Yoga Studio Offers Free Children’s Classes Online

Christina Hinschenberger with Takeo and Takeshi.

When the COVID-19 pandemic closed Natomas schools, the Hinschberger family hit the mat — yoga mat that is.

On March 19, they broadcast their first live children’s yoga class on Facebook.

“We thought that the video might be not only good for children, so they have something to do, but also a little mood lifter for everyone,” said Marcus Hinschberger, who with his wife Christina, owns and operates Agape Yoga & Fitness and Tokon Martial Arts in Natomas.

The video features Christina leading the couple’s two sons, 8-year-old Takeo and 4-year-old Takeshi, through a 30-minute yoga session. It has now been shared 32 times and viewed by more than 2,100 people.

The Hinschengergers run a school for traditional karate where they teach self-defense, the art karate as well as the sport of karate.

The Natomas couple have more than 30 years martial arts experience and both hold 5th degree black belts. Their sons also train — Takeo for about 2 ½ years and Takeshi for about nine months.

“We teach life-skills that are hidden within the traditional martial arts,” said Hinschenberger.

In November 2019, the Hinschberger family moved into a new location more than doubling their workout space from 1,700 square feet to 4,000 square feet. They also expanded their program to include yoga. They offer power yoga, yoga sculpt and yoga-pilates fusion.

Prior to the stay-at-home orders, Tokon Martial Arts had about 140 members plus two after school programs at Star Academy and Two Rivers Elementary School in Natomas. With the outbreak of COVID-19, they moved all classes to online sessions.

Agape Yoga & Fitness was on board to lead “Yoga in the Park” at the North Natomas Regional Park this spring and summer, but at press time the program had been canceled due to the pandemic.

“To keep children and parents sane, we offer now public classes via Facebook, as well as private classes on Zoom,” said Hinschenberger, adding the couple is also homeschooling their boys. “We decided to offer children’s yoga once to twice a week during this very stressful time. Adult yoga is available on a daily basis and so is our karate program.”

The couple said they decided to keep some of our classes private and other classes open to the public to help people cope with stress related to the pandemic. Thursday yoga with Takeshi is held at 3 p.m. via Facebook Live.

You may be interested in:
Agape Yoga & Fitness agapeyogaandfitness.com
Tokon Martial Arts TokonSacramento.com

Christina Hinschenberger leads Takeo and Takeshi through a yoga session.