|
YogaKids Q&A
Q. What is Yoga?
A. Yoga is an ancient system which fosters physical health, mental fitness and spiritual
well- being. It is mindful, noncompetitive exercise, emphasizing the connection of body
and mind, and of movement and breathing. The word Yoga comes from an ancient
Sanskrit word meaning “union” – union in the sense of joining together; the energies of
the body with those of the mind, the male and the female; the yin and the yang.
Q. Who is it for?
A. Yoga is for everyone. Thirty million people practice yoga worldwide: in their homes,
hospitals, community centers, health clubs, at home and now in schools, using the new
YogaKids Tools for Schools.
Q. Why is yoga a good tool for children?
A. According to Marsha Wenig, founder of YogaKids International, Inc., “When
presented in child-friendly and fun ways, yoga encourages children toward selfawareness,
self-care, self-esteem, self-understanding, compassion and health including
healthy eating habits. My experience is that children naturally understand how to use
yoga, and they can apply it themselves almost as soon as it is introduced to them. It is a
gift we can give them that they carry into adulthood.”
Q. How can children use yoga?
A. Because yoga offers wide and deep benefits, it can be applied in an endless variety of
day-to-day situations in children’s lives. Children have fun pretending to be animals,
elements in nature and an endless stream of other things related to how they perceive the
world. So when they are given instructions to open softly like a bud, fly like a butterfly or
fall like an autumn leaf, they naturally understand. Their movements can be quite
intrinsic, as well as fun and playful to a child’s body, imagination and way of learning.
Q: Why do parents love YogaKids?
A. YogaKids is tailored to how children seen the world, how they play and how they
learn. They love it and parents do too because it offers so many benefits that last a
lifetime. YogaKids are happier, calmer kids. A recent study has proven that children who
do yoga feel better about themselves and even get better grades.
Q. How do I get my kids involved?
A. Buy a book, a DVD or a CD. Go to our website and find a class in your area or get
training in the YogaKids methods for yourself.
Q. What is the difference between adult yoga and yoga for children?
A. Marsha Wenig brings yoga to life for children with sound and movement and poses
designed just for them. Marsha adds elements of fun, imagination and warmth which
draw children in…for example, she modifies the downward facing dog pose by adding
puppy paws, wagging tails and barking. YogaKids is energetic and expressive.
Q. What are the benefits of yoga for children?
A. The benefits of yoga for children are virtually endless. Yoga poses designed
specifically for children can be helpful before a test, while riding in a car, as a quick pickme-
up, to unwind or just have fun. Using yoga, children begin to understand the concept
that we are all a part of a much larger system that can work together in harmony.
General benefits include:
• Improves posture, flexibility, strength, balance and coordination
• Encourages positive thinking and provides motivation to learn
• Teaches breathing techniques that increase energy, and decrease anxiety
• Fosters self-esteem and acceptance
• A non-competitive activity, yoga is something that children of all abilities can do
and enjoy
• Provides techniques to quiet the mind and sharpen focus
• Enables children to know themselves better and learn to trust their instincts
Q. What about special needs children?
A. Special needs children benefit from yoga like all children with better self-esteem and
fitness. Marsha has worked extensively with some very challenged children and the
results are incredible.
Q. How do I become trained to be a YogaKids instructor?
A. We offer a three-phase certification program or a 1-day workshop. All info is available
on yogakids.com.
Q. How is yoga applied in schools with the new YogaKids Tools for Schools
Program?
A. YogaKids Tools for Schools is a teaching solution. Its mission is to create less stress
and facilitate greater success for teachers and students. Designed for children ages 5-12,
Tools for Schools was developed by author, teacher and recognized yoga authority
Marsha Wenig, along with her team of educators and certified facilitators.
Q. What is YogaKids International, Inc.?
A. YogaKids is the original and leading provider of yoga, fitness and educational
products for children.
Q. What products does YogaKids offer?
A. YogaKids Tools for Schools, DVD series, CD, mats, t-shirts, YogaKids garden game,
yoga for teens and more.
Q. Who is Marsha Wenig?
A. Marsha is the founder of YogaKids. The Washington Post acknowledged her as a
“yoga luminary.” She received her yoga training at the Center for Yoga and the Ivengar
Yoga Center in Los Angeles from 1984-1989.
Q. What was Marsha’s inspiration for YogaKids?
A. Marsha enjoyed a successful and glamorous career in the music industry as manager
of the Grammy Award-wining, The Manhattan Transfer. With an extensive background
in television and theatrical production, she was also an independent producer of
programming for HBO. When she lost both of her parents very suddenly, she found
herself looking for something...She found an answer in yoga.
Q. How did the business begin?
A. Marsha had been teaching creative writing to children in Los Angeles as part of the
California Poets in the Schools program (Marsha is also a published poet). She was
looking for a way to help her young students to unleash their creativity and express their
thoughts and feelings in words. She began to engage them in yoga, and it worked -- the
children’s words, thoughts and feelings began to open up and flow out…This is where
YogaKids began…in the classroom. Today, Marsha has come full circle after having
developed YogaKids Tools for Schools.
Her first formal experience teaching yoga to children, besides her own children, was at a
local Montessori School in La Porte, IN. “My challenge was to create fun and diverse
ways to hold their attention long enough for them to reap the benefits of yoga. I knew I
was onto something when they started calling me “Mrs. Yoga.”
Q. What happened next?
A. Marsha describes YogaKids as her labor of love. It grew from her family’s recreation
room in La Porte, IN to the local Montessori and is now in 23 countries, 32 states and has
delighted millions of children as their bodies grow stronger, their minds more creative,
their joy soars and their confidence is engaged. Marsha still lives in LaPorte with her
husband, Don, co-founder of YogaKids, on a 10-acre mini farm. Marsha and Don have
two children, Dakota and Kiva, the very first YogaKids.
Q. How has Marsha earned her reputation as a “global guru” on children’s yoga?
A. Marsha has developed one of the most robust and in-depth training programs on yoga
education for children. She has trained adults in the YogaKids methods both in the U.S.
and around the world. Her protégés teach in the following countries: Argentina, Aruba,
Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Mayanmar, New Zealand, Puerto
Rico, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, R.O.C., and United
Kingdom.
Q. How is Marsha recognized?
A. She has been widely covered in local, national and international media. Marsha has
been featured in Time, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, Child, Fitness, YogaJournal and scores of local and national trade publications and journals, as well as
newspapers across the country. She has appeared on CNN, PBS, ABC and NBC and
numerous radio programs.
|
