It seems like most young kids love making animal sounds; in fact, before my daughter could even talk, she was barking like a dog and mooing like a cow. She also loves to imitate me while I do yoga in the living room, so for her sake I repeated a Cat-Cow-Downward Dog...
Animal Sound Salutations
Almost any young child loves to imitate animal sounds and behavior. Luckily, there are so many yoga postures with animal names that creating songs and stories about animals is easy! I decided to try incorporating animal sounds into a sun salutation and came up with...
Kids’ Yoga Theme: Pets!
One of my favorite themes for a Kids Yoga class is that of pets. It’s an easily relatable subject with a lot of poses already built in. Add some music and some kidding around, and you’ve got a great Kids Yoga class! What Kind of Pet?: Begin by talking about a pet you...
Walk Like a Warrior
A couple of years ago, my daughter’s friend was struggling. I’ll call her Melody. Upon turning 12, Melody suddenly became self-conscious and embarrassed by her changing body. She began “shrinking” into herself, truly trying to hide from the world. Eyes cast down,...
Open Your Heart for Happiness and Health
February is full of hearts; heart candy, heart arts & crafts, heart decorations and hearts all over greeting cards. They say Valentine’s Day is a Hallmark created holiday. Meh…I say who cares and celebrate the heart-ones in your life. While you are at it, open...
Yoga Builds Self-Esteem
You’ve probably heard that yoga is beneficial for a growing kid’s body, but did you know that it’s more than just a great physical exercise? It’s got a whole host of benefits including building a healthy self-esteem. Parents and teachers everywhere want nothing more...
Gimme a Break – a Yoga Break!
It seems there's never an end to the to-do list, for you or for your kiddos. I'm here to tell you to give yourself, and your children, a break! A YOGA break, that is! A short break during work time has been shown to have real benefits for children (and adults) of all...
Savasana – Floating on a Cloud
At the end of each of my yoga classes (both kids and adults), I invite my students to tune out the noise from the rest of the world, pull the energy they’ve scattered to everyone else back to themselves, find a comfortable lying position, and just rest. This sacred...
The Importance of Rest
The other day, all of my students in yoga class were plopped, sprawled, and splayed upon the floor. They had managed to get themselves into the studio, take off their shoes, unroll their mats, and collapse. It was like dominos. One of them on the floor gave the rest...
New Year, Stronger You: A Yoga Sequence for Renewal
New Year’s is a great time for everyone—not just adults. Kids enjoy making New Year’s resolutions just as much as their parents do. Whether they want to improve their reading or get faster on the soccer field, goals can make the New Year seem all the more exciting....
Four Yoga Practices to Teach Gratitude
All of us are bombarded with advertisements, pressured to always gather more, and are rarely satisfied by simply being. This is especially true for our children, as they may not yet have the ability to filter through the materialistic messages; instead, their "need"...
Why Should Children Practice Yoga?
“For real change to take place, the body needs to learn that the danger has passed and to live in the reality of the present.” -Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. from The Body Keeps the Score The basic elements of a yoga practice (movement, breath work, and meditation) help...
5 Habits for Happiness
First of all, how awesome is the job title "Happiness Researcher"? Apparently it is a real career and Shawn Achor is just that - a happiness researcher out of Harvard University and author of The Happiness Advantage. His TedTalk on happiness and success is one of the...
The (Scientific) Reasons to Practice Yoga with Your Children
There are A LOT of activities for children to participate in these days, aren't there? Every sport ever invented (including some straight from fictional stories, like Quidditch) has a team kids can try out for. Your three year old likes wearing a tutu? There's about a...
Mindful Moments to Welcome Fall
Here in the northern hemisphere, we are stepping deeper into the autumn season. The temperature changes, the colors change and the daylight changes all affect our children in obvious and subtle ways. Let's help them embrace the inevitability of change and the beauty...