“Yoga for children?” A mother at the school gates wrinkled her nose at the
very suggestion. “No, I don’t really agree with that. It smacks of
hyperparenting to me, trying to get children into adult activities too
young.”
Well, Mrs Disapproving of Tunbridge Wells, I disagree. And I have the holiday
snaps to prove it. Yoga and children do go together like sprinkles and
ice-cream, their supple bodies move easily into positions that adults can
only fantasise about. It is, however, a big leap from dropping off your
child at a yoga class for an hour and devoting a whole week to it abroad.
Gone would be the unavoidable holiday diet of fizzy drinks and crisps by the
pool, with only healthy snacks of rice cakes and vegetarian food on the
menu. There would also be two hours of craft activities every morning while
we parents did yoga. Would it work?
Fortunately for the troupe of 18 adults and 18 children who turned up at the
airport in Ancona in Italy for a family week this August, it did. Our
resort, The Hill That Breathes in Le Marche, on the border of Umbria and
Tuscany, had staged its first family week with children’s yoga the year
before, and had overcome teething problems (such as a broken freezer after a
rush on lollies) and honed the format. “Ice lollies will be available to buy
from 3 till 5pm every afternoon,” announced the owner, Gaia, on the first
day, to a collective sigh of relief. Gaia and her partner John have
six-year-old twin boys, so they know the score, and the clear structure laid
out for the day – two hours of activity in the morning and two hours of yoga
in the early evening – made everyone feel sure that they would get a break.
I was travelling with my six-year-old twins, Millie and Michael, and my yoga
buddy, Lisa, with her four-year-old son, Arthur. Neither of our husbands was
interested in anything yogaish, so my first surprise was to see how many
fathers had signed up for the week. Jitan, Tim, Kobi and Mike were all
London boys new to yoga, fingering their mats nervously. The more at home
Andrew, a management consultant from Oxfordshire, flicked his mat out rather
professionally on the first day, later admitting that his wife, Tina, was a
yoga teacher so he had got some practice in at home.
With such a mixed group, the emphasis was more playful than serious, with a
lot of partner work, and Veva, the bubbly American teacher, didn’t let the
group energy drop. Our sessions alternated between the memorable yoga
platform with 360-degree views over the Umbrian hills and a huge white dome,
and by the end of the first day we had overcome any social awkwardness by
running around the room, sticking out our tongues and roaring at each other
(“the lion”).
The children, in three groups (of underfives, undertens and overtens) bonded
quickly, making Goddess Eyes, Friendship Trees, bracelets and paintings.
Jitan, from West London, who usually takes his family on a hotel-and-beach
holiday, had chosen the week because he wanted his two girls, Shivani and
Asha, to socialise more. And this is where communal living in a giant house
party quickly takes effect. Even the shyest child soon found a friend.
Asha, 9, paired up with Anna, 10, and admitted that she was having more fun
than she expected: “I thought there would be nothing to do except yoga, but
the teachers are very patient, and the yoga is relaxing. I find it much
easier to sleep after yoga.”
So much for the girls, whom we expect to have an open mind to bodily
gymnastics, but what about the urban, football-playing boys? Could they
really be converted in the space of a week? Ten-year-old Jack said he loved
doing the “flying dog” posture, where you hang off a bar, leaning over with
a strap attached around your hips: “I liked the feeling of having to let
yourself go, it’s a great shivery feeling down your back.”
Jack, normally to be found on the rugby field, added: “Rugby’s rough, but yoga
is peaceful. It’s good to do the opposite sometimes.” His new friend Daniel,
also 10, worried that he might be brainwashed by the experience. “But it
actually lets you get into this dreamy state, where you are daydreaming –
except not.”
For younger children, the emphasis was more on flexing their bodies into
different shapes – cat, dog, turtle, lion, cobra – with stories and
discussion about eating healthily. “You do wonder how much the children take
in,” said Beverley, the yoga teacher of the under5s, “but by the third class
they remember the postures and start asking to do their favourites.” As one
might expect from a yoga holiday, we were asked to shine our eco-haloes by
conserving water (my children now refuse to brush their teeth with the tap
running), and recycling almost everything – 95 per cent of the waste at the
resort goes to pigs or special bins.
As well as the daily yoga practice, there were massages in the tepees,
mosaic-making for the whole family, and cookery classes with the talented
and frenetic Ulisse Guastoni. Adults cooked the meal for that evening and
learnt to make gnocchi and tiramisu, while the chef’s own recipes of ravioli
with courgettes and thyme, or truffle omelette in a Parmesan basket, had
everyone coming back for thirds. There were chips for the kids, but only
after they had been coaxed to try rolled aubergine with ricotta cheese and
tomato sauce. By the end of the week almost all the children were eating
salad.
The most relaxing aspect of the holiday was the sense of community that
quickly evolved, with everyone offering to watch over each other’s children
as they played at the salt-water pool, or the fathers taking the boisterous
boys off the bouncy castle at a birthday party on the last night.
This allowed even the pregnant mother Belinda, travelling alone with her
two-year-old, to have a massage and break. There was no hyperparenting about
it.
Laid-back underparenting, perhaps. But definitely not hyper.
Need to know
The Hill that Breathes (0870 6092690, www.thehillthatbreathes.com)
is running two family weeks in 2008, starting on July 24 and July 31. The
cost is £695pp, with discounts for children of 30 per cent for ages 4-11 and
20 per cent for ages 12-15. The price includes full board, yoga sessions and
activities, but not flights or transfers.
Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies from
Stansted and Liverpool to Ancona.
Stretch out
A week’s family “Yogoloji retreat” is available for half-term (Oct 27-Nov 3)
at Almyra hotel (www.thanoshotels.com)
in Cyprus. The cost, from £2,065 per adult and £625 per child up to 11
(based on two adults and two children sharing two rooms), includes yoga and
therapies, flights, transfers and full board.
Book with Elegant Resorts (01244 897515, www.elegantresorts.co.uk).
Yoga on a Shoestring has family holidays in the UK, France and Spain from next
spring. Bookings open in October.
Details: 020-8690 0890. www.yogaonashoestring.com
.
Family Yoga Holidays, which also offers adults-only yoga retreats, has one
family holiday abroad next summer. Bookings open in November.
Details: 020-7435 7791, www.familyyogaholidays.co.uk.
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