Here's some quick notes about what we did today. See you next week!
We started with a chime listening mindfulness activity. Children were asked to close their eyes when they heard the chime and then open them when they could no longer hear the sound.
Next we worked to build heat and warm-up our bodies. We started by rubbing our hands together, slow and then fast, and placing the heat we created on our eyes, ears, brain, and heart. Then we did some rock-n-rolls, sitting at the front of the mat and rolling back and forth along the spine. Then we did the follwing Warm-Up Tree Sequence:
I’m a Little Seed Rhyme (child’s pose): Little seed, little seed in the ground / laying so still, making no sound. / Little seed, little seed, will you sprout for me? / Yes, I will! On the count of 3!
Stretch out roots and be blown in the wind (janu srisasana to both sides, wide angle)
Next it was time for our first book, Call Me
Tree / Llámame árbol by Maya Christina Gonzalez. This is a lovely story that celebrates diversity and encourages a lot of creative movement. And it's bilingual!
We danced to “Apple Tree” from The Apple Tree & the Honey Bee by Bari
Koral.
We finished with another mindfulness activity. I brought in a selection of autumn leaves, and we examined them with each of our senses in turn, first sight, then smell, then touch. Then we all found tree pose together and let our leaves drop down to the earth.
Our final story before resting was I Love Our
Earth by Bill Martin, Jr.
Hi there safari friends! We went on a jungle adventure in Yoga for Kids at Centered today. Here's what we got up to in case you'd like to use any of these things to play yoga at home.
Usually we learn a new breath at the beginning of our yoga class, but today we tried something a little different. We did a simple mindfulness activity, listening to the sound of the chime all the way through to its end. I invited the kids to close their eyes, listen to the sound, and then open their eyes back up when the sound was gone. We did this a few times, striking the chime with varying degrees of force. This would be easy to replicate at home with a simple pan and spoon if you don't have a chime.
We kept up the warm-up sequence we've been using the last several weeks, stretching the spine in all directions and then playing Jim Gill's "Jump Up, Turn Around" game. I'll probably bring in a new warm-up starting at our next class together, which will be September 14 (studio is closed for Labor Day on September 7 and I'm subbing for Lauren on September 14).
I brought out the flannelboard to introduce our jungle theme. We sang "Old McYogi Went to the Jungle." I'm guessing you know the tune! Here are the animals we met along the way:
• lion - standing lion's breath
• giraffe - extended mountain pose
• monkey - arm swinging with monkey sounds
• elephant - forward fold with hands clasped to make a trunk
• tiger - cat pose
From there we sat down for our first book, One Spotted Giraffe by Petr Horáček. This is a super fun pop-up book that introduces counting and some less common animal vocabulary. You all did a great job handling the book today! Knowing how to use books like this is actually part of a very important early literacy skill, print awareness.
Next it was time to move with some music, so we listened to “Rockin’ at the Zoo” from Kids in the City by Laura Doherty. We went right into our next song, this time starting to cool down a bit, with our "Dance for the Sun" by Kira Willey.
Coming toward the close of class we read That’s Love by Sam Williams and repeated our chime listening activity. Then, as always, we took a rest, this time lulled by the sounds of the Amazon jungle.
It was a treat to play yoga with all you wild animals today! Don't forget the studio is closed for Labor Day on September 7... I look forward to seeing you again on the 14th! NAMASTE
Hi yoga kids and families! Today in our yoga class at Centered we explored feelings. Embracing our feelings as they are, even the hard ones, can be tricky. Thanks for being willing to explore this topic with open hearts. Helping kids have lots of words to describe what they are feeling can help them learn how to process their emotions in a healthy way and make good choices. Here's a re-cap of what we did.
Opening Breath: Gentle centering breath with the Hoberman sphere as a visual aid. We came back to this breath several times throughout the practice to come back to a place of calm after talking about various emotions.
Warm-Up Song: "Jump Up, Turn Around" from Moving Rhymes for Modern Times by Jim Gill. We've been using this warm-up song for a few weeks now. It's a song and game in one; check it out on Soundcloud.
Flannel Board: Feeling Faces
We took some time to talk about an explore different feelings. First, we "tapped-in" to our feelings by gently tapping all over the body. Then we looked at various faces and talked about some things we can do when we feel different feelings. We also used lots of different vocabulary words to talk about our feelings. Some examples are:
angry (mad, frustrated, cranky) - volcano breath (inhale the hands up, bringing all the angry feelings up to the surface, and then exhale them out audibly, like a volcano exploding)
sad (upset, heavy) - give ourselves a big hug
tired (sleepy, exhausted) - take a rest if we can (child's pose, for example) or practice power breath if we need some energy (inhaling the arms up, and then exhaling sharply, pulling the arms down toward the belly, drawing more energy into our bodies)
silly (goofy, wacky) - making silly faces and dancing!
Song: "Clap Your Hands" from Here Come the ABCs by They Might Be Giants.
Time to get a little silly! What a great song to use at home any time you need to get out a little extra energy. See the "Jump, Frog, Jump" post for a video that goes along with this song.
Book: If You're Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera
A delightful picture book version of this popular children's song. The animals included in the illustrations provide lots of opportunities for yoga movement as well. Here are the poses we practiced along with the movements included in the story:
monkey (side stretches)
elephant (forward fold with hands together forming trunk)
giraffe (upward salute)
lion breath
lemur (stretch arms and legs wide and spin around each side)
hippopotamus (all fours)
bird (slowly raise and fall arms)
mouse (child’s pose)
frog (squat)
Song: "What Do I Feel?" Breathe In: Children's Songs for Mindfulness and Awareness by Lianne Bassin
An awesome song for helping kids honor their emotions.
Book: The Feelings Book by Todd Parr
Another awesome Todd Parr book that presents life lessons in a gentle, kid-friendly way.
Finally, it was time to rest. Today I played the song "Colors" from Dance for the Sun by Kira Willey to go along with our svasana. This gentle song explores various emotions through colors. You can find a sheet of printable picture cards to go along with the song from Omazing Kids Yoga.
Thanks for coming to Centered to play yoga with me this week everyone! See you again soon! Until then, NAMASTE
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
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!
Hi everyone! What a fun time in our last class of this summer series of kids' yoga at Centered. Remember, this was just the last class with me (for now!). Lauren, Centered co-founder and yoga teacher with years of experience working with children, will be picking up the class for at least the duration of the summer. Keep dropping by to play yoga with her; you'll have a great time!
***UPDATE! Lauren and I have decided to keep this Kids Yoga class going as a regular part of Centered's class schedule! She and I will take turns teaching the class, swapping back and forth from week to week and subbing for one another when needed. So, I will be back again for more yoga fun with you on July 13 and July 27. Hooray!***
This week we opened as always with our "Yoga Time" song, and we continued the same Balloon Breath exercise that I introduced last week. Then we warmed up our bodies with our "Sun Dance."
This week's book was Move! by Steve Jenkins. I love this book not only for its wonderful opportunities for creative movement, but also for the excellent animal vocabulary that it introduces. Rather than cats and dogs and cows, this book features gibbons, jacanas and armadillos! This is a great example of why picture books are such an awesome tool for helping parents expose their children to lots and lots of words, an important indicator of later school success.
Then children's musician Jim Gill led us in a "Silly Dance Contest." How fun! You can find this song on his CD Moving Rhymes for Modern Times.
We played our yoga game again, based on the book by Kathy Beliveau, this time learning mountain, eagle and lion poses.
Next it was time to begin cooling down, so we found the love singing "Love Inside My Heart" as we've done each week of this series. We began to settle toward rest reading Peace by Wendy Anderson Halperin. And then finally the most important part of our yoga class...time to rest.
I can't tell you how much fun it has been for me to share yoga storytime with all of you this summer. Thank you so very much for coming, for telling your friends, for spreading the word on Facebook and for your donations. Also, thank you Centered for opening your incredible space in this way for the families in our community. I look forward to working with you again!
Hi little yogis! Here's a recap of our yoga fun at Centered today!
After saying hello with our "Yoga Time" song, we turned our attention to the breath.
Balloon Breath: Putting our hands on our bellies, we felt the breath coming in and going out. I use a nifty little prop called a mini Hoberman sphere for this breath so the kids can visualize breath going in and filling up their internal balloon and deflating it as they breathe out.
Warm Up: Same as always, we said hello to our bodies, moving organically, and then sang "The Sun Dance" by Bari Koral. Because our theme this week was the farm, we also sang a fun adaptation of a traditional song:
"Old McYogi" (to the tune of "Old McDonald")
Old McYogi had a farm
Shanti, Shanti, Om.
And on this farm there were some animals
Shanti, Shanti, Om
I brought out the flannelboard and various animals to build our warm-up sequence of cow, cat, dog, horse, and frog.
Book: The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Spider works hard all day building her web. Lots of animal friends try to get her to come play: horse, cow, sheep, dog, cat, duck, rooster and owl. But she keeps working until the work is done. This is tapas, my friends.
Movement: We went "Back to the Farm" with the Bari Koral Family Rock Band!
Book: Time to add some new poses from The Yoga Game by Kathy Beliveau. This week we explored cat, mouse and star poses.
Cool Down: As we do each week, we sang “Love Inside My Heart” from Breathe In by Lianne Bassin. This song invites us to find all of our love, wherever it is hiding, and send it out first to ourselves, then to our loved ones, and then to the world. This is metta meditation, in song form, adapted for kids. Beautiful and brilliant. This week's cool down book was Whoever You Are by Mem Fox, which reminds us all that no matter how different we are on the outside, we all feel the same joys and the same sorrows. One Love.
It is such a treat to keep practicing with you yoga friends. Hope to see you all next week for my final session of Yoga Storytime at Centered (for now!). Until then, NAMASTE.
