A Yoga teacher who teaches children as young as six months old to stretch and relax has just been nominated for a top award.
Dai Alford, who lives in Enfield, has been nominated in the What’s On 4 Little Ones? Awards for the Most Outstanding Activity Leader for the under-fives (south of England).
Her Tatty Bumpkin classes run at many locations in the area and the parents that she works with love the magic that the classes work on their kids.
Dai said: “Yoga promotes feelings of calm in mums as well.
“If the mum feels calm, the baby feels calm. The work I do with the children is great for getting children to work as a team. And of course it helps with sleep and with concentration.”
Dai added that she uses inspiration from nature to help the children gets into positions most adults find impossible. She renames stretches into names like The Snail and The Worm and takes the children on imaginary adventures.
Dai started practicing yoga after travelling the world after a difficult childhood spent in care.
She said: “I needed something to hold me down. I felt the whole world was against me.
“I remember my very first class and I loved it right away. It has made me so much more balanced and calm.
“It has given me stability because the thing is it teaches you to breathe deeply and gives you a sense of perspective.
“You can go months and months without having a deep breath.”