How Yoga Can Help if Your Kids Drop Out of School and Join the Circus – A Yoga Game for Worry

Worry is imagining all the things that CAN go wrong. Its like creating a personalized haunted house in your head.  Worry is illusions, smoke and mirrors, things that haven’t actually happened for real. Like our kids flunking out in school and having to join the circus!

Back to school time is a popular time for worrying.  We help ourselves and our kids by looking worry straight in the eye and seeing it for what it really is – a trick of the mind.  The Yogis say the mind is like a wild stallion that must be reigned in.  We’ve got to tame that stallion so that it can preform the tricks we want, not put us in danger!

So if you or your kids are worrying this week about back to school stuff, take off the pressure with a little fun by asking, “How bad would it really be?”

The “How bad would it really be?” game helps us learn to laugh at the tricks of the mind and put the mind in it’s rightful place.  For instance, if school does go horribly wrong a yogi could get many jobs that a regular education does not prepare them for.

How bad would it really be?  If school doesn’t work out, kids can always join the circus!  They could do a balancing act on the 80 ft. poles.

How bad would it really be? Since there’s so may animal yoga poses don’t forget the petting zoo fast track.

How bad would it really be? A child who likes meditation may choose Sand Sculpture for their livelihood.

How bad would it really be? Bendy Em seems to be fitting in fine with her yoga background:

How bad would it really be? Look what a calm and steady state of mind can help you with:

How bad would it really be? If none of these work out, this shack may be the dream job of a lot of children:

By facing worry with a light heart we can better transform it and think about what we like instead of what we don’t like.  When worry takes the reigns – try playing this game to take the reigns back. Soon you’ll find there is really not that much to worry about after all!

Tame that stallion and go for a pleasure ride.

What games do you play that help adults and kids with worry?

More News

The Fall Schedule is here! Don’t miss out on the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training course. Its like no other! Pass on the wisdom of yoga to the future generations! Too see the upcoming courses click here. To bring the Young Yoga Masters training to your area contact: Aruna@YoungYogaMasters.com. Registration is now open. I’d love to meet you in-person for this inspiring and practical training.

Contest: Thanks to everyone who filled out the Survey and entered to win the prize Romancing the Stove, A Practical Guide to a Lifelong Celebration of Eating for Health by Samahria Ramsen.  I will be contacting the winner from Alfred, ME, USA!   Everyone’s input was so valuable to guide the direction of Young Yoga Masters for the coming months.

For When You Have a Few Extra Minutes at the End of a Kids Yoga Class

Have you ever been teaching kids yoga only to find yourself with 7 or 8 minutes at the end of the class, not sure what to do?  It’s too little time for a big activity but too much time to finish early.

It’s those few minutes after you’ve already done the yoga, relaxation, a meditation, and a game.

It’s in a setting, like a school or daycare, where kids get story time and drawing – so you don’t want to repeat.

I’m referring to the places where you charge them for a full hour, which usually flies by, but on these days, the last few minutes seem like eternity.

This happened to me this week in a summer day care class with a group of 3-4 year old kids.  The class was small (8 kids) so all the yoga and games went by fast (compared to when there are 15 kids).  Yoga was right after nap time (3-4 pm), so the kids didn’t need a long relaxation.  Plus an hour with this age group is already on the long side of the class length.

Here are three things I go-to when I want to fill those last few minutes on days like these:

1. Reflection Time:  Ask the children to list all the poses we did in class.  Which were difficult to do? Which were easy?  Which was the most fun?
2. Dancing: Free form dance or a Freeze Dance (like Move and Freeze) gives the kids some unstructured movement.  Play many different styles and rhythms of music.  End with a slow song and then a minute of sitting quietly to leave the class in a calm state.
3. A Goodbye Song: Have you ever heard of Lawrence Welk?  He had a Goodnight song for the end of the show. I also have another song that uses kids names that involves a bathtub, a giraffe, and a plug.Make a slight adjustment to the words, but use the same tune and you have a sweet song to finish class (bubbles optional):

Lawrence Welk’s Good-Bye Song

Here’s one version I’ve used:

Good-bye Maya
So Long Maya (or change the name each time if you have a lot of kids)
Good-Bye Everyone
It’s time for me to go.

Hope you had a happy time, happy time, happy time.
Hope you had a happy time, I had a happy time too.

(repeat with another name)

When you have a few extra minutes at the end of a class do you end early or fill it?  What do you do in those extra few minutes?

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.

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.

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?

Kids Need a Place to be Creative

Namaste! Songs, Yoga & Meditations for Young Yogis!
What’s the point of all the challenges if we’re not listening to what the heart wants? The lesson plan was forgotten. We started with a freeze dance (I use a version by Christopher Carbone) – they danced like there was no tomorrow.

Then we played a Creativity game. Everyone was encouraged to be as creative as they could and come up with their own ideas. We started in easy pose with eyes closed, then I said a word, and keeping their eyes closed they would make up a pose for that word. Then on the count of three everyone would open their eyes and see what all the poses looked like.

I think I called out about 8 or 10 words. The ones I remember were: egg, meatball, star, earth, rich, poor, happy. The results ranged from expected to ridiculous – but everyone enjoyed it so much they didn’t want it to end.

March Break Kids Yoga

Take Yoga From March Break To Summer
In Toronto, Canada, where I live, we’re getting close to March break where kids and teachers get the week off school. It’s a one week break and then everyone comes back for another ten or twelve weeks until summer holidays when school closes for most of June, and all of July and August.

During March Break school closes down and the daycares get busy. I often have a few extra bookings to come in for a special Kids Yoga program at daycares during this school holiday. If you’re a kids yoga teacher looking for new classes, it’s a good time to go out to daycares close to you and offer them a one class special.

Give Kids a Yoga Class they Won’t Forget
When you teach a one-time yoga class it is a chance to introduce the yoga experience to the daycare. Give them a yoga class they won’t forget. Some kids will remember the class for months. I’ve returned to daycares for the summer program and the kids will ask to play the game or do the activity that we did during March break. If they have fun they will remember it.

When I do a one-off class, I teach my favorite (at the time) kids yoga activities. Something that I know all ages will like and games that they will remember. It’s not a time I try out something new or something untested.

Kids Favorite Yoga and Games
Here’s one of my older posts with Five of my Favorite Kids Yoga Activities that always work for me.

Give the Kids Time to Relax
One of the kids favorite parts of yoga is the relaxation time. I’ve heard again and again from other teachers that kids are so busy they really appreciate a time to relax in the class, not just yoga class but in the classroom as well.

Corpse Pose – the Dead Body Test
I make sure we have at least five minutes for relaxation. In a March Break class I like to play soft music and come and see who is relaxed. If you ask the kids what a corpse is you will get some interesting answers. Then ask the kids to let go of their body for the relaxation so that it is like a corpse, so it doesn’t move, they don’t move it, they let their body lie there, still and lifeless.

Then come around to each child and test the body to see if it is lifeless/corpse-like. Pick up the child’s arm and move it around. See if it is floppy or stiff. Ask them not to lift their arm to you but wait till you lift their arm. If you have time, you can test arms and legs. With a large group ask other teachers to help you.

This relaxation game is very popular. It’s also a nice moment to connect with each child as you test them.

Finish With a Freeze Dance
If you still have time left, you can reinforce the yoga you taught already with Yoga Freeze Dance . Most kids like it because it is creative (dancing) and you can play it so that no one gets out.

If you really want everyone to have fun, choose a game where no one gets out. I’ve found most kids prefer these types of games.

So if you live somewhere where March Break is coming up, it’s a great opportunity to introduce yoga to a daycare. Even daycares with a limited budget, usually have something put aside for their March Break program.

With some favorite yoga poses, an intriguing game, and a fun attitude you just may develop a relationship with a daycare that can continue on into the summer and beyond.

Great Games for a New Kids Yoga Class

Feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments.

Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

P.S. Today is the last day for early registration for the Kids Yoga Teacher Training course in Toronto. It is filled with games, yoga activities, themes, and ideas for teaching kids yoga. Click here to register early to save $40.

Winner of the DVD – Yoga Trance Dance

Thanks to everyone who posted a comment in the DVD contest from Acacia Lifestyles.

The winner of the DVD is Yoga with Gayleee (aka – Gail Pickens) who wrote:

Not teaching kids at the moment, except my toddler. And for some reason, she likes to crawl right underneath me when I do Down Dog, and she thinks anytime I’m in plank, that is her opportunity to play horse!

I use craigslist and a local event calendar to market my yoga that I teach at my church.

yogawithgaileee@gmail.com Gail Pickens-Barger, e-ryt

(thanks Gail – I have had good results with craigslist as well, and the church bulletin – great marketing ideas. I’ll e-mail you about your prize. – Aruna)

Tapping Into The Wealth in the Comments
But rather than moving on I want to highlight a couple of the kids yoga games that came in on the comments that we all may benefit from. Clearly there is a wealth of experience out there:

Some games from the comments:

Tania wrote…
One of my favorites is ‘Pass the Hoop’
Stand in a circle and hold hands. Let go of your hand and put your arm through a hula hoop then join hands with the person next to you in the circle. Now each person needs to find a way to step through the hula hoop and pass the hula hoop around the circle without letting go of each other’s hands.

Children of all ages seem to like this game.

Sat nam,Tania

Jennifer h says…. (sorry – no link there for Jennifer)
I love playing the Name Asana game.
With the class in a circle, I say my name and demonstrate an asana. Then the next person then does the same and then the whole class does the new name and asana and repeats the name/asana combinations that follow. By the time you go around the circle, everyone knows each others names and you’ve created a fun and creative flow sequence.

I have recently started to teach kids yoga. I am having a lot of fun and really love teaching. I have yet to create a marketing plan, but think it is an important step.

It seems like we’re all teaching and learning too!
There has been such a wonderful response to the Teaching Kids Yoga Training coming up. Very powerful and experienced teachers are registering to add to their skills.

I will make sure we have time in the course to gain from the wealth of the participants. Plus we build our community as well. I invite you to us for the training/upgrading if you are able. (details here)

Thanks for all the comments from everyone, I really appreciate your feedback and suggestions.

Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

P.S. I haven’t heard from my last contest winner for the Kundalini Yoga Video. Unfortunately some of the comments don’t have a link back with them. Ahh – the learning curve.

The last winner: Yoga Positions, has till the end of this week to contact me to claim her/his prize. If not I’ll choose another comment from that week to win. I’ll keep you posted.

The Top Marketing Plan Tip and A Kids Yoga Game that Shows Why This Tip Is So Important

Thanks to everyone who has signed up for the Teaching Kids Yoga – Upgrading and Training Course. The feedback has been very positive and it will be a very inspiring weekend for everyone who want to teach kids yoga. Space is still available, you can find the details here.

Today I have the most important tip for your marketing plan and a kids yoga game that really emphasizes why this tip is so important.

Yoga for Peace of Mind – and for some, A Business
In my next few posts I want to look at Marketing yoga classes and some things that have worked for me to get new classes and new students.

Personally, I’ve generally stopped accepting new classes so I can develop the Kids Yoga Teacher Taining Course. This includes writing, advertising and marketing my Teaching Kids Yoga training class.

So far all the sign-ups are from this blog. But there are many other things to do to let people know about the course and reach those who are interested in coming – outside of my blog readers.

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