Thursday, March 27, 2008

Downward Facing Mom

MeiMei and I made our debut at a Mommy and Me class this week -- yoga. MeiMei was a little uncertain. Mommy was a bit abashed among the lithe, 30ish moms who wore the right clothes and could perform all the moves.

MeiMei was the tiniest, and probably the youngest, little yogini in the sunny room.

She didn't cry, but she seemed a little stressed, and I wondered if I was doing the right thing by bringing her to a group class. She loved it when stringy Dayglo balls came out for one stretch and red balloons for another. When I asked her to take the balloon back to the teacher for cleanup, she stepped right up.

When the moms climbed up the wall backwards, feet first, I busied myself trying to position MeiMei, who shook her head vigorously until we moved to the next pose. Neither of us tried to step sideways through the hula hoop.

She liked the music, but looked askance at the kids who let their moms roll them up in the mat and then unroll them, but she made a stab at rolling up a mat on her own and then tried to carry it across to the teacher. It was such a joy to watch her opening up that I was able to forget my own performance anxiety -- pretty much.

And when we got home, we talked to JieJie, who gleefully volunteered to show MeiMei tree pose and bridge and to climb up the wall with her feet. And when JieJie effortlessly moved into the poses, MeiMei followed, with excellent form.

I guess we'll go back next week.

1 comment:

  1. hi there! long time, no post/no response!

    don't give up on yoga. it really isn't about how well you do it or about perfection, but as long as you try.

    hang in there!

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