February 2001
Yoga: The Newest Twist in Parent-Child Bonding
Fun family fitness that stretches the options for at-home activities.
By Meryl Davids Landau
The chimes rang outside our cabin door at 6:30 a.m. “I don’t want to get up,” I moaned, preparing to continue my sleep. “But I do, Mommy,” came a tiny voice from the other bed. It was my 3-year-old daughter, Kelsey, already sitting up, eager to join me in a morning class during our week of yoga camp at Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville in Buckingham, VA.
Kelsey isn’t the only member of the preschool set trying yoga and loving it. More kids than ever are taking to the ancient practice of uniting mind and body by performing poses -- at home, at school, and at the growing list of yoga studios offering kids’ classes.
“The number of kids doing yoga has taken a leap and keeps expanding,” says YogaKids video creator Marsha Wenig, who in recent years has trained hundreds of instructors to teach kids. “Yoga has gotten more mainstream, so parents feel comfortable encouraging it.”
Add to that the appearance of yoga on popular TV shows like Dharma and Greg and in movies such as The Next Best Thing, in which Madonna plays a yoga teacher. “Children see music stars, actors, and sports figures practicing yoga and reaping the benefits,” says Lisa Trivell, the East Hampton, NY-based author of I Can’t Believe It’s Yoga for Kids! and an instructor whose clients include celebrities such as Calvin Klein and Paul McCartney. Many parents who practice yoga are sharing it with their kids. That’s what happened in Kelsey’s case. Before my husband and I had children, we benefited so greatly from yoga -- with calmer minds, increased energy, more strength and flexibility -- that we became certified to teach it. We figured a week at Yogaville would be a chance to make yoga a family affair.
Yoga isn’t only fun, it’s great for building self-esteem. “Unlike other sports, with yoga there’s no chance of a child feeling bad if he can’t get the ball over a net,” says Kathi Kemper, M.D., an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Plus, “doing yoga can help kids keep the flexibility they have naturally when they’re young,” says Russell Greenfield, M.D., assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson.
Equally important, yoga provides a great opportunity for a parent and child to connect. “When you practice yoga with your child, you can’t help but deepen the bond that exists between the two of you,” explains Leela Lipscombe, co-owner of the Body*Mind*Spirit yoga center in Charlottesville, VA.
When our week at camp was over, my daughter and I wanted to keep our joint yoga going. The following poses are ideal for everyone, even first-timers. Just be sure your child isn’t forcing himself into unnatural positions or holding a pose longer than is comfortable.
Copyright © 2001 By Meryl Davids Landau. Reprinted with permission from the February issue of Child Magazine.