Theo and friends in cobra pose – age 5.

A couple of years ago I started practicing yoga regularly. It was life-changing and became a necessary part of my week, for both my physical and mental health. I am glad that Theo has been exposed to yoga from a young age (his preschool teachers incorporated it into their curriculum). I didn’t take my first yoga class until college, so I hope that he will come to recognize its benefits much earlier than I did.

I found this game, Yoga Spinner, online and Theo and I have enjoyed playing it together. They have cards with different poses on them and you take turns completing them. They even have a section of cards that are two-person poses that you do with your child. Even if we don’t have time to play a complete game, we pull out a few cards and move around a little. It’s amazing what just a few minutes of refocusing your mind can do!

I recently learned about an event coming up called Yoga Family Night sponsored by Kidnected World / The Wonderment. It is on October 8 at 7pm and is for the whole family — they will be doing yoga, making mandalas and learning about the origins of yoga from children in a school in India. It sounds great and I am eager to learn more about this organization that promotes global cultural education and understanding in kids.

Several local yoga studios offer classes for children, and often the public library system will have free family yoga sessions available. If you haven’t tried it out, either by yourself or with your kids, give it a chance and welcome the opportunity to quiet your mind for a few moments. I’ll end this post the way my yoga instructor ends every class.

The goodness within me honors the goodness that resides within each of you. Namaste.

This is Theo’s 3rd year taking skiing lessons, which he has always done at Brighton. He’s enjoyed doing the multi-week programs so he can get familiar with the same instructors and kids in his group throughout the season. As we do every year, we stopped by Utah Ski & Golf to update the size of his skis and boots (as part of the great kids rental program I wrote about earlier). The weather has been so unusually warm that I’ve been able to sit out on the patio of the lodge during Theo’s lessons and enjoy the warm sun and clean air — very enjoyable for a non-skier like me! (But if you are a skier, parents get discounts on lift tickets the day of their child’s lesson.)

Theo also goes skiing with his dad, who is a native Utahn and skied his whole life, and is it great that Brighton is free for kids age 7 and under (we have one more year!). Other ski resorts that have generous lift policies for kids are Solitude, Snowbasin and Powder Mountain, all of which are free for kids 6 and under.

Although Theo loves to ski, he will probably just enjoy it as a wintertime hobby, rather than advancing to ski racing. However, if he was really interested, we would consider joining the Rowmark Junior program which introduces kids in 1st grade and up to the world of competitive ski racing. They have a ski program that integrates with the academic school curriculum and is a great resource for serious skiers, even young ones. The Rowmark Academy program continues all the way through high school and has had such illustrious alums as Picabo Street and Hilary Lindh, and has had 10 athletes from the program named to the U.S. Ski Team in the last 12 years.

Regardless of your commitment to skiing, from sitting at the lodge watching the skiers and snowboarders going by, all the way to being a competitive racer and Olympic athlete, the ski resorts in Utah are a great place to spend some time in the mountains during the winter (and, ahem, avoid the inversion in the valley).