Today was Rosha Shana, Jewish New year, and while I am not Jewish, it is with grace and thanks that I mention it. The northern suburbs of Jozi slow on such holidays, the traffic eases and with that so does the stress. Many of my little artists stayed home today with their families to celebrate, classes were cancelled and my day went from insane to calm. Calm.
I have been feeling flustered, knackered and worn out for the past few weeks. It is life on the never ending run. Always somewhere to go to, always somewhere to be, always something to do. So yes, I offer thanks for Rosha Shana. The thing is, this is but one day, tomorrow the haste returns and in and amongst this we raise our children, in the blur of doing. We raise them to become doing junkies, always on the go, always being entertained, not knowing how to be still. Certainly, it is through the process of action that children grow, physically, mentally and emotionally, but it the what and how of the doing with which we need to be concerned. In a non stop world, a space of slow and centered needs to be created which leads me to possibly one of my favourite subjects (anyone who knows me knows where this is going..) - yoga!
Yoga for children is wholly different event than a class for adults. It does not focus on creating a perfect pose (if even for a moment) but it turns yoga into a story, weaving tales with both body and mind from the inside out. Most yoga poses are based on observations of nature with which children have a deep resonance, they imitate the world of animals and trees, taking on their qualities, internalizing and learning to express. It teaches them that they are part of the web of life while connecting them with their bodies and instilling compassion, non competitiveness and co-operation.
Yoga works on subtle levels, developing strength, balance and self awareness, focusing equally on both sides of the body and therefore integrating both sides of the brain. And of course the essential elements for which yoga is well renowned, are ever present, the lessons of reconnecting to the breath, using the breath fully and with consciousness. It is amazing how even at a young age breathing becomes stressed, shallow and reflective of emotional states. How wonderful to foster whole breathing at a young age. To control the breathe is to control the mind and so children learn to self calm. Calm. Stillness.
And so we come full circle, how to ease the mayhem, to raise our children with the ability to stop and breathe, to not only know how to do so, but to develop the healthy need to do so. And yes it is a process. One I am still working on it.
There are numerous children's yoga classes in and around Johannesburg, most studios offer them. These pictures were taken at at Yugo Yoga class led by the fabulous Biljana - biljana.cook@facebook.com.
On The Road To Jozi
I love the inner city of Johannesburg, but it is huge, time is permenantly in short supply and (here is the cinch) I live in the suburbs. So my good intentions of walking it bit by bit on a weekly basis has remained a distant dream. And as much as I would like to take my girls on a walk about, it seems a bit daunting. Enter The Red Bus!
The Red Bus is a hop on hop off, all day,every day bus which zig zags it's way through the city making 12 stops en route. It is also a double decker open top bus which scores big points with kids! Red earphones are provided which plug into the bus stereo through which a city "guide" is provided. The girls loved it.
We caught it from Gold Reef City but there more accessible stops like the Gautrain Station @Park. We took 3 1/2 hours making only one small stop, so I would recommend taking a whole day to do it and utilizing the opportunity to really explore places like Ghandi Square and The Origins Centre (tip: if you do stop here do not eat at its restaurant, overpriced, bad service and mediocre food). It also reminded me how many wonderful, inexpensive things there are to do with children in our city which is easily forgotten when living in the suburbs filled with shopping centres and child centred activities with large price tags.
So if you are at a loss as to what to do with your children for a day, or simply want a wonderful days outing where you get to play tourist in your own city, this is the thing for you. Unfortunately it only seems to be running until the 19th September.
Check it out on www.citysightseeing.co.za
Thank you for fabulous pictures and for loving yoga and mini yogis.
ReplyDeleteNamaste