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Teaching yoga to children

In the Iyengar system there is at present no separate training required for

qualified teachers. This means that having qualified as an Introductory

level teacher you are free if you so wish to organize classes for children.Separate classes for children have been held at the RIMYI in Pune for many

years and there are two useful texts which anyone wanting to teach

children should be familiar with. These are Yoga for Children by Rajiv and

Swati Chanchani and Yogashastra Books 1 and 2 published by YOG and

written by teachers at the RIMYI.

In his Introduction to Yoga for Children Guruji notes that two of the

characteristics of teaching for children are speed and variety. In an

Introduction to Yoga Shastra Volume 2 the authors note that: “Children aretaught to observe and understand their body and mind through asana.

They are guided to link different asanas, to do them in quick succession

which helps in developing skill speed and memory. They also make the

body and mind sharp and enhance their valour and power.”.

It follows that children and adults cannot be taught together as different

approaches are required. Children will be incapable of the analytic and

reflective frame of mind that is characteristic of adult Iyengar classes. Yoga

can be taught to children from the age of 6. Yoga for Children is written foryoung people between the ages of 7 and 18. However the Chanchanis also

note (p33) that “children below the age of 8 years will not be able to

accurately perform asanas such as sirsasana sarvangasana, halasana, and

karna pidasana….because their bodies have yet to develop”. It is therefore

recommended that children under the age of 6 should not be included in

your classes.

These two texts indicate that children can be taught a wide variety of the

classical asanas from Light on Yoga. All the asanas in the PreliminaryCourse are included but also included are more advanced poses including

padmasana, pasasana, marichyasana 2, and bakasana. Teachers who

decide to teach children will however need to be aware of their level of

certification and are cautioned not to teach asanas that are not covered in

their certification level.

Iyengar teachers should also be aware that courses run by non-Iyengar

organizations which provide a qualification or certificate to teach children,

apart from being unnecessary, are not acceptable within the Iyengarsystem. For sure, teaching children is an additional challenge which

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requires personal fitness and an ability to relate to and motivate children.

But the basic teaching skills required are learned at Introductory level:

alignment, precision, discipline, class control, sequencing and timing.

These skills still need to be applied but adapted to the context of teaching

children. 

If you are interested in starting classes for children we recommend that

you talk to some of the following Iyengar teachers who have experience in

this area: Korrina Pilafidis-Williams at IYI (Maida Vale) in London or Anita

Cullen at the IYI Birmingham. Please be aware that you will also need to

have completed a Criminal Records Bureau check. 

“Mother and Baby” yoga 

It should be clear from the above that there is no tradition in Iyengar yoga

of teaching yoga to babies or of including babies in post natal classes for

mothers. Yoga is not a treatment and a baby cannot give consent to

participation. Post natal programmes for mothers have been described by

Geeta Iyengar in Yoga a Gem for Women and further elaborated in Iyengar

Yoga for Motherhood. These are systematic and detailed programmes

which address the mother’s condition post partum and there is no place for

babies to be included in these programmes. Iyengar yoga teachers will

therefore be in breach of the certification mark if they teach yoga to babiesor offer mother and baby classes. Of course some mothers will find it

difficult to leave an infant to attend classes and teachers are free to make

arrangements for the care of the student’s baby nearby and perhaps in the

same room.