What's New in the World of Yoga:

Children - with their innocence, exuberance, and unconditional love - bring joy to everyone. Who hasn't smiled when they've heard a child's infectious laughter? What parent, tired at the end of a long day, hasn't been able to forget all their troubles when they're greeted with hugs and kisses by their children?

For every child who is loved and wanted, however, there is another who is neglected or abused. It's hard to believe that there are individuals who mean harm to children. And it's even harder to realize that there are people in society who can and do physically and emotionally abuse children.

So what can we do to help prevent child abuse and promote healthy physical and emotional lifestyles for children?

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to bring awareness to the devastating effects of child abuse and neglect. The Blue Ribbon Campaign is an annual initiative to raise society's consciousness of this horrifying problem. The blue ribbon is a symbol of an individual's awareness of child abuse, as well as a gesture of remembrance of children who have died as a result of abuse or neglect.

As a way of promoting awareness, the U.S. Office of Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN) is holding the 17th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect from March 30 to April 4, 2009, in Atlanta, Georgia. The theme of this year's conference, Focusing on the Future: Strengthening Families and Communities, is to concentrate on OCAN's resolve "to ensure that every child enjoys a healthy family life in a nurturing community."

OCAN has also created the Child Welfare Information Gateway website to assist individuals and communities in becoming involved in the prevention of child abuse and the promotion of safe and healthy lifestyles for children. The website offers resources and tips on how to strengthen families, create strong bonds between adults and children, and alleviate stressful situations that can often result in the mistreatment of children.

We are all affected by this terrible problem, whether directly or indirectly. Keeping children safe from harm and enabling them to thrive and enjoy their lives should be of paramount importance to all of us.

Yoga can be just one of many ways to help nourish a child's development. Many children's hospitals and health facilities are beginning to recognize this by incorporating yoga into their programs for children who have been traumatized. One such example is the Hope and Healing Program at University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago, which combines yoga routines with other therapeutic practices to teach children how to cope with the effects of being abused and to help them build their self-esteem.
 
Why not get involved in helping to heal children whose lives have been psychologically and physically damaged due to abuse and neglect? It can be as easy as wearing a blue ribbon during the month of April to show your support of this Campaign or accessing OCAN's website to get ideas on how you can participate in ensuring the wellbeing and safety of children.

What else can we do as a yoga community to show our support and reach out to traumatized children? Our Yoga family here at YogaHub is a caring and compassionate one, so perhaps we could encourage studios to donate the proceeds from a yoga class to this worthwhile cause.

We at YogaHub, with its sister site Eco Friendly Babies, are dedicated to promoting the healthy physical and emotional development of children. The Child Abuse Prevention Campaign goes to the heart of what we believe in and, as a way of showing our support, we will donate 5% of all our sales between April 1 and 30 to one or more of the organizations that work towards improving the health and welfare of children.

Why not get involved now? Let's make this a priority in our lives.

Updates from the Blog:

Salsa (Dancing Not Eating)! by Francesca Silva

See what happens when I watch Dancing with the Stars?

My husband's not too happy with me right now. In a fit of misguided inspiration (okay, I knew he wouldn't be happy but thought I'd take a chance anyway), I signed us both up for salsa dance classes at the local recreation centre. Continue Reading...

Ujjayi Breathing - "The Ocean Breath" by Segovia Smith

I attended a very exciting class this morning. Instead of immediately getting into the poses, our instructor had us take about 10 minutes to lie down in Shavasana and focus on our Ujjayi breathing, which is also known as "the ocean breath" or commonly referred to as "cobra breathing." Continue Reading...

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