Yoga in Fascia® (part two)

The evolution of babywearing

In modern times, carrying in a wrap can take on new meanings: the support in which the baby is carried is now certainly one alternative among many, or an excellent and well-considered choice, unlike the need for survival of the past. I will explain why.

As well as benefits for children's growth and development (scientifically documented), “it seems that the larger size of the human brain was made possible precisely by the invention of supports for carrying children” (2). Today, when we carry a baby in a wrap, we are not using a means of transport or simply a tool that leaves our hands free. Babywearing becomes a lifestyle, just as yoga itself is, a choice that also brings several benefits from an energetic point of view.

On an energetic level, every person has their own personal space, a sort of radius that starts from their centre and spreads further and further out. When we carry our baby heart to heart, we are allowing them to rest in the most intimate and private part of our personal space, at the level of the fourth chakra (Anahata is the fourth chakra, or heart chakra, “the centre of forgiveness”, the source of true love and of every feeling; it is connected to personal relationships), and this can bring up contrasting feelings such as joy and bliss, but also feelings of intrusion and exposure that create agitation, both in the mother (or whoever is carrying) and in the baby.

Carrying heart to heart is a beautiful experience, not only of full sharing and openness with our baby, but also as a way to face our difficulties and find the strength to overcome them. Having someone constantly on our heart can bring traumas, memories, or past suffering to the surface. Facing this together with a yoga practice is a valuable way to relive the sensations we felt as children and give them new or different meanings, which help us, more or less consciously, to grow as parents.

Why practise Yoga in Fascia with your baby? Because every moment of our life leads us to “feel” different emotions and a new awareness.

And this happens both to those who already practised before pregnancy and to those who started practising during pregnancy.

In fact, when approaching yoga there is no need to pay too much attention to technique and therefore to the posture (asana), because it is only a small part of the practice of Yoga in Fascia. In yoga there is love, respect, sharing, cleanliness, purification, kindness; there is listening to the divine within and around us (1).

Yoga in Fascia is practised in a circle, not only physically, being aware of one's body in the surrounding space, but also symbolically. The circle reminds us that we are all on the same level, where there are no teachers and students but people who share their feelings, their experience, and also their personal history, if they wish.

In the circle we are not alone, and if we reach out our hand we can find our sister's; in the circle all hands can help one another, one watches the other, one keeps an eye on the other's baby. And if at the end of the class you feel that you have not just done yoga postures but have felt new energy, such a strong connection, a network of mothers that has formed, a new way of feeling, living, and understanding your baby, then you can say you have fully understood the practice of Yoga in Fascia.

Notes: (1) Yoga nel post parto, yoga in fascia, Overture Edizioni. (2) Timothy Taylor, University of Bradford, The Artificial Ape.

Martina Matarese, Yoga in Fascia® teacher (2019)