Pranava Yoga Studio now offers babysitting
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
When you’re a stay at home mom, or dad, it can be tough to find a chance to take a little break for yourself. You don’t necessarily want to call in a babysitter for an hour or two, but sometimes you just need to take some time for yourself to breathe and relax.
Pranava Yoga Studio is offering parents a chance to do just that. The Karma Program is a two-part program. One of those parts is the babysitting program.
“We’re still looking for folks that would like to trade time for yoga. We have a few positions left still. The Karma Program, the babysitting program, is filled by volunteers, they have had their RCMP and Child Welfare checks done so you can feel confident in that,” said Becky Stone, co-owner of Pranava Yoga Studio.
“A lot of them are our moms that are looking to find ways to supplement their income and take yoga.”
While mom or dad is in yoga, the kids head downstairs with their babysitter. Only five kids are accepted at a time, and it is by reservation. Drop-ins are welcome as long as there is room for the kids. An extra bonus to the program is there’s no cost.
“The babysitting is free or by donation. This month’s donation is going to Strathmore’s Make a Wish Autism Chapter, so we have that option if they would like to, but … otherwise it’s free,” said Stone.
There is not really an age limit or minimum, though the room is geared more for kids 0 to five-years-old. In addition to the babysitting shifts, there are also evening and weekend shifts available through the Karma Program.
“We ask for a certain amounts of hours in trade for unlimited yoga. The evening shifts are not babysitting shifts, they are desk shifts,” said Stone.
“We certainly don’t ever want to be turning people away. If they want to do yoga and they can’t afford to do yoga we have an option.”
When she first opened the studio Stone had hoped to have something that would make yoga an option for moms that are at home with kids.
“When this program started to form and there was so much interest and now that it’s running there’s a lot of excitement about it. We’re just ridiculously pleased right now, just really, really pleased to be able to make activities accessible for mom time during the day in a a place that kids are happy and safe,” said Stone.
She recommends checking the website, www.pranavayoga.ca first because the program is volunteer based and not every class will have the babysitting option. The babysitting dates that are available can be found under childcare services.