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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...
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...
A lovely way to spend a lazy afternoon is to rest in the shade of a big tree - the branches and leaves rustling above you and the soft earth feeding its roots below you. Trees provide a sense of timelessness and patience, of strength with flexibility. That union...
The image of a butterfly is the PERFECT symbol for a children's yoga class. Think about it for a second. Our little ones start out as little eggs (infants), begin to crawl and explore (caterpillars), then continue to change and grow into beautiful butterflies...
Near the end of each yoga class I teach, whether to children or adults, we all bow to each other. I was taught that the bow has three parts, each of which aligns our hearts and minds with our bodies, and my favorite bow instruction is this: "Sit Like a Mountain...
YAY! It’s finally March and one of my family’s favorite holidays is fast approaching—St. Patrick’s Day. Even if you’re not Irish, as my Dadai’ (DAH dee in Gaelic), or Da for short, always said, “Everyone’s a little bit Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!” And he’s right—just...
Have you heard the story There Was an Old Monster by Rebecca Emberly? It's written in the same pattern as the old classic, There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly, but in this version, the monster swallows a tick which starts a cascade of problems for him. With its...
I always begin my classes by having the kids lay face down on their mats in Crocodile pose with their foreheads resting on their hands. Whenever your forehead touches something, it automatically sends a signal to your brain to calm down. I find that most children can...
As Kids Yoga teachers, we have the amazing responsibility to introduce children to the ideas in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. About 1600 years ago in India, Patanjali condensed two different traditions (Ashtanga Yoga and Karma Yoga) to compose the Yoga Sutras, the...
We all know that a yoga practice builds strength, flexibility, and co-ordination. Did you know you can also use the ancient practice to build literacy skills for even our youngest yogis? Yoga teaches sequential thinking and planning: Listening to and following...
Chinese New Year 2021 is on Friday, February 12. It is the Year of the Ox this year. Traditionally, the celebration honors deities and ancestors. But in a Kids Yoga class, we can celebrate the Chinese New Year with a story! One day 12 animals were having an argument....
Since cave drawings first made an appearance some 27,000 years ago, humans’ brains have developed around storytelling. Telling stories makes up to 65% of our conversations. We are built to hear, remember and share stories. According to Jon Thomas’ The Art of...
Today's blog was written by Whitney James, a KAY kid who is now a freshman at Elon University. While we don't always use Sanskrit in our kids' classes, many of the asanas in modern yoga practice come from the backstories of Hindu deities. This doesn't mean that we...
Remember the Beanie Baby craze in the early 90s? Chances are that yes, you not only remember the craze, but you are still holding onto your favorite Beanie - or two- or three. Is you Prance the Cat collecting dust on a shelf? Or is Seaweed the Otter stuck in a box...
I recently started teaching at in a pre-K program and was asked to lead the yoga before their naptime. The lights were dimmed and the cots were out with each child next to his/her cot with personal space; it was the perfect setting for yoga! I decided to tell a yoga...
Watch at your leisure!
Watch at your leisure!
