It is best to download the module and work offline on the training
Download MyBaby Brain Building Program
BODY AWARENESS
FEET, HIPS & LEGS
DIGESTION
INTEGRATION
ARMS & SHOULDERS
CORE
TUMMY TIME
MyBaby Brain Building Program
gowiththeflowinfo@gmail.com www.gowiththeflow.co.za
caryn@kidsonlineyoga.com www.kidsonlineyoga.com
Welcome to this amazing MyBaby Brain Building Program. This program is set out to teach you how to bring the wonderful benefits of movement to Mom and baby, by using fun exercises, songs and rhymes. Through movement we are building and strengthening pathways to the brain that are vital for babies’ development and future abilities to learn and focus once at school.
MyBaby Brain Building is a wonderful bonding experience for both Mom and baby as well, and you are offering yourself an amazing everlasting gift. Whether you are a parent, childcare professional, a yoga instructor, or work with babies in any way, this program will be perfect for you. This program is for babies from 3 weeks old.
Why movement is important
Movement is crucial for brain development and helps to stimulate and build the necessary pathways between the central nervous system and the brain that a baby needs to be able to learn, move and survive. According to Paiget, movement is the formation of our intellect, and children under the age of two are in their sensory motor stage of developing, which is their discovery of the world around them using their senses and their bodies. Movement is essential for keeping baby’s bodies and brains healthy and setting the stage for learning readiness for babies through to adulthood.
· Movement allows baby to connect idea to action and to learn through trial and error.
· Movement encourages exploration
· Movement helps to stimulate brain development
· Movement helps with physical growth
· Movement is essential for intellectual growth
· Movement helps baby to reach all the important milestones for learning readiness.
A new born babies primary emotional and mental needs are needs that are easy to give…love, attention and bonding with Mom or caregiver…studies have repeatedly shown that attention and love during infancy have a direct impact on cognitive (brain development and gaining of knowledge of the world around them using their sensory motor system) and physical development later on in life. Cuddling, touching and playing with your baby is the best possible “medicine” for baby. Constantly talking and reading to your baby also helps with cognitive development because children who are spoken to and read to have a much higher vocabulary. This is what makes this baby program so special.
Benefits for baby
· Helps to build baby’s brain as movement promotes neurodevelopment.
· Helps to stretch and strengthen baby’s muscles and joints.
· Helps with hand-eye coordination.
· Helps to stimulate all the baby’s bodily systems, including the digestive and nervous systems
· Helps to promotes bonding between mom and baby.
· Hels to strengthen the immune system
· Helps with neuromuscular development, which is the relationship between the nerves and the muscles.
· Helps midline crossing which helps integrate the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
· Helps to aid visual tracking, language development and builds a concrete foundation for mathematical concepts.
Precautions for baby
Do not ever force baby’s arms or legs into any positions. If baby is fussy, stop and try again later. For very young babies make sure the head and neck are supported at all times.
Developmental milestones
Developmental millstones(DM) are specific tasks that your baby should reach at a certain age. DM start from the head and work their way down the body in a specific order. For example, your young baby will lie in her cot focussing on her mobile. She is seeing it with her eyes and brain, but can’t reach out to it yet. It takes time for baby to gain the muscle strength to reach out and grab it.
Please note that all babies develop at different times, so the milestones are there as a guideline and you should always consult your medical professionals if you feel there is a delay in development.
Important milestones in babies first year
From 1 month
Baby is able to lift head for a short while, while lying on stomach, slowly starting to strengthen the neck muscles for head support.
From 2 months
Baby now has a range of sounds that she can make, which is the start of her language development.
From 4 months
Baby will start to roll over from back to side to stomach and back onto the back in one direction.
From 6 months
Baby should be sitting unsupported now, as the neck muscles have developed enough to not let baby loose balance.
From 7-9 months
Baby will start to crawl. Crawling is very important as it build babies muscles strength for standing, and the cross-crawl pattern is also very important for interhemispheric integration. The longer baby crawls the better baby’s neurodevelopment will be.
The Importance of Crawling
Many babies start to walk from as early as 10 months, and Mom’s will very proudly tell everyone how clever their baby is…but, in reality these babies could have missed some very important developmental stages, that could have a huge impact later on when it comes to learning readiness and the child’s ability to cope once at school.
A baby’s cross lateral crawling movements work both sides of the body evenly and involve coordinated movements of the eyes, ears, hands, feet, and core muscles. This helps support cognitive function, problem solving, and ease of learning.
The Corpus callosum or ‘the great mediator’ is a band of fibres that lies between the two hemispheres of the brain. The cross-crawl pattern of crawling helps to stimulate the corpus callosum helping the two hemispheres to communicate evenly. Optimal brain health is when both hemispheres are working together evenly.
Signs of lack on integration:
- Delayed language development
- Lack of crawling in infancy
- Weak or limited sucking in infancy
- Struggles to tie shoelaces
- Struggles with dressing (e.g. puts two legs into one trouser leg; needs help getting arms into sleeves)
- Struggles learning to ride a bicycle
- Struggles with organisational skills
- Does not understand consequences to actions
- Struggles understanding directions or instructions
- Problems finding words
The importance of touch
Baby massage offers many benefits to baby from helping restlessness and fussiness to promoting bonding with a parent or caregiver. Did you know that every time you massage your baby, you are stimulating the central nervous system?
Tiffany Field, PhD, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine says, “loving touch sets off a chain reaction: It makes babies brain produce more serotonin, a feel-good chemical, and less cortisol, a hormone that's secreted in response to stress. As a result, your baby's heart rate and breathing slow down, and she becomes more relaxed. "
Below is an article from Paediatrics & Child Health explaining the importance of touch.
In 1922, in one of the earliest studies on the benefits of touch, Hammett reported that rats that were infrequently handled were more timid, apprehensive and highly strung than rats that had been ‘petted and gentled’. They were also six times less likely to survive thyroidectomy. For the developing rat pup, mothers and littermates are the major sources of sensory input. A useful approach to evaluating the importance of this input is to remove it completely and observe what happens.
Gonzalez et al compared the adult behavior of maternally reared rats with those isolated in plastic cups, from postnatal days 4 to 20. Despite receiving comparable nutritional input, the pups raised in cups weighed less at weaning. Although this difference did not persist into adulthood, early deprivation did affect adult maternal and emotional behavior. Compared with maternally reared controls, isolate-reared rats were less attentive to their own offspring, performing fewer pup retrievals and spending less time licking and crouching over pups and spending more time digging, biting the cage, hanging from the top of the cage, eating and tail chasing. In an attempt to reverse the effects of isolation on adult behavior, the pups in cups were stroked with a warm wet paintbrush to simulate maternal licking. The minimally stimulated pups received 45 s of anogenital stroking twice a day to promote urination and defecation. The maximally stimulated pups received 2 min of full-body stroking five times per day. When the pups were studied as adults and the way they mothered their own offspring was examined, it was found that full-body stroking partially rescued the behavioral deficits of isolation, with the maximally stimulated pups exhibiting maternal behaviors of durations intermediate to those of the maternally reared and minimally stimulated pups. Thus, tactile stimulation can improve some of the deficits resulting from isolate rearing in rats.
So, as you can see, touch and bonding is crucial to babies development.
Body awareness & sensory integration activities
What is body awareness
Body awareness is your awareness and connection to your body. Knowing your different body parts and also knowing and feeling where your body is at all times.
Did you know:
Children who struggle to identify different body parts tend to land up with learning disabilities.
Exercises to promote body awareness…
· Naming different body parts and touching them. Get baby to touch them as well.
· Use feathers to tickle the different body parts to add a tactile exercise as well.
· Mirror time – give baby lots of opportunity to look at himself in a mirror. Point out body parts while looking in the mirror. Make it fun, put different hats and glasses on baby.
· Playing “peek a boo” or hiding yourself away and then jumping out again, helps baby to realize that you are two different people that can perform separate tasks.
What is sensory integration
This is how baby uses all of his senses together to learn about his world around him. Watch baby as you give him a new toy…he will look at it, touch it, more than likely put it in his mouth and often even smell it. Baby has just used his senses to become familiar with the new toys. Healthy development of the sensory motor system is key to a child ability to be able to taking in information and learn once at school. Children who have troubles with their sensory motor systems usually one or more developmental delays.
Site – Vision
When a baby is first born his vision is not very clear. Baby can only really see close up, like when Mom is holding him, a distance of about 20cm. At about 6 months the baby is able to coordinate eye movements with arm movements, is able to focus better, and can see to up to about 60cm. By the age of 12 months his vision can reach up to about 1-2 meters.
Exercises for vision
· Show baby lots of colourful picture books. Very young babies can only see black nd white at first, so start with those colours first.
· Take baby on walks around your house or out on the street pointing out and naming all the different things to baby.
· Help baby to track by moving objects lefts and right and up and down in front of baby’s eyes like beads or a feather duster.
· Blow bubbles for baby to track.
Hearing – Auditory
This is the last sensory system to develop and the sense organ responsible for our ability to hear is our ears.
Exercises for hearing
· Read, talk and sing to your baby.
· Give baby toy rattles with different sounds
· Play music for your baby
Smell – Olfaction
The sense organ responsible for smell is our nose. It is developed quite early on in utero, but the fetus is only able to smell once a mucus plug has been expelled from the nasal cavity at about 28 weeks. Then the baby shares a lot of it’s mothers smelling experiences.
Exercises for smell
· Let baby smell food when feeding.
· Use different baby body washes and lotions when bathing
· Allow baby to smell different objects while playing.
Taste – Gustation
The sense organ we use for taste is our tongue and we have 5 different taste receptors which are sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami, which in Japanese means meaty or savory.
Exercises for taste
· Let baby taste different foods.
· Because the sense of smell helps develop the sense of taste, get babies over the age of 6 weeks to smell different scents, so create different scent jars for baby to enjoy.
Touch – Tactility
Our sense of touch is one of our first senses to develop after only the first month from conception. The sense organ responsible for our tactile system is our skin and there are 7 different receptors that are stimulated by touch, pressure, temperature and pain.
Exercises for touch
· You can use the feathers again to gently tickle baby all over the body.
· Get baby to lie on his stomach and then use different textured balls and roll them in a circular motion as if you are rolling a ball of clay, down babies’ arms, back, legs and feet.
· Let baby splash and play in the water during bath time.
· After bath time, wrap baby in different textured blankets or towels.
· Let baby play with different textured toys.
Vestibular – Movement
Exercises for movement
· Gently and slowly bounce and then roll baby around on big exercise balls.
· Do baby exercises with baby such as baby brain building exercises explained later on.
· Offer lots of opportunity for baby to roll and crawl around in a safe environment.
Proprioceptive – Body positioning
Proprioceptors are sense organs that we have in the muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons, and they with the help of the brain help the body know where his body parts are in space. It is our bodies positioning system.
Children who can’t identify their body parts usually have problems coordinating their bodies which can affect the child’s ability to perform motor planning activities which is performing certain movements to achieve a certain action.
Exercises to help baby…
· Head/shoulders song
· Clapping hands and feet
· Help baby stamp feet on the ground or against a wall.
· Massage baby and squeeze his joints.
Tips for exercising with babies
Babies are natural born learners who come into this world blessed and at peace, so offering them the loving, bonding experience of Baby Brain Building is a special gift. Being a new mom/caregiver comes with a lot of challenges and sometimes getting yourself and your new bundle of joy to a scheduled class can make things a little more stressful. You worry about getting there on time, having packed everything you and baby need and also about how baby is going to behave. Some babies work well in a group and don’t get distracted by crying, but some babies are sensitive to noise, and anything can set them off, causing them and you lots of stress. So, here are some other ideas for fitting Baby Brain Building into your day or week.
· Set out a daily time that is suitable for both you and baby. Baby should be alert, awake and happy.
· Make sure that baby is not hungry or tired and has a clean nappy!!!
· If baby is fussy or crying it does not always mean that baby is not enjoying the program, baby might just have a cramp or a burp. Exercise releases a lot of winds and cramps.
· Play soft classical music in the background.
· Make this as stress free as possible. Smile, laugh, have fun!
Using songs and rhymes during the exercises helps:
· To develop the brain.
· To teach baby about body awareness, language and communication.
· To set the tempo for movement.
· The repetition of the words and movements helps baby predict what will happen next.
· Singing reflects a state of balance and calmness for both mom and baby.
BODY AWARENESS & BONDING
1) Baby massage
Head - Starting from the top of the head, slowly start to massage baby’s head with your fingertips. Gently tickle the face and the ears with the fingertips.
Shoulders - Slowly continue down to the shoulders, using your thumbs in small circular movements to massage and loosen up the shoulders.
Arms – Continue slowly down the arms drawing small circles with the thumbs, helping to loosen up the arms.
Hands & fingers - When you get to the hands massage the palms of the hands with the thumbs and gently pull each individual finger.
Chest & stomach – With the palm of your hand rub in gentle clockwise rotations over the chest and then the stomach.
Legs – Continue down the legs, gently rubbing with the thumbs in circular movements.
Feet and toes – gently rub over the tops of the feet, the soles of the feet, the heels and then gently pull each individual toe.
Helps Baby relax and get into the MyBaby routine
Loving contact from Mom helps strengthen bonding between Mom and Baby
2) Head shoulder elbows wrists
· Sitting on the floor with baby lying on a cushion or blanket facing you, sing the following songs, squeezing the joints as you go.
“Head shoulders elbows wrists, elbows wrists,
Head shoulders elbows wrists, elbows wrists,
And hips and knees and ankles and toes,
Head shoulders elbows wrists, elbows wrist.
Hips knees ankles toes, ankles toes,
Hips knees ankles toes, ankles toes,
And head and shoulders and elbows and wrists
Hips knees ankles toes, ankles toes.”
Body awareness, language development and proprioceptive input
VISION
3) Visual tracking exercise for baby
· With baby lying on her back pick up an interesting object and hold it in front of baby’s eyes at about 20 cm, until baby focuses on it.
· For very young babies use something black and white like a zebra finger puppet, as these are the first colours they see.
· Wait until baby has focused on the object, then slowly move the object from left to right. Baby will keep focussing unless you move too far out of babies range of vision.
· Closer to 3 months you can start moving the object up and down, or in a figure 8 going from the nose, moving upwards to the left eye, then down and up to the right eye, then down and back to the nose.
· Demonstrate the figure 8 exercise.
Helps strengthen the eye muscles
Helps with interhemispheric integration
FEET, HIPS & LEGS
4) Ankle rotations & toe tugs
· Supporting babies ankle with one hand, hold around the toes moving the ankle gently around in one direction, then change direction, then gently move the ankle backwards and forwards singing…
“Around and round the garden like a teddy bear” one direction
“around and round the garden, without a care” other direction
“Backwards, forwards, side to side” move foot backwards and forwards and side to side
“how many toes? 1,2,3,4,5” gently squeeze each toe mentioned from top to bottom
5) Hips & knees - My Butterfly Wings
“Fly like a butterfly, fly like a butterfly, fly like a butterfly, flap, flap, flap.
Stretch like a butterfly, stretch like a butterfly, stretch like a butterfly, stretch, stretch, stretch.
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you. Gently bring the soles of the feet together dropping the knees down towards the ground. Gently move knees up and down.
· Repeat 3 times or until baby has had enough.
Loosens up the hips and gently stretches the knees
6) Baby Tree
“Oh mommy look at me, I’m a beautiful baby tree”
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you. Bend one leg placing the sole of the foot on the inside of the other leg.
· Gently lift arms above the head.
· Hold for a while and then swop sides.
· Repeat as many times as baby allows.
Hip stretch and rotation
7) Baby Triangle
“Stretching my leg out to the side, I can see (your name) is full of pride”
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you. Gently stretch one leg out to the side only going as far as baby can go.
· Take the hand o the same side of the body and bring the hand towards the toes.
· Hold while reciting the poem and then repeat on the other side.
· Repeat as many times as baby will allow.
Helps to stretch the muscles of the legs and hip
8) Baby Pretzel
“One foot above and one foot below I do the pretzel pose, look at me go.”
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you.
· Gently bend one leg and then bending the other leg and placing the foot on top of the first leg. Hold while reciting the poem and then swop.
Creates a gentle release in the hips, lower back and thighs.
9) Baby Beetle
“Beetle, beetle squirming around, beetle, beetle upside down.”
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you. Lift legs up into the air keeping knees bent.
· Take hands and bring hands to feet, gently rocking baby from side to side.
· Repeat as many times as baby will allow.
Stretches hamstrings and soothes the spine.
10) The wheels on the bus
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you, hold baby’s feet. Alternate bringing knees to chest.
“The wheels on the bus go round and round…”
This exercise helps to get rid of winds and also loosens up the legs and the hips
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you, hold baby’s feet and hands and roll baby from side to side.
“The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish…”
This exercise is a spinal twist, releasing toxins from babie’s body.
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you with legs raised and next to each other. Gently open and close the legs playing “peek-a-boo”.
“The windows on the bus go open and shut…”
Teaches baby cause and effect, and stretches out the legs.
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you, holding onto the legs. You are gently going to roll baby up and down. Please make sure babies’ neck is straight before rolling baby up.
“The babies’ on the bus go up and down…”
Stretches out the spine and neck
DIGESTION
11) Hickory Dickory Doc
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you, and visualise a clock on babies’ tummy. Do all movements from 12 o’clock round back to 12 in a clockwise direction.
· Slowly rub the tummy with the palm of the hand in a clockwise direction.
“Hickory Dickory Doc, the mouse ran up the clock, the clock struck 1 the mouse ran down, Hickory Dickory Doc.
· Slowly tap around babies’ tummy with the fingers in a clockwise direction.
“Hickory Dickory Doc, the mouse ran up the clock, the clock struck 2 the mouse went whooo, Hickory Dickory Doc.
· Slowly rub circles with your thumb on 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, o’clock.
“Hickory Dickory Doc, the mouse ran up the clock, the clock struck 3 the mouse went wheee, Hickory Dickory Doc.
· Slowly roll a ball in a clockwise direction around babies’ tummy.
“Hickory Dickory Doc, the mouse ran up the clock, the clock struck 4 the mouse ran out the door, Hickory Dickory Doc.
Helps to regulate babies’ digestive system
12) The Yogi Yogi
“You put your right knee in, you put your right knee out you put your right knee in and you swirl it all about, you do the yogi, yogi and you turn yourself about, that’s what it’s all about, yay – clap feet together.
“You put your left knee in, you put your left knee out, you put your left knee in and you swirl it all about, you do the yogi, yogi and you turn yourself about, that’s what it’s all about, yay – clap feet together.
“You put both knees in, you put both knees out, you put both knees in and you swirl it all about, you do the yogi, yogi and you turn yourself about, that’s what it’s all about, yay – clap feet together.”
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you, hold baby’s right foot in your left hand. Gently press knee in towards the tummy.
· When you “swirl” the leg moves in a clockwise direction.
· Repeat with the left leg and then both legs together.
This exercise helps with digestion and getting rid of those pesky winds
INTEGRATION
13) Opposite Hand to Toes
“Opposite hand to toes, opposite hand to toes,
This is how my learning goes, opposite hand to toes”
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you.
· Gently stretch the right arm above the head at the same time stretch the left leg down. Then touch the hand to the toes together and pause for a few seconds giving the brain time to register.
· Repeat on the other side.
· Repeat the exercise 3-5 times.
Instilling the cross-crawl pattern, Midline crossing & interhemispheric integration
14) Double drawings
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you.
· Hold onto babies hands and start to draw spirals with babies hands moving them gently up and down.
· Repeat this exercise 5 times.
· You can also draw shapes, patterns, write letters or numbers as long as you are doing the same on each side at the same time.
Strengthening left & right brain hemispheres, instilling Laterality
CHEST, SHOULDERS & ARMS
15) I Love You
· Have baby lying on the floor facing you.
· Bringing babies hands to the chest repeat to baby “I”
· Opening babies arms out to the sides of the body repeat “love”
· Bringing babies hands to the belly button repeat “you”
· Repeat as many times as baby will allow.
Opens up the chest/Spatial awareness
16) Twinkle Twinkle
“Twinkle twinkle your so bright, yoga helps you sleep at night
Up above my heart so high, my love for you fills the sky
Twinkle twinkle your so bright, yoga helps you sleep at night”
· Alternating gently lifting and lowering the arms, sing the “twinkle twinkle” song to baby, keeping eye contact the whole time.
Helps to stretch and get movement in the arms and shoulders
17) Wrist Rotations
Around and round the garden like a teddy bear (rotate in one direction)
Around and round the garden without a care (rotate in the other direction)
Backwards forwards side to side (move wrist backwards forwards side to side)
And tickle you everywhere (tickle baby)
· Holding babies arm with one hand gently start to rotate the wrist with the other, first in one direction and then in the other.
· Repeat on the other side in both directions.
Helps keep flexibility and mobility in the wrist joint ~ Helps to eliminate blockages in the wrists
CORE
18) Baby pull to sit
Pull me up to sit, sit, sit, makes my body nice and fit, fit, fit
· With baby lying on the back, let her grab your thumbs with her hands and then gently pull her up to sitting.
· Repeat as many times as baby allows.
· Always make sure the neck is strong enough to support the head.
Helps to strengthen the core muscles
19) Row, row, row your boat
Row row row your boat, gently down the stream,
If you see a crocodile, give a little scream.
· Place baby on the floor between your legs, sitting up.
· Hold onto babies arms and gently push and pull baby backwards and forwards.
Core strength
20) Roll-over to sitting
· Have baby lying on the back. From here hold arm and leg on the same side of the body and gently roll baby over onto the side, and continue rolling baby over until he is on his stomach.
· From here, lift baby onto hands and knees, supporting baby by the hips once he is on all fours.
· From here you can gently rock baby backwards and forwards to feel the crawling movement.
Ball Time
21) Beach Ball Roll
“Forward backward, left to right makes my tummy strong and tight.”
· Carefully place baby on the stability ball on the stomach. You can even place large mirror in front of baby so he can see himself every time he rolls forwards.
· Gently roll baby backwards and forwards repeating the words.
· After a few moments start to roll baby backwards – to the side – forwards – to the other side, singing the rhyme as you go.
Helps to develop the core and the obliques.
22) Beach Ball Sit, Bounce and round and round
“Bouncy, bouncy round and round, happy baby moving around”
· Have baby sitting on the ball, supporting baby either under the armpits, or around the hips.
· Gently start bouncing baby up and down, and then eventually moving him round in small circular motions, working and strengthening babies core muscles.
· Repeat until baby is tired.
·
23) Beach Ball Back Stretch
Forwards, backwards, left to right, helps me sleep well at night”
· Place baby carefully on his back on the ball, again making sure the head is properly supported.
· Gently start rocking baby forwards and backwards ad also side to side.
· Continue until baby has had enough.
Helps to develop the core and the obliques.
Tummy Time
· Tummy time is an awesome way to start working on strengthening the back, shoulder and neck muscles.
· Not all babies are happy staying on their stomach’s so placing toys around for them reach for is a good way to keep them there for longer periods of time.
· Pillows, rolled up yoga mats or anything you have to help elevate them a bit for a change of scenery.
24) Kicky Cobra
“Kicky cobra kicky cobra one, two, three, Kicky cobra kicky cobra (your name) and me.”
· Have baby lying on the tummy, arms to the sides and head turned to the side.
· Holding onto feet or legs, gently shake the legs to loosen them up.
· Now, try to touch the feet bum one leg at a time and then together.
· Repeat as many times as baby will allow.
Helps to strengthen the back, arms and neck
Stretches upper legs and kne
25) Baby Cobra
“I stretch my back long and tall, I am a baby cobra learning to crawl.”
· Have baby lying on the tummy, forehead on the floor, hands under shoulders.
· If baby does not start pushing up instinctively, help baby to lift by gently lifting the shoulders.
· Repeat as many times as baby will allow.
Helps to strengthen the back, arms and neck
26) Baby Superman
· While lying on the tummy, most babies will automatically go into a superman pose.
· Hold toys in the air above eye level to aid them looking up and lifting limbs off the floor.
· If they don’t do this automatically you can gently lift their arms off the floor for them, then place the arms back down and lift the feet.
Strengthens back, spinal, neck and shoulder muscles
Module 1
Introduction to Children’s Yoga
The Go With The Flow Kids Teachers Training Program is aimed at teachers, parents, therapists and anyone else who has a love for yoga and a love for children.
Children’s Yoga is a fun, creative and playful way for children to learn Yoga. The Go With The Flow Kids Yoga program includes breathing exercises to help children with correct breathing patterns, yoga postures to help increase strength, flexibility and coordination, and relaxation techniques to help children to be able to center easily and effortlessly. Everyone completing this program will have a complete understanding of how to teach yoga to children and will be able to use this new gained knowledge to the best of their abilities.
Why should children be doing yoga?
It’s not easy being a child in this day and age. The world has become very busy and fast paced, you either have to keep up or get left behind. This causes a lot of stress for everyone.
Children are dealing with all of the distractions, temptations, overstimulation and peer pressure and it is leaving them feeling drained and unsure of themselves. Because of this, there is an increase in the number of children suffering from ADD/ADHD and being put on Ritalin.
Nutrition is also a contributing factor and a big problem. We have so many convenience foods at our fingertips loaded with MSG, Artificial colorants and preservatives, which leads to an increase in obesity.
Children do not know how to express their emotions and so there is an increase in childhood depression and anxiety.
Yoga is an ancient science helping to create health and well-being by building awareness, strength and flexibility in the body and the mind. Yoga is also a low cost positive tool that can have an amazing positive impact on children.
Benefits of Kids Yoga
· Yoga teaches children about body awareness.
· Yoga helps promote balance and coordination.
· Yoga helps maintain flexibility and strengthens growing bodies.
· Yoga teaches kids how to breathe deeply and fully.
· Yoga helps to improve restless sleeping patterns.
· Yoga gives kids tools to deal with stress and difficult situations.
· Yoga increases Self Esteem.
· Yoga enhances concentration kids.
· Yoga is noncompetitive.
Getting Started
When teaching children’s yoga, the best advice I can give you, is to keep it simple, fun and engaging. Children love to try out different things with their bodies and will try anything you show them, so make sure what you show them is safe. By teaching the most basic postures children won’t hurt themselves, so, keep it fun. Give each pose a character, a name, a job, a place to live, and friends. Create a little story around your postures that will make children want to be friends with them and hang around with them. Children will stay engage in the class and it is a good way to get them to hold their postures for longer without them realizing it.
Giving objects personalities that the kids don’t expect adds an element of surprise to the class and keeps kids in the moment, engaged and having fun.
If you are already an adult teacher, don’t get too caught up in explanations, alignment or left and right with the really young kids, the more simple and basic the instruction the more fun the class will be for the kids. If you get to technical they will loose interest and their attentions will start to wonder, this
will start to have a domino effect on the rest of the kids, which is not what you need!
Start your instructing of postures from the ground up, so you are creating a foundation for the posture. Start with the body parts touching the floor and slowly work your way to the top of the body.
Guidelines For Teaching a Class
· ALWAYS BE PREPARED – always plan your lesson and know them well before trying to teach. The minute you slip up the kids will take advantage of the situation.
· Look, practice and feel each posture to help you create a character and a story around each posture.
· Incorporate a variety of postures into each class, backbends, forward bends, stretches, twists, inversions and balancing.
· Keep your vocab and instructions simple.
· Don’t worry too much about left and right, especially with the really young children.
· Be relaxed about alignment.
· Start your instructions from the ground up.
· Children enjoy visuals, books, pictures, puppets and props so don’t be afraid to use them.
· Make sure that all children have been to the toilet before you start. If you allow one to go during class soon they will all be asking.
· Children should not eat for at least an hour before a yoga class.
· Children must wear comfortable clothes and no shoes.
· Always use positive reinforcement. Children should feel safe, not picked on.
· Always try and keep a class to the maximum of 12 kids per class, especially with younger kids.
· Children should never be doing full headstands as their bones are still developing. Preparations for headstands are acceptable.
· If very young children seem uninterested in the class at first, let them sit and watch for a few lessons, they eventually start joining in. As long as they are not disrupting your class it is okay to leave them and encourage not force them.
· Have fun, let loose and enjoy your class!!!
Structure of Classes
Pre-school age: Ages 3-6 years 30 minute class
· 5 minutes of warm up exercises
· 5 minutes of breathing exercises
· 15 minutes posture work
· 5 minutes of relaxation
Children of this age are fun to teach and have loads of energy, so, use this to your advantage, and help familiarize them with their bodies, their imaginations and the awesome routine of yoga and meditation practice.
Because it is hard for them to sit quietly or to stay in one pose for a long time, you will need to think and act quick, using lots of songs and rhymes, facial and hand gestures and also use different pitch and tone in your voice.
They do not need to be doing the poses 100% correctly, at this age we are only exposing them into putting their minds into their bodies, achieve coordination and develop their imaginations.
At this age, they are like sponges soaking everything up, so they learn the routines after a few classes. It is a lot of fun teaching them routines like the sun salutations, for example, and so rewarding watching the enjoyment in their faces when they can do it on their own.
They will be happy to lie down at the end of class, and practice imagery and relaxation, if you have managed to use up a lot of their energy. Just remember, not everyone will be lying still and you need to work around that without too many kids being disrupted.
Primary school age: Ages 6-9 years 45 minute class
· 5 minutes of warm up exercises
· 5 minutes of breathing exercises
· 30 minutes of posture work
· 5 minutes of relaxation
This age group enjoys imaginative yoga but also likes challenges and games. The kids of this age group are able to sit still for longer, hold their postures for longer and do longer breathing exercises.
You can still use the same postures and descriptions as the previous group, but can start guiding them into correct postures. It is good to show them the correct alignment, give verbal queues to aid them, but don’t make it a constant focus yet at this age.
The kids are old enough to be introduced to longer relaxations and visualizations as well as body scans and short meditations.
This age group is very aware of their emotions and those of others so give them opportunities to express their emotions.
They also like to jokes and laugh so allow for that, but make sure they don’t start to take over, and over step the boundaries set by you.
Primary school age: Ages 9-12 years 45-60 minute class
· 5-10 minutes of warm up exercises
· 5-10 minutes of breathing exercises
· 30 minutes of posture work
· 5-10 minutes of relaxation
At this age the class can be a lot more focused and slow paced, focusing more on meditation, inner awareness and mindfulness.
The children of this age group can verbalize their feelings and emotions better, so longer discussion time is needed in these classes. They can also talk about more “real” issues, so you need to stay aware at all times because they can blurt out things that you have to address properly at the drop of a hat!
They love making up their own stories and yoga poses at this age, so allow time for that in some of the classes. You can even start giving them turns to teach a warm up exercise, a few postures, a breathing exercise or a relaxation. It is amazing how they mimic you while doing these exercises. Explain to them that you are giving them the responsibility to teach certain parts of the class, they love that!
Mixed ages:
It is quite a challenge teaching kids of different ages together. A 3 year old and a 12 year old are on a completely different level, but it is not impossible. I find if you only have one or two 3 or 4 year old’s in a mixed group, they learn from the older kids and the older kids tolerate them more. Putting an older child in with a group of young kids is also tricky because the class won’t be challenging enough.
It is preferable not to mix ages, but if it needs to be done, have a discussion with the kids explaining the situation honestly, and they will get it.
A Typical Class Idea
I always start the class with the children sitting in a comfortable cross-legged position, backs straight and hands in prayer pose at the heart center. From here we take 3 deep breaths in and out of the nose. As we inhale we circle our arms above our heads, gently smack them together at the top of the head, and exhale bringing them back to the heart center. We do this to help center and bring awareness to the present moment. Then we sing our “Namaste” song, (for younger kids, or saying namaste to each other for older kids), greeting each other, and the class begins.
Namaste is what we say,
To the good in you and the good in me,
Say Namaste every day,
And the whole world will live in harmony.
The yoga classes always start with a fun warm up exercise like “making sandwiches’ or “good morning sun”. Even though children are very active and busy at school, it is still very important to warm up the body before any physical exercise to prevent injuries.
Next, we go into our breathing exercises that tie in with the story or topic of the week.
Then we go into the main part of the class which is the posture work and this is where kids really let loose and have fun but at the same time use and work their whole bodies, helping to strengthen muscles and improve posture.
Lastly, we end off with a relaxation or visualization. This is a very important part of any yoga class, as it gives the body time to process all the postures and breathing exercises. A lot of children struggle with the relaxation, so don’t be discouraged, just be creative.
Kids classes are typically not very quiet, and that is fine, but it’s very important to have some guidelines and rules for your kids to be made aware of otherwise they can start taking over.
Here are some fun ways you can incorporate rules into the class making it fun. You can print out cards, make a poster and then chant the rules you are choosing to instill on a particular day. Kids need a reminder every now and again. You could even make a memory game out of the rules seeing if they can remember them in order. Anything that you can turn into a game keeps things light and fun.
Good Behavior in Yoga Class…
· I stay on my yoga mat
· I keep my hands to myself
· My yoga mat is MY special space
· I put up my hand to speak
· I go to the toilet before class
· I listen to my teacher…I listen to my friends
You can make up different claps to chant these affirmations each lesson…or chooses one or two. Each class you teach is different so use what works for each specific class.
Each yoga class should consist of:
· A breathing exercise
· A warm up
· Yoga postures
· A relaxation
· Affirmations
· A Yoga game
Breathing Exercises
Correct breathing is very important as we receive oxygen and much needed nutrients from the air we breathe. There are many different ways to teach breathing techniques that help us to be calm and centered as well as breathing techniques that give us energy when we are tired.
Benefits of correct breathing:
· Breathing helps develop self-regulation
· Breathing helps release tensions and toxins
· Breathing helps bring calmness and clarity to the body and mind
· Breathing helps to manage stress
· Breathing helps bring much needed nutrients to the blood
· Breathing helps eliminate ‘sluggishness’ in kids
I like to show kids the candle experiment so they can see what happens to a candle that’s air supply is cut off.
What you will need.
· A small candle
· A glass tall enough to fit over the candle
· A Lighter or matches
A candle needs oxygen to burn. If you cut off the oxygen supply, the candle will die, and the same goes for us as humans. The amount of oxygen we inhale and the quality of the oxygen is vital.
Light the candle and then cover it with the glass. Notice what happens.
Calming Breathing Exercises
All these exercises have a calming effect on children helping them center and let go of any worries, stresses and anxieties.
Start off practicing for three breathes and then gradually move up to five, and then continue adding on breathes as the children become more comfortable with the exercises.
These are good exercises to do at the beginning and the end of each lesson as they will help the children clear their minds so they can focus on the next part of their school day.
1. Balloon Breathing
· Sitting up straight with legs comfortably crossed, close your eyes, and place your hands on your tummy.
· Now, imagine that you have a balloon inside your tummy.
· Imagine what colour it is… Imagine what shape it is…
· Now we are going to start blowing up this balloon using our breath.
· Take a deep breath in through the nose and as you breath out through the nose, imagine the balloon blowing up.
· Keep breathing until the balloon is as big as you can make it.
· Repeat for 3-5 breathes.
2. Magic Bubble Blowing
· Sitting up straight with legs comfortably crossed, close your eyes, take a deep breath in through the nose, sighing out of the mouth and relax.
· Now, imagine that you can magically blow bubbles out of your mouth.
· Cupping your hands over your mouth, take a deep breath in through the nose and as you breath out imagine that you are blowing a big bubble into your hands.
· As the bubble grows let your hands move further and further apart, until you have an enormous bubble above your head.
· Once it pops, start again and repeat a few more times.
· Imagine different coloured and shaped bubbles each time you blow…have fun!
3. Hissing Snake Breath
· Sitting up straight with legs comfortably crossed, close your eyes, take a deep breath in through the nose, sighing out of the mouth and relax.
· Now, imagine that you are a snake resting on a branch in a tree.
· What kind of a snake are you… How long is your body…what colour are you…Are you a friendly snake….
· As you imagine being a snake, take a deep breath in through the nose and as you breath our make a hissing sound for as long as your out breath lasts.
· Repeat a few more times.
4. The Loving Heart Breath
· Sitting up straight with legs comfortably crossed, close your eyes, take a deep breath in through the nose, sighing out of the mouth and relax.
· Now, place your hands over your heart. Just sit quietly for a few moments and notice your heart beating. Can you feel it?
· Your heart is a very important organ and it needs lots of love and care, so we are going to send love from the Universe directly into our hearts.
· As you take a deep breath in through your nose, imagine drawing in lots of love from the Universe through your nose and into your body. As you breath out, imagine the love shooting directly into your heart.
· Repeat until your heart is full of love.
· How do you feel now that your heart is full of love?
5. Chanting My Name Breath
· Sitting up straight with legs comfortably crossed, take a deep breath in through the nose, sighing out of the mouth and relax, keeping the eyes open for this exercise.
· Now, we are going to go around the circle chanting each other’s names.
· We start taking a nice deep breath in through the nose, and as we breath out, we say our name as long as we can on the out breath.
· We go around the circle, chanting everyone’s names together.
6. Abdominal Breathing
· Sitting comfortably or even lying down, place your hands on your stomach. This is also known as the abdomen.
· Now, as you inhale through the nose, you should feel the abdomen rise. As you breath out through the nose, you should feel it gently drop.
· Repeat 3-5 times.
Fun Deep Breathing Props
Teaching children, especially very young children to inhale through the nose can be quite tricky, so using props is an excellent way of using visual aids to help them understand the breathing. Here are some examples that I use all the time.
1. Blowing a pin wheel
Get the child to hold the pinwheel in front of their face and take a deep breath in through the nose. As they breath out they must blow the pinwheel as hard as they can. Repeat three times. You can also get them to turn the pinwheel to its side and see if there is any difference in speed.
2. Using a Hoberman Sphere
A Hoberman Sphere is an excellent way to teach kids about how our lungs work. Explain, that as we breath in our lungs fill up with air and expand. As we breath out our lungs empty out and contract. The sphere represents our lungs.
Holding the sphere on opposite ends inhale as you slowly open it. As you exhale slowly push it back together. Repeat a few times.
3. Blowing a feather
Children can have a lot of fun blowing feathers. Start off giving each child a feather and ask them to put it in the palm of their hand. First ask them to blow it very gently using breath coming from the nose, so they need to gently inhale through the nose and then gently exhale through the nose without the feather blowing off the hand. After a few rounds deepen the breath by blowing the feather into the air as high as they can. They can even try to keep the feather in the air using more than one breath.
4. Blowing bubbles
Blowing bubbles is a good way to teach and make kids aware of breathing in thorough the nose and out of the mouth. As they prepare to blow the bubbles they must breath in through the nose and as they blow the bubble they blow out of the mouth. Very young children struggle in the beginning but eventually stop and correct the breathing themselves. It’s very cute to watch.
5. Blowing Ping Pong balls
Using ping pong balls is another fun way to get kids to take deep breaths.
You can either let them blow in a straight line, or using a hoola hoop, get them to below the balls around the inside of the hoop.
6. Breathing Buddies
Getting kids to lie flat on their backs, placing the hands behind the head, and placing a “breathing buddy” on the stomach. Now, show them the abdominal breathing exercise…inhaling through the nose, feeling the abdomen expand, breathing out of the nose, feeling the abdomen contract. As they breath in, the “breathing buddy’ moves upwards, as they breath out, it moves downwards.
Energizing Breathing Exercises
When you are feeling sluggish and tired, these breathing exercises will help to re-energize the body, and cleanse the body from toxins.
1. Bunny Breath
· Squatting down on your toes bring your hands onto the top of your head making bunny ears.
· Breath quickly in and out of the nose as you gently bounce up and down, pretending to be a bunny.
2. Dragon Breath
· Sitting or standing, interlace the fingers and place the hands under your chin.
· Inhale as you slowly tilt the head back, bringing the elbows up towards the ears.
· Exhale with a soft whispered “hah” sound as you slowly lower the arms bringing the head down and elbows towards each other.
· Repeat a few more times.
3. Woodchopper Breath
· Standing with legs apart, back nice and straight, imagine that you are a woodchopper getting ready to chop some wood.
· As you inhale, bend backwards taking your arms above the head as you take your axe back preparing to chop your wood.
· As you exhale make a loud ‘hah’ sound and swing your axe between your legs, chopping your wood.
· Inhale coming up again and continue for a few rounds.
4. Lion Breath
· Sitting down on your knees, pretend that you are a lion getting ready to roar. Repeat the following rhyme:
We are the lion’s….
The mighty mighty lions…
When we roar…
We put down our paws…
We crouch down low…
And we….ROAR!
· Inhale while crouching down and then as you exhale roar as loud as you can, sticking out your tongue and making your eyes as big as you can.
· Repeat the roar 2 more times.
· For older kids, leave out the chanting and just do the last two steps, making a haaaa sound, instead of the roar.
5. Whale Breath
· Sitting up straight with legs comfortably crossed, close your eyes, take a deep breath in through the nose, sighing out of the mouth and relax.
· Take a deep breath in through the nose and hold it for 3-5 counts (age depending).
· Now, tilt your head back and exhale forcefully out of your blowhole (mouth).
· Repeat 3-5 times.
6. Breath Of Joy
· Stand comfortably, with feet hip width apart.
· You are now going to take 3 inhales through the nose using the arms in different positions and then a big exhale through the mouth with a “haaa” sound going into a forward bend.
· Inhale arms out in front of you, inhale arms out to your sides, inhale arms above the head.
· Exhale forward bend.
· Repeat 3-5 times.
Warm Up Exercises
It is very important to warm up the body correctly before any form of exercise so that you don’t cause any injury to the muscles.
There are many different fun warm ups’ that you can use for children of all different ages, these are some of my favorites and can be adapted to different aged children.
1. Twinkle Twinkle Star Jumps
Doing star jumps while singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle” for younger children and for older children tell them how many to do and then count as the jump.
2. Hello Sun (Sun salutation) – younger kids
This is a fun quick salutation that can be repeated up to 3 times for very young kids. They really love it and it’s so cute to watch them!
Hello Sun – stretch up high, wiggle fingers at the sun
Hello Earth – forward bend, tap ground with fingers
Hello Dog – Jump back to downward dog
Hello Caterpillar – knees, chest, chin to the floor
Hello snake – push forwards and up into cobra pose
Hello dog - push back to downward dog – shake tail, other side
Hello earth – forward bend, tap ground with fingers
Hello sun – stretch up high, wiggle fingers at the sun.
Older children can start to repeat the full Sun Salutations. There is an awesome poem from “Story Time Yoga” that kids love to recite.
Starting on mountain pose, hands at the heart center…
Inhale - lifting arms up to the sky “The Sun, the Sun…
Exhale - forward bend I salute the Sun…
Inhale - halfway up I open my heart…
Exhale - forward bend to everyone…
Inhale - lunge right leg back The Sun rises…
Exhale - left leg back d/dog and the Sun sets
Inhale - knees to the floor The whole world…
Exhale - chin, chest to floor in my heart rests…
Inhale - into cobra again I arise…
Exhale - d/dog ready to live…
Inhale - left leg forward happy to be…
Exhale - right leg forward and ready to give…
Inhale - halfway up the Sun, The Sun…
Exhale - forward bend I salute the Sun…
Inhale - Standing up straight I open my heart…
Exhale - Hands to heart center to everyone…
3. Packing picnic basket/suitcase or making a pizza/sandwich/cake
· We are going to pack a picnic basket full of delicious thing to eat for a picnic.
· Sitting with legs stretched out in front of you, back nice and straight, inhale as you stretch up to take something out of the kitchen cupboard or fridge.
· As you exhale stretch forwards into a forward bend and gently slapping the legs to pack the item in the basket.
· Continue until everyone has had a turn. Close the basket by ending in a forward bend and holding for as long as you can.
· You can do the same exercise but make a sandwich, giving each child a chance to add something to the sandwich.
· For older children, turn it into a memory game naming each item in order.
4. The joints in my body
For younger kids, us the song “The wheels of the bus”, but change the words to “The joints in my body”. Starting from the toes work your way up the body until you have worked all the joints. Ask them what joint comes next.
Eg:” The joints in my toes move backwards and forwards,
Backwards and forwards, Backwards and forwards,
The joints in my toes move backwards and forwards
All day long.”
For older kids you don’t have to sing, but still take them through the whole body, working with the breath.
5. Painting the room
Imagine that you are going paint the room. You can use any colours and draw the circles as wide and big as you can. First take a paintbrush with your one hand, lift your arm above your head, and draw 3 circles on the ceiling as big as you can in one direction and then in the other. Now, swop hands take a different colour, and again paint three circles in each direction. Now, draw circles on the sides of the walls bringing your arms out to the side. How about putting a paintbrush on your mouth and draw your circles that way. Can you think of any other ways?
Warm up sequences
1. Sun Salutations
2. Incy Wincy Spider
A rain salutation, which is an adaption of the half sun salutations.
3. The Dog Stretch
Start on hands and knees, wag your tail, look over 1 shoulder towards tail, and then the other side.
Tuck under toes, straighten legs into downward dog – bark!! Shake 1 leg and then the other.
Come back down onto knees, stretch back (child’s pose),
Stretch forward (hanging cobra), stick out tongue and pant like a dog.
Stretch back to child’s pose and rest.
4. Happy Cat/Hissy Cat/Stretchy Cat
Happy cat goes “meow”
Hissy cat goes “hiss”
Stretchy cat goes - stretch
Diagonal stretch right arm left leg
Diagonal stretch left arm right leg
5. Riding My Surfboard
Starting in child’s pose, imagine you are on your surfboard paddling out to see to catch a wave. When a good wave approaches come up into downward dog, then jump one foot forwards into warrior ll, and surf the waves. To swop sides, jump and change direction. When you are ready to come down again come back into downward dog, back into child’s pose, rest and then repeat.
6. The Butterfly Stretch
Sitting in butterfly pose, flap your wings. What colour are they? Go around the circle asking everyone.
Now stretch your wings one at a time.
Rest your head on your feet and go to sleep.
7. I’m a little teapot
Mountain Pose - “I’m a little teapot short and stout”
Jump legs open “here is my handle (one hand on hip), here is my spout (other arm out)
Wiggle side to side - “when I get all steamed up hear me shout”
Triangle pose - “tip me over and pour me out”
Jump feet back together and repeat on the other side.
Yoga Postures Used in Children’s Yoga
1. Standing Postures
Help children establish alignment.
Help children develop strength and stamina.
Help to energize the whole body.
Help to reduce tiredness.
Help children who feel they cannot cope.
Mountain Pose, Warrior 1,2 &3 Poses, and Triangle pose are all good examples of standing postures for kids.
2. Balancing Postures
Help to develop children’s focus and concentration.
Hel to develop children’s strength and ability.
Help develop children’s muscle tone.
Help to bring awareness to the natural balance between body and mind.
Tree Pose, Eagle Pose, The Dancer Pose are all good examples of balancing postures for kids.
3. Forwards Bends
Help with the alignment of children’s spine.
Help to release stored stress and other blockages.
Help to stretch the lower back.
Help to stretch out the hamstring.
Closing the suitcase, sleeping butterfly and tortoise pose are all good examples of forward bending postures for kids.
4. Back Bends
Help children who suffer from asthma as they open up the chest area.
Help to strengthen children’s digestive systems and nervous systems.
Help strengthen and develop children’s arms and thigh muscles as well as helping to keep the spine nice and flexible.
Help to develop children’s courage and mental energy.
Fish Pose, Bridge Pose Camel pose and Cobra Pose are all good examples of back bending postures for children.
5. Twists
Help release stiff joints in children’s bodies.
Help to release tension in the neck so helps children who suffer from headaches.
Help to cleanse the body by getting rid of any stored toxins.
Help to energize the body and helps children think more clearly.
Washing machine Pose and Yoga pretzel pose are all good examples of twists for children.
6. Inverted Postures
Help to bring fresh oxygenated blood to children’s head and heart.
Help to tone the internal organs and improve circulation.
Help to develop children’s core muscles.
Help to reduce depression, anger, insomnia and stress in children.
Downward dog, Dolphin pose and supported shoulder stand are all good examples of inverted postures for children.
7. Relaxation Postures
Help to completely relax children.
Help to rejuvenate children’s bodies and minds.
Help to relieve stress and anxiety in children.
Help children focus more on breathing, helping to re-oxygenate the blood.
Corpse Pose and Childs Pose are good examples of relaxation poses for children.
Affirmations
Kids love reciting chants and affirmations. Affirmations are a handy tool to help children think more positively.
· They can help children to believe in themselves.
· They can help children feel happy and loved
· They can help children feel better when they are feeling angry or sad.
· They can help to boost children’s confidence and self esteem
Always have a set of affirmation cards in your yoga bag. You can get each child to choose a card and then you all recite each affirmation three times. You can also make a fun game out of the affirmations and ask each child to put an action to the affirmation.
There are many free downloads available for you to print out, or you could even make your own. Get creative.
24 Affirmations for Children
· I have lots of friends.
· I am a good friend to myself.
· I play well with others.
· I'm a good sport.
· I am helpful.
· I am a loving person.
· I'm a good listener.
· I ask good questions.
· I'm full of good ideas.
· My imagination is fabulous.
· I have a wonderful mind.
· I am very creative.
· I can do anything I set my mind to.
· I am confident - I CAN DO IT!
· I believe in myself.
· I can … run fast, read well, listen well etc
· I'm really good at ... riding my bike, making friends, math, etc.
· I am lucky.
· I am healthy and strong.
· I'm in great shape.
· My body is my best friend.
· I feel great.
· Every day in every way, I am getting better and better.
· I feel calm and relaxed.
Free Online Affirmation and yoga Cards
https://www.kidshappyapps.com/how-to-use-affirmations-cards/
https://www.kiddiematters.com/free-affirmation-cards-kids/
https://childhood101.com/fun-breathing-exercises-for-kids/
https://www.paperzip.co.uk/resource/yoga-for-kids/
Mantras
There are many different kinds of Mantras that kids love. Just be careful not to use Sanskrit in your normal school environment. It is acceptable in studio environment as people who enroll their kids to a studio have some knowledge of yoga. Make up action for chants to keep kids on their toes.
1. I Am Strong
Make up actions to go with each affirmation.
I am strong I am kind I am brave I am friendly I am wise
2. I Am A Mountain
This is a good exercise to use between standing postures. Standing in mountain pose, feet firmly pressed onto the mat, hands at the heart center, back nice and straight repeat the following Mantra.
I am a mountain strong and steady For everything now, I am ready
3. I Am a Warrior
With this mantra we will be moving from warrior 1-2. This mantra helps invoke courage, stability and strength.
Warrior 1 – “I am a warrior brave and strong”
Warrior 2 – “I can do anything all day long”
Shavasana/Relaxation
As with adult yoga, it is very important for children to relax and have a rest period at the end of each yoga session. This time helps the nervous system to calm down and gives the body time to process all the exercises it has just done. There are many ways to help children relax without making it a “chore”.
It is very important that children get some relaxation time on a daily basis as they are so bombarded these days with everything going on in our world. Most children don’t get time to relax and they really start to look forwards to the relaxation time in a yoga class.
Get children to lie comfortably on their backs, arms comfortably next to their body with legs slightly apart. With younger children never force them to relax, bur encourage them in a positive way. Some children really struggle with this part of the class, so keep an eye on them so that they are not being a distraction to everyone ells.
1. The Floppy Test
Get children to lie down on their backs and tell them that you are going to do a floppy test to make sure they are all really relaxed. Go to a child and pick up an arm or a leg, if the arm or leg is relaxed and floppy say things like, “wow, look how nice and relaxed you are.” If the arm or leg is tense and stiff encourage the child to let go and relax. Continue until everyone has had a turn.
2. The Spaghetti Test
Get the children to lie down on their backs and stretch their arms up above their heads, pretending to be a piece of spaghetti before it goes in the hot water. Stretch the arms and point the toes and feel how tense you feel. Now, imagine that you slowly get put in the hot water from your toes. Feel them going loose and relaxed. Work your way up the whole body until you are completely soft and floppy like a piece of cooked spaghetti.
3. The Gemstone
Get children to lie comfortably on their backs. Start off taking a deep breath in through the nose, sigh out of the mouth, close the eyes and relax.
Placing a gem stone on the child’s forehead, explain that this gem stone has supper calming and relaxing energy, and once it is on the forehead the whole body will just want to relax. Ask them “Can you feel how nice and cool and calm it feels on the forehead? Don’t answer me, just feel”. Once everyone has a gem stone on the forehead tell them you are going to count, to see how long they can hold it on the forehead without it falling off.
If you have different colours, you can also get them to guess what colour they have without seeing it - an intuition game.
4. Eye Pillows or Masks
For this exercise give each child an eye mask or a beanbag. Get them to lie in Shavasana with the eye pillow/beanbag on their heads and count to see how long they can all lie still without taking the beanbag off.
1. The Magic Butterfly
Get children to lie on their backs in Shavasana, close their eyes, and imagine that they have their own very special relaxation butterfly. This butterfly will always be available to them in their imaginations whenever they need it. Get them to imagine what the butterfly looks like. It’s colours, its wings.
Now, tell them that this butterfly is going to help them to relax. Every time it lands on a part of their bodies they must squeeze it and then feel it relax.
Take the children through the body.
Feel the butterfly land on your toes, squeeze them gently and then let them relax.
Now the butterfly lands on your knees, squeeze them gently and then let them relax.
Continue naming body parts and once you have been through the whole body tell the children that it’s time for their butterfly to go and rest, but it can come back at any time.
Then get the children to explain what their butterfly’s look like.
Homemade beanbags
You will need: · Colourful socks · Rice · Lavender oil
Fill the socks with rice, drop a few drops on lavender oil into the sock and then tie the open side of the sock into a knot. Push the rice to the middle of the sock and tie the other end to make the beanbag look like a sweet. You can also cut that side open once its tied. Don’t put in too much rice. It should be nice and floppy.
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Guided visualizations
Younger Children
The Feather
Imagine that you are a feather that has fallen from a bird’s wing. What colour are you? What kind of a bird did you come from? Can you feel how soft, light and free you feel. Imagine floating slowly through the sky, gently been rocked back and forth by the light breeze. You are relaxed, free and at peace.
The ladybug
Imagine, that you are a ladybug lying on a leaf? Where is your leaf? What does your leaf look like? It can be anywhere you want it to be…you now decide that you want to move from your leaf…where would you like to go? Imagine the place in your mind…you open your wings and gently float off on the breeze…You feel so relaxed and free…let the breeze take you wherever you want to go.
For Older Children
The Magic Garden
Imagine that you are surrounded by a beautiful rainbow light as you walk on a special path ... there are beautiful rainbow flowers around you ... and birds singing in the trees... In front of you is a huge, old, beautiful gate. It is a gate that leads you to your own magic garden. There is a big key to open this magnificent gate lying under a big rock.... Notice what your key looks like, the colours, the shape…. The key has your initials carved on it so you know this is your gate and your key....
Now, one of your special animal friends appears from behind the rock. It is an animal friend that is very wise and very loving, and is here to help you build and grow your magic garden. What animal is it? Now imagine putting the key in the lock of the gate and the gate swinging open, and you and your animal friend entre the gate to the garden together.
What do you see? This garden is yours and you can plant any sort of trees and plants that you want. You can have water fountains and waterfalls if you like. Create this special garden of yours imagining everything in it. You can also plant seeds of kindness, of happiness of love, anything that you feel you need right now. You can ask your special animal friend for advice as plan.
Let children lie for a while in complete stillness as they create their gardens
After a few minutes tell the children that it is time to leave their gardens, but that they can come back and visit anytime that they want.
Beach Relaxation
Close your eyes and bring yourself to a calm, quiet place in your mind. Just stay here and relax for a few moments. Breathe deeply and comfortably and notice, maybe for the first time, how amazing the sound of your breath is. Just listen as the air moves in and out.... in.... and out… it is a quiet and beautiful sound.
Now start to imagine yourself at your favorite spot on a beach. If you have never been to a beach, just imagine what you think it would be like. Maybe this is a beach you have been to before, or maybe one you have seen in a picture or movie. Imagine yourself there now. On the beach you feel the lapping of the waves against your toes and you dig your toes deeply into the cool wet sand. The sun shines brightly and gently warms your skin. It's as if the sun is reaching down and pouring it's love on you.... so warm and so nice.
Feel the rhythmic calm of the waves flow over the sand – it calms you. Notice how your breathing becomes calm and even. Inhaling and exhaling slowly and calmly. Paying attention now, you slow down your breathing even further and allow your muscles to relax. Feel the warmth of the sun melting your muscles into complete relaxation. Slowly and easily your body relaxes more and more …. releasing tension, releasing any anger, releasing any worries or doubts you have. Inhaling deeply again - breathe in calm and peacefulness. AS you exhale letting go of anything the body does not need.
Your body is now relaxed; Your mind is now relaxed. Empty your mind of all worries, concerns or thoughts that have been bothering you. Just enjoy this moment you have now. Right now, only this matters. Breathe in deeply and allow deep relaxation to flow to any part of your body that needs it. Imagine the beautiful golden sun penetrating each and every cell and muscles, making you feel so wonderful and alive! You feel a growing sense of peace and know that everything is all right. Take in a deep breath again and bring your attention back to where you are, along with all the calm, peaceful feelings of relaxation and rest. You feel energized and peaceful now, ready for the wonderful day ahead.
Setting up your Own Practice Time
· Choose a time of day that suites you when it is nice and quiet. Usually just as you wake up, or before going to bed.
· Set up a comfortable space that you use every time you do your self study practice. Have everything in this space that you would need: Journal, pens, pencils, a timer to time your breathing exercises and relaxations, comfortable pillows and blankets.
· Make sure you have enough space on the floor that would fit a yoga mat for your posture and relaxation practices.
· Set aside an hour each day and choose a few postures to practice until you can teach them without looking at notes. Also choose one breathing exercise, one game and a relaxation exercise to practice.
· Remember to keep instructions short when talking children into the postures, they will start getting bored with long technical instructions
· Keep a journal handy and at the end of each session, sit in stillness for a few minutes letting any thoughts come to mind about the session, and write them down in your journal. There is no right or wrong when it comes to journaling. Simply write how you feel the session went.
· Spend a part of this time researching kids yoga postures, breathing exercises, games and relaxations. There is so much out there, so once you think you are comfortable with what is in the manual, start adding new exercises that you have found. Start to practice these until you are comfortable with them.
· Remember that this is a process and you will become better and feel more comfortable the more you practice.
· Be patient and kind to yourself, don’t make this a chore, make it a lifestyle!
Lesson Planning
Lesson 1
Ocean Lesson |
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Ages: 3-6 years |
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Introduction |
Today is a very exciting day. We are on holiday at the sea. Has anyone been to the sea before? If you have, put up your hands so that I can see who has all been. Well done. Name one thing that you love about the ocean. (Go around the circle until everyone has had a turn)
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Breathing Ocean Breath |
Sitting comfortably with your legs crossed, close your eyes and imagine that you are sitting on the beach. Can you hear the sound of the waves? Let’s make our breath sound like the waves. Take a deep breath in through the nose and as you breath out make a soft “shhhh” sound. 3-5 breathes
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Warm up Making sandwiches |
Sit with your legs stretched out in front of you. We are going to pretend to make a sandwich. As you inhale stretch your arms above your head and reach into the fridge/cupboard to get what you want to put on the sandwich. As you exhale stretch forwards over the legs and put it on the sandwich. Give everyone a chance to add something to the sandwich. Once the sandwich is made wrap it up and put it in a picnic basket. Now, let’s pack a beach bag for the day. Each child can pack something in the bag that they want on the beach for the day.
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Different walks |
We are going to take a walk down to the harbor, to spend the morning out at sea. First walk around the circle on your toes. Now, stomp like a giant. Next walk like a dog, think of different types of walks.
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Boat Pose |
Once we get to the harbor we climb onto a huge big boat.
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Partner Boat |
To get out onto the sea the big harbor bridge has to open up. Once we sail through we are amazed at what we see.
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Turtle |
Huge big sea turtles floating in the sea. Look how amazing they are. Let’s become sea turtles.
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Shark |
Next, we see a great white shark. Look at his big teeth!!
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Dolphin |
Oh look, the dolphins have come to say hello. They want us to come swimming with them. So, we dive off the boat into the sea and start to swim.
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Swimming |
It is so awesome swimming with the dolphins. Do you know that these dolphins know a special secret place where we can see Mermaid’s. Should we follow them and have a look.
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Mermaids |
Oh my goodness, look at all the mermaids sitting on the rocks. Wow, look at their amazing tails.
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Rowing |
Now, sadly it is time to go back to the beach. Let’s take the small rowing boat and row all the way back.
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Palm Tree |
Wow, that was a lot of hard work. Let’s find a big palm tree to go and rest under.
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Relax |
After your busy morning out at sea, you are feeling tired and in need of a rest. Imagine that you have a hammock hanging from two huge palm trees. Climb carefully onto the hammock, lie down on your back, take a nice deep breath in through your nose, and as you breath out, close your eyes, and relax your whole body. Take two more breaths just like that helping you to relax more and more. Now, imagine yourself lying in your hammock been gently blown by the breeze. As you sway to and fro you feel yourself becoming more and more relaxed. Just lie for a few more moments felling as soft and relaxed as a feather. Relax, relax, relax. |
Lesson 2
Ages 7-9
The Game Reserve |
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Ages 7-9 years |
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Introduction
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Today we are going on a camping trip to the Game Reserve. Does anybody know what that is? The Game Reserve is very special place where wild animals live, protected. It’s quite far away, so we are going to fly in an airplane. Let’s pack our suitcase.
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Packing suitcase |
Packing our suitcase. Think of things that you will need for a camping trip to the game reserve. Go around the circle until everyone has had a turn.
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Different walks |
Walk, skip or run to the car.
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Butterfly Pose Badhakonasana
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Sitting in butterfly pose, hold on to your steering wheel and drive to the airport. |
Warrior 1 |
Flying in the airplane in Warrior 1 arms out to the sides. Hold for as long as you can and then swop legs.
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Now that we have landed we are going to ride bicycles until we get to our camp.
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Tent Pose Trikonasana
Rock ‘n Roll sleeping bag |
First thing we need to do is set up our tents. Once they are set up we need to climb inside and roll out our sleeping bags. Well done!! Now we are ready for our first game drive. Bring your binoculars!
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Gyan Mudra binoculars Twist |
Putting on your binoculars look to the right, look to the left look up, look down…what do you see?.... oh look, there is a Warthog family. Look how they eat on their forearms… |
Warthog Pose |
Let’s pretend to be warthogs.
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Eagle Pose Warrior 1 arms out to the sides and flap wings. |
Look up in the tree! There is an Eagle looking for its prey… Oh look it’s about to fly. |
Lion Pose |
Look there, hiding under the trees! A Lion! Wow, look how beautiful he is.
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Monkey Pose |
And up in the trees look at all the cheeky baboons.
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Leopard Pose |
Oh look, lying on the branch of the tree is a leopard.
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Now it’s time to start heading off back to camp, what a lot of animals. Let’s see what else we can see on the way back.
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Elephant Pose Elephant Train |
Look at all the elephants walking down the road, wow, they are so big. Let’s make a train of elephants.
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Giraffe |
Look up on the mountain there are lots of Giraffes. They are so graceful. Let’s be Giraffes.
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Meerkat |
Cute, see how all the Meerkat are looking in the same direction. What are they looking at?
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Game |
The Meerkat game
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Relaxation Baobab breathing |
Lying down in Shavasana, with your arms above your head, imagine that you are a big, old Baobab tree. Feel what it feels like to be so big. Imagine your branches reaching up towards the nice hot African sun. Feel your body becoming warm and relaxed. Take a deep breath in of the warmness letting it spread through your whole body and as you breath out RELAX!
Repeat 4 more times. Now, feel your roots growing deep down into the cool wet earth. Feel how cool and relaxed you feel. Take a deep breath in of this coolness letting it spread throughout your body helping you to feel calm and refreshed, and as you breath out feel your body RELAX. Repeat 4 more times. Now, just for a few more moments lie in complete stillness and relax.
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Lesson 3
Ages 9-12 years
Fun at the sea
Check In
Go around the circle and ask each child for one exciting thing they did these holiday’s.
Introduction
Today we are going to pretend that we are going on a trip to the seaside. Put up your hands if you have been to the sea before.
Centering Exercise - Listening to the sea shell.
Sitting in a comfortable cross legged position, back nice and straight, hands rested on your knees. I am going to pass this big sea shell around the circle, when it is your turn, I want you to close your eyes and listen to hear if you can hear the sounds of the ocean in the shell.
Warm Up – Packing a beach bag
Think of anything that we need for the beach for the day. We going to go around the circle and each child will get a chance to pack one item in the beach bag.
Inhale as you stretch up and grab the item to pack, and exhale as you stretch forward and pack it in the bag, gently slapping your legs with your hands.
Riding our bikes
Now we are going to climb on our bikes and ride to the beach. Lie down on your backs and start peddling slowly, and then faster and faster until you are going as fast as you can. Now let’s see if we can peddle backwards. Continue for a few rounds.
Now park you bikes under a big palm tree, and let’s pretend to be palm trees…
Now, pretend to be a palm tree swaying in the wind. Standing with feet next to each other interlace fingers, reach your arms up to the sky and gently sway from side to side.
Let’s roll out our beach towels and sit for a moment and watch the sea. Rock ‘n Roll backwards and forwards a few times, and then sit with the legs comfortably crossed.
Breathing exercise – Ocean breathing
Look at the waves and see how they crash onto the beach, and then pull back into the ocean. Let’s imagine as we breath in we pull the waves onto the beach, and as we breathe out we push them back towards to see. Continue for a few rounds.
Okay, now we are going for a surfing lesson. Pretend your yoga mat is your surfboard. We need to start off sitting on our knees and paddling out to sea.
Now lie down on your tummies and prepare to catch the next wave, paddle and kick while lying down… and when you are ready come up into downward dog.
From downward Dog step on foot forwards into Warrior1.
From Warrior 1 move into Warrior2.
Well done, you’ve got it, you are surfing. To change direction, jump into warrior 2 on the other side and surf!!
When you are ready come back down to Downwards Dog, back onto your knees and rest. Repeat the exercise for as many rounds as you can manage.
Now, let’s sit on our surfboards and see what we can find in the sea…
Turtle Whale Dolphin
Boat Crab Dancing Crab
Once we are finished surfing, and looking at animal’s, paddle back to the beach, lie down on your towel, and rest.
Relaxation – Starfish relaxation
Lying in Shavasana, imagine that you are a big starfish lying at the bottom of the ocean. You can be any colour and have any designs on your body. Lie for a few moments and imagine exactly how you look.
Imagine how peaceful and quiet it is at the bottom of the ocean. Feel how light and relaxed you body feels as the water gently washes over your body. Take a nice deep breath in, and as you breath out completely relax.
Bring awareness down to your toes, breath in and as you breath out, say, “relax toes”.
Bring awareness to your feet, breath in and as you breath out, say “relax feet”
Bring awareness to your legs, breath in and as you breath out, say “relax legs”.
Bring awareness to the front of your body, breath in and as you breath out, say “relax front of my body”.
Bring awareness to the back of your body, breath in and as you breath out, say “relax back of my body”.
Bring awareness to your fingers, breath in and as you breath out, say “relax fingers”.
Bring awareness to your hands, breath in and as you breath out, say “relax hands”.
Bring awareness to your arms, breath in and as you breath out, say “relax arms.
Bring awareness to your neck, breath in and as you breath out, say “relax neck”.
Bring awareness to your head, breath in and as you breath out, say “relax head”.
Now say “ relax body, relax body, relax body”
Yoga Game – Sea Shells
For this game, you need to choose one area to be the sea, and another to be the shore.
When the game begins, the kids run throughout the whole area. Then, when the teacher shouts, “Shore! Or “Sea!” the kids have to run to that area.
If the teacher shouts “Shell!” the kids have to choose one yoga pose to freeze in. Before starting, go through a few postures with them. They can either chooses from the lesson plan or below are a few extra postures. Kids love this game. Have f
Lesson: Wild desert adventureAge: 6-9 years – 45 min |
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Warm up:
Sunsalutation
Washing machine/ Clothes line/ Pack suitcase |
Today we are going on an awesome desert adventure to see what can survive in the hot, hot sun.
Let’s say good morning to the sun to thank it for shining today.
Now, let’s wash our clothes, hang them out to dry and then pack them once they are ready.
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Now we are ready to go…. We are first starting off our trip rowing down a river to see what we can see there…
Boat pose/Rowing boat pose/partner boat pose
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Oooh look!!!!! Lots of crocodiles sunning themselves on the river bank. I wonder if they are hungry? If you were a crocodile what would you eat?
Crocodile pose lying with chin in hands. When you find your food snap arms over head 3 x and roll from side to side. End off with chin in hands again
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Oh no…the river has dried up…I think we are getting close to the desert. We need a rescue plane to take us there.
Airplane Pose
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Oh no!!! The airplane is running out of fuel…we are going to have to jump out with a parachute.
Chair pose Bow pose
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swaying palm tree pose |
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And we land safely on the hard, cracked desert sand. How are we going to get around?
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Oh look…there are camels that we can rise.
Alice the camel Camel pose
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Wow…look at all the amazing cactus’s…let’s pretend to be a cactus.
Cactus Pose
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Oh wow, there are lots of different types of lizards living in the desert…let’s become lizards.
Raised knee lunge |
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And look at the Ostriches…let’s hide our heads in the sand like an ostrich.
Standing wide leg forward bens Hiding head in the sand |
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And scorpions live in the desert as well…
Tiger Pose |
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Cute…look at the wild African fox cubs…they are so cute…
Running fox pose |
A desert relaxation
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After a long day riding camels through the desert, we are very tired and need a rest. We find a comfortable cool place to take a rest…Lie down…get comfortable…and close your eyes…take a deep breath in through the nose and as you breath out of the mouth…relax.
Now imagine you are walking through the desert…it’s very hot, and your body is feeling tired. As you are walking your feet are sinking into the sand, making it difficult to walk…can you hear the sound your feet are making as you walk? You continue on…the air is still, your skin is hot and clammy…you are thirsty and in need of a rest. As you continue walking you hear a sound….it sounds like water….you pick up the pace…moving towards the sound….you have to climb a sand dune so you can see where the sound is coming from…your legs are aching as you climb…the sand is hot…and you are tired…as you get to the top an amazing site lays in front of you…an oasis…with palm trees, a pond and a small waterfall. You start running towards the water…forgetting about the tiredness in your body….as you plunge into the water your body immediately feels more relaxed…you drink from the water, cooling your body inside and out….you now feel refreshed…nourished…and relaxed…lie here for a few more moments, enjoying the feeling of relaxation. |
Creating Kids Yoga Stories and Characters
Anybody can create their own kid’s yoga stories and characters by following these 10 easy steps.
1. The first thing you need to do is decide what value you want to encourage or what issue you want to address.
Being afraid of the dark
Below are some examples of issues that children deal with. You can add more to the list as you think of them.
Accepting of yourself and others |
Helping |
Accepting challenges |
Honesty |
Affection |
Joining in |
Appreciating what you have |
Kindness |
Awareness of feelings |
Love |
Being Brave |
Looking after your environment |
Being bossy |
Making an effort |
Calmness |
Making friends |
Caring for nature |
Patience |
Caring for others |
Practice |
Creativity |
Positive thinking |
Courage |
Respect |
Confidence |
Sharing |
Communicating clearly |
Self discipline |
Determination |
Sense of belonging |
Enjoying life |
Sense of achievement |
Embarrassment |
Working together |
Feelings |
Afraid of the dark |
Following your dreams |
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Giving |
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2. Choose an animal for the main character.
A penguin
3. Give the animal a name.
Robert
4. Where does your animal live? Anywhere in the Universe, get creative.
On a volcanic Island
5. What is your characters role or job in life? Think of qualities your character will need to be able to do his job.
His parents are fire fighters and he wants to be as well. He needs to be brave and strong and fearless
6. Who are your character’s friends? Everyone needs a friend or two. Make up names and descriptions for the friends.
Franky the fire dog and Scat the firefighting cat.
7. What problem needs to be solved?
Robert is afraid of the dark and needs to overcome his fears so that he can help put out fires at night.
8. Give two attempts to solving the problem.
He is left alone at home one night while sleeping when his parents had to go put out a fire but woke up from the big explosion when the volcano erupted. His parents always left Franky with him because they knew he was afraid of the dark. Franky taught him the following affirmations to help him when he gets scared.
I am brave
I am strong
I am fearless
They repeated them over and over until Robert had the courage to go and look outside. When he looked outside he was shocked by all the small fires spread out over the Island due to the eruption. He knew his parents would need his help. Repeating the affirmations, he hopped onto Franky’s back and they sped down the road towards the foot of the mountain.
As they were going over the bridge at the edge of their village the bridge collapsed and Robert fell down into the stream as Franky jumped to the other side. He fell down, down, down into the dark warm water. It was very dark and scary in the water. He wanted to cry, but repeated his affirmations which gave him the courage to swim to the shore. When he reached the shore, Franky was waiting for him and they continued their search for his Mom and Dad.
9. Solution. What is the solution to the problem?
In this story, it is the use of the affirmations to help Robert feel brave every time he gets frightened
10. Home. Take the character back home for the relaxation.
By the time they found them most of the fires where already put out and his Mom and Dad were getting ready to climb into the fire engine to get a lift home. Once they got home his parents told him they were so proud of him for being so brave, and that next time there was a fire at night they would take him with.
Robert The Penguin
Story |
Yoga Postures |
Today our story is about Robert the Penguin. |
· Penguin Pose Stand with your heels together, toes out, legs straight and do 5 jumps then wave, “hello”, repeat and wave with the other hand, “hello” |
Robert lives in a small village at the foot of a volcano with his Mommy and Daddy. Roberts parents are fire fighters and Robert thinks they are very brave. |
· Volcano Breathing Bringing hands to prayer pose, inhale as you lift them up, exhale as you circle them around back to prayer pose. |
Roberts best friends is spotty the fire-dog, and Scat the fire cat. He loves them so much, they do everything together when Spotty and scat are not working. Spotty and Scat are very brave just like Roberts Mommy and Daddy. |
· Downward dog · Cat stretch sequence Cat/cow/diagonal stretch · Big hug Standing on knees give yourself a big hug. |
Robert wishes that he could be as brave as his parents and Spotty and Scat but Robert has a secret…he is afraid of the dark. |
Whisper finger to lips. |
One night while Robert was sleeping, a part of the volcano erupted and lots of small fires broke out in his little village. His parents had to rush off to help put them out and so left Robert asleep in his bed. They asked Spotty to stay with him so that he would not be scared when he woke up. |
· Shavasana · Volcano pose Squatting down on your feet, hands in prayer pose inhale as you slowly start standing up and exhale as you jump and squat down again. |
Robert did wake up when he heard a big BANG!! |
· Big Bang Clap hands together. |
He sat up in bed, eyes wide and looked around. |
· Neck exercises · Eye exercises Putting thumbs and 2nd fingers together to make a circle, place them over the eyes and look left then right then up then down. Now try, just moving the eyes and keeping the head still. |
He knew that Spotty needed to go and help his parents but he was too afraid to go outside because it was still night time. So, he decided to say some affirmations |
“I am brave, I am strong, I am fearless!” Repeat 3X |
Robert feels a bit braver after repeating the affirmations. He climbs out of bed and tiptoes to the front door, he opens the door and peeps out, and is amazed to see that most of the village is lite up by the fire. He is a little bit afraid to go outside, but because there is so much light from all the fires he realizes that it is not so bad. He climbs onto Spotty’s back, and off they go, racing down the road. They pass the big tree at the end of the road and head towards the bridge. They cross over the bridge, the bridge gives way and Robert falls, down, down, down into complete darkness. Robert is very afraid. He hugs himself, repeats his affirmations, and really starts to feel braver, stronger and less fearful. Now that he is not so scared he notices he is down by the river, and if he swam across he could easily get back to the road. The water was very cold and it was very dark, but he kept repeating his affirmations, and in no time he was over the river. When he reaches the other side, Spotty is there to help him out and take him to his parents. |
· Tip Toe · Gate Pose · Pack bag Give each child a chance to put something in the bag · Repeat affirmation. · Running downward dog · Partner poses riding on each other’s backs. · Tree Pose · Bridge Pose – London Bridge · Skydiver pose · Affirmations · Swimming Pose |
His parents who have been working all night to control the fires are so happy to see him that give him a big bear hug. |
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After all the fires have been put out, they all catch a ride home in the big red fire truck. Then they make themselves something to eat, and go to bed. |
· Butterfly legs, driving. |
RELAXATION |
TENSE AND RELEASE |
Guided Imagery
Children these days are completely over stimulated by technology. Their senses are affected, their personal contact with people is reduced and they exercise far less than children of the past. This causes a lot of stress and anxiety in them. Because children are continually being bombarded by information and technology, they are having far less time connecting with themselves and to each other.
Using guided imagery is one of the best ways to get children to relax. Guided imagery is a meditative process that uses visualization and imagination to bring awareness to the mind-body connection. Children can easily access this healing process because they’re naturally imaginative. By relaxing into a vivid story, they gain tools to deal with stress, pain or difficult feelings. It’s a wonderful way to connect with children as they learn to listen to their inner wisdom and access their own power of healing.
Steps To Reading Out Scripts
Be relaxed
It is very important to be relaxed before you attempt any type of relaxation with children. If you are tense or irritable, they will pick up on your energy and will not be able to relax.
You also need to enjoy the script that you are reading. It’s not easy making other people respond to something that you are not really enjoying yourself.
If you are not in a good head space before doing a relaxation, do a breathing exercise first to ground and relax you.
Set the stage
Always use the same routine when going into relaxations with children. Get them to lie down on their backs in Shavasana (corpse Pose), get them to take a deep breath in through the nose, exhale out of the mouth and then close the eyes. From here you can either do a deep breathing exercise or a tensing and releasing exercise. It also helps to use the same music playing softly in the background. This will also help to block out any distracting noise from outside.
Voice control
Read with a soft but audible voice. If you talk to slowly and softly you will lose them. If you talk to loudly, they won’t be able to relax. If you use to many tones in your voice, they will want to open their eyes and watch you. Keep things even.
Pace
Make sure you are leaving enough time for them to use their imaginations, without pausing to long. One of the best ways to test a script is to record it first and then lie down yourself, closing your eyes and listening. If it does not work for you, it won’t work for children either. Remember, practice makes perfect.
As you introduce guided imagery to children you’re creating a safe and special place for them to go. You can take them to wonderful, peaceful places created by their own imaginations, places they can visit anytime they need to. Children can meet personal guides, who may appear as people or animals who will put them in touch with their own inner wisdom and healing powers. Or, you can guide them to a safe garden that they can create for themselves and visit whenever they are feeling scared anxious or sad.
Steps To Writing Your Scripts
1. Set an intention
How would you like the child to feel after the meditation? It is good to remember that all children are different and feeling different each day. Try not to put your expectations onto the children, but guide them as well as you can.
2. Chooses an object or setting
Choose something that appeals to children, not something that you as an adult thinks should be chosen and will work. You can use characters and settings from TV shows and movies that kids enjoy.
3. Relax and let go
As mentioned above, if you are not relaxed, the kids will pick up on that and not be able to relax either.
4. Use your senses
While writing your script always ask questions using the senses, such as:
What do you see? What do you smell? What do you hear? How does it feel? How does it taste?
5. Practice as you teach
Use mindfulness to be present and self -aware as you teach. Notice the words and images as they come up and how they will relate to and help the children.
6. Write it down as you would say it
If you write down the meditation you will be much more comfortable as opposed to trying to remember everything you need to, this could be quite stressful. Once the meditation is written down, you can always adjust it to make it perfect.
Very young children will only be able to do about a 3-minute relaxation at first, but they get the hang of it quickly. Some do take longer, so always keep them in the back of your mind and make sure they are not distracting the others. The older they get the easier it is for them to lie still and then you can do longer relaxations.
These tips come from the Teaching children meditation website. Thanks for sharing.
Example Scripts
Ages 3-5
Special Animal Friend
This script is for young children who need someone to share their feelings with.
Lying comfortably on your back, take a deep breath in and as your breath out relax your body and close your eyes.
Imagine you are standing in a forest. It is a beautifully warm day. You can hear the leaves rustling in the wind all around you. Take a deep breath in and smell the cool fresh air. Wow, the forest smells so good.
You see a path up ahead and start to follow it. Can you hear the crunch of the leaves under your feet as you walk?
While you are walking you hear the sound of water up ahead, so you walk a bit faster until you see the most amazing waterfall.
Sitting by the waterfall is a special animal friend. What is your special animal? This friend is special because you can tell him anything you want and he won’t tell anyone in the whole world.
Give your animal friend a big hug and say goodbye.
You can come and visit him anytime you are feeling sad or even when you are happy. He will always be waiting for you, ready to hear anything you want to tell him.
Ages 6-8
The magic shell
This script is for younger children and can help when worry and anxiety are a concern. By Debbie Wildi:
Place yourself in a comfy, cozy position. Close your eyes and take a long slow deep breath. As you breathe out relax your body.
Imagine that you are standing on a beach. See the beach in your mind. Think about a beach that you may have visited, or you could use an imaginary beach if you like.
You can feel the sand beneath your toes and the sun is warm on your face. Look around you. In front of you is a huge ocean. It looks a silvery-blue colour and the sunlight sparkles like tiny stars dancing on the surface.
You look at the ground and in front of you in the sand is the most glorious shell you have ever seen. You pick it up. It feels warm. Notice how smooth the shell is. Feel it with your fingers. This is your magic shell. You can tell it your secrets and it will keep them. You can also tell your shell any worries that you may have. Tell it about any problems that may be troubling you at the moment. No matter how big or how small they are. The shell wants to hear them.
Whenever you have worried feelings you can tell your shell about them and it will magically take those horrid feelings and turn them into good ones.
Now see yourself holding the shell close to your mouth. In your mind silently tell it whatever you wish. No one else will know what you say. Only you and your shell! As you say your words they go right into the middle of the shell so that it can take them away for you. Tell your shell your worries right now….
Now you do not have to feel yucky feelings anymore. The shell has made them disappear. Just like magic!
They are gone!
As you hold your shell close all you feel is calm and happiness. You feel peaceful all the way from the tips of your toes, to the tip of your nose. Feel it right now. Notice how it feels.
It is important for you to know that you can imagine your shell whenever you wish to make yucky thoughts and feelings disappear, whenever you wish to feel calm. Your shell will always be there waiting in your imagination.
Of course, if you visit the seaside you can always look for your own real magic shell. How will you know it is magic? Just choose the shell that feels right for you, this will be the magic one. You can also use a magic stone if you like.
Find one of these in your garden, or in the street.
Here is an idea! Keep your magic shell or stone under your pillow to take away bad dreams and always bring you a peaceful sleep.
Ages 9-12
The big white house
This script helps older children gain perspective and deal with everyday stress.
By Ellen Curran:
Imagine walking along a long white beach. You can hear the gulls and the gentle roll of the waves. Your feet sink into the warm, white sand. It is quiet and safe. You are alone walking into the soft sea wind. The sun is shining down on you, making you warm. You have been looking for a place to be quiet and comfortable. This feels as if it is your beach, yours alone.
You stop and stand, looking out over the immense expanding ocean. It shows its green top-water, its purple mid-water, and its gray powerful underwater. The colors are mixing and churning, creating the bubbly white crest at the top of each wave. The roll of each wave sounds like the Earth, breathing. O…cean. O…cean. Over and over again with each wave. You feel the power of the ocean and the Earth.
A short distance ahead of you, you now notice a big, white house. It is beckoning to you. It looks like a temple or small castle of some sort. You walk towards it, relaxed and interested. You follow a short path to the house and see that the large door is open. Your feel that it is perfectly OK for you to go inside. It is safe and calm.
You step out of the sunshine and into the coolness of this beautiful house. You find yourself in a huge hallway with plants and paintings. A magnificent, marble staircase stands before you. You know you want to go up those stairs. You become aware of a very heavy backpack that you have been carrying all this time. The backpack is full of your worries, troubles, concerns, and negative feelings. You have been carrying them for a long time and you realize that this backpack is weighing you down. Your shoulders ache, and your back feels tight and stiff from all these feelings.
Slowly remove your backpack and with it all your worries and concerns. You feel released, free! You can now easily ascend the staircase. Each step you take, you become lighter, happier, and joyful. Each step brings you closer to absolute comfort and joy. The comfort and joy lives in you, and now there is nothing to get in the way of feeling them, reaching them, having comfort and joy.
Now at the top of the stairs, you are strong and certain. A large window is open at the top of the stairs, and in front of it is a big, white comfortable chair. You sit down and face the window, watching the magnificent ocean once again. This time is yours. You watch from your chair, by your window in your house. Breathe in the soft ocean air, and know you are home.”
Visual Aids
Children are very visual and get very excited when you have things to show them. If you have brought something you don’t want them to touch, then you can tell them to look with their eyes only. If you are passing something around, remind them to be caring and gentle with it.
Examples:
· Colourful pictures of animals or objects in your story.
· Plastic animals or other toys
· Yoga or Affirmation cards
· Books
· Tablet/I pad – try keep to a minimum
· Puppets
· Stones or gem stones
· Talking Stick
· Kindness ball
Music
Music is an amazing tool to use in your classes as the vibration gets everybody going. You can play soft background music, use music for your warm up exercises and also louder more upbeat music for dancing and yoga games.
Older kids enjoy listening to current music, but before putting your play lists together, listen to the songs carefully for songs using bad language and negative connotations such as suicide and murder.
There is a lot of kid’s yoga music that you can download from the itunes store and online, and also some free stuff available.
Kids Yoga Resources
Kids Yoga Music
· Dance For The sun ~ Kira Willey
· Come Play Yoga ~ Karma Kids Yoga
· Musical Yoga Adventures ~ Linda Lara
· Namaste And Play ~ Kidding Around Yoga
· Fly Like A Butterfly ~ Shakta Kaur Khalsa
Kids Yoga Books
· The ABC’S of yoga for kids ~ Teresa Anne Power
· Storytime Yoga ~ Sydney Solis
· Fly like a butterfly ~ Shakta Kaur Khalsa
· Yoga games for children ~ Danielle Bersman
· You are a lion ~ Tae-Eun Yoo
· Yoga Zoo Adventures ~ Helen Purperhert
· Create a yoga practice for kids ~ Yael Calhoun
· Once upon a pose ~ Donna Freeman
· Itsy Bitsy Yoga ~ Helen Garabedian
Kids Yoga Card Decks
· Yoga Pretzels ~ Tara Guber & Leah Kalish
· The kids yoga deck ~ Annie Buckly
· Yoga 4 Classroom Activity ~ Lisa Flynn & James Vaughn
· Yoga To The Rescue ~ Amy Lewis
Awesome websites
· Yoga in my school - yogainmyschool.com
· Cosmic kids yoga - www.yoga4kids.co.za
· Rainbow yoga - rainbowyogatraining.com
· Kids Yoga - kidsyogaguide.com
· Story time yoga – www.storytimeyoga.com
· Kids yoga stories – www.kidsyogastories.com
· Pink Oatmeal - www.pinkoatmeal.com
· Yoga Omazing - yogaomazing.com
Group Yoga Games:
1. Animal Walks
Get children to walk around the room imitating different animals. Call out the animal and then each child must decide how they think the animal walks. Example: Chicken, Dog, Bear etc.
2. Body Mandala’s
Create different Mandala formations with the body. This game works better with older children.
3. Breathing My Name
This is a fun deep breathing exercise, but you can use it as a game as well. Children love hearing their own names. Going around the circle everyone takes a deep breath in and as you all breath out you say someone’s name as long as you can with the out breath. Each person must get a turn.
4. Duck, Duck, Goose
Props:
Yoga Cards
This is a fun version that has been adapted for a kid’s yoga class. Sitting in a circle with pictures of yoga postures turned upside down in the middle of the circle. One child walks around the circle tapping the others gently on the head saying “duck”, when the child says “goose”, the child who she tapped must chase her once around the circle trying to catch her. The “goose” get to choose the yoga pose and everyone does the pose. The “goose” now gets a turn to say “duck, duck, goose”. Continue until everyone has had a turn.
Older children or children who have been doing yoga for long can teach the pose.
5. Football Pass
Props:
A ball
Explain to the children that you are going to pass the ball around the circle, without using your hands. The must pretend to stick their hands down onto the floor with glue. Only their feet and legs can move. One by one they must pass the ball around without it dropping. If it does, they have to pick it up with their feet.
6. Intuition Game
Props:
A small stone or gemstone
Explain o children that their intuition is that little voice in their minds that tells them right from wrong. Explain that we should always listen to that voice and not second guess ourselves. This game helps us to use our intuition.
Everyone must sit in a circle. One person must stand in the corner and block their eyes. Someone in the circle must hide the stone/gemstone under their legs. Once hidden, everyone must look in the center of the circle and the person in the corner must come and say who has it. The first name that comes to mind is usually the correct one. Everyone must have a turn to hide the stone and everyone must have a turn to guess.
7. Musical Mats
Props:
Yoga Mats
Yoga Pose Cards
Music
Put mats out in a circle with one yoga pose on each mat and one child on each mat. Start playing music while children walk around the circle. When the music stops, children must stop on a mat and do the pose. Take one mat and pose away and continue until there is only one child left.
8. Pass the Hoola Hoop
Props:
Hula Hoop
Children need to stand in a circle holding hands with a hula hoop around someone’s neck. Once they are holding hands they are not allowed to let go. They need to pass the hula-hoop around the circle without letting go of each other’s hands. They will each have to step through the hila hoop and have it go over their heads.
This game is not suited to very young children as they keep letting go of each other’s hands.
9. Sea Shell
For this game you need to choose one area to be the sea, and another to be the shore.
When the game begins, the kids run throughout the whole area. Then, when the teacher shouts, “Shore! Or “Sea!” the kids have to run to that area.
If the teacher shouts “Shell!” the kids have to choose one yoga pose to freeze in. Before starting, go through a few postures with them.
10. Woolfy- woolfy
One child will be the wolf, and pretends to be walking through a forest. The rest of the children are the trees (tree pose). When the wolf has his back to the “trees” the trees move around. When the wolf turns around and looks at the “trees”, they must be still. The first tree to move becomes the wolf. Continue until everyone has had a turn.
11. Yoga Train/Roller Coaster
Sitting behind each other making a train with your bodies, the person in the front gets to direct the train. The train can move from side to side and forwards and backwards. If the group is not to large everyone should have a turn to lead. You can also use this as roller coaster for a theme park yoga class plan.
12. Yogi Says
This is the same as Simon says, but using yoga postures to imitate. When you say ‘Yogi says’, children must copy you, when you say ‘your name, says’, the children must not copy. Those who copy sit out.
13. Downward Dog Train & Tunnel
One child stands in downward dog, and then the others stand in downward dog one by one. See how long you can build the train.
Get children to stand in downward dog in a row. Then they take turns one by one crawling through the tunnel. Children get tired easily so let them rest for a few moments and then continue.