Yoga With Kids

I'm new to Yoga. It's a whole new world for me and I love it. I practice some at home in the afternoons and sometimes the kids are around to watch. Well, wouldn't you know that the kids just joined right in? Kids are naturals at this stuff. Eli makes up his own yoga moves and gives them silly names, but oftentimes they are actual yoga moves.As soon as the kids started showing interest, I frantically started searching for "Yoga for Kids" books. I found a really great book and dvd combination called Yogakids. It's a Yoga Program for kids developed by Marsha Wenig, a certified yoga instructor.

What I like about the Yogakids book is that it gives parents step-by-step directions to each pose, tells you why it is important, and gives you silly information and other activities to try while doing the pose. It also gives you helpful hints on ways to help your child with the pose, some dos and don'ts and more information on helping your child use yoga during more trying times in their lives. For example, taking deep breaths when you are feeling anxious, thumping their chest when they are feeling sluggish, etc. And Ms. Wenig wants it to be fun and admits that it can get kind of crazy and out of hand and that that is perfectly ok.We checked out the dvds from the library and they follow the book, and have some interesting songs. Eli and Sadie both join along and try the poses that they feel comfortable with and Sadie sings "Namaste, namaste, namaste". Kids learn so fast too. I can tell Eli to get into Cobra, Down Dog, or Lion and he can do it without batting an eye, though his favorite pose is the pose of the child. I have to admit that that's my favorite too.