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.