Local yoga studio is introducing the second installment of AntiGravity yoga and the benefits of doing yoga to children in the community.
On July 15 Peak Cycle, Hot Yoga, Barre is continuing the AntiGravity Just for Kids: Flyers Series, which caters to young yogis ages seven to 12.
Owner Jason Brunelle said the first AntiGravity series the yoga studio held in the spring had such positive remarks that him and his wife had to do the six-class series again.
“The kids all loved it. It was so neat to see them so engaged with the hammocks,” Brunelle said, “My kids are obsessed with them now.”
Young yogis can expect to have a lot of fun, learn new things about strength, learn simple movements and leverage, Brunelle added, “They will test themselves to a degree, they’re going to hang upside down like bats.”
Kids who like to swing and climb trees would enjoy AntiGravity, Brunelle said, the hammocks used encase the children in their own personal dome.
All of the movements during an AntiGravity yoga position are precise and refined, Brunelle said, everything that’s there is there for a reason, and has a purpose not just to look good for show.
The hammocks that are used are to support and engage different muscle that are not normally activated, he said, the motions used are phenomenal with restorative deep stretching of tissues.
“We’re able to support the body in certain positions even a couple inches off the ground to create zero tension on the muscles to achieve free motion of movement, without causing tension from the pressure that would normally come down on the body,” Brunelle said.
Not only does AntiGravity yoga teach children vital life skills including discipline, focus, attention, and patience while opening windows of opportunities and enlightening different passions, but the yoga practice can also get kids interested in the early stages of acrobatics, Brunelle said.
“The kids love the flying aspect of it,” he said.
“With the instruction from the teacher they were able to do some really amazing things,” Brunelle said, “even I was impressed.”
At the end of the six-class series the young participants complete a 15-minute presentation showing what they have learned, Brunelle added that what the children learn in the AntiGravity yoga class stays with them.
During the first AntiGravity series, Brunelle said there was a young girl who attended the classes who had a learning disability, and although her parents were unsure of how well she would do in the class she ended up thriving.
“She loved it so much her parents were blown away by how [the AntiGravity class] was able to funnel her focus and energy into the motions used.
“She sat and listened to the instructions and learned it through and through, which was remarkable,” Brunelle said, “It’s amazing to see kids progress. It benefits the kids in every way.
“Yoga helps heal things that couldn’t be healed before, it gives you strength and stability in places you never knew you needed it,” Brunelle added, “It’s amazing what your body doesn’t realize it doesn’t have until you give it what is needs.
For Brunelle practicing yoga has given him peace and calm while also giving him back freedom of movement, which he did not have just three years prior.
After having in a serious injury which ruptured disks in his back, Brunelle was unable to do everyday tasks such as picking things up off the floor.
After being forced to sell a masonry contracting business that he had owned for eight years prior, Brunelle began to look for different avenues of work.
Brunelle and his wife decided to open their own yoga studio eight months ago, after seeing that a yoga studio was something the community was missing.
“We’re the community together, families are coming into together and having a lot of fun,” he said.
For additional information or to register for AntiGravity Just for Kids: Flyers Series visit https://www.yourpeak.ca.
