{"id":256548,"date":"2010-10-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-10-07T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/youthful-yogis-la-jolla-yoga-center-stresses-never-too-young-philosophy\/"},"modified":"2010-10-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-10-07T07:00:00","slug":"youthful-yogis-la-jolla-yoga-center-stresses-never-too-young-philosophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/youthful-yogis-la-jolla-yoga-center-stresses-never-too-young-philosophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Youthful Yogis: La Jolla Yoga Center stresses \u2018never too young’ philosophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Criss-cross applesauce, Amy Ragen instructed to her seven-member yoga class as she entered the studio. Ragen, a certified yoga instructor and experienced personal trainer, teaches once a week at the La Jolla Yoga Center, but her audience isn\u2019t your typical one. Her students range in age from 3 to 8, and they eagerly take her class without their parents at their sides. Just like any adult yoga class, Ragen, a mother of three, started off a recent Tuesday evening class with breathing exercises. “Om shanti, om shanti, om shanti om,” Ragen chanted, after jingling bells to get her energetic students\u2019 attention. As she repeated the classic yogi mantra, meaning “peace,” the kids chimed in one by one. Ragen stepped forward and backward, warming up as her students\u2019 small frames became synchronized with hers. “Remember the \u2018sun salutation\u2019 from last week?” she asked the kids, referring to a series of postures ending in a rigorous reach toward the sky. Without hesitation, the kids took form. “Yoga is not just about poses,” Ragen told her fledglings as they continued bending forward and stretching upward. “It\u2019s a way of life \u2014 a way of being passionate and showing compassion to the world.” The philosophy at the La Jolla Yoga Center, located at 7741 Fay Ave., is that “it\u2019s never too late and it\u2019s never too early to practice yoga,” said Genevieve Kim, the center\u2019s general manager. Unlike many studios that are based on a particular style or cater to a certain demographic \u2014 commonly athletic 20-somethings or health-savvy middle-aged women \u2014 the La Jolla Yoga Center has upward of 30 class offerings geared toward every age and skill level. These include a “Silver Age” class for students over 55, a “Mommy and Me” class for babies and “High School 101,” which earns local students physical education credit for attending. Getting kids involved in yoga works wonders in terms of developmental skills and self-esteem, Kim said, and it\u2019s a good outlet for kids who may not be apt to team sports. “It lets kids explore physical fitness without having to have ball in hand,” Kim said. For Ragen, keeping kids on the mat is a challenge, especially when yoga postures often require deep stretching, balance or meditative concentration. To keep things entertaining, she incorporates yoga-related activities that provide kids practical, “off-the-mat” benefits. For example, she tells a different story from a different culture each week and integrates coloring exercises. “Remember how we are all connected through the Universe?” she asked the class while pulling out a box of crayons and paper. “I want you all to draw what that unity means to you.” Ragen said she hopes to have her students put on a play for their parents in which they will act out scenes incorporating the yoga poses they learned in class. Keeping with yogi customs, Ragen ended her class with the classic “savasana,” a relaxation pose also known as the “corpse pose.” “Is it naptime?” one little yogi asked as Ragen dimmed the lights. While savasana can be the most awaited part of a strenuous class for adults, it was a special effort for Ragen to keep the kids still, flat on their backs, palms facing upward. Anya Fitzgerald, 7, and her sister Catherine, 3, have been students of Ragen\u2019s for about a year \u2014 she teaches two classes a week in the basement of her La Jolla home \u2014 but they just started attending the La Jolla Yoga Center kids\u2019 class in September. Anya said her favorite part of the class is the breathing exercises. “It helps me know how to calm down,” she said, “How to lay down and close my eyes.” Layla Pourhosseini was introduced to yoga when she was in preschool and loved it, said her mother, Sheila Nellis, so she enrolled her in Ragen\u2019s class. The six-year-old said her favorite part of the class is stretching. She wants to be able to do the splits \u2014 and Nellis said she sometimes finds her daughter meditating at home. When asked what meditation means to her, Layla said “it feels quiet.”