Yoga for Kids

At church I am in charge of activities for the girls aged 8-12 years old, yes that's right, the "I love Justin Bieber" age. They're a bundle of energy and test my patience on a regular basis, but I always have fun at every activity. For tonight's activity I decided on doing a little yoga class. I naively thought if I told them how important it is to be quiet and breath during the poses, that I would avoid the usual "she's looking at me!" "did someone cut the cheese?" "did you bring us a treat?" interruptions that I'm always dealing with. WRONG! The soothing yoga music was accompanied by giggles and "this move is impossible!". Oh well, I tried. One thing I did notice is that the girls loved trying the poses that were named after animals. There were a few kids that did yoga before in gym class or with their mothers (yay moms) and they were pretty into it. Here's a list of poses that the girls loved. You might want to try them with your kids.

1. Cat Pose and Cow Pose













2. Downward Dog













3. Cobra Pose










4. Tree Pose















5. Triangle Pose











6. Dolphin Pose












It's a (distant) goal of mine to become a certified yoga teacher and maybe I'll start a children's yoga class. Try some of these poses with your little ones and let me know how it goes!

Me Ka Aloha (with love)
- Elisabeth