Bob Marley and Ben Harper. Her soothing voice complements the music as she instructs parents on how to perform the various postures, and then walks around the room holding some of the babies so the moms can participate. ‘Patti’s amazing,’ says another Palisades mom, Eve Gottesman, who comes to the class with her 6-month-old son, Matthew. ‘She has a child the same age [as mine] and relates so well because she’s right in it.’ The children, who range in age from 6 weeks to a year, visibly enjoy watching their parents move into the different postures, and are especially captivated when the moms are on one knee with their arms raised to the ceiling, stretching their bones and abdominal muscles. Some of the children make squeaking and squealing sounds while others just stare quietly in awe. ‘Your babies are fascinated watching you right now because light is coming off your arms and fingers,’ says Asad, who wears a tank top with a photo of daughter Gabriella on the front. Later, she explains that ‘yoga teaches us we have a body of lights…there is a deeper light within us, and when we start to breathe and to dance, babies see that light.’ Much of Asad’s Mommy & Me yoga work was inspired by a book called ‘Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful’ by Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, co-founder and director of Golden Bridge Yoga Center in Los Angeles. Asad has also taken classes with Gurmukh, who writes in her book, ‘Children born now are on the vanguard of the Age of Aquarius. Sometimes called ‘indigo babies’ for the deep blue of the aura they are said to radiate, these children are more aware and present an evolution in spiritual consciousness…Let our mission as parents be to help them reach their potential greatness.’ Asad says that ‘giving babies the gift of yoga is honoring that higher consciousness.’ The second part of her class is devoted mainly to the children, who, by this time, appear to be more active. ‘Let’s take advantage of our babies being more awake right now and sing with them,’ says Asad, who explains that ‘babies respond to and are stimulated by singing, dancing and moving.’ For the first song, the popular ‘Wheels on the Bus,’ parents place their hands on their babies’ thighs and move their legs together in a circular motion while they sing. Then, they use their legs to lifts their bottoms up and down, and from side to side. During ‘Open, Shut Them,’ moms clap their babies’ feet together and crawl their fingers up their babies’ chest. ‘Skin-on-skin contact is so important for you and your babies,’ Asad reminds the class. She teaches the parents how to use their thumbs to massage pressure points on the bottoms of their children’s feet. ‘You’re stimulating different nerve endings in the body,’ she tell them as they touch the tiny arches, heels and toe pads. While the children are lying on their backs, parents bring their babies’ toes to their noses, and then turn them on their tummies to do ‘heels to tush.’ Massaging their kids from spine to toes, the parents sing ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider.’ ‘Mommy’s not that flexible,’ says Kimberley Goldman, who comes to Mommy & Me with her 4-month-old son, Nathaniel. ‘This is good for flexibility and a lot of the exercises we do in class, you can do with your baby at home.’ The four-year Palisades resident also says she was ‘dying for a class in the vicinity.’ After hearing about the class, Goldman’s neighbor, Gabrielle Brumbach, started bringing her daughter, Sydney. ‘It’s been my introduction to yoga,’ says Brumbach, who enjoys ‘getting out of the house with Sydney, getting a workout in and seeing different people and babies.’ As Asad lowers the lights, she instructs the group to stand up with their babies and form a circle. ‘This is your dance party with your baby,’ she says. ‘Let them see other babies.’ After some free dancing, the parents bend their knees and drop to a squatting position with their children in their arms, and then stand up, lifting their babies in the air. One-year-old Bella Popp likes the music and dancing best, though mom Eva says, ‘It seems like I should’ve brought her six months ago,’ noticing that Bella was more eager to play than the other, younger kids in the class who aren’t standing yet. At the end of the class, parents lie down with their babies, some of them nursing. Asad instructs moms to close their eyes to calm their nervous systems, and breathe with their babies. ‘Now matter how busy your schedule is, it’s important to lie down with your babies, nurse them and connect with them,’ she says. ‘Let go of tiredness, frustration and depletion. Breathe in vitality.’ They finish the class by singing ‘The Long Time Sunshine’ a soft, sweet Kundalini yoga song that quiets the babies. Patti and her husband, William, who is also an instructor at JIVA, married three years ago at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine. Patti taught kindergarten at Marquez Charter Elementary School before she and William helped open and head up the yoga instruction at JIVA. Mommy & Me yoga is held Fridays at 11:30 a.m. at JIVA Yoga Studio, 15327 Sunset. Dads are also welcome. The class costs $15. Contact: 454-7000 or go to www.jivayoga.com.