Today’s Gift on the Joy. Peace. Love. @ Home advent calendar for parents

1 hour Private Yoga Class for the Entire Family
by Mary Holmes Smith of the Villa Manon studio

How to receive this gift? Take the fun quiz on the Parent Advent Calendar today and you could be the lucky one to win the draw.

6 Reasons to Love Mary’s Family Yoga Class

1. Family Exercise makes great memories

Family sport takes us out of our normal interaction (which can often be individually focused) and puts us in a team environment.

Instead of having Daughter playing in her room, Son hiding his head in earphones, and Mom & Dad catching up on social media, EVERYONE is focused on the SAME activity.

And that creates shared memories.

As each family member grows, they also gain in independence. Family fun can possibly “just happens”; more often there is some intentional planning behind the scenes. Like scheduling a workout for the entire family!

Mary at Villa Manon — Mary Holmes Smith (left) with her contagious joy

2. Parents get a break

Parents get to follow while Mary leads the group with charm and proficiency

I asked a professional skier how he got his children engaged in the sport: “I had someone else teach them.”

When someone else leads, parents enjoy co-participation. Bye-bye power struggles, harsh words, or whatever’s of family life are irrelevant at Villa Manon, Mary’s peace-filled and cozy studio. It’s a fresh start for all.

In the years when our 4 boys born within 7 years were little, I cherished moments when we could be together under someone else’s care. It made it easier to enjoy the kids…instead of trying to control them ☹!

Allow yourself to be led. Allow Mary to lead the children her way. After all, she’s offereing a stretching exercise!

3. Children (of all ages) calm their emotions through physical exercise.

In their book, The Whole -Brain Child, neurologists Daniel Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, PhD. remind us that bodily movement directly affects brain chemistry.

Exercise enables the “downstairs brain” (responsible for our emotional reactions) to reconnect with our “upstairs brain” (the thinking part of the brain). In other words, movement helps us calm down and think more clearly.

(For more about the brain, see this child-friendly video).

With Mary, you and the children will learn and practice simple techniques to oxegenate the body, nourish those cells with water and air, and stretch tense muscles.

Simply put, you will feel better…and you will discover muscles you did not know you had!

4. Children love it

In my Parent + Child workshops, I begin each session with a short movement exercise. (Mary has often provided wise counsel for the right activity for various ages.)

During one class we began with stretching. Everyone reached up high standing on their toes. When I proceeded with, “Bend down and touch the floor,” several three year old’s got down on their knees and dropped their bodies and hands on the floor. Sprawl. (We adults merely bent at the waist.) Up they stretched again. Sprawl back down. I tried not to smile tooooo hard as these tots valiantly stretched with concentrated effort. Precious.

For our “Stop Repeating Yourself” workshop, I embarked with a very repetitive, repetitive, repetitive exercise. The second time, most parents caught on. By the third time, they were rolling their eyes. The children, on the other hand, were having a blast! They wanted more and more and more!

5. Get Yoga and More

Mary is also a certified Pilates instructor and an experienced in Fit-box and Powerstrike. This sport consists of performing boxing movements individually and set to music. Check her out on this video.

If your family tends to the dynamic, bouncy side, you might try yoga to learn about focus…and in the middle switch to some Kick-boxing moves to expend that overflowing energy.

6. Enjoy the haven of Villa Manon

Villa Manon, Mary’s studio, looks out onto a verdant garden. Going there is like stepping off the fast track of life into a harmonious haven. It is located at 3 Parc de Jardies in Sèvres, just 3 minutes by foot from the railway station direct to St. Lazare. You can also contact her for a private class “chez vous.”