Do children really need to learn how to step back from a hectic world and focus on their inner selves? Sylvia Thompson asks the teachers and pupils
It would be easy to dismiss yoga for children as yet another faddish activity, driven by adults' desire to offer children as many diverse experiences as possible.
That many children have over-scheduled lives is a problem in itself, but paradoxically, including yoga in their weekly routines - during school hours or after school - can in itself help children retrieve a sense of balance that is naturally at their disposal.
"Yoga for children is very new here but in the United States, they are beginning to integrate it into schools," says Marie Wilmot, who trained with Marsha Wenig, an Indiana-based yoga teacher who has developed a yoga programme for children called YogaKids.
Based in Bandon, Co Cork , Wilmot gives six-week courses in yoga to the children in the Bandon Gaelscoil.
"The children really respond to it and can take in extra information after doing their 45 minutes of yoga. I give the classes in blocks of six so if they don't like it, they can stop after six weeks," says Wilmot.
"Teachers are getting so good at thinking outside the box, and doing a little yoga in between different subjects can help children adjust to the different type of attention required for say maths and English."
Wilmot hopes to develop the YogaKids Tools for Schools programmes to give teachers further support in this area.
The YogaKids programme incorporates Howard Gardener's theory of multiple intelligence into the practise of yoga. So, for instance, children might be encouraged to sing, dance and clap out their counting, using mathematical skills alongside musical and rhythmical ones.
"What yoga brings most of all to children is that sense of awareness of body and the environment," says Wilmot. "Learning to stand still and take a full yoga breath and release it changes how you feel about yourself and the presence you have in the room.
"We also teach children and teenagers that it's okay to be angry but it's what you do with your anger that changes your life. So, learning to be more creative with their anger - by writing down their thoughts, painting, etc is important."
Marsha Wenig believes that children can learn to take a proactive stance in their own healthcare by recognising when their bodies are in a state of discomfort and using yoga techniques to help restore themselves to a state of health and balance.
"Yoga helps children become more aware of their physical and emotional needs," she says.
Expressing feelings is a strong component of children's yoga. So saying things like I am happy, I am angry, I am brilliant are often combined with movements and postures.
Yoga teachers also adapt the practices of using visualisations and affirmations to suit the developmental stage of the children in the class.
Repeating phrases like I am peace, I care about others, I love myself and peace begins with me helps develop a child's sense of him or herself in the wider world.
Orla Punch is a Dublin-based yoga teacher who has given yoga classes for children.
She says: "From the physical point of view, yoga will improve a child's posture. From the age of two or three, children begin to copy their parents' posture as well as developing bad habits through long hours sitting at school and in cars.
"Through learning good posture, children are creating space for their heart, lungs and other organs of their bodies. Children can then bring this learning experience into their sports activities," says Punch.
She says that the interest in yoga for children in the Dublin region has come mainly from parents' own positive experience of yoga. "Some parents also feel that their children are under stress. There is no competition in yoga.
"Every child leaves feeling positive and unique. Yoga gives children permission to be optimistic and love life and it's great to pass that on to children."
Wilmot adds: "I really feel that if we teach children to brush their teeth every day, we should also teach them to take a deep breath when they are totally stressed so they can learn that it's not all about what's coming at them but what's coming from inside them as well."
Marie Wilmot will give a YogaKids introductory day aimed at parents, teachers and therapists in the Bessborough Meditation Hall, Mahon, Cork City on April 22nd from 9.30am-5.30pm and in The Yoga Room, Ballsbridge, Dublin on June 10th from 9.30am- 5.30pm
See also www.yogakids.com or contact Marie Wilmot on 086-1778369.