nashville | In the course of 50 minutes, pint-size “yoginis” fly like airplanes, rock like babies, buzz like bees and do their own personal interpretations of flowers.
It might not sound like yoga, but these children, ages 3 to 5, are participating in a kid-friendly version of the ancient Indian tradition of poses and stretches.
Five-year-old Gracie Hoffman of Nashville likes to be a bumblebee buzzing the other children as they turn into imaginary flowers. She also likes “the stretchy stuff.”
Instructor Robin Haynes, who teaches Kids’ Yoga once a week at Gordon Jewish Community Center in Nashville, tells Gracie and her classmates, “You didn’t even know you were doing yoga, that’s the thing.”
By combining the basics of yoga with games and imaginative play, Haynes is helping the children do something healthy for their bodies as well as their minds. The idea is to make the children feel good about themselves, Haynes said.
“You guys are so beautiful and so smart,” she tells the class. “You look like beautiful yoginis.”
Haynes’ class is just one indicator of a growing interest locally and nationally in yoga for the younger set.
The word “yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit word for yoke, meaning to join together. Most people associate modern yoga practice with postures and stretches. In actuality, the physical exercises are just one branch of a much broader system for health and well-being. The other seven branches of yoga explore conduct, ethics, meditation and breathing, among other things.
While some yoga instructors voice concern about the safety of some yoga poses for children’s bodies, others think yoga can be an enjoyable experience as long as it is adapted to be fun and safe.
Nancy Kirkland, manager and teacher at the Yoga Room of Nashville, started learning yoga at the age of 13.
“It was something I would always come back to,” she said. “I think when you get children involved early, even if they come for a short period of time, it sticks with them.”