2008/04/17 - Class Note – Ups & Downs

Had three new moms came to a trial class in baby yoga.  These moms came from rather far away: Mommy Rene and Baby Ethan from Tao-Yuan, Mommy Joyce and Baby Yun also came from Tao-Yaun, and Baby Patty and mommy came from Hsian-Chiu.  I was very touched to see these moms traveling so far to explore their children to something different.  Though, they are unlikely to register for the class given the distance, I am still happy that they were able to get a taste of it.

The highlight of the trial trio was Baby Ethan.  Baby Ethan was very active and uncooperative during the moves.  He was more interested in exploring and observing than participating.  During the class, his mother commented that baby yoga seems to be too quiet of an activity for him.  I explained to Mommy Rene that most kids today are overly stimulated and, though smarter and quicker to respond, sometimes have difficulty quieting down.  Given that the learning cycle is an alternation of stimulation and relaxation, children learn best when the active time for learning is followed by the quiet time for absorbing.  We hope to teach children how to relax – first through classical conditioning, then through self-regulation – with our yoga exercises.  I didn’t believe the mother took in and probably thought I was only making excuses.  However, during the relaxation period at the end of the class, Baby Ethan actually sat quietly against his mother’s bosom.  Mother Rene commented that she was impressed and said she guess this baby yoga exercise really works him out.  I was proud of the benefit demonstrated and how well Baby Ethan responded.

On the other hand, the low of the day was Baby Patty.  In the beginning of the class, Baby Patty was relatively quiet and played by herself, while exploring my doll.  She participated during the hip sequence, but started to fuss toward the end.  The mother thought Baby Patty was hungry and I offered to get her milk.  The mother declined, thinking that Baby Patty could hold till the end of the class.  The class did not end well for Baby Patty and the mother.  Both mother and baby were frustrated and the mother commented that the class was too long, though I tried to explain that our class is an alternation of baby doing yoga with mother’s help and baby resting while mother does the yoga.  I felt sorry that Baby Patty and her mother’s first introduction to baby yoga turned out so sour.  Such first impression was definitely damaging and they would probably not try this activity again for a long while.  Nonetheless, I still highly admire and respect Baby Patty’s mother for going such long way.  Coming from Hsing-Chiu for the 11am class means they had to leave the house by 9:30am.  Hopefully, our long-awaited certification program will output some instructors for the areas so interested mothers and babies do not need to travel far.