Issue: 03/2006

Yoga brings families together

Living Yoga at Grand Century Place in Mong Kok has become popular with families since it opened late last year. More and more parents are doing yoga with their children, since it helps children’s physical and mental development and sharing an activity improves parent-child bonds.

Benefits for mind and body

Teresa is one of the coaches at Living Yoga. She says anyone can do yoga because it's just about stretching exercises. Doing it regularly makes muscles more flexible, aids circulation and reduces the chance of joint ailments. She said: "Children over five can do yoga. It improves posture and contributes to healthy bone development. It also teaches patience and concentration, which helps mental as well as physical development."

Imitating animals adds fun

Teresa said she encourages children to imagine animals and imitate their movements to make yoga more fun. "Moving like different animals and making animal noises is fun for the children," she says. Parents also get a big laugh out of it.

Parent-child bonds

Mrs Tam and her two sons are students at Living Yoga. Mrs Tam said: "My children like sports such as ball games and swimming. I bring them here to do yoga because I think it helps their muscle development and reduces the chance of injuries when they do other sports." Mrs Tam also finds that yoga encourages communication with her sons, as she can demonstrate and coach them if they find moves difficult to follow. Many yoga exercises are done with partners, which strengthens parent-child bonds further.

(SHKP Club members or SHKP VISA Card holders can get a class for free. Please call 2111 8880 for details.)