Theory and practice

Step one: theory

Kids really love books. They don’t just read them. They study them. They look at the pictures. They trace the words with their fingers. And they do it again and again, until they know them by heart.

Ilene Cohen sent this photo of her niece studying Tree Pose (Vrksasana).

Author and editor Jessica Berger Gross sent in this photo of her son Lucien studying the relative merits of Upward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana) and Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana).

Finger pose helps you read!

Step two: practice

Reading only get’s you so far; there comes a time when you must do.

Nepal (8), Shaked (11) and Thohar (11) all practice yoga at the Iyengar Yoga Jerusalem Center. Their teacher, Shirli Nada Michalevicz, had this to say about teaching them:

As adults, we rarely do what we are taught to do since we are so stuck in memories of past pains or fears of the future. The girls teach me what real intelligence is through their capacity to be PRESENT. It has been a real gift of learning to teach them.

Thanks to everyone who has sent photos of kids doing yoga, and kids with my book, Watch Me Do Yoga. Please keep them coming.

© 2013 Bobby Clennell.