Meghan Markle championing mindful baby choices

Los Angeles: From baby yoga to cloth diapers, Meghan Markle faces an hypnobirthing array of options that embrace her preference for natural and mindful living as she prepares to welcome her royal baby.

Long before she became the Duchess of Sussex on her 2018 marriage to Britain’s Prince Harry, the former US actress shared her love of yoga and meditation in her now defunct wellness website “The Tig.” Many women in Markle’s native California have taken to hypnobirthing, a relaxation technique that involves deep breathing and a form of self-hypnosis.

Clinical hypnotherapist and doula, or birth assistant, Alisha Tamburri has been teaching a “relaxed state of consciousness” for over 20 years to celebrity clients including actress Jessica Alba. “She (Markle) will shut out the world. It won’t even be existing. She’ll be with Prince Harry and just the two of them and their precious little baby,” Tamburri told Reuters.

When she is ready to return to yoga, Markle’s baby will be welcome. At baby yoga classes, mothers incorporate their newborns into their routines, picking them as additional weights for a squat or side lunge or kissing them as they swoop down for a sun salutation.

“It would be great for her (Markle) to get back in connection to her body. Also, I’m sure she has a lot of stress on her shoulders compared to the average person, so finding that centre and time with her baby, it would be great,” said Crystal D’Angora, who teaches a class at Zooga Yoga in the Los Angeles area.

Markle will find plenty of natural baby products for the newborn seventh in line for the British throne, from toxin-free teething rings to organic rompers and cloth diapers. Cloth diapers, which are washed and reused and which sometimes come with a laundry delivery service, are an eco-friendly alternative to the disposable kind.

Renee Powers opened her Earth Baby boutique in Los Angeles five years ago when she discovered her youngest son Tannen was allergic to a chemical in disposable diapers. “I feel like celebrities are kind of following the trend of green, organic, chemical-free (products),” she says.

Earth Baby sales assistant Tamara Cshetina, who is 30 weeks pregnant with her first child, has been following Markle’s journey and was delighted to find they are expecting their babies around the same time. “I’m definitely looking at her as an inspiration. She does so much and she inspires me to keep going and saying ‘I can do it’,” said Cshetina.