Last week, we told you about how kids in Japan are taking after-school yoga classes to dissipate some of the immense academic pressure and bullying that are a big part of their young lives. That made me wonder about how many kids in our own country are taking yoga as an anxiety-reliever and how many American parents are standing just beyond their children's mats, twitchy and yelling at 8-year olds, "Warrior pose! Airplane pose! COME ON! You know that one! Jesus Christ, get it together!"
The good news is that the New Age has indeed hit the U.S. (in case you haven't visited Oregon or Berkeley or your local vitamin shop) and yoga classes are bountiful for school-age children to get bendy, work out their frustrations, have some healthy activity and possibly experience some enlightenment. And of course, not every American parent is one of those assholes on the sidelines of a soccer game (or ice rink or yoga class) that you'd personally like to take a cleat to.
All snark and fear of my son one day being involved in organized sports aside, I really do like to hear about classes like this one where kids are doing yoga. And even if the teacher seems as if maybe she popped four or five too many tabs of Triphala before class, the kids clearly feel a bond with her that is important for teens and 'tweens and even toddlers to feel with trusted adults that are not the people who take away the car keys and change their diapers. I am all for opportunities for children to stretch their bodies and their experiences and to learn how to breathe deeply. Yoga for kids, both here and in other countries, can only do us all good.
