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.

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 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.)

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?

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!

Overheard in the Hallway

Today is Tuesday, so I think it may be a good day to tell this story – Friday’s far enough away so hopefully we won’t get influenced by it. I’ve been holding it in for a while trying to decide if it is worth writing about.

One Friday morning I was walking by the open door of a daycare class and I heard the teacher saying, in her daycare teacher voice, this little snippet of conversation,

I couldn’t resist, I peeped my head in and saw the teacher sitting with about six pre-schooler’s (around 1 1/2-3 years old) on the carpet. She waved at me and re-iterated with a big smile: “T.G.I.F.”

This little moment has stuck with me since then.

Who Likes Friday? Who Likes Monday?
My first thought was about how early we are taught how to think the way we think. We probably don’t even remember it. I don’t remember how long I’ve loved Friday’s.

We love Friday when we don’t have to work on Saturday. Some people like Friday more than Saturday because it holds all the promise of the weekend. By the time Saturday is here the weekend is in full bloom and then it ends. Which then means back to work – and we learn, maybe at 1 1/2 years old, that no-one says, “Thank God It’s Monday.”

What about T.G.I.F.?
Second, I thought about work. If we like our work we won’t have to say T.G.I.F. Being yogis especially, we want to be thankful for everyday.

T.G.I.F. also reveals a truth of working with kids. Many think kids are all sunshine and lollipops, but kids do not make you immune from T.G.I.F.

Everyweek I see the very same “T.G.I.F.” teacher changing diapers, one after another. Later she’s wiping runny noses and cleaning up the strewn debris from a toddler luncheon. It’s no wonder she has to explain what T.G.I.F. means to the children. Many daycare’s I’ve gone to have some sort of Friday happy dance routine or song because their work is challenging in its own way.

Kids Learn Manners and Tact – They’re Not Born With It
Not only are you often a hand-maid and house cleaner, if you work with kids you know that they don’t mince words. They’re not born with tact or manners – these are all things they learn from those around them. If they don’t like what you are doing they just say, “I don’t like this.” They don’t care about your feelings, it’s something, an important thing called empathy, hopefully they learn as they get older.

You may be surprised at where you start with young kids. Once in a particularly difficult pre-school class I asked the group to help me come up with class rules. The kids’ first suggestions for our list were:

• no pushing,
• no biting,
• no hitting
• and yes, no spitting.

In many ways teachers are saints for what they do, serving children all day.

But I think why this T.G.I.F. thing stuck with me is it helped me become aware of something. The way we are teaching kids their manners and how to behave, we are also teaching them their attitudes about life, what to like and dislike, and where to set their goals. We are always teaching when we are around kids.

If only I had of thought of it at the time, I could have added when I popped my head in the door, “T.G.I.F.? And don’t forget T.G.I.Y. – Thank God It’s YOGA!”

What do you think, is T.G.I.F. something to think about or not really that big a deal?

Aruna

Good-bye Sophia, We’ll Always have Pre-School

This past week had a lot of goodbye’s.

It started with moving and saying a joyful goodbye to a phase of my life stuffed into a tiny apartment with my husband and our two home businesses. For a while that little apartment was kinda romantic. His desk took up the dining room and mine was wedged into the hallway. The sound of our computer keys tinkled like a love song.

Discovering the Truth of a Situation
Then when we decided to move up to a bigger space – the veil was lifted. Suddenly I couldn’t believe that we were living in such a shoe box. Now that we’re in our new place the extra space feels like air to a drowning man. It really does feel like a weight has been lifted off my lungs somehow. A weight I didn’t know I was carrying.

Then as I moved, the end of the school year arrived. In one place I teach this means I said a sad farewell to the kids moving up from the pre-school to the big leagues: Grade One.

Now I love all the kids, but there are always a few who can really get under your skin – in a good way. One such gal would sit beside me in absolutely every class. In fact I’ve known her since she was 18 months and now its her time to hit the road.

Sure she talks a lot.

Sure she likes to interrupt.

And sure sometimes her stories don’t have a point.

But sometimes the veils don’t get lifted. Despite all these possibly annoying qualities – she is a beauty queen to my eyes. There’s a chance her grade one teacher may find her a tad bossy or even too chatty – but I sure hope she gets to know and love that little girl the way I have over the last five years.

I’m really sad for me!
Who will sit beside me now and help to demonstrate all the yoga poses? The kid will be fine, in fact I’m pretty sure she’ll excel in the big house – she’s got what it takes.

But the adults get left in the dust as kids claim their lives. And that’s the natural order of things, we can’t weigh them down, we can’t hold them back. They have to be free.

The King of Pop: Michael Jackson
Then the final curtain closed on the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Of course it was a shock to me, I didn’t want to believe it. Then we all became aware of the pain he was in and how weak he had become.

I realized his first appearances on TV were happening when he was the same age as my pre-school friend – around 5 years old. I feel some fulfillment knowing I armed my friend with tools to meditate and overcome anxiety, stress and even depression. Even if it just helps her manage the pressures of grade one and feel a little bit more happiness.

All that fame and money never did lead to happiness for Michael Jackson. I hope he feels some relief now and fulfillment knowing he helped many people dance through life. He definitely did for me, I loved to dance around to the Jackson 5 as a kid and every high school dance had Thriller playing in it.

We Help Kids Understand What True Success Is
Michael Jackson’s passings reminds me that teaching kids about success is not about getting money or fame. Success is also not about getting something you like and holding on to it forever. Success is understanding who we are in this dream of existence, knowing who we are while all the veils get lowered and lifted.

Success is knowing we can be happy in a cramped apartment or a spacious one.

Success is being sad but also happy for our friends as they move on and grow in their own lives.

And success is knowing that we’re never trapped by our circumstances. If we want, a new friend can sit beside you and fill that space with new fun in kids yoga class.

Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

P.S. Summer Workshops 2009: This week has inspired me to start designing a couple short workshops for this summer to help us Live True Success. Save the afternoon on Saturday July 25 and Saturday August 15 to dedicate to increasing your understanding of Success in your own lives and also how we can teach kids about true success. Details to follow. Let me know if you have any suggestions in the comments.

Kids and Anxiety: What is Thought? (Part Two)

Kids and Anxiety: What is Thought? (Part One)

Yoga for Boys – Does Bribery Work or is it Silly?

Last week began another 9 week Kids Yoga Series at the community centre. One of the women in my adult yoga class had told/warned me she was going to register her son for the series. He’s a seven year old, full of energy, and terribly interested in video games, guns, and battles. In fact, she admitted to using bribery to get him to come. He doesn’t have to do homework on yoga days.

Now I know this mom is a very loving and caring person who wants the best for her son. She has discovered the joy of yoga in her own life and she was willing to resort to bribing her son to open this experience to him.

Building Up the Drama Before We Know What Will Actually Happen
By the time the first kid’s class arrived I had built up a little drama in my mind about what he would be like. It is always harder to work with someone who doesn’t want to be in class. The good news was there was one other boy registered in the class, its easier when you’re not the only one. Plus there were three other girls. All between the ages of 5 – 7 years old, with the bribed boy being the oldest.

Mustard – the Hilarious Condiment
One of the differences between adult and child yoga is rarely do adults call out funny words in the class – just because they are fun to say. Take for instance the word: Mustard. Mustard became my new friend’s word to add a bit of hilarity and funniness to the class, and he began saying it often.
As a teacher you have to recognize what is happening. Mustard may well be the pivotal condiment in this boys enjoyment of yoga – or not.

Is Mustard Allowed in Kids Yoga?
When a child starts being silly he is also finding out what is going to be allowed in class and what isn’t. He’s looking for the boundaries and he’s also finding out whether I will ask him to behave differently than how he likes to be. Do I want him to be himself or become someone else? When I hear mustard repeated over and over – I have to make a choice to accept his offer for silliness or reject it.

By rejecting the offer and insisting he stop, the class will be much like an adult yoga class. If I tell him to stop saying mustard (after all – saying mustard is not hurting anyone, in fact all the other kids found it hilarious) I tell him to stop being the kid he is. If he was doing something dangerous or mean – that would be the time to re-direct – but this kid was actually very sweet, sweet and silly!

What Happens if You Out-Silly the Silly
As a kids yoga teacher I have made it a goal to, at times, out-silly the silly. Become like a child and the kids will be amazed! Besides, I like being silly. There were many years when I lost the ability to be silly, let’s call it silly-ability, and I’m happy to have found it again. I think silly leads to creative and unusual thinking. Some of the world’s greatest inventions were probably considered silly by many people.

I Accept Silly Offers
When my new student said “mustard” and everyone laughed I accepted the offer. I said, “Oh Yummy, I love Mustard!” and I asked everyone if they wanted me to squirt some mustard on them (with my imaginary mustard bottle) when they did their yoga pose.

Then I offered them relish, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles for the next poses. Each child accepted my offer, holding the yoga poses for a minute or more just to get an extra topping. What’s life without imagination?

To finish the class we did bundle rolls down a row of mats (rolling on the floor like you would roll down a grassy hill). The kids love this pose and wanted to keep doing it – so we went on for about six minutes of bundle rolls till the kids rolled to a stop – happy and exhausted. If the kids really want to keep going in a pose then I let them whenever possible.

Week 2: Mustard Brought Relish and Ketchup
This week was our second class and I couldn’t believe my eyes when the boy who had to be bribed to come to yoga brought two of his friends to join the class. The three of them joined in and had a great time. Eventually we will move towards the boys meditating in this picture:

Somehow, this week the silliness had worn off the word mustard – it was only mentioned once! Now, I’m not going to say whether bribery is good or not. But I do wonder if now that his friends are coming, will this boy will have to do his homework again?

Tell me, what kind of silly stuff do you like to do?

Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com


P.S. Hockey Silly Scores Goals: I can’t resist passing on this 30 second video from a professional hockey game a couple days ago. Another incentive why kids should keep their silliness – have you ever seen a goal scored this way?!

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