Fit Kidz program offered through Hollister Recreation for first
time
At the beginning of a mid-morning yoga class at the Veterans
Memorial Building, a group of yoga participants stands up tall in
mountain pose. Dressed in comfortable clothes with shoes removed,
they breathe in deeply and stretch their arms back behind their
heads into elephant pose.
Fit Kidz program offered through Hollister Recreation for first time
At the beginning of a mid-morning yoga class at the Veterans Memorial Building, a group of yoga participants stands up tall in mountain pose. Dressed in comfortable clothes with shoes removed, they breathe in deeply and stretch their arms back behind their heads into elephant pose.
Many of the poses might seem familiar to regular or occasional practitioners of yoga, but some of the names are different. Elephant is one of the many yoga poses Robin Pollard and Karin Larsen have named for their Fit Kidz Yoga program offered through the Hollister Recreation Department for 10 weeks this summer. There is a lion pose, a turtle pose, a flower pose and even a bucking bronco pose.
“We’ve been doing this with kindergarten classes at five different schools,” Pollard said.
She and Larsen started a yoga program at R.O. Hardin several years ago and it has since expanded into other Hollister schools. At the schools, they do a short class for 20 minutes with up to 60 kids.
“Because of the kindergarten program, parents were asking how to find it outside of class,” Pollard said.
Though some might picture yoga as a quiet and structured exercise, Pollard and Larsen have found it to be a good fit for energetic children.
“Yoga is open and flexible,” Pollard said. “You don’t have a lot of rules. The goal is to move.”
Larsen agreed.
“We focus on having fun and getting exercise,” Larsen said. “It’s not so much about doing the alignment as we would be with adults.”
The instructors agree that the best part about working with children is that it turns the exercise into playtime.
“The playfulness is nice,” Pollard said.
At a recent session, seven children turned up to the class, some with their parents watching from a row of chairs. Pollard put a blue dot sticker on the hands of each child.
“That helps with our reaching so we know which is our right hand,” she said.
Early in the session Pollard and Larsen help the kids get out some of their extra energy through a game called jog, freeze and melt. The kids move around the room, lifting their knees high into the air until one of the instructors calls out “freeze.” Then the kids stand still until the instructor says “melt,” as they wave their arms and legs while lowering themselves to the ground.
Jack Bacon, a 4-year-old with short-cropped hair is especially outspoken in the class. When he and the other students do the clam pose, where they fold themselves over to touch their toes, he yells out that a shark is coming.
His mother, Lorraine Bacon, said she learned about the yoga class at Kids in the Park, a few weeks ago. Pollard and Larsen offered a free demonstration.
“I thought it would be good for him to learn to calm down,” Bacon said. “He’s a little hyperactive. They do a good job keeping them moving on the task.”
Jack is even practicing some of his moves at home.
“He tries to teach his sister how to do elephant and cat pose,” his mother said. “I thought it would be a good summer activity for him.”
Other kids speak out in the class, too, sometimes making animal noises to go along with the pose.
At the end of the class, the students stretch out into a big X, relaxation pose. As they close their eyes, Larsen speaks to them softly and takes them on an imaginary journey, up to the clouds. Most of the children lay quietly, a few twitching their fingers. After several minutes of relaxation, the kids sit up.
Pollard and Larsen also try to incorporate some nutritional information into each lesson. At the beginning of the class, she talks with the kids about drinking water before class and at home.
“It cleanses us,” Pollard said. “All the animal poses we do – they drink water, too.”
Next on the list of healthy drinks is milk and then juice that is mostly made of fruit and not sugar.
At the end of the class, Pollard asks the children to share their favorite fruits or vegetables. Strawberries make the list, as does pizza, according to one student who points out that it has vegetables on it. Another boy chimes in that pizza is also part of the bread and dairy group.
Pollard and Larsen go with the flow with each comment and class, having no specific itinerary for the day.
“As long as they are moving and breathing,” Pollard said, “And we are giving them a little nutritional info.”
