Kids Yoga
In kids yoga classes, children explore themselves physically and mentally in community with each other. Together, we discover new edges of what we thought was possible, practice listening inwards and acting from connection with Self, and enjoy spending time in stillness. There is lots of laughter and fun as we play through postures together.
About the Instructor
Antonia Kao is a certified yoga instructor who has been practicing yoga since 1990, working with kids since 1992, and teaching yoga to kids and adults of all abilities, including those with specific challenges such as visual impairment, since 2003. Antonia has studied with many veteran teachers including, at the Sri K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore, India, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath Rangaswamy. She completed teacher training at Avalon Yoga in Palo Alto, and advanced teacher trainings with Erich Schiffman and Sarah Powers. She has worked with children ages 3 and up at the yoga studio Yoga is Youthfulness, the award-winning preschool Kindercourt, Bapuji Children's Orphanage in India, and the Santa Clara Emergency Housing Consortium.
Resources
Here's a link to Yoga for Youngsters (San Jose Mercury News, 31 July 2006) that features YiY kids yoga students and me.
Here are a few of my favorite kids yoga books for both parents and kids:
My Daddy is a Pretzel by Baron Baptiste ~ written for kids with charming illustrations and an accessible storyline
Born Yogis by Susie Arnett, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa ~ sweet photos of babies in yoga poses accompanied by inspiring and informative passages from classic texts
Here's a great overall resource for parents and older kids:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Yoga with Kids
| "I had Antonia teaching kids class for a while at our studio before she moved to Petaluma. I was really sad and still get questions about Antonia. She had a great, fun, connected, nurturing and learning yoga class for kids. She had been practicing yoga at our studio for many years prior teaching. Have nothing but good things to say. I wish she was still living close by." |