The Baby Show in Ottawa!

When I was pregnant with my first, I was so scared about labour and birth that I neglected to do any kind of preparation for life with a baby. I didn't read any parenting books, I didn't visit any baby shows and I certainly didn't research the available resources for new parents here in our city. So it's no wonder that parenting hit me like a Mack truck :) Now as a doula, I spend a lot of time with my clients talking about what happens after the baby arrives - breastfeeeding, postpartum recovery, sleep issues, and building a relationship with your baby (and keeping the relationship with your partner alive!!)

Luckily here in Ottawa we have SO many wonderful businesses and organizations dedicated to making life with a baby FUN. Many of these people will be at the upcoming Baby Show here in Ottawa, May 3rd and 4th at the Ottawa Convention Centre. If you are expecting a baby OR raising a young family, I would definitely recommend you check it out!

Here are just a few of my favourite businesses you'll find at the show:

Anna Belanger and Associates - with three clinics around Ottawa, there's no excuse not to try a massage with this fantastic local business!

Little Lotus Yoga - with class options for adults and children of all ages! Amanda will be doing a prenatal yoga demonstration on the main stage.

Dr. Alexis Reid with Eco Chic Movement has created her own skin care line, and has great tips for dealing with pregnancy discomforts. Plus, she works at the Ottawa Integrative Health Centre, with a team of fantastic Naturopathic doctors!

Andrea Strang with Kinder Sleep - we all need sleep, right? Sometimes babies don't agree! Andrea offers essential support and information for implementing gentle sleep methods.

There will also be a TON of amazing vendors set up to answer your questions about their products or services. And for the kiddos, Barney will be there, along with a meet and greet with Pinkalicious.

Head on over and get your tickets now! Use the code ONEWEEK for $2 off your tickets.

Yoga for kids

by Jason My 3 year old daughter enjoys going out with us and trying different activities. So when I was invited to the Moksha Yoga Orleans Grand Opening Celebration  and I heard they would be offering Kids Yoga, I thought of her right away. She already enjoys doing gymnastics once a week at Starr Gymnastics, so I figured yoga would be no different. I told her that we were going to a party, she was obviously excited to hear that, and that she would be doing some yoga at this party. She didn’t quite know what yoga was all about, but just knowing that it would be at a party was good enough for her.

To my surprise, there must have been 30 kids with their parents in the room. We started out with poses in standing, such as the tree pose, chair pose, and warrior pose 1 and 2.  I was quite surprised that my daughter was not only able to do the poses, but was able to hold them for an extended length of time. The poses then changed to positions in sitting. My daughter and I shared a number of smiles as we were holding the various poses. This signaled that she was having a great time.

Her favorite part of the entire session was when we started doing animal poses. The staff would ask the kids for their favorite animals, and we would then get into the pose and make the sounds for each animal. We quickly went through some of the most common animal poses, such as the dog, cat, monkey, and lion. We had fun during this part of the session and the noise was so thunderous as everyone was roaring loudly like a lion; the subsequent echoing of everyone’s participation surprised my daughter.

We finished with a nice cool down to relax from all the excitement. After 20 minutes of yoga, the session came to an end. I told my daughter that the yoga was done and that we would go find mom. She informed me that she wanted to do it again and actually had a disappointed look on her face. It’s at that point that I knew she really enjoyed the activity we did together.

Typically, Moksha Yoga Orleans doesn’t offer a kids yoga class, they did it as a special feature for the grand opening celebration. However, a friend of mine owns Little Lotus Yoga, and they provide yoga programs with the entire family in mind. They offer classes for children and adults of all ages and levels. If you haven’t done yoga with your child yet, it is an activity that I would strongly suggest doing together. Yoga is not only a good way to unwind and relax together, but also share a few smiles.

Jason is the father of Emilie, age 3 and Sophie, age 1. He's a Physiotherapist and Manager of the Orleans Family Physiotherapy Centre . You can find him on Twitter @JasonBPT or read his blog at Physio Made Easy.