Wonder woman! Teacher-turned-author shares yoga's magic with kids

How can you capture the yoga spark in a child?

Betty Larrea, of Verona, New Jersey, set out to do just that with her book, “Lucinda’s Magical Yoga Adventure,” which was inspired by mini outings she’s shared with her niece.

“She’s very creative and imaginative. When she was little, we’d go on...
adventures. We’d bring her stuffed animals along to a park and pretend that they were real. We enjoyed making up stories. Imagination is the entry point for a child to open up to their creativity and self-expression,” says Larrea, an elementary school teacher for over a decade.

After becoming a student of yoga fifteen years ago, she became certified in the practice and started teaching it to kids. Today, she brings her “Be Yoga Be Love” curriculum to several schools in Essex County, New Jersey.

With her self-published book, Larrea tried to portray the experience of yoga and creative play from a child’s perspective.

“The word Lucinda, the main character, means light. She loves doing yoga because she can pretend to be anything she wants to be. With her magic wand, she meets different animal and nature characters, which are yoga poses. It’s a very whimsical story about how children pretend,” says Larrea.

Written in free verse and rhyming poetry, Larrea interweaves positive messages, or mantras throughout her book’s pages.

“As kids experience the freedom to be themselves, they feel more positive,” says Larrea.

(For ages 2-10, “Lucinda’s Magical Yoga Adventure,” is available at http://www.beyogabelove.com/books for $16.99).