Yoga for Kids

Yes, yoga.

A few weeks ago Satchel spent a whole evening showing me and Jiro the gymnastics moves he learned at school. Then he showed me his secret ninja moves that he made up. Each time he showed me a move, Jiro copied him. When he ran out of moves, I showed him some yoga poses that I vaguely remembered from my various yoga encounters over the years. I was really amazed by how limber he was and excited by how excited he was. So I set off immediately and ordered Yoga Kids, Vol. 2: ABC's for Ages 3-6.

It arrived last week. As soon as the monkeys saw it, they started jumping around, making strange noises, and tearing the plastic covering off. We put the DVD in and they anxiously stood in front of the TV. Once the intro music started, Jiro took off his shirt and shorts and Satchel retrieved some mats out of the closet.

I sat on the sofa and observed.


The instructor is a little goofy, like most instructors, and some of the kids are anything but graceful, but overall the DVD is cool. The poses were fairly easy for Satchel, and a little challenging for Jiro. They were also more high energy than anything I'd ever done. (I secretly hoped the yoga would lull them into a state of relaxation.) The music, graphics, and instruction are all interesting and educational.

Once it was over, the monkeys were ready to do it again, but I made them take a bath and go to bed instead. The next day they were still very revved up. Jiro lost interest in actually trying to do the poses, but Satchel persisted. By Sunday morning they had both given up on doing the poses and preferred to sit with me on the sofa and watch. Over and over. They both like saying "Om" and there is a great volcano pose to help let out frustration. I personally like the kissing pose. The instructor uses lots of big words starting with each letter of the alphabet that they are on and gives encouraging messages like, "Be kind to all animals." We've all been walking around singing a very hippy dippy namaste song...I am the light and the light is me. Namaste Namaste Namaste...

When the DVD is not playing Jiro insists on carrying the case around with him. This morning, his first words were, "I want yoga."