Downward dog teaches children peace

A large group of children, ranging from two to four years of age, stretched themselves out across a gymnasium full of yoga mats Tuesday morning as part of the YMCA's Yoga for Peace event.

The yoga class was part of the YMCA's 25th annual Peace Week, running nationwide from Nov. 21-28.

While about a dozen adults came out for the half hour of relaxation, the YMCA's gym was speckled with toddlers trying the exercise out for the first time.

“We wanted to create healthy children, make them more aware of their bodies, so we were looking to do an intergenerational Yoga for Peace event today,” said Jacqueline Dell, director of community relations for the Sudbury YMCA, who helped organize the event.

“I would have liked more adult participation, but the children enjoyed it, and that's the main thing at the end of the day.”

Marie Whitehead has been a certified yoga instructor for the past six years and said the benefits of children doing yoga are immense.

“(It improves their) concentration, flexibility, strength, stamina, and also a feeling of well-being and peace and serenity in their lives,” she said. “It also helps them to just calm down, with breathing exercises and techniques that will help them to oxygenate their blood. It's very good for them.”

She said she had never taught a group of children so young, and commended them for staying attentive and participating for the entire 25-minute session.

“The best age for yoga is seven years and up,” she explained. “But there are still moves we can do, like animal poses and poses that will make it fun for the children at this age.”

The children worked their way through yoga poses such as downward dog, the butterfly and the tree, some with looks of intense focus on their faces, while others created their own versions of the poses, smiling and laughing throughout.

Whitehead said she hoped introducing the children to yoga at such an early age would be something that stuck with them for years to come.

“It benefits them now to get into a routine or habit ,” she said. “Like any habit, it stays with you for life.”