Yoga for Youngsters
by Michelle Leigh Smith
reprinted with permission from the Village News / Southwest News
Each Wednesday, Holly Ames' kindergarten class meets on the floor of the Condit elementary cafeteria. Barefoot, with their legs tucked under their bums and their hands folded in front of their chests, they assume a position called "Candle." They are so excited that it is visibly diffcult for them to sit still.
"In here, the children strengthen their listening and focusing skills," says Ames, who studies yoga with Yannis at Kicksport.
Ames invited Annette Raj, a yoga instructor, licensed school psychologist and the mother of Condit students Chathan and Devan Raj, to teach her youngsters yoga.
Ames, also has her students do yoga between the Stanford and other standardized tests to de-stress. "When she sees them getting squirmy, she has them all stand up and do one or two poses, then they are more able to concentrate again," says Raj, who has studied yoga in India.
"Go as far back as your body says to go," instructs Raj, as she directs 15 five-and-six year olds in a pose called "The Camel."
"Criss-cross, applesauce," she tells them for the resting pose that comes before the backbends. The Condit class may be the youngest yogis in Houston.
"There are countless benefits of yoga at any age, but the primary benefit for young children is that yoga teaches them to follow directions and teaches them to focus the mind," says Raj, who studies at the Houston Iyengar Yoga Institute. She has had her own studio in Bellaire, Yoga for Living, for five years. "The balance poses especially require concentration. One surprise in teaching the kindergarteners is that I assumed that they would all be flexible, which is not the case. Bending over to touch the floor, back bending, and twisting are very good for young spines that may not be getting this type of movement elsewhere. Also, the leg stretches are very beneficial for their muscles - some of the children already have tight hamstrings."
Melanie Harrell, who teaches yoga and offeres a "Stress Less" badge workshop in aromatherapy and yoga to area Girl Scout troops, also believes strongly in the advantages of learning yoga early. "Kids lead very structured lives these days, and even their sports activities tend to focus on just a few areas of the body," says Harrell. "Yoga is wonderful for children because it gets their bodies moving in all directions. It also helps them focus and calm their minds. Because yoga is non-competitve, it provides a supportive atmosphere for all children. And it's just so much fun - the kids have a blast trying out a variety of poses!"
Harrell teaches children's classes through Montessori schools, such as Post Oak School; somtimes as part of the school curriculum and sometimes as after school classes.
