Yogtastic Fun for Kids

By NIAMH HOOPER

Seen as the antidote for stress addicts, yoga is by nature and intent calming. Throw some hyper kids into the equation and it doesn't add up. Or does it?

Joining a class of tiny tots -- three to six-year-olds -- in a Dalkey yoga studio, it's like no class I've ever participated in. I had presumed I was going to observe the class but when I arrive a purple yoga mat is laid out for me and I'm invited to join in.

Leading us in the Rainforest Exploration -- the theme of today's class -- is Heidi Haenschke. The only certified YogaKids facilitator in Dublin, she is qualified to teach toddlers to teens and children with special needs.

With us all standing on the edges of our mats, the children begin, as they do every class, by saying a pledge to believe in themselves, to love, honour and listen to their bodies, to use yoga to make themselves feel better and to keep their hands to themselves!

From here we embark on a vivid adventure in the rainforest and jungles of the Amazon with a Tarzan Tap.

We first reach for the sun doing a sun salute, and follow this with a pitter-patter rain dance of noises using our fingers, hands and the rest of the body.

And then we're off. There's as much water as there is land in the rainforest so we row our boat across the Amazon. Beneath us are exotic water creatures. We get to be a piranha (aka fish pose) and a alligator (aka locust) eating whatever we feel like as well as becoming a dolphin.

Do you know what colour the Amazon River dolphin is? Me neither. It's pink apparently. That's just one of a handful of things I learn from my classmates.

Wading ashore, we then get to become the inhabitants of the forest floor -- an anaconda (aka cobra), jaguar (aka cheetah), a rodent (aka mouse), a lizard and a spider. With his big roar, five-year-old Sean is the scariest of jaguars.

Having been spritzed with water, it's time for us to become the different layers of the rainforest. First we are the emergent trees, some of which grow to 155ft.

For the forest floor, which is almost bare, we lie flat on the floor. After all the activity, it's time to lie still.

Snuggling under blankets and given eyebags, Heidi guides us in creating a visualisation of our individual favourite treehouses.

The class ends with the Namaste song. It's a sight that would melt any heart seeing every child bow to each other while saying Namaste. From the ancient sacred Sanskrit, it means 'I honour the light in you.'

Sean's mother Ellen O'Carroll says: "It's something different, something nice and calming because he can be hyper sometimes. At home he does the poses from roaring like a tiger to 'down diggidy dog down' (dog pose). He seems to love going to the class.,Heidi, who teaches in several schools, explains: "Kids learn in lots of ways: repetition, movement, sounds, art and design.

"For that reason the classes are very interactive, engaging as many of the senses as possible and many of the poses also engage the left (analytical) and right (creative) sides of the brain, so both sides develop equally. Most importantly, the kids have fun.,Verdict: YogaKids is an interactive way of learning and relaxing. It offers lots of value to children -- an education, an awareness of themselves and their planet and physical tools to assist them through life. Learned at such a young age, it has to be a real gift.

An eight-week course at Dalkey Yoga Studio costs €88. To enrol your child for the next course beginning in September or for a summer camp (running from July 2 to 6) for five to 10-year-olds, call 087 2322481. For further information log on to www.dalkeyyoga.com.

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