Christine Fieldhouse takes her son Jack to children's yoga class and discovers that it's not all fuddy duddies and Feng Shui.

As a yoga devotee for the last ten years, I know about inner calm and serenity. Yoga has helped me unwind after a busy day, relax when I felt I was carrying the world on my shoulders and loosen up when my shoulders were up round my ears with sheer angst.

I did yoga throughout my pregnancy when, at 39 weeks, my bridge posture was more of the humped-back variety. Eight weeks after having our son Jack, I was back trying to regain my pre-pregnancy shape.

I have tried to introduce Jack, now four, to yoga at home. Having admired his suppleness, I thought it would be a cinch for him. He managed a few cat and dog stretches, enjoyed roaring for lion pose and was an expert at balance.

But my hopes faded when he visited my yoga class in Darlington for a quick hello. As he looked round at all the participants lying on the floor before the session started, he asked with excitement: "Mummy, are guns allowed at yoga?"

So an invitation for Jack to practise yoga at Seaham Hall Hotel, at Seaham, County Durham, brought fresh stress. Even the name - The Serenity Spa - filled me with horror. Worse still, the spa boasted to be a sanctuary of the senses, which uses Feng Shui principles to create a sense of peace, tranquillity and inner calm. But I was curious to know just how a yoga class for children works, and if anything could make Jack concentrate.

Jack's class was taken by Eleanor Gotting, a primary school teacher. Using a doll, Eleanor starts by encouraging the little ones to stretch up to the ceiling. The children copy the floppy doll. One or two of the stiffer ones are compared to robots and they grin at the comparison.

Soon the class moves into posture work and Eleanor produces cuddly toys to demonstrate different positions. The little ones curl up for the mouse position, then roar loudly for lion pose. When a snake is produced, they have to pretend their feet are a tail, push themselves up onto their hands and hiss.

"I believe yoga is a great benefit for children," says Eleanor, who has taught yoga for almost a year. "It is definitely a calming influence. It is good for the lymphatic system because tensions and toxins are released. The brain becomes calmer and the breathing improves resting heart rate.

"The exercises I use for children are by no means taxing, but they open up the diaphragm. Children have a much more sedentary lifestyle these days. They sit in front of a computer and they are engrossed by what's on the screen or they watch television. Everything has a short attention span.

"As the children balance in yoga, it stills their minds and they have to concentrate."

Eleanor uses stories on tapes as well as cuddly toys to demonstrate postures and soon the class of 12 children is mimicking crocodiles, cats and dogs. There's none of the embarrassment you would see at an adult yoga class. These children really do want to roar or snap the loudest.

"I try and give children a little bit of theory," continues Eleanor. "When we do the tortoise, I talk about his protective shell. But I don't do any of the hippy yoga which often puts people off. Children love the bendy nature of their bodies and they like showing off, getting into all these positions."

The classes at Seaham Hall Hotel are designed to give parents a break - and maybe the chance to enjoy a treatment in the spa - while the children are occupied. The lower age limit is five - a special exception was made for Jack. But all the children enjoyed their hour-long class and were keen to demonstrate their new postures for parents and grandparents.

The hotel seems to be leading the way in children's yoga tuition. The British Wheel of Yoga now runs a children's module, where student yoga teachers can train for an extra six months to enable them to teach children, and classes are starting to spring up across Britain.

Darlington teacher Angela Campbell, who has qualified with the BWY, says: "Children enjoy yoga as long as it's fun. It benefits their attention and co-ordination skills and encourages them to be more focused and relaxed.

"Quite often we have a theme. We sometimes pretend to go into a jungle and be the animals we see in there. The session has to be fun and fast and quickly move from one to the other. We bring in numbers and they love to count their stretches. They sit still, then I whisper the word "mouse" so they leap up and pretend to be cats.

"After the postures, I try and do relaxation at the end, as we would in an adult class. With children I take them on a mental journey, in a rocket into space, for example. A secret garden is another nice place for them to feel safe and secure. I tell them there is a worry tree where they can hang up their problems. We try to leave some time where we sit and talk about different subjects such as what makes us happy and sad."

Angela currently works in schools and nurseries throughout the Darlington area. "As well as being good for their concentration and memory skills, yoga also stimulates children's creativity. It can help children through any number of events, like starting or changing school, exams and moving home."

FACTBOX

Seaham Hall Hotel at Lord Byron's Walk, Seaham, is the AA Hotel of the Year for England and can be reached on 0191-516 1400, or www.seaham-hall.com. Prices start at £195 per room per night.

For your nearest adults' or children's yoga class, contact the British Wheel of Yoga on (01529) 306851, or visit www.bwy.org.uk.

If your school or nursery is interested in a yoga session with Angela Campbell, she can be reached on (01325) 356126.