Sacramento Children's Museum Offers Free Yoga Classes For Moms, Toddlers

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - If your New Year's resolution includes more time with your kids and exercise, then the Sacramento Children's Museum has a free yoga class for you and your little ones.

Willow and Indiana, ages 2 and 4, are getting an early start.

"I love yoga myself. So I want my daughters to experience that," said Lara Long.

The experience is teaching parents and their kids how to live in the moment.

"Learning how to slow down, take a deep breath when we feel frustrated, sing songs in the middle of everything to alleviate stress and pressure," said yoga instructor Bernadeen Zivkovick.

You're never too young to start. They actually say it can help development at an early age.

"It's also a great way for a child to increase their attention span just a little bit," said Executive Director Sharon Stone-Smith.

For those that have a hard time staying on their mat, the time doesn't go to waste.

"When the kids do disperse, we do yoga, do stretches or stretch our hamstrings, we breathe," said Zivkovick.

But most of the time they breathe together.

"We assimilate anything that we can bring it back to nature. That's their world; it's what they see, dogs, trees, animals," said Zivkovick.

They are engaged, having fun and practicing the real thing.

"We do the downward dog a lot, anything with animal sounds associated it with," said Zivkovick.

From yoga to a pretend farmer's market at the museum, the idea to encourage healthy families is catching on.

"It really becomes a part of their lifestyle and they don't know if they don't realize what's happening," said Zivkovick.

The museum adjusts the yoga classes to the age groups that participate.

For a list of classes and times, visit the Sacramento Children's Museum website.