Saturday and I am headed over to teach my tots yoga class at Sacred Streams It is always a guess at which families will make it - I mean really: getting yourself, your kid, and the rest of the family at home ready so you can make it to a 9:30 yoga class on a Sat morning is admirable.
So this morning three adorable kids and their parents have arrived to venture into the world of yoga - finding ways to share sacred space with their kids, have some fun, and possibly channel some of the never ending energy these kids have.
Most people know we use sticky mats in yoga and have had the experience that when you go to a yoga class everyone rolls out their mats and then does their practice on their mats...not so in a tots class. The entire room is the yoga mat for them. We start by tuning in, ringing a singing bowl and Ommmmmm-ing. We move through class doing train, half moon, and toes to nose. Giggling and having fun. At this point in the class we come to singing Itsy Bitsy Spider (by Shaktar Kaur Khalsa - Radiant Child Yoga). It is a chance to sing, do something familiar - even though there are different words - and build fine muscle coordination. Right after the song we do 'spider' - bringing all 10 finger tips together and pushing them together and apart. This is a challenge for most of the kids in the class - they have just begun to build the coordination and fine motor skills to do it. As one little boy worked diligently on creating the form...he looked so intently at his hands...and suddenly out of his mouth burst "they're the same". He had discovered the symmetry of his body.
Yoga is the opportunity to know ourselves. The eight limbs of yoga give us the framework to accomplish this journey. The first limb being asana - the exploration of the physical body. That is what this precious spirit did at the moment the words burst from his mouth. The pure spontaneity he expressed was filled with awe and joy - and that energy spread through the room.
Doing yoga with kids connects us to our own inner child. Re-experiencing those days when we also were just beginning to know ourselves in the innocent emotions of childhood. Parents doing yoga with their kids have the opportunity to re-discover themselves as well as having fun with the kiddos, and providing a yogic environment for them to grow up in.
