YOGA FRIENDS

Teachers and trained yogis will welcome the return of the diverse cast from Good Morning Yoga (2016) and Good Night Yoga (2015) to introduce playful partner yoga.

Twelve poses described in a rhyming stanza are demonstrated. Most children will recognize themselves in at least one of the 24 different child models that represent different ethnicities. In the first pose, a brown-skinned girl with a thick braid and a light-skinned boy sitting back-to-back model beginning cleansing breathes. The next spread shows a darker-skinned girl with tight pigtails and a different light-skinned boy sitting in a blossoming fruit tree and twisting while holding the same back-to-back position. Though city scenes are often in the background, each partner pair is shown in a different locale. As with much yoga instruction the text compares the positions to animals or natural phenomena. These whimsical choices will either confuse or delight children who may not be adept at metaphor. A final spread with brief instructions for use by parents or caregivers shows how young yogis can “flow” from one pose to the next, and a concluding “Mirror Me” activity, clearly for use by a teacher, is included.

Partner yoga: best done with a friend—and a skilled instructor.