The stresses and strains of school life are being stretched away for Sussex youngsters thanks to a new addition to the curriculum - yoga.

Pupils as young as two are being taught the lotus position and Salute to the Sun in schools across Sussex.

More than 25 yoga specialists are visiting nurseries and classrooms to teach youngsters the moves and breathing techniques.

They have trained through YogaBugs, which was started by Fenella Lindsell in London who noticed her young stepson enjoyed exercising with her when she was practising yoga.

Pip Acibar, 36, of Harrington Road, Brighton, has been practising yoga for nearly ten years and took it up after the birth of her first child.

She teaches children aged two to 12 at nurseries and schools across Brighton and Hove.

She said: "I have always been interested in teaching children and my kids started copying me. Children are so naturally flexible anyway that it was a natural progression for them.

"This week I am teaching at Balfour Junior School in Brighton as part of their healthy living week.

"Parents say the yoga helps their children with concentration.

"Some of the children I work with have attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the breathing techniques we teach helps them to calm right down."

Children with asthma also seem to benefit from the breathing techniques they are taught with yoga, according to Penny Green, 34, of Fitzjohns Road, Lewes.

She has been teaching yoga in Haywards Heath, Lewes and Lindfield for seven years and her two children Phoebe, seven, and Alfie, two, love to join in.

She said: "The children really get to use their imagination because I will tell stories and incorporate yoga moves into them to keep them entertained.

"I have asthma and I have helped children suffering from it to learn to breathe so that if they do get wheezy they don't panic and make it worse. I really believe it helps."

Penny has not just trained with YogaBugs but also with Yoga'd Up which means she is able to teach children aged eight to 12.

CJ Roberts, 45, from Hove, teaches yoga at the Rox School of Dance and Drama in Hove and Windlesham School in Dyke Road, Brighton. She says her children, Aje, 12, Abiola , nine and seven-year-old Asher cannot get enough of it.

She said: "You would be surprised how many children are stiff, especially in their spines. Some of them can't even touch their toes.

"Yoga really winds children down in a way I cannot describe."

Yoga'd Up teacher training courses are taking place on August 5 and 6 at Natural Bodies in Bond Street, Brighton. For more information visit www.yogadup.com or www.yogabugs.com Jill Cains, PE co-ordinator at Balfour Junior School, said: "We are doing a sports week and the idea was to give children a chance to try as many different forms of exercise as possible.

"Yoga is good because it is more than just physical exercise and we have been trying to get across the message about healthy exercise and the effect it has on your mind."