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....
Scream for Peace
Recently I had the honor of sharing yoga with 80 children at a public school in my area...at once. I’ve taught some large classes, but they were always indoors and never more than 60. What’s 20 more, outdoors, next to a train track and an interstate? Add a megaphone...
Quick Calm for Kids
The constant wiggling. Bouncing. Darting eyes and fidgety fingers. Sometimes it can be really tough for our little people to just be still. Whether in a formal school environment, sitting at the dinner table, or just learning to control their reactions, teaching...
Peace Begins with My Fingers?
Let's start the new year with PEACE! I thought I would share a little about the science behind feeling peaceful. The international yoga teacher training program, Kidding Around Yoga, has a mantra they teach every teacher and child who experiences their program: Peace...
Sowing the Seeds of Peace
In your mind, picture an empty plot of land being prepared to plant a garden. The garden plot lies warm in the sun. The soil has been turned and is well-nourished with rich, organic compost. Earthworms, ladybugs, butterflies, and bees are plentiful to keep the garden...
What Kind of Garden Do You Want to Grow?
When I go into my kid’s yoga class, I tell them that meditating is the most important thing they will ever learn in their whole life. Yoga makes our bodies strong and also our minds. We work on the muscles through the poses and I ask them to show me their muscles....
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"...
Build Your Child’s Kindness Muscles!
We all recognize the importance of kindness - a vital character trait we want to develop in ourselves and our children. Here are some quick ways to build the kindness muscles in your kids and students: Post It Notes - This is a fun activity to spread kindness in your...
Spread Kindness with Karma Yoga
Kindness is an important part of practicing yoga. In your physical yoga practice, you want to be kind to your body. And, out in the world, you want to be kind to others. In my children's yoga classes, we practice Karma Yoga – performing acts of kindness with no...
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...
Get To Know Your Brain!
It's funny, isn't it? The place we spend the most time, day and night, is the exact same place we know the least about. Our brain is the ultimate mystery. The bunch of gooey cells and invisible stringy nerves that inhabit our skulls control EVERYTHING in our lives....
Practicing Self-Regulation with Children’s Yoga
Self-regulation is an often overlooked, yet quite teachable, tool we can provide the littles in our lives. In all honestly, I feel like it’s only been my adulthood exposure to yoga that has really helped me develop the ability to calm myself down, think through my...
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...