Let’s talk about some mindfulness practices to handle life as we all now know it, this weird ride we are all on. When we are blindsided by huge changes in life, we tend to want to find steady ground. It isn’t always easy to do this, especially when little ones are...
We often talk about self-care and why it is important to practice it, but we fail to mention that it is beneficial for the people around us too! When it comes to yoga, it is a definite form of self-care. It allows us to take care of our physical body through movement,...
Who says that you have to wait for Valentine's Day to show someone love (yourself included)? And what better way to introduce the concept of self-love to children than through a yoga class? In whatever time frame you have, you can incorporate a theme of self-love (and...
"Self-care" is perhaps as big of a buzzword as "mindfulness" these days, and for a good reason: we need it! As yoga teachers, we often get into the business of teaching because we care about other people, sometimes to the point of forgetting about our own needs. I...
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...
Meditation is an ancient practice that provides many benefits for our modern brains. A 2010 study found that meditators' cognitive skills (sustain attention, visuospatial processing, working memory, executive function) improved after meditating just 20 minutes a day...
"Mindfulness- A state of active, open, intentional attention on the present." Psychology Today "Mindfulness" seems to be a popular buzzword going around lately, but really it’s something that ancient civilizations knew and practiced. Our “monkey mind” (as Buddhists...
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...
Pay attention! You need to focus! Can't you just concentrate? Sound familiar? Have you heard or said these things before? Yeah, me too. We probably all have. It seems we all need help once in a while being mindful. Mindfulness is simply paying attention to what is...
Mindfulness is a meditation practice that trains the practitioner to be completely immersed in the moment, with all five senses. With practice, we learn to bring our scattered attention and energy back to what we are experiencing right now, without judgment, without...
One thing we say quite frequently in our home is “What team are you on?” This question gets asked during times of bickering, but also general discontent. The correct answer is “I am on team Ruggieri.” We have teams in all areas of our life: family, friends, sports,...
With a nod to the great Aretha Franklin, we all need a little respect ("just a little bit"): respect for others, for the earth, for ourselves. As a children's yoga teacher, I have found that teaching about respect in its various forms takes more than a quick...
Want a new challenge for you and your young yogis? Try moving your Kids Yoga practice off the mat and into a swimming pool! Here are some easy ideas for games and activities to really make a splash! Cannonball: Assign a pose and have each child jump into the pool in...
Coordination can be tricky, even for some adults! We all know, and perhaps we were, that kid who is just uncoordinated or klutzy. Yet coordination is something we can build as a young child and improve through the lifespan. Coordination building games can be great fun...
I grew up loving miniature golf. My grandparents have had a camper at Alleghany Mountain Resort at Rainbow Lake since my mother and her brothers and sister were young enough to enjoy the fresh air and open spaces. Much of summer’s free time was spent with aunts,...
Watch at your leisure!
Watch at your leisure!
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish