“Feel like doing something a little different? Not something we typically feature?” This was the email that I received from the editors of ADVANCE recently.
What? A pediatric yoga video? What interest would physical therapists and PT assistants have in that? Surprisingly, this video MAY interest you.
Yoga is a Hindu discipline aimed at training the consciousness for a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility. Yoga is also a system of exercises practiced as part of this discipline to promote control of the body and mind.
Wai Lana’s Little Yogis is aimed at teaching basic yoga exercises to children. According to her website, Wai Lana is a modern-day yoga advocate, a highly energetic artist, and one of the most well known yoga teachers in the world today.
She has published several books on yoga, recorded musical albums in a variety of different styles, and produced and hosted nearly 200 half-hour television programs of yoga instruction.
In this 60-minute video, Wai Lana uses a combination of cartoons and real-life action to introduce children and their families to a playful, creative, and fun yoga workout. There is a prologue of basic questions and answers about yoga that is handled with soft, colorful cartoons. Then each section preceding each different yoga pose is again introduced with the cartoon format.
In her workout group, there are nine children from ages 3 to 10. Wai Lana encourages the children to pretend to be cobras, bears, butterflies, and bridges as they stretch and strengthen their bodies. The children have no trouble following Wai Lana’s instructions and are really enjoying the exercises.
The children use yoga mats and work out on a beautiful expanse of lawn with a sandy beach and scenic rolling surf in the near background. They are pictured at the picturesque Ko Olina Resort in Oahu, HI.
As Wai Lana likens each pose to something that the children are familiar with, she incorporates information on what the activity is doing to facilitate the body with breathing, strengthening, balance, conditioning, and the like.
How could PTs and PTAs use this video at work, at home, or to benefit their children?
It would be a natural for pediatric therapists to incorporate some of the yoga activities into their routines. It could then become a mainstream activity that many children could do with peers and siblings. It could be done in physical education classes.
Therapists who work in outpatient facilities might be able to have a program for children who accompany parents to treatment. The video is so self-explanatory that most children could do the yoga without direct supervision.
Gyms and fitness facilities also could have a program for children who accompany parents to treatment.
Parents who homeschool could add this to their endeavors. After-school clubs could use the routines.
Wai Lana’s yoga exercise videos have had success in increasing the appreciation of the beauty and benefits of the ancient art of yoga, and have played a significant part in the recent substantial growth in the popularity of yoga.
The field of physical therapy is increasingly striving to promote the pursuit of wellness endeavors. Wai Lana’s Little Yogisis a playful way to get kids into yoga exercises, to begin to teach healthy habits that will improve their strength, balance, and coordination, and to sharpen their minds as Wai Lana shares the ancient, timeless technique of yoga.
—ADVANCE for Physical Therapists & PT Assistants, February 16, 2004
