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| - Let it be known...I'm a dude.
I'm not a mom, but a dad, and yes, I did postpartum yoga and pilates classes through Baby & Me at the Miles Nadal Fitness Centre.
Was I the only male? You betcha...but, I had a baby with me which is really all that mattered.
What is Baby and Me Fitness? They are both a studio and almost a sub-contractor, with a dedicated studio at Bloor/Avenue, and classes operating at a number of locations around the city at various facilities.
FACILITIES
Baby and Me classes predominantly operate out of rented facilities (though they do have a newly opened dedicated facility at Bloor/Avenue), which means, you can't expect a zen, spa-like experience which would be available at pre/post-natal classes operated out of dedicated holistic spas, and actual yoga studios.
You can expect classes to operate in carpeted multi-purpose rooms, possibly wood floored dance studios or the like.
At the Miles Nadal JCC location, classes were held in either one of their aerobics fitness rooms in the basement, or a multi-purpose room on the second floor.
LOCATION
With the facility in mind, and with kid(s) in tow, you will likely choose your location by virtue of convenience to your day rather than yogic ambiance.
Bloor and Spadina rocks.
If you are a parent out with child, you are looking at easy ways to occupy your day, and Bloor and Spadina offers this.
TTC subway access? Yes
Parking? Yes (lots of street and pay lots)
Post-yoga shopping? Yes (it's Bloor Street)
Pre-yoga coffee? Yes (Second Cup in the building)
Post-yoga entertainment? Yes. Lots of sushi and other stroller friendly dining along Bloor
Great craving fix? Yes. Greg's ice-cream is in da house!!!
The building is fairly stroller friendly with ramps, automatic doors, elevators, stroller parking, etc
CLASS EXPERIENCE
Let's face it. You're likely feeding, soothing, or entertaining your child, 99% of your waking hours. You're not really looking for a workout are you?
If you are...get child care, and go to a real class, at a real studio.
If that is not an option, and you are looking at connecting with a community of active, like-minded parents, and getting in at least a FEW MINUTES of "Me Me Me" time...then this is the ticket.
You generally purchase classes by calling their number ahead of time, and that gets you added to an attendance list...it's not really a drop-in kind of thing...as you buy classes by consecutive sessions.
The classes for the most part, are geared towards moms who are 6 weeks post-delivery and onwards. In my classes, we had people with kids in the 2-12 month range.
This age, ability and temperament range means, in any given class at any given second, you can expect:
- lovely, sleeping children
- lovely, cooing, children
- lovely, feeding children
- playful, active rollers and crawlers
- occasional smelly diapers in need of changing
- screaming banshees and frustrated parents
If this will affect your Savasana or drishti focus...maybe this is not the environment for you. If you can roll with the good and the bad and can laugh at both, it can be quite entertaining.
My average in a class, was between 50-70% yoga, and 30-50% feeding, changing, soothing, playing with child.
Of the 50-70% yoga, 25% of it was yoga modified to incorporate baby in the practice (as ballast, medicine ball, etc), which can be both very enjoyable for child, and effective for resistance training.
A brief discussion was also opened at the end of class to talk about general parenting issues, questions or concerns which was great to share experiences or look for options for trying moments you might be having at home.
INSTRUCTORS
Although there were favourite instructors, all the instructors I had were quite decent, with a real awareness of the varying fitness levels present and the special needs for a group of new moms. They also laughed at my inability to do kegel exercises.
CLASS DIFFICULTY
Classes are not overly difficult...so great if you are looking at "trying" yoga or pilates...and safe for rolling and crawling babies because you don't have to worry about anybody falling on your child while getting into Urdvha Kukkutasana or kicking them across the room doing an Ashtanga vinyasa jump-through.
This is also great if you are a nursing new mom who is both tired from lack of sleep, and tired from nursing.
Classes have introduced various styles of yoga from Ashtanga, to Bikram style, yin, Kundalini, etc.
CONCLUSION
I thought the classes were great for what they were. More importantly, the classes were a great excuse to get out of the house, try something different with your child, and have a really pleasant social experience afterwards..of course YMMV depending on the group at any given time.
Be prepared to laugh in class, at the ridiculousness of changing a diaper or cleaning up spit-up during Savasana.
My score is based both on the classes and the location.
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