As a general rule, I always find some time during my week to exercise. Of course, running around after three young children was plenty of exercise, but even so, I still made it to the gym or local pool on a weekly basis. Now that my kids are grown up and out of the house, and as I enter a new decade of life (I won’t tell you which decade that is!), I’m taking better care of myself by exercising even more diligently and with greater purpose.
Being a more solitary type of person, swimming is always my preferred exercise. I love the repetitive rhythm of swimming laps and the meditative state swimming can bring on. Recently, however, I decided to go back to my roots and take up dancing as in salsa, as in ZUMBA! The music and the fast pace proved to be an excellent cardio workout. I don’t remember the last time I dripped with sweat like after an hour of zumba.
But then came the aches and pains and realizing that my body is not as young as it once was and perhaps a more gentle activity would soothe me better. This led me to YOGA. A “gentle yoga” where we are all stretching and yawning as the hour progressed.
Nevertheless, YOGA is an ancient practice that is not only good for the body, but it settles the mind. I was teaching a seminar and mentioned YOGA only to see a young girl light up with excitement as she explained that she had just reviewed doing a yoga breathing exercise with her Girl Scout troop. So here are some resources on how to teach young children not only how amazing their bodies are and what can be done with healthy stretching but also how to help calm themselves with yoga.
- The ABCs of Yoga for Kids: A Book for Coloring by Teresa Anne Power & Kathleen Rietz
- Children's Book of Yoga: Games & Exercises Mimic Plants & Animals & Objects by Thia Luby
- Gaiam Kids: Yoga Kids Fun Collection - acclaimed DVD set engages your child with fun yoga-style moves and activities to develop physical fitness, learning skills and confidence
These are just a few of the hundreds of books, DVD and resources for doing yoga with children. Have fun and join in with yoga.
Namaste,
Dr. Chrystal de Freitas
P.S. - For those who may not know, Namaste means: “The divinity within me bows to the divinity within you.”
