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| Sunday, 21 August 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
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Yoga-a new way to have fun Yoga is no longer just for stressed out adults. It is also helping busy kids discipline mind and body, and even child care centres are keen to hold classes. Caitlin Ng may have been learning yoga for only a year, but she is no stranger to twisting herself into a multi-tasking pretzel. The Primary 2 student from Singapore Chinese Girls' School is in her school's gymnastics team. She also has private piano and violin lessons, and will soon take speech and drama classes. For the eight-old, yoga is but another "fun way to make new friends". "I am more flexible now. During gymnastics practice, I can do splits for a longer time," she says with delight. Her mother, Dr. Clarice Hong, however, thinks weekly yoga lessons will provide her eldest daughter with a much-needed oasis of Zen(a form of Buddhism). A consultant psychiatrist at Raffles Hospital, Singapore and a yoga enthusiast herself, she has two other daughters who are five and seven years old. All three girls used to take private yoga lessons with an instructor in their home, but their mother prefers them to attend classes at Gaia Yoga Centre so that they can have "more interaction with other children". "Nowadays, children lead very busy lives. Yoga can help calm the mind," says Dr Hong. Gaia Yoga Centre in Bideford Road is one of at least six yoga centres here that have been introducing yoga lessons to children. These include True Yoga, Shambhala Yoga Centre and Green Bamboo Studios. Ms Alice Leong, the studio director of Green Bamboo Studios in Greenleaf Road, says that there are three levels of yoga lessons for children. Those aged from 18 months to four years usually attend yoga classes with their parents, who help to move them in various poses. Children aged from five to eight do more animal poses, with an emphasis on games and music to make the learning process fun. Those aged from nine to 12 will then start to learn more about the concept behind yoga poses. Ms Ruth Chua, director of Gaia Yoga Centre, says most of her kiddie clientele get signed up for yoga classes by their parents, who are yoga practitioners. "Most of our adult students are working professionals who have experienced the health benefits of yoga, and want their kids to benefit too". The long-term practice of yoga yields advantages like increased physical strength, a stronger immune system and an increase in mental focus, says Ms Chua. Accordingly, it helps calm hyperactive youngsters too. This is also why yoga has been picked up at childcare centres, kindergartens, and primary schools in Singapore. Gaia, for instance, has been approached to hold yoga workshops in these institutions. "I believe it will eventually become a standard offering in schools here," Ms Chua adds. Ms Christine Tan, a yoga instructor at Shambhala Yoga Centre in Forum Shopping Centre and True Yoga in Pacific Plaza, has conducted yoga workshops for problematic students whom teachers find hard to discipline. For the past two months, she has also been volunteering at Marian Centre in Thomson Raod, where she teaches yoga to children from troubled families. "A lot of them carry a lot of negativity, which could be due to their upbringing or their family circumstances," says Ms Tan. "In the long run, yoga can change this by bringing some positivity back to their lives." She also volunteers at Assisi Hospice in Mount Alvernia Hospital, where she teaches yoga to children undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. "It's an uphill climb for them because their treatment often weakens them physically," she says. "But they have a lot to gain from yoga, especially in terms of feeling healthier and improving their motor skills". In fact, for the past decade or so, yoga has been used as a therapeutic tool for children with conditions such as Down's syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and attention deficit disorder, especially in the United States and Britain.But this practice is much newer in Singapore, having caught on only in the past year. For most kids, however, yoga is just another way to have fun. The Straits Times |
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