Lena Fokina: either she just killed dinner, or she's doing double baby-yoga
Yep, it’s real.
That was the first thing almost everyone wanted to know about the now-infamous “Baby Yoga with Lena Fokina” video. The swinging, flipping and lariat-like twirling of a tiny infant seemed so surreal—and the baby so unmoved by its plight—that many viewers decided it had to be a hoax.
I had a hard time watching the video, too. But I was not at all surprised that it was Russian. I’ve been going to Moscow since 1990 (I now write about Russia for Time Magazine), and I have found a Russian obsession with physical hardiness that goes far beyond pictures of Putin fishing topless. I remember going with my brother to a Soviet sanatorium—what they used to call their spa-resorts—in 1990 and finding that the main treatment there was standing in a stainless steel room while a technician sprayed us with what felt like a fire hose. A friend I’ve known for over 20 years in Moscow got baptized last year in the countryside—not in a church with a splash of water, but by stripping in the middle of a frozen lake and jumping into an ice-fishing hole while the priest looked on.
But “baby yoga,” and its corollary, dunking-a-newborn-in-the-ocean, is not just another act of toughening. The more I looked into it, the more I realized that in a certain milieu of alterna-Russians, the parents who do this are sort of like Slavic Tiger Mothers: hyperinvolved parents who want to give their child a leg up in life. “I wanted the best for my daughter,” says my friend Ivan, who baby-swung his firstborn after hearing about it in a Moscow birthing class. “So we started when she was five days old.” Seven years later, he says, she’s not only healthy, she’s fearless and advanced beyond her peers: “She started walking early, swimming early. I really think it worked.”
[The original video]
I thought if I showed Ivan this video, he would be shocked by how extreme this particular bout of baby-swinging was. Instead, he watched it like Rowlf the Dog watched Two Girls, One Cup: meh, no big deal. It is, he said, pretty much what he did with his daughter.
Until I see some peer-reviewed studies about this, I’ll leave it to others to decide whether swinging a barely conscious newborn over your shoulders does more good than harm. But I am pleased to say that we’ve tracked down the baby in the video, and she seems to be doing just fine. (Follow DadWagon on Facebook)
Still swinging: the baby from the viral video, Platona, shown here with her father, Sashka Goryun, two years after the video came out
The baby, it turns out, is a girl named Platona Goryun, who lives in Khorol, Ukraine, about three hours outside of Kiev. She was just two weeks old when she was subjected to what Fokina calls “dynamic gymnastics” for newborns in the video above. Her father, Sashka Goryun, uploaded the video just a month ago, but apparently it was filmed almost two years ago. Little Platona is, by all appearances, a healthy toddler, albeit one who still gets swung in the air quite a bit (see our baby-yoga gallery for more images of Platona and her father).
DadWagon also managed to track down Lena Fokina, the Baby Yoga guru from the original video. Fokina Skype-chatted with us from her home in Dahab, Egypt, in the Sinai Peninsula, where she lives with her daughters (who not only survived baby-swinging but also grew up to be ridiculously attractive freedive instructors, pictured below and in our photo-gallery). Fokina was generous with her time and spoke at length about family freediving, slothful Americans, and the salutary effects of being swung over your mother’s head. The interview was done in Russian and translated into English:
Thank you for chatting with DadWagon, Lena. Can you tell us first a little about yourself: where you come from, how you came to do baby yoga.
I come from far away; my homeland is in the Urals. I then lived in Moscow, and now I’m in Dahab, Egypt, my “little homeland.” We came here four years ago, and go back to Russia in the summers. As for yoga, yoga is just life, whether you are an adult or a child.
How old are you?
I’m 50, but that’s only the appearance.
Tanya Fokina, Lena's daughter, swimming in the Gulf of Aqaba with her nephew Kristian
Tell me about the courses you run in Egypt.
Our courses in Dahab are a regime of daily exercise for children and adults of different ages: yoga, extreme developmental gymnastics, freediving, getting adapted to the water, rebirthing, lectures, discussions and much more.
Um, what exactly are “extreme developmental gymnastics”
That’s what we call it when it gets scary for the parents and children and me
(just kidding). It’s actually skipping rope, climbing, all sorts of flips, trampoline, stretching…
I do Ashtanga yoga, but I’ve never heard of anything like this Baby Yoga. Is this traditional or did you invent it?
Life invented it; it was conveyed to us by the teacher and author of all these ideas, Igor Borisovich Charkovsky.
So this is a uniquely Russian form of yoga.
This yoga is for all young children.
Are your students all Russians?
Of course not!
So where do they come from?
Over the last 30 years, Charkovsky’s system has lived in Russia and has spread from there. Not everyone accepts it.
The first thing everybody here thought when they saw your baby-swinging video was “Holy shit!” Then they thought, is it real or fake? So: Is it real? If so, who is the baby?
The child was born in the Black Sea region. Her name is Platona, and she was two weeks old when we took that video. We have a lot of children like her here. They are early readers, singers, talkers, swimmers. You haven’t seen anything like it anywhere!! And there’s swimming with dolphins, scuba diving with them… Come to Dahab! (Photos of Lena and her daughters in Dahab.)
And are they early readers, talkers, and so on because of baby yoga?
Not only this. It’s just one reason.
What else makes them so talented then?
Love for each other and to one another.
I have two small children and I was, you know, careful with them when they were newborns. So it was hard for me to watch your video. It looks like it has to injure the child. Their hands? The cartilage in the joints? Their brains?
No. It makes the hands stronger.
Did you know that YouTube took the video down because it was in violation of their policy on “shocking and disgusting” content? What is your response to that?
Did they notice that the babies aren’t crying—they’re even laughing—and that this system has been used for over thirty years in Russia and the children are all alive and healthy? If you need more proof, the best thing is to come see us.
Have you heard from people who are upset about the video?
Everybody in Dahab is satisfied. What’s more, a British film crew made a documentary about us, and interviewed the parents.
At the end of your video, it looks like you’re trying to get the two-week-old baby to walk. Is mobility the goal of your baby yoga?
Yes, more mobility, and other goals. First off, more trained skills. Second, more freedom. Third, independence. We learn from nature and teach our offspring to survive. Come to Dahab; we’ll be glad to show our classes and our children. How old are your children?
Four and two years old.
The happiest age!
Da, da. You say you “teach offspring to survive,” but it looks like what you’re doing could kill them. Have you ever had an accident while swinging around a baby?
I don’t recall any. Another objective of our yoga: to teach parents and children to interact so that everything will be in harmony.
How much training do you need to do this baby yoga?
It depends on the sensibility of the child’s mother. Sometimes it only takes one training session.
Do you think mothers who are afraid of this kind of baby yoga just aren’t brave?
Yes, those people have problems of their own. One more objective here is to get the parents’ own activity and movement levels up.
Should Americans try “baby yoga” at home?
Americans should be able to do a lot of this themselves, in order to pass something on to their children. An immobile American loses their naturally given reflexes (swimming, reaching, stepping—they have machines that do this for them). That’s why, in parallel with their children, the parents learn to do these things: dive, swim, run, jump, bend and much more. Our workshop is called “family active lifestyle.”
It’s true. Some American babies are too obese to swing around over your head.
Well, exactly, then: they need the Russian way of life!
Are there lessons for baby yoga online, or do you have to go to Dahab to learn?
Online is complicated. You have to go to the guru!
You said that the baby in the video was two weeks old. Why start so young? Their bodies are so underdeveloped.
We’re talking about these reflexes they have by nature from birth. They are based in dynamic gymnastics.
Did you know that this video went viral in the United States, that there was a lot of speculation about who you and the baby were?
We know. So what? The more people find out about this, the calmer and healthier they’ll become.
I saw that you do courses in the Gulf of Aqaba. What are your “family freediving” courses?
We adapt [children] to the aquatic environment. It’s a variety of exercises for breath, swimming and diving equipment, diving at depth and free-swimming along the reef and enjoying the stunning underwater spectacle.
Hmm. I grew up near the reef in Florida. It can be amazing.
Oh, we dream of free-swimming with wild dolphins! Do you know Boris Said?
We have a lot of dolphins, but I don’t know Boris. Who is he?
He studies wild dolphins in Florida and swims with them. Children and dolphins is another big topic of Charkovsky’s.
So my children are 4 and 2 years old, but they don’t know how to swim yet. What would you do with them in Dahab?
We would get them slowly accustomed to life.
Life in general or life in the water?
Life in general. And in the water. If you can organize a seminar, gather people, arrange a space, we’ll come.
Good idea! [ed. note: this may actually be a very bad idea] I noticed in some of your videos that some women in your courses are topless. Does this create problems with the Egyptians? When I was in Hurgada, another Egyptian resort, I noticed nudity was a big problem for Egyptians.
Each country has its own traditions and you have account for that. Don’t take your own prayers into someone else’s church. So we do not wear bikinis. This is a Muslim country. Some women here even wear a niqab.
Have you ever had any legal problems in Egypt? In Russia?
I never have. I love people.
But authorities are different. They never gave you any problems for the Baby Yoga?
We are humanists! And we don’t do anything wrong. On the contrary, many Egyptian parents learn these techniques and go diving, in their niqab, with us.
So the answer is ‘no’? Because in the United States, Baby Yoga might cause you some problems.
So then we are better off in Dahab! Come visit! Thank you!
Yes. I know it’s late. Just one more question: what is the name of the English film made about you?
“дети стихии” (approximate translation: “Children of the Wild”).
For more information on Lena Fokina’s courses, visit www.fokiny.com (in Russian).
To follow DadWagon on Facebook, click here. Also swinging kids on Twitter @dadwagon.
Why is it that those with the least knowledge on a subject tend to yell the loudest as if their point somehow becomes more clear or substantiated? Many of these comments go far beyond what a country so diverse in culture should, and shows a serious lack of respect and tolerance. Before you get pissed and start spewing venom in my direction, stop and think. How many of you have been to a foreign country? Have a passport? Served in the military? We are a nation fast becoming so intolerant of others, including our own fellow citizens, that it’s no wonder our standing in the international community has fallen.
If you are upset by this statement, I encourage you to stop and think before demonizing others…..I also welcome your opinion because I fought for your right to have one without knowing you.
If some woman swinging her kid(s) around on the other side of the planet takes your eye off the real problems we face here, than we have little to no chance of fixing our problems here. What the hell happened to fixing schools and the economy, or getting people back on their feet? Do you realize that WE were the people much of the planet looked to to help keep people free from persecution?
There are other cultures that do much of the same things that Lena has, including showing others how. How may of the enraged people here can honestly say that they didn’t play rough with other kids or siblings as a child? Lena clearly cares about her children, their not fat, seem happy, and even if it seems quite odd or flat out f-ed up, Lena is raising her children in the way she believes is correct. Having been to Vladivostok, Russia while in the Navy gave new insight and knowledge of a people we were taught to hate. If Anyone told you how to raise your children, they’d not likely be well received.
I found the video disturbing and at points was quite shocked. I would not handle any child in that way, but my beliefs are not Lena’s nor you own. I do know that if anyone gave me the s#!t Lena has received, I’d stand my ground as well.
At two months old, my mother had me swimming at the YMCA along side other children who’s parents put their kids in the pool. I love the water, did not drown, and am definitely stronger for it. Does that mean that it was dangerous or that I could have died? Hell, yes. Today in the United States toddlers and infants are starting swim lessons even earlier.
The fact most people enraged here are failing to consider rests in the “possible benefit” it COULD have. Another fact is that Lena did not come up with this herself, or am I the only one that read all the articles instead of just looking at the video and pictures.
P.S. spell check is an amazing thing and here it’s on auto-pilot, so how is it that most the rants of irrational nature are so misspelled?
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Hi,
did you find the English film made about Lena Fokina ?
Joelle, from France
Hi Joelle–No, I haven’t found anything about the film, and haven’t gotten any more information on it. Besides that it is called, loosely, Children of the Wild (Lena said the title in Russian). If you hear anything, let me know, folks!
Do they have child protective services in that area? – Make reports to local authorities.. gasping in horror after the fact and failing to use the ‘system’ to protect children is just annoying..
Interesting article! Even more interesting comments.
I will say that I do not buy into her ideas, but I don’t think she is doing it just for attention. It seems like she really believes in what she is doing, even though I cannot see what possible benefits there could be that outweigh the risks involved.
To those who defend her because she is supposedly trained in this? She is not just a practitioner. She trains and encourages parents to do this with their own children! You might have the utmost confidence in her abilities, but we have seen plenty of parents screw their kids up bad enough without swinging them through the air. And the comments about “fat, stupid Americans”? So, it is either this or Happy Meals? Seriously. There are safer ways to enrich your children and they do not involve fast food. You say we are so ignorant, but there you are painting all Americans as fat and lazy. Pot? Kettle? Wow.
And to those who say that babies are resilient, and we might as well just stick them all on skateboards? Do you have any kind of medical training? Do you actually know how well a baby recovers from broken bones? And if it is quicker than adults, does that make it OK to break them???
Oh, and to everyone else. Spell check is your friend. And he is feeling neglected these days. <3
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It’s so funny how people will percieve things according to the blog. This is the 4th webpage today that I’ve seen this video and it really does depend on the bloggers influence. Blogs where the blogger was clearly against the “baby yoga” the majority of it’s viewers responded to the video in horror vs. bloggers who are for or open to this type of “baby yoga”, the majority of it’s viewers are for or open to it.
But everyone who agrees with this are dumb. Their have been DEATHS related to this type of “training” and if you’re willing to risk your childs life just so he or she can start talking, walking, or singing better or earlier than the next kid…I feel SORRY for your children.
Children should be nurtured with care and cherished for who they are. Not forced to be some kind of puppet to do what you please with them just because they are HELPLESS.
You agree with this spinning, you must agree with the fact that this woman follows the teachings of a man who thinks it’s good to dip a child in and out of freezing cold water for 10 hrs straight?
OK folks before you force this upon your children LETS SEE YOU DO IT!
AND FYI dogs are dogs, they do not compare to human beings so save your animal studies for your vet. Thank you have a nice day.
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Oh wow!!!
What isn’t wrong with this?
#1
Babies are at there most flexible at their younger ages.
So why on earth would a baby need this?
#2
What happens if you drop the baby on it’s head???
I’ll answer that 1 for you because there is mostly 1 answer:
Death or brain damage.
#3
So if and already flexible baby who can’t even decide
his own needs at 2 weeks! What the hell makes you think they need this?
#4
And what if you do 1 of these twisting motions the wrong
way with the momentum of the movement?
Simple again dislocation of joints or breaking of bones,
it’s that simple!
So you found your niece market of idiot parents who
would put their babies at risk for something they absolutely
do not need. As everyone knows babies are flexible as a human gets!
I’m sure you have been lucky to this point to have
never dropped a human child but I fear the day you
would have to explain the “oops I dropped him/her scenario”
Please do not neglect this thought, it’s natural instinct
to fear your mistake leading in a babies death!
Conclusion: Silliness to satisfy the strange needs
of the practitioner and parents. If I’m wrong show
me proof of why a baby should be put in such a dangerous
scenario for whatever benefit.
Definitely against this… This is what starts it with shake a baby syndrome. This isn’t good.
If you want to do something with your baby that really helps them limbs wise is massaging, most Indian families do this and the baby’s are really sturdy and stand up on their own two feet real quick. Don’t do what this woman does, it’s absurd and really dangerous…
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This is f*cking INSANE. Who would let someone do this to their newborn? This woman is crazy, but not as crazy as the people who willingly give her their children…. WOW
Okay, so she’s swinging a newborn baby around….
next to a fucking rock pile? She couldn’t swing it around, I dunno, next to a mat? A pile of pillows?
My God, my faith in humanity is dropping fast after reading all these comments. This isn’t about if Americans are ignorant or closed minded and yes, we make mistakes but we are not all bad parents and certainly are not THIS bad. This is about a child’s safety and how this is an unproven method of making your kid active and well.
Wait, but they said that child and the woman’s own kids grow up well, fit, and attractive after this method was done to them. Well NEWS flash children, maybe that’s because in addition to this dangerous ‘treatment’ they probably eat well, study, and exercise too which will be what causes them to become so healthy, not swinging them around when they are barely able to survive it and highly likely to get hurt. You can’t just link baby swinging to overall health improvement when those three factors are also in effect. Why do you think most weight watch diets say ‘with this diet AND exercise, you will lose this many pounds too.’
Now so what if this does work? It’s still barbaric and if I am a so called ‘close minded’ American, why is it I instead think the following: “Rather then put a child though that situation, can’t we find a safer, more effective way to improve a child’s early health and growth even if though stress?” That’s being open minded, not agreeing with insane methods but thinking how they can lead to a better way to improve lives. This method should NEVER be the way we should raise our kids. Ever. This method could lead to better, more effective ways to raise them but it will never be the way to make an outstanding kid.
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Dear all,
just have a look on these videos with dynamic gymnastic from several ukrainien and russian talk shows:
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=FR#/watch?v=59lMqrWhJyI
From 4.14
and this one for instance
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=FR#/watch?v=HVQp9XyYOf8
It’s a well-known technik in the former soviet republics. As I was little baby my parents also practiced some exersices with me. I’m 30 now and totaly fine:)
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God, I love this blog. A blog is only as good (entertaining) as it’s comments. Home run dadwagoners–home run! Still LMAO.
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Uh,Robert…. you said ” Our ignorance will be our down fall”. Downfall is one word. Duh! And as for Caterina and her ilk, We know your orphanages are filled with children who are tied to beds and are ignored and unheld until they are vegetables from lack of love and caring. Deny this all you want! My brother has lived in Russia for 18 years. Also.. since America is such an awful place, why are Russian women lined up around the block dying to come here for a better way of life?? I know. My cousin married one .What these excuses for human mothers are doing to these babies is criminal! The babies cannot protest! How do you know they like it? That it doesn`t hurt? I curse anyone that would do this to a child!
Oh Philip….. While you are chiding others for their poor spelling…. you might want to check your own. Paragraph 4…. …” their not fat…” That would be” they`re not fat “. And excuse me..we Are the nation the rest of the world looks up to! They are dying to come here! Also.. just because a country has a custom doesn`t make it right ( example.. female genital mutilation. Or swinging tiny, helpless babies by arms and legs.) My brother has lived and worked in Russia for 18 years.. My cousin married a Russian. Go visit their orphanages and see the healthy little kids strapped to their beds, dying from lack of human touch. These women don`t have to worry about dropping their babies on their heads! There`s a place for them!
Fun! I loved being swung around when I was a kid! If I could find some giant muscly dude to swing me around as an adult I’d be all for it. Why so much hate? I’ve been having dreams about swinging my baby upside down (I’m 9 mo pregnant now) – very interesting that I should stumble upon this… Why do people consent to being filled with fear? If those of you negative people out there would lighten up you might just notice how lovely and resilient life is, babies included.
Most babies are born head first, which means that they are upside down for a good 2 months or so, if not much longer. I’d think a newborn would find being swung upside down quite familiar and therefore soothing. Think about the gymnastics that go into being born! Baby has to rotate 180 degrees within a tiny confined space (the pelvis) while being nudged and pushed and squeezed by the body’s most powerful muscles. My kiddo has been doing flips inside of me for months now! I’m sure he’ll appreciate having more room to enjoy his body once he’s on the outside. The only problem is gravity – his little muscles are used to floating around in amniotic fluid and can’t perform the same maneuvers he easily achieved in my belly before he got too big to move around much in there. You can see in the video she’s not shaking the baby – all the movement is very fluid. While I might not be comfortable doing that around ROCKS (made me nervous!), if I gain the confidence and skills I’ll totally be swinging my kid around (somewhere not near rocks, or bricks or other hard or sharp objects). As long as he’s enjoying it, and why wouldn’t he? I also plan to hire a very burly man to swing you around, and at first you’ll protest, but then you’ll realize how lovely it is to be swung around by someone strong and competent and you’ll start to laugh and realize what a uptight poop you’ve been most of your life and begin to contemplate serious life changes, confident that the world is a good and safe place and you will be supported in whatever it is you want to do.
And lastly, let us not forget Dr. Karp’s 5 S’s System! (Dr. Karp of immensely popular “Happiest Baby on the Block” fame) where S number 4 is “Swinging: Newborns are used to the swinging motions within their mother’s womb, so entering the gravity driven world of the outside is like a sailor adapting to land after nine months at sea. “It’s disorienting and unnatural,” says Karp. Rocking, car rides, and other swinging movements all can help.”
http://www.happiestbaby.com/5-ss-system-may-help-colic-symptoms/
OHHH SNAP! So stop being fear driven people! Fear is the mind killer after all.
Iseh, you say-<<No, America, you are not this ‘enlighened’ scientific utopia. As a matter of fact America ranks below the median for school test scores, with only Canada and Finland able to compete with Asian countries.
In my country with very high test scores and certainly fewer fat people than Russia, this woman seems very crazy and a bad mother!!! This is stupid! A newly born baby needs gentle handling, it is not a nunchaku (ヌンチャク) it is a baby! I see the baby in the video doing the moro and startle reflex which means the baby is alarmed. It clenches its tiny hands to try to hold something but nothing to hold when she has its feet. This is ridiculous behavior and is NOT what a sane mother would do!
Someone should give this woman a taste of her own medicine and see how much she toughens up.
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This is all kinds of wrong. What is she honestly thinking? i mean its obvious babies are fragile and are new and there bones, muscles and ligaments are not matured. Espesially something like that would be soo frightening: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.becomingmamas.com%2Flife-in-the-fourth-trimester%2F&h=wAQEZv8PZAQGjWvhUjMCjfKiGECPLpWmuG9TfYYNfTJikIg
Health authorities need to do something, that is child abuse.
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What I found interesting was her comment about how fearless children become. Your body has a natural reflex to it which is designed to respond to situations. If you’re fearless and your body lacks those reflexes, then you may also lack the fight or flight reflex, which is natural to ALL mammals. Mom just removed her child’s ability to make instinctful reactions to situations, which very well may roll over into poor judgement. I’m not saying all fearless people make poor decisions, but a whole lot of them do and sometimes they don’t get an opportunity to learn from it. That’s when they received their Darwin award. So, her justification for doing this doesn’t add up. Also, she talks about how healthy her ‘toddler’ is. What’s this child’s health really going to be like when she’s older? An alteration to the natural flexibility and function of the joints as she ages? There’s a reason this is new, it has not been proven. A few whackjobs, which could hardly be called doctors and no support by pediatrics……raise the red flag baby!
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I like how she’s nonchalant in the interview, and how some people are saying how great it is.
@Caterina: It has nothing to with cultural differences. This could easily injure or even kill a baby.
And suggesting that it isn’t a problem because of teen suicide rates in the US is a logical fallacy.
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WOW!! you guy’s are crazy!! here in north america it will never pass. One thing for sure a baby is very delicate, neck, body part, joints and the brain. all this movement swigging the baby tossing it like a rag doll up in the air could cause a brain injury, further more baby shoulder could be dislocate easy, but yet this russian women goes and post this on you tube? there is enough sick people out there but yet the reporter decide to do a story on this ? If Russia is ok with child abuse why post it for the world to see it? cause in north america this russian women will be charge and in jail and all her follower.
@Georgie. Yes, it may cause the children to throw caution to the wind or it my help them think more rationally in scary situations. I know people can become numb with fear; but if you are able to use your brain rather than your instinct then i think its better.
Another thing, alot of you people that are commenting contradict yourselves and the people who have used links to “prove a point” – how do you know those links are reliable resources? (I’m pretty sure articles posted on wordpress don’t constitute as reliable academic resources).
Infants are flexible and more resilient than people think. I watched my sister give birth, and as the head emerges (sorry for being graphic) the doctor pulls the whole baby out by the head! And when my nephew was a baby, I would swing him or throw him up in the air so that he would laugh. The movements that she’s performing are fluid and not at all jarring or shaking. She is being very gentle. So, baby shaken syndrome? I don’t think that will happen if the movements are fluid and graceful. Don’t get me wrong, some of the movements were a little shocking to watch and I wouldn’t try this at home; but you don’t give babies enough credit. An infant automatically holds his or her breath when water is close to their head (Hello people! Nirvana’s album cover? lol) and a lady i know photographs her daughter in their swimming pool. I’m sure she isn’t swallowing up water, either.
@Sara the skateboarder is right. Babies are delicate, sensitive creatures not sheets of paper. Though, just because they are flexible and resilient doesn’t mean you can throw them or push their boundaries. I agree with @Hadley, too. Everyone who is against this video keeps saying they’d like to do to her what she’s doing to the baby. But, if you were doing exactly what she is doing (and I mean EXACTLY) I think she would enjoy it (that is if you could actually toss her around like that *smh*).
Finally, another point I would like to address is the “American/Close Minded/Underachiever” thing. And I, as an American citizen and residential college student, think America sucks. The health care system sucks, the education system sucks, the justice system and the political system DOUBLY sucks. I’ve studied abroad and surround myself with people who have studied abroad; and every where you go about half the people (European People) you meet think Americans are fat, stupid and obnoxious, about a quarter only know what they see in American pop culture, half that quarter doesn’t gaf and the other half of that quarter think America is the best place ever (until they come here and can see for themselves how America sucks and then want to return back to where they came from). There are obviously okay things about the U.S., I mean, at least for now.
I think this is awful and the parents to these little babys should be hung ..what they are doing is terrible and could course brain damage …its just not right to treat your tiny baby in such away …in Australia we have plenty ov ways to teach our kids to swim from early age or to read and walk as such ..but we never put our baby through such a awful treatment as trowing them aroung and tossing them over our shoulder and hanging them upside down and swinging them around like rad dolls …I think its horrifying what they do to their new born babys …Soooo wrong in my eyes
Anyone ever heard of shaken baby syndrome? Go take an anatomy class people. This is disgusting!
‘Have you ever had any legal problems in Egypt? In Russia?
I never have. I love people.’
Total nonsense! She has had problems in Dahab nearly all hotels and beachfront cafe’s have banned her from practicing her child abuse on their beaches! She now does it at a remote location as it upset so many people. From witnessing her ‘baby yoga’ most of the poor babies are screaming their head off – AND – in Dahab she actually dunks them under the water at the same time as swinging them around on their limbs! It is truly horrific.
‘But authorities are different. They never gave you any problems for the Baby Yoga?
We are humanists! And we don’t do anything wrong. On the contrary, many Egyptian parents learn these techniques and go diving, in their niqab, with us.’
This is total bull! Egyptian parents have not accepted these techniques and are too horrified by this display of terror on the beach. I have personally reported this ‘baby yoga’ to the world health organisation. Let some experts come and study its so called benefits. If they can prove it is beneficial – I will finally shut up. Until them I will keep trying to get them to stop – at least in laid back and peaceful Dahab!
‘So the answer is ‘no’? Because in the United States, Baby Yoga might cause you some problems.
So then we are better off in Dahab! Come visit! Thank you!’
Please don’t come to Dahab for Lena’s ‘baby torture’ Or if you do please come and help us stop this brainwashing nightmare from happening on our beaches.
Finally for those of you who are even considering doing this – read this article:
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/01/kick-that-baby-yoga-cult-out-of-dahab.html
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/water-babies-1.216283
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