During my pregnancy with our baby boy Reid, I was able to practice prenatal yoga weekly at a local yoga studio, and it made such a huge difference in how my mind & body felt during those nine months. Yoga has so many benefits for expecting and postpartum moms, so I knew that I wanted to continue practicing yoga after I gave birth. Not too much of a task, right? A weekly hour-long yoga class at the yoga studio shouldn’t be too much of an issue…then reality hit! It was not as easy as I had thought it would be to leave the house sans baby. My son has proved to be the kind of baby that loves two things: 1) to eat and 2) to be held. While I adore this stage and know that it won’t last forever, it makes things like my beloved weekly yoga class become a distant memory.
When I was approached with the opportunity to try a yoga session with Om Mom Yoga, a fully customizable yoga session via Skype, I was ecstatic! Om Mom Yoga was founded by Kim Nixon, a yoga enthusiast who found it difficult to attend classes after baby arrived. Realizing that other new and expecting moms must feel the need for some sort of a release, Kim started OMY to help them steal back a bit of personal time without having to make a trip to the local yoga studio. What better way to spend that time than focusing on your body and mind?
I loved the way that yoga made me feel during my pregnancy and wanted to reap the benefits of yoga during the postpartum stage, but I had no idea how I would schedule it around nursing babies, nap times and everything else that adding another child to the family brings. Om Mom Yoga brings yoga to you so you can spend an hour focusing on you — without having to leave your house!
Om Mom Yoga supports your pregnancy & postpartum commitment to wellness. If we want to be good mamas to our children, we need to make sure that we squeeze in a bit of me time for our sanity! With an hour-long Om Mom session, you can take some time to breathe, to regroup, recharge, and focus on restoring your body, mind and soul. I love the refreshed and re-energized feeling I get after a good yoga session, and I was so thrilled that I could experience that with trained yoga instructors without having to step foot outside.
How it works.
Ready to schedule a session? On the Om Mom website you’ll see three selections under the Schedule A Session tab. You can choose from one hour of prenatal yoga, one hour of postnatal yoga, or one hour of standard yoga instruction. All moms need some time to breathe, not just pregnant or new moms! Choose which service fits you at the time, and you’ll be taken to a page that displays a calendar with different times to choose from. Select the day and time you wish to do your yoga session, and you’ll then be taken to a page where you can fill out your personal information, current physical status (any injuries, chronic illnesses, etc.), and level of yoga that you practice. From there, your session will be booked and you can discuss further with your instructor what exactly you need from your yoga session! I was booked with Michelle, one of the several yoga instructors who teach for Om Mom Yoga, and was able to discuss how I had been feeling and what I wanted to work on during my yoga session. I opted for a restorative session with a bit of abdominal work.
Setting up.
For best results with Om Mom, you’ll need a laptop computer that you can place on the floor, and a yoga mat. You may also use a desktop computer, but you’ll just need to make sure you can angle your computer so the camera can see your yoga mat. Clear a space so that you have enough room to set up your mat about ten paces away from your computer (it might be helpful to place your laptop on a pillow so the camera can get the best view of your mat), and lay your mat so the long side is facing the computer. Next, you’ll log into Skype (be sure that Om Mom Yoga has been added to your contacts) and do a mirror image to make sure that you can see the mat and that your microphone is working properly. Your Om Mom instructor will video call you on Skype, and you’re ready to start your session!
I really enjoyed my yoga session with Michelle. I was a bit concerned about how well I would be able to do the class without an instructor being right in the room with me, but Michelle did an amazing job of describing each pose and pointing out what I needed to improve. The quality of the session was equal to any yoga class I have taken in a studio (dare I say it was more enjoyable because I was in the comfort of my own home!). She took into account my wishes for a restorative session and what areas I wanted to work on specifically, and even though I had to end the class a little early due to a crying baby, I still felt relaxed and rejuvenated!
Om Mom Yoga is the perfect way for busy expecting and new moms (or not-so-new moms!) to fit in a bit of me time when they need it most. I am a big advocate of mothers taking time for themselves — and taking a moment to breathe with Om Mom Yoga is the perfect way to spend your “me time!”
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