Yantra Yoga Kumar Kumari for Children:

A Year of Growth in Florence, Italy and Its Province

In 2025/2026, Kumar Kumari Yantra Yoga for children—taught by the Tibetan professor and physician Chögyal Namkhai Norbu—was introduced for the first time in Florence and its province, both in an after-school group and in local elementary schools (San Pierino and Ponte a Cappiano di Fucecchio) through the “Art and Yoga” project.

In the center of Florence, within a private gym, a small group of girls formed and participated enthusiastically and consistently in the weekly sessions. At the same time, Kumar Kumari was introduced into elementary schools in the province of Florence thanks to the “Art and Yoga” project, designed to integrate the educational potential of art with the benefits of yoga for children.

The art workshop serves as a complement to yoga, helping to consolidate the physical experience: for example, distinguishing between right and left in movements is then translated into a graphic representation, as is the study of the body and postures through drawing.

Among the proposed activities, some examples of art workshops included: cave men for body and movement awareness, graphic representation of breathing, the sky-mind with thought clouds for observing thoughts and emotions, the flower of kindness for positive relationships and mutual recognition, and the use of colors and their blending in painting a class mandala. In this way, the children were able to explore new modes of expression, learned to know themselves better, and to collaborate and communicate in an authentic and respectful manner.

The work carried out over the course of the year now opens up new perspectives. Thanks to the support of the *PEZ (Local Educational Plans), the *City of Florence*, and third-sector organizations, starting next year, free public Kumar Kumari courses will be offered in Florentine play centers. The initiative will allow for further expansion of access to these activities, offering an ever-increasing number of children the opportunity to experience a program based on psychophysical well-being, creativity, and positive relationships with others.

These Florentine programs were led and coordinated by Sara Magnelli and Cristina Conticelli.

For information on what’s happening in our area, please email yogaartescuola@gmail.com or follow us on the Facebook page “Yoga e Arte, bambini a Firenze.”

Sara M. and Cristina C.

In the workshop, the blue sky represents the mind, while white clouds with written phrases represent thoughts. In a group, one child “wears” the sky in front of their face, and another moves the clouds along while reading the thoughts. The children thus discover that thoughts pass through the mind like clouds in the sky and can be observed.