Who says yoga is just for adults? Last March 24, I had the immense pleasure of taking part (as an audience, that is) on a Kiddie Yoga Adventure led by London based yoga teacher, Patricia Olabre at Beyond Yoga. With ten children in tow, she went on a little trip to an imaginary jungle and through the city.

She began the class very much like a typical class, with each of the ten children sitting in an easy seat, rooting their bums to the ground by “gluing” them and attaching their heads to a string on the cloud that floated way up into the sky.

They then stretched out their muscles by making the best pizza in the world before heading off to the jungle to find the cobras and lions and all sorts of other animals. The poses they did in class were also very much like the poses adults do in a typical yoga class but were presented in more simple and age-appropriate terms. Child’s pose, for example, was called mouse.

It was so much fun watching the kids do various poses! The kids had a blast too! One of my dear yoga friends’ daughter was in the class and just take a look at how much she enjoyed herself!

One of my favorite parts of the class was when they did Dancer’s Pose. To get into the pose, Patricia had the kids sing the song “I’m a little teapot” and they acted out the part where they tip over and pour out the tea and tada! Dancer’s pose. For navasana they sang “Row, row, row your boat”. To do side planks, they pretended they were airplanes. SUPER CUTE!

Watching the class made me realize what kind of yoga I want to teach once I finish my Teacher Training. After the class I had a chance to briefly chat with Patricia and she told me that she had completed her training in kids, prenatal and pregnancy yoga in London. When I told her that I used to be a preschool teacher, she said that my background would be perfect for this type of yoga and that perhaps I can find a certification course somewhere in Singapore or Hong Kong upon completion of my basic TT. Usually, she said, these are just 3 day programs. I have yet to explore that as an option but for sure, being in that class made me realize that I am finding the fusion of the different paths I have taken in my life, from the preschool path, to the psychologist path and now the yogic path. It is, indeed, everything I am and love.

I cannot wait to be able to do this

In the meantime, I heard that some yoga studios around Manila will be offering regular kids yoga classes. When I have more information, I will post them here

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