Baby Massage & Baby Yoga Surrey

Baby Massage London
Baby Massage Baby Yoga

Baby Massage and Baby Yoga classes in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey

I am Dr. Rita O’Flynn and I can introduce you and your baby to the wonderful experience that is baby massage and baby yoga.

In my baby massage classes, held at my home in Walton-on Thames, Surrey, I will teach you massage techniques which are simple to learn yet incredibly powerful, nurturing and comforting to your baby. Baby massage stimulates your baby’s muscles, increasing blood flow, invigorating and cleansing the body. It can relieve the symptoms of colic, constipation and teething, induce sleep, and aid digestion. Baby massage also provides you with a unique way to spend time and bond with your baby in those precious early days.

Baby Massage Surrey
Baby Yoga Surrey
As your baby becomes physically stronger, my baby yoga classes will teach you how to safely perform stretches and actions that are enormous fun, both for your baby and for you. Baby yoga will give you the confidence to truly interact with your baby in a way that you could not have imagined. Your playtime will be more exciting and you will be helping your baby’s physical and mental development.

In all my sessions I include gentle exercises to stengthen and tone your body as well. To help you get back to your pre-pregnancy level of fitness, I will teach you specific exercises to strengthen your stomach muscles as well as showing you how to build your arm muscles as your baby grows. If you want something a little more active, I also run postnatal exercise classes or I could tailor a personal training plan just for you.

Over the last ten years it has been my privilege to witness the delight that both mums and dads have experienced with their babies. I thoroughly recommend that you consider baby massage and baby yoga. You will not regret it. In years to come it is one of those special things that you will remember having done with your baby and you may even enjoy doing with your grandchildren!

Baby Massage

Baby massage has been practiced in parts of Africa and Asia for centuries, but it is only over the last three decades that it has really come to the West.

Baby massage involves touching, stroking, rubbing, squeezing and tapping, all of which your baby will find extremely relaxing and soothing. The movements are all easy to learn and will be introduced gradually throughout the classes.

We will also include a section on reflexology. Reflexology points are exactly the same on baby feet as for adults, but of course the points can be a little harder to find on such a small foot. I will teach you a foot massage to help you ease your baby through colds and teething.

BMBY Dr Rita O'Flynn
The first and most powerful massage your baby will ever encounter is birth itself. Nature provides this pressure on the body to kick-start the major organs, preparing your baby for life outside the womb. Baby massage is a way for you to continue this stimulation, albeit in a less truamatic way!

The muscles within your baby’s body have been lying dormant during pregnancy and, during the first few weeks, they have to learn to do their job of supporting your baby and allowing movement.

I am sure you can recall occasions when, not having exercised for a while, you decide to have a bit of a workout. The next day your muscles feel fatigued or may even ache if you worked particularly hard. I think this is what a baby goes through repeatedly over the first few months of life. Each day they work harder than the previous one and their muscles might feel tired and may even ache. Baby massage is incredibly beneficial during this period to encourage these muscles to relax and to allow your baby to develop to their maximum potential.

Your baby may not appear to be doing much during their first few weeks at home. While they seem to do little more than eat and sleep, then eat and sleep again, your baby is growing at the fastest rate they will ever experience. Babies grow while they sleep and this is part of the reason for the huge amounts of sleep observed in the early days. During this time there is very little you can do with your baby and, to be quite honest, they are not up to much. However, one thing you can do in the comfort of your own home is baby massage. It is wonderful to learn and will be a skill you will keep forever and be able to carry out on any future babies you may have.

When to start? You can practice baby massage from birth and continue until your baby is crawling. Even if they love it, at this point investigating the world is more important and they will not keep still for you to massage. After a couple of months, or just as your baby is showing signs of head control, you may consider baby yoga.

Baby Massage Weybridge
Baby Massage Surrey

Baby Yoga

As your baby gets older and becomes physically stronger, they will be ready for baby yoga. This is normally at about 10-12 weeks, just as they are showing signs of head control.

In a fun and lively atmosphere, with lots of laughter, you will learn moves and actions to encourage your baby to roll and then to sit up and support themselves. Many of the actions are carried out in conjunction with nursery rhymes and songs, so if you are a first time mum and your memory of these songs is rather rusty, you can learn them all over again, and maybe a few new ones too!

Do not panic, we will not be doing anything extreme like “planks” or the “tree pose”, but I will show you lots of positions and stretches to encourage your baby’s body to open out. Their body is no longer folding into a foetal position; all the muscles are now elongating and strengthening. They are doing a lot of hard work! During this time baby yoga is particularly advantageous as it helps to build up these muscles and relieve any stiffness or aching that baby might experience.

Baby yoga will also give you the confidence to truly interact with your baby in a way that you could not have imagined. Your playtime will be more exciting and you will be helping your baby’s physical and mental development.

Babies Yoga Massage Classes
“I started baby massage and yoga with my daughter when she was 12 weeks old! We both find the classes relaxing and energetic with great focus on both mother and baby. The moves and songs are simple and easy to follow so you can practice at home or out. Many of the positions help calm Isabelle when she’s upset and I am sure they have helped her flexibility, to sit up and roll over! We thoroughly enjoy Rita’s classes and this is our third course.”
Brinda and Isabelle

“I started baby massage classes with Rita when Toby was 15 weeks old and it has been great. After the class he is so relaxed, he always sleeps for at least two hours – and he still goes down for a full night’s sleep as well. At home, if I don’t have time to do a full massage session then I just do either his legs, torso or arms while he has some nappy-free time. We both enjoy this as it gives us some quiet time together during the day. I could not recommend these classes enough. I think we both get a lot out of it and I think that the tips that you get on dealing with wind, and easing other aches and pains is really useful and reassuring.”
Susan and Toby

“My son Jack (5 months) and I have been attending Rita’s classes for over 3 months. We both enjoyed the classes as they provided not only an ideal setting to bond and have fun, but also a great opportunity to spend time with other mums and babies. Jack leaves his yoga classes smiling and sleeps well afterwards which leaves mum smiling too.”
Anna and Jack

“After my first baby massage session with my 14 week old baby, his naps for the rest of that day were at least an hour each – the longest was two and a half hours – and this from a baby who rarely sleeps longer than 40 minutes. The next session ended with my baby falling asleep at the end and I managed to dress him and transfer him to the carseat without him waking – another first! It is definintely the most relaxed I have seen him and I wish I could have started weeks ago. I would absolutely recommend these classes to any parent, however old their baby is.”
Carol and Oliver

“I contacted Rita after a friend advised that her baby massage classes might help my baby with his constipation. Rita was really helpful over the phone and reassured me that it was quite normal for a baby not to poo for a couple of days! She told me a couple of things I could immediately try to help get things moving. I was amazed when I found that using certain pressure points can really bring quite immediate results! I signed up to the classes have just found them so beneficial. Thank you so much Rita.”
Catherine and Henry

Contact Details for Baby Massage and Baby Yoga, Walton-on-Thames

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