Hippity Hop!

Hi yoga friends! This week's class was inspired by all things hippity-hoppity! Here's a summary of what we did. Have fun playing yoga at home!

Breath: Bunny breath
For this exercise, we come to sit on our shins (thunderbolt) and take three quick little sniffs in through the nose and then exhale normally. Repeat a few times, and then take a break to breathe normally before initiating this breath again.

Warm-Up Songs: "Jump up, Turn Around" from Moving Rhymes for Modern Times by Jim Gill

"5 Green and Speckled Frogs" shifting each time to a different seated pose: easy seat (criss-cross applesauce), staff pose, thunderbolt pose, bound angle pose (butterfly) and squat.

Book: Who Hops? by Katie Davis
This funny story provides ample opportunity for animal-inspired movement, as well as many chances to talk about the things various animals do or do not.

Storytelling: The Wide-Mouthed Frog

There are many versions of this story available. The basic premise is that a wide-mouthed frog greets all the animals that he meets by saying "I'm a wide-mouthed frog, and I eat flies. What do you eat?" until he meets a crocodile who enjoys eating wide-mouthed frogs. Then he must use his wit to quickly escape. These are the animals and their yoga movements we used in today's version of the story:

frog - squat

mouse – child’s pose

snake – cobra

bunny – thunderbolt with bunny breath

butterfly – bound angle

crocodile - sphinx

Cool-Down Song: "Dance for the Sun" from Dance for the Sun by Kira Wiley

A gentle, kid-friendly sun salutation.

Book: Can You Say Peace? by Karen Katz

This story celebrates International Peace Day (September 21), but is wonderful for anytime. Learn how kids say peace in lots of different languages, all around the world. 

We ended with a nice, restful savasana listening to the relaxing sounds of croaking frogs.

Thanks for playing yoga at Centered this week everyone! What a blast! Until the next time, NAMASTE

Beach Buddies!

Hi everyone! It's so nice to be back to Yoga Storytime after being on vacation for a little bit. I spent some time in California with some very big trees, and being near the ocean inspired this week's beach themed class. Here's an outline of what we did so you can keep the fun going at home!


Opening Breath: Ocean breath - see this previous post for a description.

Warm-Up Songs: "Sharks in the Sea" - see this previous post for a description
"Jump up, Turn Around" from Moving Rhymes for Modern Times by Jim Gill

Book: The Yoga Game by the Sea by Kathy Beliveau
This book present several yoga poses with introductory riddles that allow for the opportunity to guess the yoga pose and then try it out. It's a book and a game in one!

Song: "I'm a Little Fish" from In a Heartbeat by Laura Doherty

Book: Breathe by Scott Magoon

And of course, a final rest to the sounds of ocean waves. Thanks for coming to play yoga at Centered! See you next time, and NAMASTE!