Oh Baby! Yoga for Two

We're absolutely thrilled to be adding prenatal & Mommy Baby Yoga to our fall schedule.

Prenatal and Postpartum periods are temporary, life-changing periods of our lives.  Take the time to connect with your growing babe by joining Dina's classes.  You are invited to create a spacious pregnancy as well as a special space to bond after baby joins us on the outside.  

If you're looking to create room to connect with baby #2 or 3, Recess offers childcare during fitness classes for toddlers and preschoolers too!  

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Blog post by Dina Herring

I love holding space for pregnant mamas.  It is such a sweet and special time in a woman's life.  A time that demands self-nurturing and embracing uncomfortable self-change.  It has a glorious finish line, but the journey is long and hard.  Luckily, yoga helps alot. 

During my pregnancies, I remember prenatal yoga to be very fulfilling.  I found comfort in meeting other women on the same uncomfortable journey.  I learned new shapes and movements to accommodate my changing body.  Breathing practices taught me to find my inner strength.  Mantras and calming visualizations empowered me to birth my babies with ease.

Looking back, prenatal yoga helped me develop a fierce confidence during pregnancy that served me well on the days I finally met my babies.  It was a deepening of my yoga practice in ways I never imagined.  I will forever cherish the tools I learned in prenatal yoga that continue to serve me on my journey into motherhood... and into life.

Dina's Classes This Fall

PRENATAL: Tuesdays & Fridays from 8-9

strength, focus, flexibility, gentle

Expect a combination of active, flowing poses as well as restorative poses to relax and re-energize. Simple breathing and meditation techniques will be introduced. This is the perfect time to foster mindfulness and deepen your awareness of your body. Designed to instill confidence in the innate wisdom of the female anatomy, and to increase peace and ease as you journey through this magical time. All levels welcome.

BABY AND ME:  Fridays 10-11

all levels, bonding, fun, soothing

Tailored for mothers who have recently given birth. Babies who are not yet crawling are welcome in the room with you. This is a time to come together with other mothers, bond with your baby, and sneak in a little yoga too. We invite you to feed, soothe, and change your baby as needed during class. All levels welcome.

 

About Dina.  

Fun Fact:  Dina was also one of Recess' first members when we opened back in 2008!  

Dina's passion for yoga began with her journey into motherhood over 10 years ago. It was with the tools of her pre-natal yoga and hypobirthing practices that she found so much joy in the empowering experience of homebirth (twice).

Since then, Dina has maintained a serious passion for childbirth. She's frequently offering her doula services to friends, family, and co-workers, and sharing her hypnosis techniques.

When Dina completed her 200-RYT at Giggling Lotus she realized the journey into motherhood, was much like this journey into yoga. It offers such a profound and empowering time in a woman's life. Such a beautiful softening and opening is made possible.

Deep relaxation and meditation continue to be pillars in Dina's personal practice, and this shows in her teaching style. She enjoys sharing the practice of yoga with everyone, from children to adults, in an honest and playful way, and she loves being a constant student of yoga.

In her pre- and post-natal class offerings, Dina hopes to create a space where moms can feel honored and empowered for the magical work they are doing.

Toddlers in the Kitchen - Sign up now

Can Toddlers Really Cook?!  

What do you actually do in Toddler Chefs? 

We really do cook!

Here's how each class is structured.  We begin each day with a "taste test." Every child smells, feels, tastes, and learns about each ingredient in the day's recipe.

Our chefs then take turns chopping, pouring, mixing, blending, rolling, mashing... all the steps needed to prepare the food for the stove or oven. Teacher Carissa usually handles the "cooking" portion of the class, while our little chefs take a break with blocks and puzzles.

When are food is ready, it's time for the best part - eating our creations!  

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Benefits of early exposure to cooking 

• In class, we chop, mix, blend, stir, crack, pour, and shake our ingredients together.  All of these activities develop hand/eye coordination and fine motor skills.  These are skills that are important for tying shoes, hand writing and typing.

• Exposure to new tastes, textures and smells.

• Especially with food, it's incredible to watch a toddler's openness to trying new things when they see other children trying new things too!  

• Children who play a key part of the cooking process have a boosted confidence and pride when enjoying the final product.   

• You'll gain strategies for involving your child in the cooking process at home (they really can do SO much!).

• You'll learn fun, simple, quick recipes to can recreate at home. 

• Lay the foundation for preschool and beyond through the classroom format of this class.  Your child will begin to practice listening to a teacher, sitting for extended periods of time, taking turns, practicing patience, interacting with peers... and more!

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Some of our favorite creations so far: 

• Pesto sauce with noodles
• Banana oat bars
• Funny face pizzas
• Fruity smoothies
• Hummus and crackers
• Quesadillas with guacamole
• Fried rice
• Veggie tostadas
• Lettuce wraps

AUGUST CLASSES BEGIN 8/7.  

Tiny Toddler Chefs, 18-30mo, Mondays at 9:30am,
and Toddler Chefs, 2.5-4yrs, Mondays at 4pm. 

Cost:  $100 for the 4 week series (includes play before/after each class)
Members SAVE up to 25%! 

Staying Healthy

Here at Recess, we often get inquiries about how we maintain a clean environment and what we do to prevent sickness from spreading. While we have a number of practices to keep our space germ-free, nothing is foolproof, especially around curious youngsters, so we rely on your help to keep everyone healthy.  Here is how:

WHAT WE DO TO KEEP OUR SPACE CLEAN 

• Daily Sanitation. Every single surface, every toy, every play structure, and each little toy in our space gets sanitized every single day. We use a combination of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to sanitize.  This non-toxic combination kills germs and keeps infants (who love to taste test toys) safe.
  Tip if you're cleaning toys at home and would like to use this method, note that for the sanitizing to work, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide must be sprayed from separate bottles, not from one combined bottle.
• "Mouthed Toy" bins. We have several designated bins throughout our space for mouthed toys--toys that our little ones have drooled/sucked on. Please keep an eye on the toys that will inevitably go into your infant/toddler's mouth, and before they go into the mouth of another kiddo, your job is to intercept the wet toy and place it in the bin.  Our job is to then sanitize that toy before it goes back into circulation.  
• Hand Wipes & disinfecting foam. Throughout our space, you'll find antibacterial hand wipes and foam dispensers. Kids love to get some "soap" out of the dispensers and rub rub rub until it disappears! Hand washing is the best way to prevent the spread of illness.  But when soap and water are not available, please use the wipes and sanitation foam provided.
• Friendly reminders. So many of our members (infants, pregnant women, grandparents, etc) have compromised immune systems and require a clean space! The Recess Team is diligent about asking families with children who visibly sick to stay home and get better.  But we count on YOU too.  We're not medical professionals and there is, of course, a grey area, around kids who experience cold-like symptoms for reasons other than a cold (ie: a runny nose when they're teething). So please be diligent when considering a visit to Recess about keeping sick kiddos at home. If your child isn't well enough to be at school, they aren't well enough to be at Recess.  You'll see this same information in emails/publications to clients too.  

HERE ARE SOME WAYS YOU CAN KEEP YOUR LITTLE ONE HEALTHY AND HAPPY

• Wash hands often. Before you eat, after you eat, after playing at the park, etc. Washing hands can be a tedious task, but find a fun way to make it an enjoyable activity! Sing songs, buy colorful soap, make funny faces in the mirror.
• Cover your cough! By aiming a cough/sneeze into your elbow, you help to slow the spread of germs. Sneezes and coughs into hands (or the air) are a surefire way to spread germs. Help your child identify where their elbow is and model this behavior by doing the same. For older kids, calling it a "Dracula" sneeze or cough is a fun way to get them to pretend to hide behind a cape, while keeping sneezes and coughs covered!  
• Practice healthy living. You are busy.  So are your children.  In spite of the daily shuffle, try to make sure your whole family prioritizes getting enough rest, nutritious foods, some activity, and enough fluids to keep those insides running smoothly and in tip top shape to ward off illnesses. City life with a young child can be a challenge, so being proactive and boosting your immune system is crucial. 

Sensory Friendly Playtime - It's Here!

For some children, particularly those with autism or sensory processing disorders, a visit to a space like Recess can be difficult or overstimulating.  Kids melt down.  Music, bright lights, and a lot of action are just too much to take in all at one time.  

This summer, we are thrilled to be launching a program that's been in the works for years, Recess for All.

Since we opened nearly 10 years ago, Recess' playspace, has been inclusive. We welcome children of all abilities, from all walks of life. We have welcomed ABA therapists with special professional memberships who meet their clients at Recess. We've had children on the Autism spectrum come for open play and join our Precess program.  Kiddos with a variety of other developmental delays, sensory processing disorders and physical disabilities have been able to thrive at Recess.  

But we've always known we could do more to meet the needs of all children. So last fall, we brought together a team of professionals (a Special Ed PhD, Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Pediatric PTs, parents, advocates, an infant mental health specialist & a recreational therapist) and launched our Recess For All initiative. Through this incredible brainstorm, were able to pull together expertise from a variety of disciplines and identify ways to make Recess more inclusive during open hours, and more useful for children with disabilities during times Recess is closed to the general public.

Our first sensory friendly playtime is July 26.  

With this new offering, our goal is to support families of children with autism or sensory processing disorders by providing these Sensory Friendly Playtimes events every month. Our first one will be July 26, 2017.  

We'll be limiting the number of families who can attend at any given time, turning down the lights and sounds, providing adaptive equipment for those who would like it and, if available, bringing in volunteer therapists to create a welcoming environment for families who wouldn’t be able to visit during regular hours.  

During these play times, we'd love your feedback.  Whether you are a parent or a professional, we want to know how we can create the most optimal environment for your child to play.  

Other goals under Recess for All:

• Increase Recess' library of resources for parents who are curious about their child's development, those who are just starting down the path of diagnosis and the families who are looking to connect with others in the same boat. If you have books or resources to donate, please get in touch.  If you are in need of resources, let us know!
• Build a lending library of various tools to be available for kids who need them.
• Starting in the fall, host support groups for parents.  
• Starting in the fall, provide childcare for children during designated times, while parents can take a break, work in the Workspace, or use the community room to chat with others, read a book, meditate. 

What else would you like to see?  How else can we support YOUR family? Please let us know. 
 

Is your child a candidate for Sensory Friendly Playtime?

Tell us more as we organize sign ups:

Visit our Recess For All page for additional information.