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.

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 Word I DON’T Say In Kids Yoga, Do You?

A couple years ago I wrote about how I accidentally swore in a Kids Yoga Class.   In my defense, it wasn’t a swear word when I was a kid!

But this post about Yoga Music got me thinking about another word that has become TABOO in many kids yoga classes.

The word?

The word is:  G O D

You see, if this word is in a song, I don’t play the song in my kids yoga classes.

This word just doesn’t work for me in Kids Yoga.  There is a chance it will miss the mark with the many religions (and no religions) of the kids, teacher, and parents.  Even in adult yoga classes I give an explanation of what I mean if I (rarely) say the GOD word.

God means something different for each person.

Once I had a complaint in a mostly Christian school, and the complaint was about NOT using the word GOD !  And I get the irony:  Why wouldn’t Yoga and God go together?

The President of America uses it in his speeches.  If the kids use it, I have no problems.  But, I don’t use it.

Thank God for freedom of religion.  Each person can decide for themselves – there is no right or wrong answer here.

Right now, kids yoga teachers from all over the world are making decisions about whether to say it or not. What have you decided to do?   Do you use the “G” word?

(Please leave your comments below.  Any comments that are dis-respectful or too “preachy” will be removed.)

Kids are Eating a Wheelbarrow full of Sugar….

I just can’t resist passing on this TED talk with chef Jamie Oliver.  He became an inspiration for me after he did the TV series on changing the food served in school cafeterias (watch to around the 10 minute mark for Oliver’s rant on this topic).

But one of the most jaw dropping part comes around the 11:30 mark where kids try to identify common vegetables – and get most of them wrong.

And the wheelbarrow full of sugar is just from the MILK kids drink at school over five years.

Take a moment and watch the video and find out how all these problems are treatable!

Today’s kids are expected to live 10 years less than we are expected to live.  All because of unhealthy eating and living.  The future of kids yoga needs to include Yogic eating.  This will help teachers develop a healthy yoga business and a healthy lifestyle. We can educate kids, parents, and even other teachers about yogic eating.  It includes healthy foods, snacks, and how to cook healthy meals (especially vegetarian).

Once you know how, cooking at home is less expensive, taste better, and according to Jamie Oliver, helps you live longer.

Jamie Oliver and a thousand smiling yogis agree!

Chocolate Covered Swiss Chard

Mmmmmm,  Chocolate!  Oh so euphoric, bittersweet goodness that melts on the tongue.

Swiss Chard, my tender green friend.  Proudly named the Valedictorian of Vegetables.

Valentine’s Day is the time of Romance and sometimes surprising coupling.  Here’s a follow up on my last post about the Romance between the head and the heart and the coming together of the Olympics and Valentine’s Day as it occurred in my three classes last Friday.  It shows that just because two things are great separately – it doesn’t mean they will make a good couple!

Teaching Yoga the Day of the Valentine’s Party
The first class at 9:15 am went off beautifully.  We discussed everything in the last post and for thirty minutes we hit the Moguls, went down the luge, and did some ski jumping (like in the Wii Fit game – for those who have it).

We finished with figure skating.  Warrior and Dancer gliding across the ice.   Then struck a pose to mark the end of the routine, smiling for the judges and feeling the victory of completion.

However for next year’s Valentine’s Day and for every other holiday that involves sugary celebration I want to be honest about what happened.  The next two classes had the excitement level of an Olympic athlete competing in front of their home country.  An energy that gives an extra push.

There was a table FILLED with the EXTRA cupcakes, cookes, and chocolates.

There were kids still sporting a chin smeared with icing,

Usually quiet children were wrestling each other on the carpet and speed skating to the door to greet me.

The lesson plan may need changing!
We tried talking about the Olympics but somehow these 4 year old’s could not raise their hand or wait for their turn.  Nor could they imagine a ski hill or focus on balancing.  After about 10 minutes of doing poses that would set records for fastest times, I dropped the lesson plan and pulled out my trusty iPod.

For the next 15 minutes we did every dance, move, shake, and wiggle song in my collection.  For the last 5 minutes, the kids actually relaxed and/or meditated with me.  We sweated that cupcake party out of their systems.

Even though I love both Chocolate and Swiss Chard, it doesn’t mean I’d put them together.  Same with Yoga and Sweets.  Whenever you can, put the yoga first and keep the chocolate away from it.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my Fellow Yoga Lovers!

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

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?

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.

Imagination: Creates and Destroys

It reminded me of what my teacher says about thoughts, circumstances, and imagination:

Often we try to change by changing our circumstances.  But like my three year old comrade, if we don’t change our negative thoughts to a new way of thinking, we’ll keep kicking down our castles.

This realization comes in handy when working with kids, especially three year old children.  They don’t want to change who they are.  If you try to change them, and start thinking negatively, teaching a class is difficult. Thinking about your own approach to the class is the only real option and you’ll probably find this method easiest.

Here’s an inspiring talk called Vaccination Against Negative Thoughts with Tulshi Sen.  He looks at why we dream and what ends up happening when we imagine.   I found it inspiring.  Enjoy!

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