Blissed Out Movement holds first Kids Yoga Camp

The smell of essential oils filled the room as four kids listened carefully to their teacher during the first Kids Yoga Camp at Blissed Out Movement in Washington.

Kelli Gapinski, a yoga teacher at Blissed Out Movement, said the three-day-long camp continues for an hour each time and focuses on different techniques and movements. The studio has done pop-up classes for children before, but never a camp.

An elementary teacher during the school year, Gapinski said she wanted to try a yoga camp because she has seen how effective yoga techniques can be when used as coping mechanisms.

'While working as a special ed teacher, I've seen students use different techniques from yoga such as coping skills if they're becoming upset or emotional, just stepping back and taking deep breaths,” she said. 'We always start a new group by settling in and taking deep breaths together and get ready to work and ready to learn.”

One way Gapinski has seen students take these messages to heart is with how they interact with each other. She said she has seen students result to handling situations peacefully because of what they have learned in class.

'They're able to resolve conflict within themselves and with others. It's been really neat to see,” she said. 'I think through practice and by modeling it for them, they have been able to see how that has impacted their ability to problem solve on their own, which is a goal. I want them to be more independent and solve a problem on their own using a safe coping strategy.”

Gapinski said yoga is effective for kids because the skills they learn in camp can translate to many facets of their life and can be practiced anywhere. While sports often require equipment or a specific setting, yoga only requires a quiet place to focus.

'I believe it's valuable for children to have the opportunity to do yoga because I always tell them you can take your yoga anywhere, you can use it anytime, and it's free. If you learn how to properly take a breath or you learn how to do the different poses, you're able to take those things out into your daily life,” she said. 'I think learning it at an early age will just help children be able to regulate their emotions better and be able to understand that they don't own their thoughts and their thoughts don't control them.”

A kids yoga camp for preschool-through first-grade students will begin July 8-10 at 10 a.m. and for sixth-through eighth-grade students July 8-10 from 1-2 p.m. at Blissed Out Movement, 105 N. Marion, Suite B, in Washington. Anyone with questions or to register a child can contact them at: 319-461-8866 or visit them online: wwww.blissedoutmovement.com.