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Experiential Course
April 21 — 26, 2025

April Family Yoga Holiday Program

For Children Ages 4-12

Gauri Devi (Marta Shedletsky)
Tuition: $120

Children will enjoy a wide range of activities including an introduction to yoga, short children-friendly asana classes, chanting, crafts, lots of fun and games, and Karma Yoga (service/pitching in to the ashram community). They will also learn stories from Passover, Easter, and the yogic scriptures.

  • Children’s asana classes use story-telling techniques that connect the simple and fun physical practice with teachings from yogic scriptures. These asana classes teaches children how to direct their natural abundance of activity in healthy ways as well as how to relax, use their breath, and to sit still.
  • Chanting gives children space to develop their voice. Group chanting is a great way for children to bond together and offers a technique they can use at any point in the day to relax, stay focused, and cultivate calmness and peace.
  • Crafts offer children the opportunity to let their personality shine. Many of the crafts are practical, too; for example, making beaded necklaces to use for chanting, fuzzy breath sticks to use for keeping count of inhales and exhales, clay holders for tea candles at home, and more.
  • Meals and snacks are healthy and vegetarian. Children eat together and only after blessing the food alongside the teacher, invoking the elements in prayer. Children practice conscious eating, learning to be grateful for their food, to eat their food slowly, and to eat food that is nutritious. Some meals children make their food together, developing a proactive mindset that is interested in nutrition.
  • Karma yoga happens after meals and snacks daily. Children wash and dry dishes, help clean up the table, wipe the table down, pick up any dropped food, etc., after meal/snack time. This develops an attitude of service in children that blossoms an understanding of what meal prep and clean-up requires. Many children go home from this program wanting to continue doing karma yoga at home!
  • Story time features narratives from Passover, Easter, and yogic scriptures that impart great moral lessons in digestible form. Stories are not just read from a book but are interactive and ask children to engage and form their own opinions about the ways in which we practice being good and living our lives well.

This program is offered during the adult Asana & Pranayama classes. The morning session meets from 7:55 am – 9:55 am and the afternoon session meets from 3:55 pm – 5:55 pm. Drop-off and pick-up at the Annapurna Devi House.

This program is for children ages 4-12. Parents/adults must register separately for our Yoga Vacation Program. Children under 4 are most welcome, and must be accompanied by a parent. Children 13+ are welcome to assist with Karma Yoga and crafts and will be encouraged to participate in at least one adult class per day.

Please note: The $120 tuition is a one-time fee for each child participating in the program. Children may attend any or all sessions of the program for this fee.

Please register for this program at the same time you register for the adult program(s) you will be attending. It is required that your children are registered prior to arriving at the ashram so staff can prepare for the correct number of children.

What to bring, special needs & other planning: Please have children bring at least one pair of closed-toe shoes and a great book to read to replace media play. See the Guest Information tab below for additional information.

Gauri Devi (Marta Shedletsky), C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, is an experienced Sivananda Yoga teacher, Certified Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCYT), and a Yoga Therapist. Trained by Tara Rachel Jones (Omkari), she’s been leading and co-leading children, youth, and family programs in Sivananda ashrams in The Bahamas and Woodbourne, NY since 2016. Being a mother of two, and working with youth and children in her daily life, Gauri Devi is able to connect with her young students with playfulness, creativity, and ease.
Marta is also a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT), Marta specializes in bone health and osteoporosis prevention. Based in Westchester County, NY, she offers private yoga therapy sessions and conducts bone health classes at Westchester Community College, local nursing homes, and community centers. As the Founder of Mushika Wellness Solutions, LLC, Marta’s deep commitment to promoting bone health and osteoporosis prevention is unwavering. She’s been trained by Dr. Loren Fishman in his Yoga vs. Osteoporosis method. She is dedicated to educating people on natural ways to reverse and prevent osteoporosis while improving bone health.

Daily Schedule (subject to change):

This children’s program takes place during the adult pranyama/asana classes.
Meet daily at the Annapurna Devi House.

Morning Sessions – begin at 7:55 am – 9:55 am
Morning Snack
Karma Yoga
Children’s Satsang
Asana Class

Afternoon Sessions – begin at 3:55 pm – 5:55 pm
Afternoon Snack
Karma Yoga
Arts and Crafts/Games/Beach Walk

For children up to age 7 parents bring their child to the session and come meet their child at the end of the session. Older children will be released at the end of the session to meet their parents for the meal.

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