How long were you practicing yoga before your daughter, Layla was born?

I was first introduced to yoga while I was in college. I practiced on and off, whenever it was available. It was hard to find on-going yoga classes then, so I practiced with videos. After graduating, moving into the city and beginning a career in advertising, I found yoga again. I began to understand the benefits and appreciated how yoga made me feel from my head down to my toes. I've been hooked ever since! I practiced throughout my pregnancy and felt great. I was still doing handstands in my ninth month! Once she was born, I wanted to get back to my own personal practice, but I couldn't wait to practice baby yoga with Layla.

Did having Layla come into your life make you more of a "warrior" for a peaceful clean and safe world for all?

It really has - when you have someone to look after and protect, you really become more aware of the world and the people you surround yourself with. We try to make a difference every day by making smarter choices to benefit our community, our environment, and our planet.

How does yoga appear to you at home with your Layla Moon and your husband?

Layla takes about 3 yoga classes each week, either with me or her daddy - but her yoga is much different from ours. Layla's yoga classes are animated and fun, we sing songs and become animals and parts of nature. She loves relaxation because she gets a foot rub with yummy-smelling lotion. When I practice yoga for myself, Layla is usually right there by my side. Either getting underneath me, or imitating from her own mat. It's fun for me to work around her, jump over her, and get hugs during my practice. Relaxation time usually doesn't last long if she is there, but the nice thing is that she tries to give me foot rubs, which she learned from her yoga classes. My husband, Jason, prefers to practice without either of us around so that he can really focus. But he loves taking toddler yoga with Layla Moon every Saturday. Every week he is impressed with how much she's really doing and how she remembers all the poses. It's funny to watch her take a really big and exaggerated deep breath, and yell a long "om" (she's likes to be loud!).

You know, my daughter is now grown, and looking back I see how our relationship has just bloomed: when she was little like Layla she was making me smile and teaching me, reminding me of my own innocence right from the start, then as she grew into a teen-I was really responsible for her safety while she was finding her freedom so totally in "Mom" and teacher role, now we are more like best friends and sisters. Do you ever think now, how you and Layla Moon will grow in relationship as the years fly by?

She is growing and changing so fast, that it's difficult for me to think about what she'll be like in years to come. I'm really just enjoying her in every moment. I don't want to miss a thing! So many parents have said to me, "they grow so fast". I really understand what they meant now that I have Layla in my life. She continues to amaze me everyday. It's so much fun to watch her figure things out. I can only hope that we will be close forever and I intend to do whatever it takes to ensure that. I also hope she can see how important our relationship is by seeing how close I am with my mother.

Give us a little playlist for our yogini moms with their own little Layla Moons at home!

Where do I start?!!! Well Layla and I begin our yoga by singing an "Om song". Then we like to warm up our bodies with a mini-sundance. Follow along: Reach up high, dive down low, walk your feet back nice and slow. Downward dog, woof, woof, woof! Shake one leg. Shake the other leg. Bend your knees, look up. Jump your feet to your hands. Bow down, touch your toes (tickle, tickle). Reach your arms up high. Let them float to your sides. Take a deep breath in...Ahhhh. Take another deep breath in.....ahhhhhhh. Let's sit down, and put the bottoms of our feet together so that our heels and toes are kissing each other (Baddha Konasana). Sit up nice and tall, as if there is a string that goes from the top of your head, all the way up to the sky! Now, let's flap our butterfly wings (actually our knees). Fly like a butterfly in the sky! Now bring your butterfly-nose to your butterfly toes - nose to toes! And come up! Again, nose to toes! And come up! Ask your child what color butterfly they are today. What beautiful butterflies! Now, hold on to your butterfly toes and open up your big butterfly wings, balancing on our butterfly bottoms. Try to balance! Did you hold it or roll back? It's fun to roll back, so go ahead and roll back! See if you can come right back into the pose! Hurray! Take a nice butterfly rest. Night-night butterflies!

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