Thursday October 2, 1997

Yoga for young ones

The combination of yoga and children may seem as likely as ice cream and broccoli, but for Temmi Ungerman Sears, it’s a natural fit.

Ungerman Sears is the creator of YogaBuds™, a fitness program that offers all the benefits of yoga slightly modified for children.
A certified Iyengar yoga instructor, Ungerman Sears, 36, began YogaBuds™ as a fun way to involve kids in yoga.

"YogaBuds™ is not a religion or a therapy group – it’s a fitness program that’s fun," she says. "It’s an idea that has been germinating for some time." Small introductory classes have grown into a regular program with the City of York as well as private lessons.

"Kids have stress in their lives, much more than we did as children, and they are getting less exercise than ever," explains Ungerman Sears. "Yoga is a non-performance, non-competitive activity without levels or pre-requisites. Yoga is about enjoying your body and space – kids already know how to do this."

"With YogaBuds™, I keep things fast-paced to keep interest, and use their natural ability to be agile. They still hold poses for two to three breaths and they love the relaxation at the end of the session."
FITNESS: Ungerman Sears does a daily yoga routine first thing in the morning – usually right beside her bed.

"Yoga is accessible," she says. "You don’t need anything but your body."

"I do a minimum of an hour, two hours is a gift. I get up completely energized."

Depending on her needs for the day, Ungerman Sears will run through a series of poses.

"When I am fatigued, I will do more supportive poses, or when I am nervous I will do an intense inversion to centre me down," she says. "I always end with savasana pose – literally translated it means corpse – because it’s a wonderful pose that gives me a state of tranquility. I like to describe it as delicious."

In addition to the yoga, Ungerman Sears also swims twice a week, walks and cycles.