Local Moms Share Love of Yoga with Kids, Community

A passion for yoga brought local moms Amy Starkey, Robin Countryman and Jennifer Keefer together, and has now inspired the trio to share their passion with their own kids and the community.

The three women—all certified yoga instructors—have started Whole Kids Yoga and will offer three summer camps beginning June 24. But the whole idea started as a way for the moms to do something fun and healthy with their children.

“At the time I first became certified I had two really young kids—3 and 1,” Countryman said. “I wanted to start something that I could do with them and that would grow with them.”

Now a mom of three, Countryman has been participating in yoga herself since 1999, and was certified to teach kids yoga in 2007. She currently teaches yoga at an after-school program at Edgewater and Central Elementary schools.

Starkey said the concept for the business started as a way to teach kids about the movements of yoga in an informative but entertaining way.

“The benefit of yoga for kids is flexibility, strength, concentration and relaxation,” Starkey said. “We are looking to do all that but in a non-competitive environment.”

Whole Kids Yoga will offer three camps this summer, two in Edgewater and one in Annapolis. Starkey said the camps will feature crafts, photos, games and of course yoga.

“It’s not a typical adult class, we want them to have fun,” Starkey said. “We do animal poses, we go on adventures … So far, the kids are really, really liking it.”

A few free demo session of Whole Kids Yoga have already been offered, and another one will be held at Edgewater Fitness on Thursday at 4:15 p.m. The session provides a small sneak-peek at what the camps will offer.

For Starkey, an important component of Whole Kids Yoga is providing a physical activity for kids that is not competitive, but just fun.

“Nowadays, athletics for kids are so competitive, so we are trying to take that out of it,”  Starkey said.

Both Starkey and Countryman spoke of the calmness and relaxation that come with yoga. While it is challenging to translate the patience of yoga to kids, both women said it is a challenge they enjoy.

“Yoga provides greater focus, greater relaxation and kids can learn to stretch their bodies, minds and imaginations,” Countryman said.

Whole Kids Yoga Summer Camps will run from 1-4 p.m. on June 24-28 and Aug. 5-9 at Edgewater Fitness. The Annapolis session will be held July 8-12 at On Pointe Dance Studio. Each one-week session is $150. To reserve a spot visit their website or call 410-798-1762.