Yoga for the Whole Family
by Marsha T. Metzger, M.ed, KYTA, RYT
(from Health & Medicine; The North Shore Women’s Journal

December 2003/January 2004) Yoga, a physical and spiritual practice which is thousands of years old, has exploded on to the American scene. Everyone is doing yoga, from Hollywood movie stars to your local fireman. Yoga studios are popping up everywhere. Physical fitness, stamina, strength, flexibility, youthfulness, weight loss, stress reduction are all reasons people are flocking to yoga. Once a student finds a yoga class, there is an overwhelming array of traditions to choose from, including specialized fields of yoga practice – such as yoga for women, and yoga for children.
What is it about yoga that keeps people coming back? The benefits are amazing on many levels: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. What many have begun as a quest for flexibility turns into a life transformation with job changes, relationship changes and lifestyle changes.
Yoga is that time to regroup and call your own. And best of all, while you are nuturing all your vital system of the body and soothing the soul you are getting a great workout. I don’t know about you, but that seems like multi-task heaven!
If time is truly a constraint, why not incorporate yoga into the family routine? Set aside15-20 minutes per day to do yoga with your family. Create a sacred space in your home with candles, soft music, soft light and make it your daily yoga space. Children are equally as stressed these days as adults and many are not nearly as flexible as we think they are. Children are also very open and curious, responding easily to both yogic breathing, yoga postures and meditation. Their refreshing perspective can only encourage our own growth and mind/body/spirit awareness. Husbands/fathers too, may become more open to their own emotions as they honor their inward journey through yoga.
Being present is a gift that you can give yourself and your family at any age. When you are present, you are timeless and ageless. Life is meant to be lived fully. What that means is that we are here with each breath, each moment, BEING ourselves. So why not give yoga a try?