Yogazoo

Posted by Sailakshmi Deepak in Activities | 5 comments

What: Yogazoo

Where: Andheri, Juhu, Santacruz, Khar, Bandra

Age groups: 2 to 14 years

I met Jasmeet and Mini Singh at Clay Wellness, Bandra. Clad in comfortable, cotton kurtas and pyjamas, the calm, smiling duo welcomed me into their class with bright smiles. I was there with my  4-year old boy for a buddy yoga session; his friend from school had invited him as a “buddy” to his yoga class. The tykes were excited about being together, and since mine was at his clingiest worst (since I had just had my second baby), I had to accompany him. I went for the session, assuming and expecting it to be nothing more than an unspoken advertisement for the yoga class.

It took me just one hour at the class to realize how wrong I was. The teachers and their assistants ensured the kids giggled, laughed, monkeyed around, jumped and did all the complicated yoga poses with ease. The positive energy that I gained when I was there, and the understanding of yoga from a teacher’s and kid’s perspective that I took away from the session, is something that I cannot put into words here. The kids did the frog pose, rabbit pose, sang nursery rhymes and performed actions which mirrored various yogic asanas. While the kids were appreciated for their efforts, they were also calmly discouraged when they didn’t listen or pay attention. Motivation and encouragement was in the air the whole time. Charmed, I registered my child into Jasmeet and Mini’s 3-month session of 12 classes.

A few weeks after enrolling into Yogazoo, I started noticing a lot of changes in my son. Suddenly, he was ready to let go off me and attend classes on his own. He was comfortable seeing me spend alone-time with the small baby. He would join us, in his own positive way, showing me that he cared and enjoyed his time with the baby. His confidence grew tremendously. My son is thin and lanky and was always doing things that demanded sitting in one place. He would push his small cars on the floor or bed and would lie next to it and watch the wheels move. He would sit with me and solve jigsaw puzzles or read books, color and paint. But ask him to run around, play, and even throw a ball, and he would feign all sorts of aches and pains. Come Yogazoo, and bam, he was climbing monkey bars in the park, running really fast, jumping from one sofa to another (which he is allowed to do only at home), standing upside down and doing cartwheels. His energy and stamina improved dramatically. I spoke to Jasmeet and Mini about his constant need to rely on Seroflo (steroid based inhaler to ease his dry cough attacks) on a daily basis and they quickly shifted focus to strengthening his lungs and helping him breathe better. They used techniques like making him blow small plastic beads into a cup; the cup got smaller, and the distance between the beads and the cup got bigger, thus forcing him to blow harder and open his lungs better. His dependence on Seroflo has come down drastically.

What I like about Yogazoo is that every important asan (posture) is taught to children in a playway method, and they also make the kids understand the significance of what they are doing. They have specific sessions through the year that focuses on self confidence, trust, communication, relaxation, creativity, rhythm and dance, music and love. They have a very secular prayer that they chant at the beginning and end of each session. They split the session into pranayams, asans, games of skill, mind games, monkey time and ‘AUM’ time, and the kids enjoy every part of this.

I took a year’s break and sent my son to other classes, but now he is back at Yogazoo with his 2.5-year old brother. I intend keeping them there for a whole year as they enjoy themselves and come back home happier and healthier.

(Our reviews are independent and based on personal experience. Drop a comment here if you want to contact Yogazoo and we will forward your request to them. If your child has attended these classes or you have something to say, leave a comment so as to benefit other parents)

Related posts:

1. Mrs. Newnes’ General Knowledge Classes
2. Palate Culinary Studio
3. MCubed Children’s Library