ALLEGANY, N.Y. — When Dr. Jennifer Eastman’s child was bullied by other youngsters, she decided the best way to help her daughter was to introduce her to yoga, which helped her relax.
Eastman, a certified yoga instructor and employed by St. Bonaventure University, worked with her daughter, Zelma, and other children from the area this week during her first “Kids Yoga” class of the season at Canticle Farm on South Nine Mile Road in Allegany.
The classes will also be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. July 24, Aug. 7 and Sept. 4, and are open to children ages 5 to 10. A donation of $5 per class is requested for each child, with $3 requested for each additional sibling. All donations are given to the non-profit farm which grows and provides all-natural produce for community shares and sales at the Canticle Farm market, as well as for charitable causes.
“The best way to describe yoga for children is that it helps them learn how to calm down, breathe and center their energies in a way that is beneficial,” Eastman said during a brief break in the class. “We want young children to learn how to be mindful and be kind to one another.”
She said the end of the class is called the “Secret Garden” session, so named by children in the class.
“It’s for children who’ve practiced meditation, it’s not spiritual, it’s for them to calm down,” she added. “The culmination of the class is for them to be calm.”
Classes also include stories, as well as songs to learn yoga poses and stretches.
“The whole idea is to get more outside time for children and connection to nature in the summer,” Eastman continued.
The instructor said she was led to teaching yoga to children when she found out her daughter was being bullied in school.
“Everyone said ‘Put her in martial arts and make her tough,’” Eastman said of advice she received to help her daughter. “I said no, I’m going to teach her to calm down, just like adults need to learn.”
Parents at the session were Crystal Childs of Olean, who brought her son, Lyric, to the session.
“This is my first time here for yoga,” Childs said. “I home school so I look at things to get him involved in.”
Her friend, Ciara Buchanan of Olean, brought her son, Noah, to the session because she wants him to do outside activities in the summer.
“It’s important to get him away from screens and out into nature,” Buchanan commented. “And (the instructor) has been engaging.”
Another parent, Kate Feely of Bradford, Pa., brought her son, Ryan, to the session because she participates in yoga classes.
“Ryan always complains that I get to go to yoga class and he doesn’t,” Feely said. “So I saw this (class) and I thought it was perfect and outside.”
Eastman said adults can also take yoga classes in another area of the farm from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday. That class is lead by yoga instructor Lisa Yohan of the Lavender Lotus studio in Olean.
For more information on Canticle Farm’s yoga classes, contact Kristin by email at education@canticlefarm.org or call (716) 373-0200.
