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...
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...
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...
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...
Restorative Yoga for Kids
You know what I think kids today need? Not more lessons or learning opportunities. Not more toys, gadgets, or electronics. And certainly not more pressure and stress. Our children need time to unwind, all on their own. Just like us grown-ups, they need time to...
This is Your Brain on Meditation
Today's blog article was written by all-grown-up KAY kid, Whitney James, currently a Freshman at Elon University in North Carolina. If you are anything like me, meditation seems a little bit like “voodoo”. Sitting completely still and quiet? Clearing your brain of...
Moving Beyond “Me” with Meditation
Kids are naturally egocentric, and I say this as an educator without judgement and malice. The revolutionary child psychologist Jean Piaget described "Egocentrism" in 1951 as a natural part of a child's development. He said that until the age of about 7, children are...
Witnessing the Power of a Child’s Mindfulness Practice
If there is one thing to be said about teaching children, it is that it’s one of the most rewarding things you can do with your time. Teaching mindfulness, meditation, and yoga to children is no exception. There are endless benefits of teaching children tools they can...
Using Mindfulness Practices to Redirect Behavior
Disciplining our children or even simply redirecting undesired behaviors has been a hot button topic that spans generations and cultures. Our schools are no exception. Mindfulness and yoga are being adopted in schools as contemporary ways to meet the social and...
The Inner Smile
An Ayurvedic teacher once said, “An illness is a function of the loss of the inner smile.” What is the inner smile? Where is it, exactly? And, if it is so important to health, how do we do it? How do we maintain our inner smile, even when our outside world may not be...
Social Emotional Learning – Yoga and Emotional Intelligence
Children are whole beings- body, mind, and spirit. They are not just their thinking minds that are able to solve math equations or remember the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s lessons on peace and tolerance. They are their physical bodies, that can...
Harvesting Happiness
Here in the United States, November is the iconic month of Thanksgiving. We not only associate Thanksgiving with being grateful but of gathering with loved ones to feast on traditional foods that bring us a lifetime of loving memories. If you are your family’s...
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...
Mudras: How and Why?
Mudras, the elaborate hand and finger gestures used in many Yoga and Ayurvedic traditions, are effective and simple tools to employ for self-soothing, energizing, settling emotions, and focusing. Like little yoga poses for your hands, mudras make use of the energy,...
Breathing Activities for Kids
Breathing is the bridge between our mind and body. It is a very powerful force to heal and to be more aware. In yoga, we call breathing practices pranayama and it is a big part of a yoga practice. In Sanskrit prana means breath or vital energy and yama is the control...