Acro yoga with, for and by kids. ( Also in Dutch )
I had heard of acro yoga a few times, but every time I thought: all of those crazy poses, I’m not going to start doing that. But then the situation occurred that I had to face it and say yes.
We stayed for 10 days at family, Lance, and Jodi, in Australia, Kurnell. From there we will discover a part of the east coast of Australia. During our stay, it appears that Jodi is totally hooked on Acro Yoga. The first evening she challenges my 3 daughters (Joli 12 years, Juna 10 years and Jessa 7 years) to do acro yoga with her. Joli and Juna find it exciting, but in the end, Joli is the first to do it.
Jodi is on the ground and balances Joli over her in the air in different positions, incredible. I am stunned about how much power Jodi has. Joli is ready and Juna also wants to try. She also likes it. Jessa is all about watching from a distance, along with me, hihihi.
After Jodi has done some exercises with the girls, they start themselves. They lay their mattresses on the ground and the rest of the evening they practice acro yoga. Jessa also joined her sisters. From now on, the girls don’t stop anymore. In parks, on the beach, in the garden everywhere, an acro exercise is done. The kids combine it with some yoga and gymnastics exercises. They invent everything.
Beach day
The next day we go to the beach with Lance and Jodi. They bring a lot of things: paddleboards, fishing tackle, tennis rackets, ball, picnic equipment etc. That promises to be a nice day. Jodi starts working on the beach with the girls. And again new acro yoga exercises to learn. It looks great, but then, mommy’s turn. Jodi calls and asks if I want to practice with her. I find it scary!!! Okay, that Jodi can lift the girls, that’s one thing, but I’m somewhat heavier, hihihi. Jodi wins my trust and I undergo the exercises. She carries me so easy, incredible. But then, well, I have to do it and use/find my strength and balance. I have to admit I did well for the first time.
Further …. now Jodi wants me to lift her, uhhhh, what, but I cannot, I thought. But yes, yes, with some tips and the right balance, I managed to balance Jodi over me. Hey, I was amazed at my skills, hihihi. The day at the beach was super cool and I’m glad I tried acro yoga.
Conclusion
Through YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram, I find fun and challenging exercises that I practice with the kids and some they can practice themselves. Almost every day my girls are doing it and I see many positive effects. It’s good for their bodies, they work together, it’s challenging and last but not least they have fun. What does a parent want more?
Romaine Taihuttu-Smits
P.s.We found a nice book on acro yoga with kids on bol.com
Esther Hertog. Since 1997 she’s been teaching children in different settings with great pleasure, and she started training in AcroYoga in 2006. In 2010 Esther became both certified as a Vinyassa yoga teacher and as an AcroYoga teacher. She was one of the first in the world to teach AcroYoga to parents and kids. Tatjana t’Felt. She loves AcroYoga and she loves kids and families. So this is the combination that made her develop Family AcroYoga in Belgium. Tatjana t’Felt has been teaching yoga, movements and dance for many years and has been teaching kids and parents classes in capoeira, gymnastic and family AcroYoga.