Gentle Baby Massage classes are now running at the Move Yoga Studio in Pontyclun, South Wales. The next course will run in September 2025. Visit the Move Yoga Studio website for booking information. Find out more about your teacher, Lynnea, here.
Why massage your baby?
Baby massage is the most natural and loving way to communicate with your baby before they are able to talk. In today’s busy world full of modern distractions, mobile phones, tablets and screens, baby massage reminds us to keep things simple for our tiny babies as they grow. Eye contact and soothing, positive touch is the best method of supporting the natural development of your baby’s senses at this young age and helps you engage with your baby during their first year of life. You can practice baby massage at home from birth but we invite parents and babies to classes from 8 weeks old.
Our 5-week courses offer you the time and space to connect with your baby through the gentle art of massage, as recommended by the Guild of Infant and Child Massage. In a peaceful, nurturing environment, you and your baby will experience the benefits of skin-to-skin touch, surrounded by soft music and a cosy atmosphere. Using organic sunflower oil (provided), you’ll be guided through a series gentle techniques designed to heal, support, and soothe your baby. With songs, rhymes, and mindful practice, we offer a safe, comfortable space for you to make memories with your new baby that will last a lifetime. By the third class, you’ll feel confident to perform the full routine at home before naps and bedtimes; a wonderful way to add baby massage into your daily routine.
The benefits of massaging your baby are endless. Massage encourages brain development by stimulating the circulatory and nervous systems. Tummy massage helps with colic and digestive problems like reflux and constipation. Facial massage will relieve pain from teething and drain mucus during cold and flu season. But best of all, baby massage releases all those ‘feel good’ happy hormones in both mum/dad and baby, relaxing you both and creating a beautiful moment for bonding.
Baby massage is also a great way to get Dad’s spending some quality one-to-one time with their baby, so if your husband/partner or even baby’s Grandparents would like to join in, they are always welcome.
Your baby will ‘graduate’ from Baby Massage to Baby Yoga when they are in need of more stimulation and active movements, sometime between 4-6 months of age.
Baby massage classes
Weekly for babies from 8 weeks old until active crawlers. Join a local class or get in touch for 1-to-1 classes at home.
- Receive colourful handouts with step-by-step guide to the baby massage routine, lyrics to songs and more
- 100ml easy pump bottle of organic sunflower seed oil with lavender and roman chamomile essential oils (or unscented)
- Baby massage mats provided during class
- What to bring:
- baby change mat (travel size)
- 2 medium sized towels or 2 large flat reusable nappies
- A bottle of water for yourself
- A clean muslin cloth, nappies and any other baby needs
- If you are not breastfeeding, please bring formula for your baby to drink after the session as massage makes your baby thirsty.
***Please allow 72 hours after infant injections before returning to class.***
Classes run in 5 week blocks.
We keep classes small and intimate, limited to 8 babies per class.
Baby yoga classes
Weekly for babies from 4 months old until active movers. Local classes starting soon.
- Receive a pack of information including lyrics to all songs
- Baby yoga mats provided
- What to bring:
- baby change mat (travel size)
- 1 medium sized towel
- A bottle of water for yourself
- Baby dressed in flexible, soft clothing
- Nappies and any other baby needs
- If you are not breastfeeding, please bring formula for your baby to drink after the session as yoga makes your baby thirsty.
Classes run in 5 week blocks.
We keep classes small and intimate, limited to 8 babies per class.
What is baby yoga?
Baby yoga classes are for parents with babies aged 4 months to active movers (around 10-15 months depending). Like with adult yoga classes, baby yoga begins with a gentle warm up including breathing exercises and light massage. Classes are let mostly seated on comfortable mats, working through different stretches, poses and baby-holds, using singsongs and rhymes to guide each movement and pose, ensuring your baby is attentive and enjoying every moment. You’ll learn playful alternative ways to hold, swing and move with your baby bringing song, rhythm and rhyme to each flow. We wind down our classes with a ‘cool-down’ guided relaxation, known to yogis as ‘Savasana’. Parents will have a chance to participate in some gentle ‘post-natal’ yoga poses too; we will practice simple yoga positions like ‘tree’ pose and ‘cat and cow’ pose. You and your baby will learn ‘yogi breathing’ techniques that can be used outside of class too.
Our babies are born with underdeveloped nervous systems which is why they are unable to sit, crawl or walk from birth. The development of early ‘brain to body’ nerve cell connections are vital to support our confident little movers as they grow. Baby yoga is a fun and playful way to stimulate your baby’s sensory nervous system and encourage the healthy development of your child’s vestibular nervous system, needed for balancing activities like crawling, walking, throwing a ball and eventually, riding a bike!
Babies are naturally flexible from birth! Baby yoga is the perfect way to help your baby maintain healthy flexibility and develop dexterity of the limbs, necessary for participation in active sports and/or dance when older.
Many mums return each week commenting on how well their babies sleep after class and how their baby’s sleep patterns have improved when they add gentle yoga movements to their daily bedtime routine.