Doing yoga with your child is becoming increasingly popular, so I decided to check out a class for myself.  My 4-year-old son, Alex, and I took a “Toddler Time” yoga class at Om Baby in Camp Hill.

“It’s not a typical adult yoga class,” instructor Colleen Wisor-Patterson said. “We’re not sitting for an hour or staying in poses for a long amount of time. We use a lot of imagination. There’s a lot of moving around.”

The classes usually involve games, movement, reading books and acting out the story, and other activities that would appeal to children.

Om Baby owner Holly Keich loves the class so much that she takes it with her own children.

“A lot of people are looking for something that will help calm their children down,” she said. “There’s no guarantee, but studies do show that it helps to calm kids and can help them deal with different emotions and anger and things like that.”

An added benefit; the kids become stronger, according to Wisor-Patterson.

“The benefits are huge,” she said. “In addition to the strength and flexibility that kids get, they develop a confidence.”

Any apprehensions Alex had disappeared within minutes. He was so proud of his ability to do an upside-down move against the wall that he pulls it out as a party trick!

Each class ends with a few precious moments of relaxation.

“We turn off the lights, they get a pillow and I give them foot rubs,” Wisor-Patterson said. “They are always ready and waiting for that.”

Om Baby offers yoga classes from pre-natal to the teen years.  It’s located on Market Street in Camp Hill.