EP. 47 | What Fills Your Heart? Deepen Your Family's Gratitude Practice Show Notes Gratitude is more than a feeling - and is best practiced as more than a mindless "chore". Brain science and our own experience tells us that tuning into what truly brings us joy,...
Mindful March
We've all heard about the benefits of meditation practice, but how do we start, especially with kiddos? Kidding Around Yoga is here to help! We've created this 30-day MEDITATION CALENDAR to provide you and your family (or your school classroom) with a daily meditation...
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...
Create a Calm Down Box
Creating a Calm Down Box is a fun and practical activity to try at home with your own children, in your classroom, or in your next Kids Yoga class! Making a Calm Down Box is more than likely a long-term project. The more we learned about how to calm down, the more we...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...