Tree Babies - The class that nurtures your wellbeing

Photo Credits to Derya Vicars Photography, specialising in newborn, cakes smashes, pregnancy, family portraits and lifestyle photography.

What a week!! First week out of lock down and classes have finally been able to open up again here on The Wirral, which is just wonderful for parents and babies, If I’m honest as a class facilitator it has been a really emotional week, emotions have been very high in The Mama Wellness studio and being witness to these connections and emotions shows me just how important classes and groups are and the positive impact that they have on families. Mums are just so happy to be at a class and be able to communicate with other parents, watching babies look at other babies for the first time has just been incredible. As a species we are just not supposed to be isolated from others, we are such social beings and in order to thrive both grown ups and children need that interaction with others, without it we can become quite withdrawn and disconnected from our people and affecting our mental health, grown ups as well as children and infants. However one thing that has come from spending so much time away from the world as we once knew it, is that nature is our biggest healer, as the weather is warming people are spending more and more time outdoors and realising the positive impact this has on our mental health.

So at Mama Wellness we have added a class that is designed for our mums and babes outdoors in the woods, this class is called Tree Babies, an over lockdown I trained as a Tree Babies Guide with the wonderful Gayle Berry from Blossom and Berry, who I have done many of my parent and baby wellbeing accreditations with over the years. Nature to me has always been my way of escapism, connecting with myself and the natural beauty that surrounds me, an I feel the difference it makes to me as I walk about, my body completely slows down and my parasympathetic nervous system goes into rest and digest and I feel alive, invigorated, content and generally uplifted, whilst feeling lighter of my woes and worry’s, nature is so important to my wellbeing and I love the forest and being surrounded by tree’s and beautiful scenery with the sounds of nature as a soundscape.

Now imagine being a Mum who gets the same experience being outdoors, imagine being that Mum wearing your baby in a sling or carrier! The positive effects of having your baby close and being outdoors amongst nature is truly magnificent for both maternal mental health and infant mental health, whilst also having a huge impact of baby development both physically and emotionally.

So why Tree Babies? Tree Babies is carefully curated with your wellbeing in mind, these classes are all about connection with your baby whilst looking after your own wellbeing. Each Tree Babies group is guided into the forest or woodland where we spend 90 minutes of just being completely submersed in the moment. It is like our very own Mama Wellness Mother and Baby nature retreat! During this time our parents will be guided by myself through some grounding techniques, mindfulness exercises and breath work and a personal guided meditation, followed by some time for self exploration, forest bathing - which is essentially a silent and slow nature walk, in which you really tune in to your senses and observe everything that is around you. After our forest bathing experience, you are then given some time to quietly reflect on your time in the woods and take some time for sit spotting and journaling. Each Mama Wellness Tree Babies attendee is given their very own Tree Babies journal to fill in and reflect on over the course.

After the quiet moments reflecting our mums and babies are ready for some social time and creativity. This part of the class we use elements of nature to create art, now this could be as simple as creating a mandala that we have foraged for. For this particular class, I asked the Mums to bring something important too them to go in the centre of our mandala. These beautiful treasures ranged from rose quartz crystals, shells and unique pieces of jewelry that had sentimental attachment and giving the mums the opportunity to talk about why they chose that particular gem brought up lots of emotions for all. This class really does give you the opportunity to be open and express your feelings and emotions if you choose too, the sacred art of holding space for women has been part of life for thousands of years and we honour the space and your voice in our Tree Babies sessions.

Tree Babies currently runs on a Thursday morning, but as the weather warms up I’m considering some early evening sessions and certainly more sessions in the summer time, when the in studio timetable will be reduced. Over the Summer there will also be some Mama and Baby Retreats which will incorporate Tree Babies, Baby Massage, Yoga and Self Love Rituals, More details of this will follow, to keep up to date with all happenings at Mama Wellness and our other classes available, be sure to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter.