Another Tip from the Smallest Kid Yogis

“I am sorry!” 

The words don’t always come out exactly like that, but an apology is the implied message.  

After a Family or Toddler Yoga class this implied apology is pretty common. It is made on behalf of a child who was more interested in running than yoga-ing, or for the kid who cried or screamed during class, or for the little one who sat to the side seemingly uninterested… or any number of other yoga blunders. 

I know the feeling myself: the urge to apologize.

Before I taught Family and Toddler Yoga, I attended class with my daughter. At that time she was younger than 2-years-old and I had great (unrealistic) visions of doing yoga together with her in a group setting. Lucky for me perhaps, my daughter is not a screamer or a runner, but she did sit without moving a muscle from nearly class start to class finish. I worried during that whole class about the teacher feeling bad about Nemea’s (lack of) participation.

So I know enough, at this time, to warn the parents that their child is going to participate in their own unique way. At the beginning of class I always try to explain that some children will participate, some will watch, some will be loud and some will participate in their own unique self-motivated movement session (ie: the runners). 

And each of those ways of participating are 100% fine with me, the teacher. 

I always hope that my statement will give parents the freedom not to feel stressed by the way their family has showed up in class. And I suppose it helps, but as parents we definitely feel pressured to make our children ‘behave.’ 

Today I want to offer you, parent of a child who didn’t do ‘yoga’ in class, another way to view the experience. Because I realized last week that there is an important lesson that might be relevant to adult people ;) The lesson comes as a tip I’ve learned from being with my smallest kid yogis…

Act according to how you feel. 

There I said it. It sounds so simple.

Kids are masters at being ‘real.’ As adults we tend to get a bit programmed to hide what is ‘real’ for us such that when we show up for a class we act as we feel we are expected to act. Children just don’t have that programming. And that is great! Lucky them!

Okay, I might be bothered if an adult got up during one of my adult-centered Vinyasa classes to run around the room endlessly. But I am happy when they do practice in a way that adequately addresses the way that they have shown up on any given day. Tired? Take an extra pause in a Childs Pose. Angry or Frustrated? Throw in an extra Chataranga.

So whether it is you or your child(ren), don’t be afraid to bless our classes with some uniquely you-ness. And there is no need to apologize for that!