YOGALICIOUS

- JoAnna Ross Contributing Writer

This month is dedicated to health & fitness. Now more then ever this is a hot topic. Experts estimate that 15% of kids are overweight and another 15% are at risk of becoming overweight. SO, early on we need to start with good eating habits and physical activity for our children.

One way I think that we can help getting out of this epidemic is to make physical activity fun. My background couldn’t have been more the opposite. I was a dancer since I was three and competing by age 10, which included being weighed in every week (that may be too much info but it is the truth). If we teach children that exercise can be fun I think and I hope that the number of kids in this country that are obese will decline. In general children do not want to do anything that they are not good at. What if that wasn’t an option? It’s obvious to a child when they don’t get picked to be on a team that they are not the best but what if it were non-competitive? Believe me, I do believe in competition but I also believe in giving a child a platform to try new things in a safe and comfortable environment.

What if we taught out children that failing is not trying, so if they are trying, they succeed? What, if I may be so bold, we raised a bunch of Olives from Little Miss Sunshine?! All that takes is love and support. Besides, being the best doesn’t give you anything to strive for.

I am a yoga teacher and I teach kids ages 2-82. How can we keep our children doing yoga or any physical activity for that matter? I think the reason I have been successful in teaching children yoga is I make it really fun (I think that is the reason I am successful with adults also, btw). If I look like I am having fun, of course a child wants to do it too. I kid around and tell people that it is fun first and then I sneak in the yoga. Kids are like sponges, so I teach them like adults; I think they appreciate that. I like to ask questions to get their minds thinking outside the box so they have fun. Here is what some of the answers were when I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up?

- A rocket- not an astronaut, a ROCKET
- A princess
- Spider man
- Batman
- Superman
- A baseball
- A yoga teacher so I can be your assistant. (he was laying it on thick that day)
- A teacher
 
Here’s what they said when I asked them what YOGA means.
 
 
Yoga is love
 
Yoga. You definitely shouldn’t hit the person next to you
 
Yoga is paying attention and not talking.
 
Yoga helps you learn.
 
Yoga builds muscles.
 
Yoga is not saying the word can’t
 
Yoga is trying to do your best and not sittng down.
 
Yoga is being Brave
 
Yoga will help you to breathe
 
Yoga is not talking to the person next to you
 
Yoga. Can we sing my favorite Bruce Springsteen song BORN TO RUN
 
Yoga is such a great way for our children to start their healthy lifestyle. We are learning that professional athletes are taking yoga now. If we could start a child’s career with body awareness, how many injuries or surgeries would they miss out on? If a child has a natural ability to hit a ball, throw a ball, use a golf club, wouldn’t he or she be more successful if they new how to use their whole body instead of just their natural ability? Wouldn’t they become stronger? Wouldn’t their talent develop quicker? Greater?
 
I think any exercise is great. And if we can get the whole family in on it even better. We can all use a moment away from the computer.
 
Since it is health and fitness month lets have 2 poses:
Tree pose a balancing pose. Ask your child what kind of tree they are. They can even make it up
 
More challenging pose Bakasana Crow pose. Click on video