Such a lovely morning at our Family Yoga Workshop spent making memories! We used a new venue this time at Hall Place in Bexley and I am so pleased with how it went. As the room is slightly smaller unfortunately I wasn’t able to accommodate everyone who had wanted to come along but on the plus side it was a lovely setting and being a smaller venue meant everyone was really able to connect as a group. 26 yogis attended on the day ranging from 3 years old to 72 years old and we all headed off on a Journey to the Magic Kingdom.
The whole workshop was really so much fun and I had such wonderful feedback from everyone who came. Everyone was so full of energy, enthusiasm and imagination and so open to giving everything a go. The best aspect for me was seeing how happy everyone was and how the adults were connecting with the children. Such big smiles and the room was filled with laughter! We had a mix of “relationships” within the room: mums, dads, grandparents and aunts too but the common factor was that everyone left having made new memories together.
As I have been running these family yoga workshops for a few years now I have been able to gauge both from experience and feedback how best to hold the children’s attention and how to captivate their imaginations. Experience has also showed me which aspects of the session people enjoy most and what works best so I try to layer on and improve things each time.
While predominantly a fun and energetic workshop – unavoidable with such high levels of excitement – I do still try to include some moments of calm. I have found that overall the children want to “get to the fun stuff” pretty quick so I just include a few opening breathing exercises and warm-ups before moving onto our adventure and exploring a combination of individual and partner postures. This allows everyone to get creative with their bodies and finding ways to connect with each other.
What was curious in this particular workshop was that I really noticed that as we reached the end of our “adventure” that the energy was starting to naturally dip and so everyone was ready for some well-earned relaxation at the perfect moment and it was wonderful to see the children snuggled up with their adults and just enjoying being still and connected. A real pleasure to guide everyone through their relaxation.
After our journey, relaxation and a short break for refreshments we played some yoga-inspired games together and even included some circle games this time which had us connecting and working together as a group. Lots of fun and a definite must for next time!
Here are a few photos of just “some” of the poses we looked at on our journey…
Playing with handstands
A Queen on her throne
Taking time to stretch out
We were brave Warriors
Me with our youngest yogi at just 3 years old!
We are stronger together
Partner Boat Pose
All in all a very full and exciting Journey to the Magic Kingdom! To see more of our adventure you can check out the video on my YouTube channel – just click here!