Yoga for three year olds

Yoga is something I've flirted with for years -- about ten years ago I started out with a book, which was impossible to learn from when you've never done yoga before, then I did classes in Toronto, and then more classes, some regularly, some sporadic, in Vancouver. The problem with yoga in Vancouver is that it's extremely popular, so they can get away with charging exorbitant amounts for classes, and there comes a point when I sign up and have to miss a class and really realize that I can't afford to miss a single one, and my lifestyle just doesn't cope with that well.

So I had been looking around at some alternatives -- bought a magazine with some pose sequences in, which was good but not good enough. And then I found podcasts.

There are yoga podcasts, my friends. Available from iTunes but also from websites. My current favourite is yogadownloads.com, where there are free 20 minute sessions, and 30, 45, and 60 minute sessions available for money -- a fraction of the cost of the yoga classes down the road. I haven't gotten any of the longer ones, because let's face it -- between working and a kid, twenty minutes is the most I have available any day. And they go through the poses with you, it's just like having a yoga class in the living room! They are perfect for someone at my level, who has basic knowledge of yoga poses and how it all works, but who really isn't so immersed to need something really challenging.

One of the side benefits of doing yoga at home is that my kid can do it too. He does an excellent downward dog, and is pretty good at child's pose, upward dog, cow, cat and of course the lying down pose. I actually think it's excellent that he's getting this exposure at such an early age, and I hope very much that he will continue to do this kind of thing later on in his life.

One of the amusing side benefits of having your three year old do yoga with you are the poses he makes up. For instance -- there was the rolly pose, which involved you starting at one end of the yoga mat, and rolling down the length of it. And then there was the flashlight pose, where you stand at one end of the mat and run around the mat in ever-decreasing circles until you fall down. And you must hum at the same time.

And last but not least, there was the race car pose, where you spin around in a circle until you fall down on your bum, and then you start making vrooming noises and run wildly around the house making those noises until you crash into the bedroom door.

And it occurs to me, really, that those sorts of poses? Might be just as relaxing for adults as warrior one. Mostly because of all the insane laughing at your acting like a three year old.