Kids Yoga for Disabilities

First off, take a look at this fun video of two Canadians, Rick Mercer (comedian/host) and Rick Hanson (Man in Motion hero/educator) blowing away all ideas of what one can and cannot do when one has a disability:

Pretty Amazing, Eh!

This Friday marks the beginning of the Paralympic Games  in Vancouver.   It’s another event that shows how ABLE all people are.  The first Paralympics Games were held in 1976 in Sweden and this Paralympics has  five sports:

• alpine skiing
• biathlon
• cross-country skiing
• ice sledge hockey
• wheelchair curling

Here’s a link to a whole page of activities from Official Website of the Paralympic Movement. I’m looking forward to reading this worksheet in my kids classes:  A Fairytale:  A Class Discussion of Inclusion it’s a great story with discussion questions included.

I also want to try the Sitting Volleyball Skills Sheet with a soft volley ball for younger kids.

When it comes to yoga, are there any limitations that could prevent a child from joining a class?  Considering that kids yoga is already so imaginative I think kids yoga can be done by all.

The best tip for teaching yoga to someone with a disability:  talk to the person to  find out what works and what won’t work for their particular situation.  They’ll be able to tell you what they need to make it possible, what they want to try and what they can’t.  Don’t make assumptions!

If you’re stuck for ideas – a simple Google search of “wheelchair yoga” produces over 400,000 results!

Finally, this book  Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross is recommended for discussing disabilities with young kids.  It looks like a great book that I’ve just added to my wish list.  Let me know if you’ve seen this book or if you have any other ideas for including all kids in yoga classes.

Yoga for Preschool Children

Yoga For Preschool Children

Adults have been walking so long we forget that just standing is a balancing pose.  So yoga with preschool kids means thinking like a preschooler.

Preschool children usually range from toddlers up to 5 or 6 years old.  Here’s a quick overview of  the many changes that happen during these years, in case you don’t remember from when you were a kid:

• At 12 months kids are usually standing on their own and taking their first wobbly steps, they’re only speaking a few word;
• at 18 months the kids are toddlers, meaning they walk well, starting to go upstairs or walk backwards, their vocabulary is around 15 words;
• 2 years – identifying body parts, putting words together, singing, jumping;
• 2 – 3 yrs – can follow 2 step instructions, throw overhand, jump, run, and potty train
• 3 – 4 yrs – speaking short sentences, walk backwards, sideways, balance on one foot for a few seconds, pedal a tricycle, use a fork/spoon and hold a pencil correctly.
• 5 – 6 yrs – now we can start introducing complex poses!

Choosing Yoga Poses for Preschool Kids

When it comes to yoga, the poses must fit the child’s stage of development.  When choosing poses ask yourself:

• How many steps does it take to get into this pose?
• How much co-ordination/balance does it take?
• Do the kids know the body part I am naming?
• How much abdominal strength does this pose take?  I’ve found younger children have more flexibility, especially in forward bends, but less ab muscles for things like rocking on your back.

Yoga Poses:  The Good, The Bad, and the Awkward…

Here are three of my favorite yoga poses for preschoolers.  Even at 18 months they just copy these:

1. downward dog
2. cobra
3. squats

Here are three poses that seem like they should be easy to do – but for younger kids they can get awkward:

1. tree – notice (above) that balancing on one foot doesn’t happen till 3 – 4 yrs old,
2. cat pose – when kids see this one they often go into downward dog – they need help to understand that they keep their knees on the floor,
3. pigeon – any three or four step poses will probably require individual attention.

If you’re teaching yoga in your living room or a small class, you’ve got the time and attention to get awkward and work it out.  If a child isn’t doing a pose they may not be at that stage of development yet.   Be sure to realize it’s your problem and not theirs.

If you’re teaching a large class (15 – 20 children) in a thirty minute daycare setting, you’re going to adjust your lesson plan according to the complexity of the poses you have chosen.  The more complex the poses, the more time they will take to teach.

What are your favorite preschool yoga poses?

Have you ever done a pose the kids just couldn’t figure out?

Contest: Win an Animal Yoga Book

Animals Do Yoga… and So Do I

book by Angela Faith Miller, illustrated by Susie McColgan

US $12 softcover, $18 hardcover

This book review comes with thanks to the author, Angela Miller of AnimalsDoYoga.com. She  sent me two complimentary copies. One I used in my kids yoga classes to see how it worked with real kids.  One copy will go to a random reader who leaves a comment on this post – so please leave a comment for a chance to win!

Animals Do Yoga… and So Do I is a beautifully illustrated picture book.  Eleven animal pictures go with the eleven yoga pose pictures.  The pics are big and bright and the text is minimal.  Click here to see a couple sample pages.

Animal Yoga is a Hit with Kids
Kids love animals so the theme is a winner especially with young kids.  I also like the full-page pictures for holding up in front of a class.

When I introduced this yoga book to my preschool classes I wanted to see how the kids would follow along.  I read it as written, without giving any extra directions. Most of the poses were easy for the 2 – 6 year old kids to do.   In the thirty minute classes, we got through seven or eight poses.  We also did a short relaxation/meditation at the end of class that was not in the book.

This book also has, what I consider for preschool kids, intermediate poses.  These poses take more instruction and skill to teach, which is not given in the book.  They also take time and patience for the learners and the teachers.  For example, it took me about 6 minutes to help fifteen 2 – 4 year old’s learn to hold Fish pose for a few seconds.  The pictures and text in the book don’t always give enough explanation to do the poses.

My Recommendations:
I recommend this book for Kids Yoga Teachers, Yoga Teachers with kids, and experienced Yogis with kids.  The themes of yoga and animals will surely inspire children who like picture books.  I think it would be especially fun to do as a family or one-on-one, and in situations where you have time to learn the Intermediate poses.

However there are no explanations of the yoga poses in the book.  Beginners may want more info on the details of the yoga poses.  I wish there was a short pose guide for beginners at the end of the book.

Once the kids learn the poses, I could see young yogis pulling out this book to do on their own.  Animals Do Yoga… and So Do I could be a catalyst for a yogic lifestyle, a lifestyle that many of us wish we started when we were kids!

If you’d like to win the book, leave a comment on this post.  Contest closes Thursday morning at 11 am (March 4, 2010) when I’ll announce the winner and do a post about Teaching Yoga to Preschool Kids.

The Heart and the Head Get Together for an Olympic Valentine’s Day

Getting to the Podium:
Try a little Partner Yoga for Valentine’s Day

A  Gold Medal Week for Kids Yoga Themes

Those who work with kids know it can be a challenge coming up with themes for kids yoga classes.  Often we turn to current events for ideas and this week we’ve hit the jackpot!

Not only do the 2010 Olympics start on Friday, but Sunday is Valentine’s Day.

The Olympics are pretty easy to connect with yoga poses.  You can ask the kids about their favorite Olympic sports and how yoga could help them in that sport.  Don’t forget all the concentration poses like archer below or tree pose.  Work both the physical and the mental muscles.

I’ve posted in the past on the  Summer Olympic Games:

• Olympic Rowing for Forward Bends including some partner yoga,
• a Rowing Game that builds Concentration (using a Caller like they do in the boats with a lot of rowers),
• Archery and Archer Pose

But now it’s time for the Winter Games and a whole new look at the Olympics:

• Rowing is very similar to the Luge so we could use the two ideas above again,
• Mogul Skiers would need to do a lot of squats,
• Try some partner yoga like in the picture above – it takes a lift to get to the podium! (one child in the base could represent the head, and one the heart – see below for details)

The Romance Between the Heart and the Head - A Valentine’s Day Twist
Now with the Olympics and Valentine’s Day coming together it is a perfect time to talk about the Romance between the Heart and the Head.   How does the head – the logic, the mind, the calculations – come into play for an Olympic athlete training to shave a fraction of a second off their time?

How does the heart – the dream, the dedication, the quest – come into play?  Why don’t those Olympic Athletes quit when it starts getting hard?  How do they stay calm when the big day arrives?

Both the head and the heart are developed by a top athlete and we need to develop them too.  Not only for a healthy body, but for our dreams, our aspirations, and our goals, which make a healthy life.

The heart leads the way to what we care about, whether it’s the kids we  love, in our career, providing for our families, or in our hobbies.  Then the head follows through on the heart’s desire to help us get to our goal.

They make a perfect pair!  We marry both the head and the heart for a perfect Valentine’s Day – or a Perfect 10 in an Olympic Sport.

Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

P.S.  Please share your ideas for Yoga Poses for the Winter Olympics or Valentine’s Day in the comments.  For a Valentine’s Day yoga game check out a game I use for a lot of fun in kids yoga.  It’s called the Heart’s Hide and Seek and you’ll find it on the Yoga In My School blog.

Kids Meditation – 7 Year Old Yoga Sensation on Fox News

The Kundalini Kid!
Check out this News Story from Fox News:   Seven Year Old Sensation

The seven year old boy in this news story has grown up around yoga.  Obviously he’s watched many a yoga class over the years from his birth to “almost eight years old.”   But the story also reveals what yoga has done for him.  First, he’s creative enough to make up his own celestial communication meditation.  Second, he accepted the invitation to lead the meditation at Peace Prayer Day in front of thousands of people.  What confidence!  Not bad given that public speaking is one of the biggest fears of many ADULTS.

This news story fits in beautifully with the topic in my Kids Yoga Teacher Training course tonight – Teaching Yoga to kids 6 – 12 Years Old.

Seven, almost eight years old,  is a wonderful age for kids yoga!  These kids usually still like to imagine and play but they have to be encouraged not to shut this down.  They love yoga games.  And they’re NOT the age yet where they are totally absorbed in whispering to their friends throughout the class, they just do it occasionally.

The Meditations Kids Love
You may be surprised to hear that meditation with kids of this age is very popular.  When I teach kids yoga they’ll start asking, as they get tired, if it’s time for the meditation yet.  A kind of Yogic “Are we there yet?”  begins about three quarters of the way through the class.

I’ve even had kids come in and request different meditations at times when they have a big test or when their parents are having trouble getting along.

Give the Kids a Choice with Meditation
When we reach the end of the yoga set, the relaxation, I usually give kids the choice of either resting quietly or doing a meditation.  Movement meditations, known in Kundalini Yoga as Celestial Communication, are a big hit and kids can often do 6 minutes easily:

“Yogi Bhajan spoke often about the very powerful
transformation technology of Celestial Communication.
Everyone can practice this very simple meditation.
You can even make up your own Celestial Communication movements.
What is important is to choose music with uplifting words.”
3HO.org

The news story about this Kundalini Kid making up movements to Jack Johnson’s My Own Two Hands is Celestial Communication.  I encourage you to try it if you haven’t before.  Just pick a positive song and ask the kids to help you make up some movements.  You can do it sitting in easy pose or standing.  See if you can find some that you all like to do together – but it’s also fine for everyone to do their own movements.

It is a very relaxing and creative form of expression.  Plus, kids have helped me discover moves I never would have thought of on my own.

I’d love to hear your comments:  Have you ever tried Celestial Communication with your kids? What songs do you like?  What meditations do you like to do with kids?

Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

P.S.  Please join me for my next weekend intensive Kids Yoga Teacher Training to for an intensive weekend to prepare you to bring the joy of yoga to kids.  Dates:  April 30 – May 2.  Feel free to contact me for more information.  Aruna@YoungYogaMasters.com

Give Yourself Something to Look Forward to in 2010

Resolutions:  Do they Help us Stay on Track?

I had a very quiet day yesterday – the first day of 2010.   Did you?

All the Holiday hustle and bustle had waned in our home.  I was happy to spend a day snuggled up watching the snow fall outside and just BE.   A long meditation, a lot of journal writing, and top it off with a good meal – the day couldn’t have been better.

But I’m the type who doesn’t like to make resolutions for the new year.  My New Year’s Resolutions are kind of like me on that winter slide in the picture: I stay on track at the beginning then everything opens up and before you know it I’m pointing another direction.   The New Year can’t be my only time to resolve because I usually can’t remember what I resolved to do last year! I know it’s true because I had to go back to my January 1, 2009 blog post just to see what kind of kick I was on then.  I have to think of what I want more frequently.  Can you remember what you thought of doing last year?

So this year rather than resolve, I spent the day DREAMING!

Rather than make a list of things that I have to change, or a list of ways to right my wrongs, I dreamed the day away thinking of all the things to look forward to in 2010.  Most of them involved the transition I want to make in my yoga business from teaching in person, to teaching others about kids yoga through on-line tools:

• I dreamed of opening up an e-mail from another teacher telling me about the fun they had using the Yoga Superhero colouring book,
• I visioned a phone class with teachers from all over the world who want to know how to do yoga with their kids, hearing the spirit and passion in their introductions and marveling about how many countries are on the call,
• I imagined hiring people to help me do the stuff that I don’t really like to do!

I wrote all these things down WITHOUT writing one word about how I would get there.  It was a very pleasurable, cozy, satisfying meditation.

Have you ever asked a child what they want to be when they grow up?  I’ve found this question puts a worried look on many kids faces.  Sometimes they just don’t know.  Sometimes they don’t know if they can have what they really want, so they don’t want to say.  And sometimes they don’t want to hear everyone’s well-intentioned suggestions.

That’s how I feel about New Year’s Resolutions.  I don’t want to set them if its worrisome.  I want to be able to dream even if I don’t know how it will happen or whether it is possible or not.

Okay, I will make one resolution:  Never to put pressure on kids to justify how they will fulfill their dreams. To let them dream something to look forward to.

Ah, New Years without any of the pressure.  What’s your opinion of New Years Resolutions?  Do they help set the course for the year or not?

What Else Kid’s Want – A Get Acquainted Game

A Yoga Game:  What Do You Want Under the Tree?

I’m extending Christmas just a little longer to play a game with you.

Imagine if for Christmas we could ask for presents, but we could also ask for other things, things that are less tangible.  What if we could ask for a virtue or a quality from Santa?  What if we could wake up and find happiness, faith, or love under the tree?  What would kids ask for then?  What would you ask for?

In my kids yoga classes sometimes I play a little game when the kids line up at the end of class.  I ask everyone the same question and each child answers before they line up.  Usually it’s a question they can give a short answer to that lets me get to know each child a little better.

Knowing how excited everyone was about Santa coming, the week before Christmas I asked,

What present do you want that isn’t a thing?

The hands shot up in a flash.  Going around the room in a circle,  I’d say the top three answers were easily:

• love,
• happiness,
• time with my family.

But some answers surprised me from this group of six, seven, and eight year old kids.   For instance, one girl said she would like herself for a present.  She really likes her life!

One girl just wanted to be out of school – freedom.

Then there was one boy who came up and told me softly,  “I want INVISIBLE toys!”   He found a loophole for the question.  I guess what he really wants is what we all could use a little more of  – IMAGINATION.  My teacher, Tulshi Sen (listen to his talks here) describes invisible as IN-visible, visible on the INSIDE, not on the outside.  Our personal Vision, our Imagination,  is invisible.  Imagination is visible within before it is visible on the outside.  Everything is first created within before it exist outside.

This year my choice of gift that isn’t a thing is going to be the same as the last boy.  I want the Invisible gift, Imagination, to help me see what I want inside clearly before it becomes visible outside.

Questions like these are a fun way to get to know the kids you care about a little better.  What do you think?  What do you want this year?  What present do you want that isn’t a thing?

A Good Eve’s Sleep

A couple of years ago on Christmas eve, my ten year old nephew was wide awake at eleven pm and kept coming in and out of his room.  The adults kept sending him back because of all the last minute wrapping and preparations to do for Christmas.  Plus we knew if he didn’t get a good night’s sleep he’d just end up cranky and short tempered the next day.

The next time he came out, I decided to go up with him to see if a little yoga could help the situation.

Table Pose (as in the picture above) is perfect for times when you want to sleep but just can’t settle down.  If you really want to get to sleep, get out of bed and try it on the floor.  Hold it, breathing smoothly, until you can’t hold it a moment longer.  Then get back into bed and go to sleep.

When I suggested Table pose to my nephew he was skeptical at first.  Then he realized that the sooner he’s asleep, the sooner Christmas morning will arrive.  So he hopped onto the floor to give it a try and I began to time him to see how long he could hold the pose.

After one minute he was still talking away excitedly.

At about three minutes – he was talking less but going strong.

At the five minute mark, his face was getting warm and small beads of sweat were starting to form.  But he wanted to go on.  He wasn’t tired yet and who was I to argue?

At the seven minute mark, he was really warm but holding strong.  He wanted to go to ten minutes, the goal was in sight.

I counted down to the ten minute mark!  It was amazing that he was still going, I’ve never asked kids to hold a pose for this amount of time.  He still wanted to go even though he was getting red in the face and his arms were starting to shake. So we set a new goal for eleven minutes.  According to Yogi Bhajan – Master of Kundalini Yoga – eleven minutes is when the pituitary and nerves begin to change.

We did another count down when he got to the eleven minute mark and this time my nephew collapsed onto the floor with a victorious smile.  He felt good AND he was ready to go to bed.  When I turned off the light and closed the door, the door stayed closed.  Not only did he sleep the whole night, he didn’t get up until eight o’clock in the morning.

Not a bad sleep in for Christmas day!

What are your yoga bedtime stories?

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy and peaceful holiday.

Quest for Excellence – Yoga and Cerebral Palsy

Quest for Excellence – Seeking Answers from YOU

Quest for Excellence is a new installment on Young Yoga Masters.  My teacher, Tulshi Sen, encourages students to ask questions when they have them because every question is a quest, and every quest has a question.  When we question, we become seekers.

Now you can help others on a quest by sharing your knowledge and experience.  Here’s the first question:

Archer Pose:  Sets the Mark for Excellence

Dear Aruna,

I have been approached by a mom of 4 children to practice yoga with her 11 year old daughter (ADHD) and her 9 year old son(Cerebral Palsy).I would just like some input on class curriculum for their specific needs.

Thank you in advance for anticipated response,

Namaste

Gisele  – CCYT
www.foundationyogaforkids.com

Thanks Gisele for the question.  I don’t have any experience teaching kids’ with Cerebral Palsy.   But I do know there are many great teachers reading who may have this experience or have worked with kids with ADHD.  Now this is the part where you the reader step up to help in our Quest? Leave a comment below and tell us:

• any experiences you’ve had working with kids with ADHD or Cerebral Palsy,
• yoga poses you recommend for a class like this,
• stories/songs/meditations for this class,
  
• helpful resources about kids with ADHD, Cerebral Palsy and yoga
  
• words of encouragement, other suggestions or comments
  

Today’s blog post is a Quest for Excellence.  Won’t you help us as we seek to become a community of powerful teachers!  Help in the Quest for Excellence by leaving a comment today.

Chakras for Kids

Seven Spirals, A Chakra Sutra for Kids
by Deena Haiber and Aimee MacDonald

Seeing all those comments for the contest was exciting.   First, it shows how much kids yoga is spreading.  There were so many heart felt replies, I’m glad I’m not choosing the winner of the contest based on merit because that would have kept me up at night!

Second, it shows that the topic of this book, Chakras for Kids, connects with those of us who are into kids yoga.

One of the stories from the book that stuck with me is the Fourth Chakra story.  In it, a kid and his friends help their elderly neighbour rake the lawn then they all sit around the kitchen table together having tea and cookies. How I cherished my time hanging out with my aunts and uncles listening to stories. How I loved when we pulled out the poetry book to hear Casey at the Bat.  To imagine, as we sat around the kitchen table, getting the first TV on the block or the night all the friends sneaked into the rich neighbourhood to swim in their backyard pools.

But what I really like about the Fourth Chakra story is that the boy helps rake the leaves because he wants to help – NOT  to get tea and cookies.

The habit of bargaining doesn’t really fit in with the fourth chakra.  We break this habit when we strive to understand Love.  Making deals was a part of my growing up.   As kids, my friend and I would ask our elderly neighbour if he needed anything at the corner store. But there was always the motivation of “keep the change” that kept us asking.  We never really took the time to know him.  We probably missed out on a chance to love.

How can we break the habit of always doing things for something in return?  We break it when we do things with the joy of doing them as the reward.

When I read the Fourth Chakra  story in the kids class – I asked:  “Do you think the kids raked the leaves just to get some cookies?”  Many of the kids replied, “YES! “  Yet, this story shows someone helping without expecting anything in return.  So if you want to teach kids about the Fourth Chakra you can follow up by asking:

What is the difference between helping a friend because you want to get cookies and helping a friend because you like to help a friend?

That will take them to the realm of the Fourth Chakra.

Aruna Humphrys
Aruna@YoungYogaMasters.com

© K. Humphrys

P.S.  Congratulations to my random winner of the Seven Spirals book:  Michelle.  She commented, “This book sounds wonderful and I would love to share it with my daughter.”    Sounds like the perfect scenario for a beautiful bedtime story.   You can still pick up a copy of the book at Amazon or www.MushroomHollow.com.

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