Francoise Freedman’s Baby Yoga and Massage

Baby Yoga (for two months – one year old infants) and SMART Yoga (for one to four years old children) is a holistic concept developed in the 80s by Francoise Barbira Freedman, a medical anthropologist at the University of Cambridge.

Francoise Barbira Freedman is the founder of Birthlight™ and the foremost Western specialist of yoga for babies. She teaches Baby Yoga to parents and their children in London and Cambridge and trains instructors in specialized yoga centres in Europe, the USA and Canada.

Francoise was inspired to create programs for babies not only by yoga but also by her experience of long-term fieldwork studies of forest Indians’ customs in Peruvian Amazonia. Her research of Amazonia inhabitants’ approach to parenting made her a universally acclaimed scientist. Francoise Freedman has four children who gave her inspiration for developing programs permeated with love.

Francoise Freedman is a member of a number of prestigious international organizations. She is a Board member of the European Yoga Federation Council, of Birthing the Future Organization (USA), of the Guild of Infant Massage and Touch Therapies. She is regularly invited to lecture on using yoga in obstetrics (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Research Centre of Obstetrics, Obstetricians’ Alliance) and to teach courses for British doctors and obstetricians*.

In the hectic modern world children need our firmest support that shall establish a solid foundation for their wellbeing during the entire life. Specially developed programs for mothers, fathers and babies (0-4 years) include baby yoga and infant massage for muscle tone correction and best development. Birthlight™ Yoga for parents and babies is a pair practice that strengthens your emotional and psychological bond with the baby, since this bond is going to be an important foundation of your communication with your child in the future. Yoga classes let parents or guardians to concentrate fully on their baby. During our classes, in addition to joyful moments, you and your baby will be able to fully enjoy visual and tactile communication. Baby Yoga and SMART Yoga contribute to harmonious development of the baby’s movements and social skills.

A combination of simple movements and touches is the best development booster that can be offered to babies from the moment they are born. This stimulating effect is created via mutual involvement of the parent and the baby in the learning process in the rhythm that the baby is capable of perceiving. Similarly to yoga asanas contributing to deep relaxation for adults, babies feel happier and sleep better. Practicing yoga together will also help mothers to get back into shape after delivery, while providing a pleasant and useful quality time with their babies!

Nowadays, amidst all the fuss of life, children require assistance in creating the wellbeing basis to support them as they grow up. Birthlight™ Yoga offers babies and parents a multi-faceted resource for fighting stress effectively and learning how to relax.

At Birthlight™ babies are treated with a lot of love and any complex movement turns into a safe game that is fun to play endlessly, again and again.