Egyptian Desert and More, Jan. 29th, 2014

Today the young kids got to engage their imagination and visit the Egyptian desert.   During our visit, we imagined ourselves as a camel, pyramid and an Eygptian cat.  Ask your child to show you their pyramid and camel pose.

I also showed them a different kind of breathing that is used to relax and calm our minds.  It is called Langhana breath, where their exhale is longer than their inhale.  As a class we practiced inhaling for 2 and exhaling for 3, pause for 1,  and then continue again.

I have also created Yoga Bingo game (see example below) for the older kids, I find it is a fun way to engage them and go deeper into our poses.  My focus with the older kids is increasing body awareness through each pose.   I asked them to observe what poses they are able to do with ease versus ones that are more challenging. The moving lunge pose is one that challenges most of us, so we agreed that we need to work towards strengthening our leg muscles in order to do this pose with ease.   Some of us observed that we have tight hips, which is restricting our flexibility to practice a challenging pose such as Bound Ankle pose.  So we practiced using butterfly pose to help open up our hips and will slowly prepare our bodies to practice the more challenging pose.  Ask you child what pose is most challenging for them and what part of the body they think they may need to strengthen to do that pose.

Suggested Activity:  Langhana breath can be used along with belly breathing as part of the bed time routine.  Place their favorite plushie on their belly/abdomen and have them inhale for 2 and exhale for 3 breaths, pause for 1 and then repeat 4-6 times.  Please let me know if you have any questions about the breath work, and I would be more than happy to go over these techniques with you.

Yoga Bingo and Bundle rolls, Jan 27th, 2014

We are learning new Yoga poses, with a fun game that I have created for the younger kids, called Yoga Bingo.  I have also incorporated some breath work and affirmations into our game to keep it balanced and fun:)  I have handed out their Yoga Bingo sheet (see example below) to them earlier this week, be sure to ask your child about it.  

I have observed that this game is also building self control; kids that don't have the pose that is called, sit in modified lotus pose, keep their eyes soft and breathe.  It takes a lot of control, not to copy others doing a pose, and sitting still and breathing until a pose they have is called out.   Great job everyone:)

The older kids were in for a treat, we rolled ourselves in our yoga mats and then observed how it felt.  This is a wonderful sensory activity and it was interesting to hear their thoughts, we talked about how our breath and body felt when we are wrapped up so tightly versus when are lying down on our mats. We also connected with each other and practiced following each others cue based on using touch versus words.  This is a fun way to develop mindfulness using one of our senses.  Ask your kids about Massage train.  

Yoga Match and Breath Work, Jan 22

Our young Yogis, got to try some new poses while playing Yoga Match.  Ask them to show you what a turtle and boat looks like.  We are also working on elongating our breath, by inhaling through our nose for a count of 3 and exhaling through our mouth for a count of 3.  Be sure to give this a try and enjoy the various benefits to be had when we mindfully breathe and elongate our breath.

With the older Yogis, we practiced our Sun Salutation sequence; this yoga flow engages the entire body and when practiced slowly by breathing in and out, it will help strengthen our body muscles.  We also reviewed Alternate Nostril breathing, and discussed how it is a wonderful technique to help balance our brain.  We talked about the right (feeling brain) and left (thinking brain) parts of the brain and how breathing in through right nostril reaches the left brain and breathing in through the left nostril reaches the right brain.  This breath work is a wonderful tool in helping us energize our mind and manage daily stress.
Here is how to practice this Prana-Yama ( Sanskrit word which means Breath Elongation)
1. Breathe in through both nostrils
2. *Close Right nostril and exhale through left and then inhale through left
3. Close Left Nostril and exhale through right and then inhale through right
4. Close Right Nostril and exhale through left and then inhale through left
This would complete 1 cycle, I would suggest you can try 2 cycles
*I have shown the kids 2 different mudras (hand gestures) to close the nostril


Suggested Activity:  Practice breathing mindfully with your kids.  To make it fun, use a pinwheel and observe how long you can keep it turning on your exhale.  Note:  I would aim for 3-4 exhales at the most.  I have explained to the kids that we slowly build our lung capacity, so we should never force our breath.  The idea here is not to reach high counts rather to slow down our breath and pay attention to it.

Developing balance with Toe-ga, Jan 13th

This post is a little late, my sincere apologies.  This was our second class after the winter holidays and the kids had lots to share, so we tied it in with Yoga poses.  

Our young Yogis continue to work on developing their balance, and what more fun way then with Toe-Ga.  So we got moving picking up pom poms with our toes and dropping them in our buckets. They were all so proud of themselves as they patiently picked up one pom pom at a time and filled up their bucket.  Ask your child about Toe-ga and make it a family event!

The older Yogis had lots to share, over the holidays a lot of them have been making beautiful bracelets with rainbow looms, so we came up with some poses to connect ourselves and twist and make beautiful yogi looms:)  

Suggested Activity:  Organize a family Toe-Ga night, here is what you will need:
Pom poms - various sizes
Bucket/tall container for each participant
Masking Tape
Some fun music, I use the Toe-Ga song, by Kiddin Around Yoga
How to play:
1. Give each player 10-15 pom poms
2. Create a path that you have to follow, starting from the pom poms to your mat (I use masking tape)
3. See how long it takes you to get all your pom poms in the bucket with your dominant foot
4. Repeat with your other foot, and see whether it takes you the same time
4. Smile often and breathe deep

Peaceful Stone Relaxation, Jan 20

All the young yogis had a delightful time, as we explored new and old poses by playing Yoga Bingo.  I find games to be a fun way to engage their attention and have them practice their poses.  Almost all the kids are getting quite good at holding the core poses for at least 3 breath cycles, great work everyone:)

Today, we used peace stones for relaxation, the challenge was to sit still and breathe while resting the stone on the top of our head.  This exercise works very well, to help develop focus and attention while calming their minds.  We then transitoned to lying down and relaxing with the stone on our belly, gently rocking the stone with our breath.  Ask your children how they felt as the stone rested on their head, and if it was easy for them to stay still.

                                                        

 The older yogis worked on some of the flows from sun salutation, so we can build strength and stamina to do the entire sequence.  I introduced Alternate Nostril breathing this week, and we talked about how this technique helps balance both sides of our brains.  We talked about using it before writing a test or presenting to class or when we are experiencing stress.  We also had a chance to do some fun partner poses before we transitioned to relaxation and quieting our mind with breath.

Family Activity:
Before bedtime, I will often use a peace stone or something light that can rest on the top of my son's head (in his case, his favorite hockey card) and encourage him to breathe, and sit still, balancing the object on his head, as I will read a book.  We find this is very handy on nights when they are bursting with energy; using something sensory engages them and gives them something to focus on.
Have you tried this with your kids?  I would love to hear what works.