A Take Five Is Better Than a Timeout

A little sunflower moment in yoga camp - breathing, moving, and finding calm in the middle of play.

What Kids Really Learn at Summer Yoga Camp at Jaya Yoga Studio

When most people think about summer camp, they picture crafts hanging on the fridge, soccer games, dance recitals, or art projects coming home at the end of the week. And those things are wonderful. But yoga camp at Jaya Yoga has always felt a little different to me. There’s no big performance at the end. No trophy. No competition. No pressure to be “the best.” What the kids leave with is harder to hold in your hands, but so much more important to carry inside of yourself. Confidence. Resilience. Joy. Connection. Tools. And honestly? Usually a whole lot of glitter, laughter, and random yoga poses in the living room afterward.

Years ago, one of my young yogis came into class and said, “Miss Hilary, I used my take five breaths with my sisters.” The take five breath is something I teach all of our kids. It’s simple. Five slow breaths using your fingers as a guide. But she told me she got so upset with her sisters that five breaths weren’t enough. So she found a quiet spot and kept going.

Seventy-some breaths later, she felt calm enough to go back out and talk to them without screaming, hitting, or getting herself into trouble. And I remember thinking… wow. Not because she handled it perfectly, but because she remembered she had another option. That’s huge for a kid.

Another little yogi once told me she taught a classmate at school how to use take five breaths when they were upset and crying. What I loved most was how honest she was afterward. She said, “I still forget to use it with my own sister when I get really mad.” And honestly? Same. Isn’t that kind of true for all of us sometimes? It’s always easier to help someone else calm down than it is to remember what to do when we’re in the middle of our own big feelings.

Kids are still learning that. Truthfully, adults are too.

That’s one of the reasons I love working with children so much. Kids are still shaping who they are. They’re more flexible emotionally. More open. More willing to try again. They don’t need to be perfect, they just need practice, encouragement, and safe places to grow.

That’s why we have one very important rule at camp, there’s no C word. And the C word is can’t.

At camp, we practice saying:

“I’m trying.”

“I’m learning.”

“I’m practicing.”

Because hard doesn’t mean impossible. It just means we keep going.

There’s always a challenge pose at camp. Maybe it’s crow pose. Maybe it’s spider pose. Maybe it’s balancing a peacock feather on your nose while giggling uncontrollably with your friends. And when the kids finally do the thing they thought they couldn’t do? You can literally watch their confidence grow in real time. That’s the magic. Honestly, I think it’s part of why the last day of camp is always emotional. There are almost always tears. The kids never want it to end. I don’t think they’re sad because camp activities are over. I think they’re sad because of how camp feels.

At Jaya Yoga summer camp, we create experiences where kids get to move, imagine, breathe, play, laugh, create, and just be kids. We write our camp rules together as a group on the first day because kids are way more invested in rules they helped create. They might break mine, but they usually don’t want to break their own. It gives them ownership. Choice. A voice. And kids need more of that.

One of my favorite recent moments happened during a kids yoga class I taught for a local 4-H group. Before class, one of the adults quietly told me there was a teenager there who really didn’t want to participate. And he didn’t. You could tell immediately. So I simply said, “Hey, this is your experience. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. Just come sit with us.” That was it. No pressure. No embarrassment. No calling him out. We started working with peacock feathers — practicing focus, balance, breathing, and concentration. And little by little, he started participating. Then smiling. Then fully joining in. And honestly? That felt huge. Not because he suddenly became a different kid, but because for one moment, he felt safe enough to let his guard down.

That’s what yoga can do. It gives kids space to soften a little. To try. To connect. To breathe before reacting.

I always joke a take five is better than a timeout. But I truly believe there is something powerful about giving kids tools they can actually use in real life. Because eventually, they do use them. Maybe not perfectly. Maybe not every single time. But the tools are there. And those experiences stay with them.

I always tell my classes our issues are in our tissues, and I really believe that. The things we experience live in our bodies. That’s why I want camp to feel like what I call an “experiential selfie”, a snapshot kids can carry with them and return to later. A memory connected to confidence, strength, joy, resilience, kindness, and the feeling of “I can do hard things.”

That’s what I hope kids leave camp with. Not perfection. Not performance. Just the deep-down belief that they are capable, connected, and stronger than they think. And honestly? That’s why I keep doing this year after year.

Jaya Yoga’s Kids Summer Yoga Camp in Clarks Summit helps children build confidence, mindfulness, resilience, creativity, and connection through yoga, movement, games, storytelling, breathing exercises, and imaginative themed experiences all summer long.

Registration is now open for summer sessions. register here