Yoga for Kids

From her yoga mat, seated alongside several young children Wednesday morning, Kim Polfer led breathing exercises.

The 3- to- 6-year-olds practiced taking big, deep breaths and performed sequences of yoga poses to the beat of a fun song.

“It’s so cute; I never thought I’d see a bunch of 3-year-olds sit for an hour,” said Peak Health and Wellness Center club manager Lindsay Cantrell. “This will get them involved and active early on so that later on, hopefully they try more things.”

The gym in Coeur d’Alene recently added Kids Yoga to its children’s programs. Kids and their parents can do yoga together to let out some energy and learn body awareness. Or, parents are welcome to drop their kids off and go work out.

Polfer, the instructor, started doing kids yoga after she saw the effects of it on her own son. He had some challenges growing up with a speech delay and she said bringing yoga into her house helped calm frustrations.

Polfer, a former high school teacher, said her kids often had a lot of energy and taking time at the beginning of her class to do a few yoga poses helped her students regain focus, get rid of some anxiety and gain confidence in themselves.

“Seeing how it helped my family, I want to share that with other families,” she said. “Any way I can help a child calm themselves and talk through something, I will.”

The Kids Yoga class Wednesday started with breathing exercises — the kids blew out an imaginary candle to practice releasing a full breath and did the Yoga Peacock to practice sitting as tall as they could.

The class wasn’t all sitting and being quiet. Polfer led them in some yoga poses they could do with music. At one point, each kid was standing tall with their arms in the air, yelling “I am amazing.”

Veronica Davidson and her 3-year-old son, Conley, have been attending Polfer’s classes on and off for about a year.

“It’s definitely a calming time for both of us since we’re always on the go,” Davidson said. “I think it helps him center himself during the day and it helps with his flexibility and coordination.”

Charity Delaney brought her 5-year-old daughter, Haley, to the yoga class. This was both their first times doing yoga.

“I loved it,” Delaney said. “Haley was really receptive and [the teacher] keeps their attention and keeps them patient.”

“It was perfect,” Haley chimed in. “It was so much fun, I liked all of it.”

Julia Bartlett dropped her 3-year-old daughter off at the yoga class while she did her own workout.

“I come work out anyway, and she has so much energy I thought this would be a good way to let that out,” Bartlett said. “Later on, when she goes into kindergarten, having to sit still can be difficult, so if she can hold a yoga pose I think it’ll help her when she gets into school.”

The yoga class ended with each kid drawing a happy memory on a piece of paper, placing that paper under their mats. Then they laid on their mats for the final resting pose.

Everyone closed their eyes and visualized a meadow with the warm sun on their skin and they imagined picking a magic flower that they could keep.

Then, class was over, and they had a happy memory and a magical flower to keep.

“It’s nice to tell kids that it’s OK to be frustrated and if you need to take a deep breath, you can,” Polfer said. “I just want kids to be happy and confident about themselves.”

Kids Yoga will be held Wednesday mornings from 10-10:45 a.m. at the Peak Health & Wellness Center in Coeur d’Alene. To reserve a spot, contact Kim Polfer at kepolfer@gmail.com.