Evolution brings family focus to yoga

Yoga is meant to be fun, and whom better to have fun with than your family? That's what Julie Mathers, Co-Owner, Chief Operating Officer and Yoga Instructor at Evolution Power Yoga stands by.

This Sunday, more than 25 parents and children of all ages and sizes gathered at Evolution Power Yoga York, located at 2093 Springwood Road in York Township, to participate in a popular biannual yoga practice promoting fitness, well-being, and bringing families together through an interactive family oriented yoga experience.

The one-hour class was taught by Mathers, who has a long list of credentials in teaching. Her experience includes a completed yoga teacher training at Karma Kids in New York City, a masters degree in early childhood education and a 200 hour yoga teacher training certification under her belt.

In the class, parents performed postures alongside their children under instruction, and for some, poses were performed across parents’ backs, making it a fun filled family affair.

"We do postures like tree, cat, dog, warrior, candle stick and more," said Mathers. "The whole premise of yoga is creating shapes with our body, so it's really neat when you see the children relate to that and perform the postures with their parents."

While Mathers says the benefits of yoga are endless, she says the physical and emotional factor is what she feels is the most beneficial.

"It's an amazing thing to see parents take personal responsibility for their mental and emotional well-being," Mathers explains. "Through the physical practice, children have the opportunity to learn something new and different about their physical bodies and mind," she says. "Not only that, but the bonding in a class like this is amazing. The ability to take what is learned from a class like this and do it at home is such a positive thing."

According to Mathers, family yoga also helps aid stress for families.

"Going to a class like this gives families the opportunity to play together and take the stress off of normal daily routines," she explains. "As a result, it allows everyone in the family to connect on a basic simple level."

Erica Warren, of Springettsbury Township, said she and her three-year-old triplets Aiden, Ashley and Addison attended the event last year. They decided to come again this year because of the day-to-day benefits she says the biannual class has given her and her children.

"This event is not only a fun way to get the family together, but to also establish positive habits in my children," Warren says. "My kids are at the age where temper tantrums are the norm, so attending something like this really taught me how to use the techniques at home. I tend to use them a lot when they get really upset—it's a great way to teach the children coping skills."

Warren's wasn't the only family who claims to have reaped benefits and enjoyed the class. First time family day attendee, Nicole Zinzi, of Windsor Township and her 11-year-old son, Evan, say they’ll definitely attend again.

"When I heard about the class, I knew I wanted to try it with him," said Zinzi. " I wanted to see if he would enjoy it, that way we could find something that we could do together on a regular basis. Now that I know he really liked it, we’ll be back."

Due to the spark of interest in the family yoga class, Mathers says she hopes to hold classes like this more frequently.

"We have done classes like this before and it is always very well attended—especially in the York community," she explains. "Right now we offer it twice a year, however we’re definitely looking to offer it once a week if the interest is there."