As you may know, yoga is an ancient science from the East. The word, yoga comes from the Sanskrit language, and means to "yoke" or "unite" the body, mind, and spirit. The yoga in this book comes from the tradition of Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan, who brought this form of yoga to the west in 1969. Kundalini Yoga, with its focus on strong breathing and dynamic exercise is a perfect match for the active bodies and minds of children. Adults can enjoy it too!

Children who do yoga have an advantage. For example, yoga helps children become more self-confident and self-aware, as well as more physically fit. And that's just for starters. Yoga has been known to help with many medical conditions, such as asthma, insomnia, digestive problems, ADD and learning disabilities, to name a few.

Teaching Various Ages of Children
Please be aware that the guidelines that follow are very general. Between the groupings of children that I've listed, you will find children within each who do not fit the general category. Some may fit with the description of younger children, some older, and some won't fit into any category. This is where your intuition, your instinct, and your sense of creativity will need to come in to play!

A good children's yoga class:

• Engages the child and is fun

• Promotes a state of well-being on all levels (body/mind/spirit)

Toddlers and Threes
This group will like many of the same parent-child yoga games that were done with babies, but 'I can do it myself' is the theme of this age group. Allow them to enjoy doing yoga, no matter how imperfectly. Circle games with little songs, pretend to be animals, the balloon breath and pillows breathing (from "Fly Like a Butterfly") all develop awareness and coordination for this age level. Simple exercises, like stretching up high, then touching the floor are appropriate, as is partner yoga with one adult for each child. Time — Yoga exercises: 5-10 minutes, relaxation: 30 sec.- 1 min. singing and games: 3-5 minutes.

Pre-schoolers (4-6)
Imagination runs wild with this group. All of the yoga stories in Fly Like a Butterfly are appropriate. Give them little bits of information about how yoga is helping them. Children of this age can begin to sit quietly and focus inward for a few minutes, or as a precursor to sitting--they can practice being completely still in deep relaxation on their backs. Time — Yoga: 15-25 min., relaxation: 1 - 2 minutes, singing and games: quiet (meditation) time: 2-3 minutes, songs and games: 10 minutes.

Babies
Parents and babies do yoga together at this age. The parent bicycles the baby's legs, crosses baby's arms, keeps eye contact, smiling and singing songs. Parents do yoga with babies attached — like rolling up and back with baby against parent's shins, with parent holding baby's hands (this should be reserved for babies who are over one year old and have strong necks). Time: 5-15 minutes.

Elementary school children (7-9)
The younger set of this age group will still relate strongly to imaginative yoga, while the older children will respond well to a more grown-up approach, like using a timer to hold poses, how an exercise helps them, and give more detail about how to hold the pose, what muscles are used, etc. Because of this group's focus on peers, they may enjoy partner yoga. Time — Yoga: 1/2 hour- 40 min., relaxation: 2-3 minutes, meditation or quiet breathing time: 3-5 minutes (or more), games, songs: 10 minutes, or have time for discussion at the end.