KIDS YOGA

Why kids yoga?

Children today are under a lot of stress. Homework, pressure to compete with other children, endless after-school activities, over-scheduling -- it all adds up. And just like their parents, kids today are turning to Yoga to help them relax.
Yoga helps kids develop better body awareness, self-control, flexibility and coordination. They can carry these skills beyond class and into their daily routines.
Yoga has also been shown to help the hyperactive and attention-deficit child. These children crave movement and sensory/motor stimulus. Yoga helps channel these impulses in a positive way. Yoga poses that seem to work especially well are the warrior pose and tree pose. They help instill calm, confidence and balance. The trick is to get beyond just "doing" the posture. We try to get them to think about what the postures mean, to become like the postures -- strong and confident like a warrior.
We use partner poses to develop trust. Working with each other on poses, the children develop team skills. It also fosters bonding.
When it comes to relaxation, some children have a difficult time closing their eyes while others can't get enough. One technique that encourages relaxation is visualization.

About our KIDS YOGA
Our yoga classes are quite different from the typical meditative adult yoga class, in our classes children are animated, noisy and free–spirited!Adults often have to work at yoga, but kids play yoga!While "playing" yoga, children move about the room, play breathing games, make noises, act out stories, and pretend to be animals. They hiss like snakes in the Cobra pose, bark like dogs in the Downward Facing Dog pose and learn to balance on one foot while standing tall like trees.

Outcomes

• Emphasizes proper body alignment so children avoid injury.
• Develops flexibility, strength, stamina, agility, balance, coordination and cardiovascular fitness.
• Promotes mental and physical health and a positive attitude toward exercise.
• Promotes concentration, self-discipline and develops inner strength and clarity. Breath control is an integral part of yoga and meditation. Children learn to value their breath. Breath meditation teaches children to deepen and slow down their breath and be calm and inward focused. It is a valuable skill that they can utilize their entire lives.
• Builds cooperative skills and good social behavior by working with a partner or in a group.
• Promotes positive communication and good listening skills which foster self- respect, compassion and respect for others.
• Builds self-confidence.
• Encourages children’s creative imagination and self-expression

KidsYoga teaches children of all ages and abilities from toddlers to teens in public & private schools, health clubs, daycare centers, yoga centers, dance studios and summer camps. New classes are being added all the time so, please check back on a regular basis.

Why Disease - Answers Ayurveda

Why Disease- Answers Ayurveda
Ayurveda describes the following types of imbalances that are major contributing factors to the production of disease.
1) Poor digestion leading to the buildup of toxins and impurities in the tissues
When impurities accumulate in tissues they contribute to many chronic conditions, including asthma. Ayurveda has ways to reduce the most common sources of impurities in the body including those from:
Impure or toxic food sources
Poor digestion
Poor elimination
Improper metabolism
Mental and physical stress
According to Ayurveda, accumulation of impurities leads to the debilitating changes at the basis of disease through the following mechanisms:
Ayurveda theory says the cause of all disorders is in the stomach. It describes how toxins created by improperly digested food are carried through channels directly into the various tissues and organs resulting into toxin accumulation and the disease.
Impurities start to clog the channels of circulation to the tissues and the channels that take nutrients into cells and waste out of cells. The end result is that the cells are not nourished properly and waste starts to accumulate in them.
When toxins accumulate in tissues, and circulation becomes blocked, often the body's natural defenses against foreign material become activated against the accumulating impurities.
When natural defense mechanisms become over-activated the result can create the conditions of asthma. For example, inflammation and excess fluid secretion is really a natural body defense mechanism to help dilute and wash away impurities in tissues. When impurity buildup becomes so great as to make this process hyperactive, then the lungs fill up with fluid, airwaves are constricted and asthma results.
Ayurveda contains many recommendations to improve digestion, eliminate the buildup of impurities and reduce blockage of circulation to tissues.
2) Imbalance and deterioration of nervous system strength and stability
According to Ayurveda theory, the functioning mode in the physiology called Vata controls the overall level of balance and activation of the nervous system. From this perspective, Vata imbalance can play a major role in diseases and therefore needs to be addressed. Because Vata is the most easily disturbed physiological principle in the body, there are a wide variety of time-tested Ayurveda recommendations available to help balance Vata and remove the symptoms caused by its aggravation.
3) Accumulation of physical and mental stress
Experiences of high mental and physical stress are often associated with a relapse of the condition and worsening of asthma symptoms. Stress reduction therapies are an important component of the Ayurveda approach to managing diseases. Reversing the body's response to stress is aided through:
Ayurveda massage and heat treatments
Yoga asana postures and breathing exercises
Meditation
4) Decrease in the body's natural balancing and self-repair ability
Every health professional must ultimately depend on the body's natural healing, balancing and self-repair ability in order to cure disease. The main approach of Ayurveda is to enliven the natural healing ability of the body. Since the real problem is not the external allergen but the internal imbalance, any increase in the balancing ability of the body could potentially help alleviate symptoms.
A Natural Treatments Approach
The following section describes the classic Ayurveda approaches used to eliminate toxin buildup, stabilize the nervous system, enliven the healing ability of the body and manage stress.
a) Diet, Nutrition and Digestion
Disease can be aggravated through improper diet. For example, some foods can make Vata highly active or clog the physiology, thereby worsening many of the symptoms of disease.
Consultations with Ayurveda Health Consultants will help you understand which foods are the most clogging and obstructing to circulation and which are the hardest to digest. These foods have the potential to create toxins (undigested food not only clogs the channels in the body but actually becomes toxic). Foods that are easily digested create nutrients that are then assimilated into the tissues to rebuild their strength, are recommended. Ayurveda Health Consultants also provide programs to improve digestion, an important step in overcoming disease.
In summary, improper nutrition can create and aggravate disease, but proper nutrition can go a long way toward curing and preventing it.
b) Stress Management and Improved Mental and Emotional Function
Many individuals experience that disease is often worsened by heightened stress, anxiety and mental fatigue. This is due to hormonal changes and other biochemical responses to stress that can aggravate the nervous system, create pain and depress the immune response. The sleep disturbance that is often created by symptoms of disease increases fatigue, which increases one's susceptibility to stress, which in turn aggravates the disease condition. A downward spiral is created.
c) Lifestyle and Daily Routine
One of the most important factors for balancing Vata and keeping the natural cleansing processes strong is to have a lifestyle that does not disturb natural bodily rhythms. When we eat, sleep and exercise in constantly fluctuating and disturbing patterns, the body loses its natural balancing cycles and cannot cleanse or heal itself as effectively. Therefore, regularity in our daily routine can be extremely effective in reducing Vata imbalances.
Improper lifestyle can create the Vata imbalance at the basis of disease and disrupt the body's natural cleansing cycles. Ayurveda Health Consultants review your daily routine and provide the information you need to help create a daily schedule that will actually increase balance in your nervous system and aid in healing your body.
d) Ayurveda Herbs and Reduction in Free Radicals
During your consultation, Ayurveda Health Consultants select the appropriate herbal formulas for aiding the healing process, strengthening digestion and helping the body purify itself.
Free radicals are highly irritating to the physiology and their presence creates and worsens many disorders, including asthma. When appropriate, our Ayurveda Health Consultants can recommend Ayurveda herbs that research has shown to be powerful anti-oxidants and free radical scavengers.
Traditional Ayurveda theory says that herbs are most effective after a person completes an internal cleansing program. We offer cleansing and rejuvenation treatments that you will receive here Once this program is finished, you are ready to gain maximum benefits from the herbal program.
e) Herbalized Oil Massage:
Ayurveda Health Consultants choose a specific herbalized massage oil that is individually prepared for your condition. Ayurveda massage, involves use of specific strokes over different parts of the body.
Daily herbalized oil massage provides a deeply soothing and balancing effect to the entire nervous system. The motion of massage creates heat and friction which enhance circulation and help cleanse the areas of chemical impurities that could be causing symptoms. The oil and herbs cleanse and nourish the tissues, hastening tissue development and repair.
The various herbs that have been boiled into a base oil, and the oil itself, are specifically chosen for their Vata balancing and cleansing influence. The oil allows the herbs to deeply penetrate the tissue beds, thereby balancing the nerve and other tissues in the affected areas.
detox cleansing process
Our offers following types of Ayurveda herbalized massage and therapies

Abhyanga
Abhyanga massage is a gentle yet firm body massage from head to toe using warm blended oils chosen according to your dosha. The oils gently applied over the body as two therapists perform synchronized massage movements to give you a deeply relaxing and rejuvenating experience.


Hot Herbal Poultice Massage
This centuries-old treatment consists of a therapeutic massage using warm poultices filled with healing, fragrant herbs and spices from India. Warm oils are applied over your body. Then, utilizing the poultice, your therapist massages your body in slow rhythmic movements. Indian massage techniques are used to trace the energy pathways, pressure points, and lymphatic drainage. Every touch induces a new level of relaxation and healing. The fragrant therapeutic nature of the oils, poultice, and massage making this a heavenly, sumptuous experience that will leave you feeling rejuvenated, refreshed and wonderfully relaxed.
Shirodhara Therapy
Shirodhara is a significant therapy working through the deepest levels of one's being. "Shiro"; means head and "Dhara" is translated as flow. This flow of warm medicated oil is poured continuously on the forehead, which helps to connect and energize the various streams (nada's) that sustain our life, from the circulation of fluids on the physical to the subtle currents running through the meridians, Chakras and auras. Shirodhara is one of Ayurveda's specialized therapies that involve the use of skilful hands. Excellent for helping to improve blood circulation, thus increasing supply of nutrients and oxygen, which promotes unblocking of nerve impulses to help relieve tension and headaches.
g) Exercise and Flexibility Education
Ayurveda considers proper stretching and flexibility exercises to have a very positive effect on the body's healing response and the treatment of many chronic conditions. We also offer Yoga classes every day and teach a simple but profound set of postures that can be practiced daily to create a healthy flexibility throughout the body. We also instruct you in individualized Yoga breathing practices that create a state of restful alertness in mind and body.
Our courses give you knowledge you can continue to apply after you leave The to maintain your progress in alleviating the symptoms of disease.