Archives for 2010

5 Inspirational Yoga Gifts for Kids and Adults

Holiday coupon — Give the Gift of Your Time and Attention

Yesterday I was teaching a group of kids from grades one to three. I wanted them to reflect on the Holidays and examine this season of gift giving. Could they come up with meaningful gift ideas to give to loved ones, gifts that don’t cost anything? How much are these children thinking of the holidays in material terms?

Teaching Children About Truly Meaningful Gifts

For this lesson plan I brought in my Puppy puppet and made up a story about trying to give Puppy a gift for Christmas. But what to get a puppy?

At first I thought of how popular Harry Potter is, so I bought Puppy a Harry Potter novel (all the kids cheered). It said in the store that it makes a great gift but Puppy just sniffed the book. He didn’t really want that book because a dog can’t read.

He loves balls so I got him a new orange ball. When I gave it to Puppy, he just took it over and put it in the pile of the five other balls he had already sitting beside his pillow.

This was a tough problem! The best thing to do was meditate on it. I sat down and lit some incense and tried to clear my mind so I would know what to get Puppy. Just as I was starting to get in the zone, I felt Puppy nudging my hand.

I ignored him.

He nudged again and started licking my hand.

I pushed him away and felt the leash hanging from his mouth.

Then it came to me – what Puppy really wanted was my love and attention! Spending time with Puppy would be the best gift.

What do We All Really Want? Love

puppy yoga — A Puppy puppet for kids yoga.

This little story got these kids thinking of what meaningful gifts that they could give, gifts that don’t need money.

Many of us live in a consumer society and it showed in how difficult it was for the kids to think of non-monetary gifts. A few ideas and suggestions later and the ideas slowly started flowing. Children need time and space to discover and express what is meaningful to them.

Later when I talked with the daycare Director, she told me that some of the children get dropped off at 7:30 am and picked up at 6 pm. The parents are working so hard and feel guilty that they often buy the kids gifts to try to make up for it.

These are the times we live in, times when material goods are used to manage feelings and emotions.

5 Inspirational Yoga Gifts for Kids and Adults

Since gifts are a part of the holidays here are a few gift suggestions that will give kids a meaningful yoga experience and can also show your support for what is meaningful to you:

A Family Yoga Coupon – you can have a great time doing yoga in a studio near your home. But you can also do family yoga in your own living room without spending a penny. Give your kids a family yoga coupon (see the picture above) and your kids can ask for your time and attention for some fun yoga sessions at home. You’ll be creating happy memories and a healthy lifestyle. If your kids don’t want it, why don’t you ask them for a coupon as your gift. Just ask in the comments and I’ll e-mail you the coupon above to print out.
Yoga Man vs. The Stressor: You probably know this is my first download kids yoga training. But I’ve been printing out the Sun Salutation Coloring Book as gifts for the kids in my yoga classes, and also for the kids in my extended family. I teach over 100 kids every year so it is a great tool for teachers too. Plus the 10 Games will give you lots of ideas for your yoga sessions with kids. Support Young Yoga Masters and give your kids yoga all at once with this package. Consider the Frog Yoga Alphabet Teacher Training Double Pack too.
Support Your Favorite Yoga Places: Most yoga teachers struggle to make ends meet. Increase your own yoga and encourage more yoga in the world by supporting the yogis in your community. Here is a link to my favorite yoga books available at my Amazon link. Check it out for a list of some of my favorite kids yoga books, music, and more. I like to buy my gifts from people I know whenever possible and most of these yoga resources are written by other kids yoga teachers. Its an opportunity to teach your kids about the power your dollars wield by spending to support what means something to you.
A Great Kids Yoga Book: there are many good ones out there. To spend more time with your kids, a great yoga book can be used over and over again. One of my current favorites is What I see I can Be by Janet Williams. It comes with a CD that will guide you through the book. A few more of my recommendations are here at Amazon.
Soothing Yoga Music: Developing an appreciation for music is a valuable gift to give kids. Especially when it is uplifting music. One of my favorite places for yoga music is Spirit Voyage. Here’s a play list with some of my most favorite and most played songs:

Spirit Voyage

Kids learn about what is meaningful from their parents, teachers, and community. Let’s make this holiday meaningful on all levels, what we do, how we spend, and how we love.

What are the most meaningful gifts that you have given or have received?

Character Development – Empathy

The Discovery of Mirror Neurons – A Scientific Understanding of Empathy

Jeremy_Rifkin_2009_by_Stephan_Röhl — Jeremy Rifkin author of The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness In a World In Crisis

“All humans are soft wired with mirror neurons. So that if I’m observing you, your anger, your frustration, your sense of rejection, your joy, whatever it is, and I can feel what you’re doing, the same neurons will light up in me as if I’m having the experience myself… we’re soft wired to experience another’s plight as if we’re experiencing it our self.” – Jeremy Rifkin

In the video below, senior lecturer on trends in science and technology, Jeremy Rifkin suggests that science shows that we’re actually soft-wired to be empathic. Something the yogis taught when they said we are all One, we are all connected. Were the yogis referring to mirror neurons?

Rifkin explains these stages of development in children to help us understand empathy:

Empathic distress: when a baby in a nursery cries, all the other babies in the nursery cry, we don’t know why but it’s called empathic distress.

Mature Empathy: at 2 1/2 years of age, once a toddler can identify them self (like in the mirror) then they know that if they are observing someone else have a feeling, they know if they feel something they know they are feeling it because someone else has it. They are two separate beings.

Self-hood goes together with empathic development: Around 8 years of age a child learns about birth and death. They learn where they came from and that they have only one life and that life is limited and fragile. This allows the child to experience another’s plight in the same way they experience their own life challenges. When we understand that we are all struggling to live, then we develop more empathy for other human beings.

Increase Self-hood, Increase Empathic Development

The way I understand what Mirror Neurons show us, we are born ready to empathize with others. Through our culture, education, and upbringing we are conditioned otherwise. Through our frailty and imperfection we actually become closer to each other, more connected, because of our soft wiring for empathy.

How Mirror Neuron soft-wiring can be used for Empathy and Kids Yoga

Teachers/Parents actually help kids develop empathy by admitting to mistakes and struggles. It’s helpful to express frustration when there are behavior problems. Tools like the Yoga Man vs. The Stressor coloring pages relay the stress we face and challenges we must overcome and help us connect with kids because of our built in ability to empathize,
Yoga poses that are difficult provide a group experience that help children relate to each other – in yoga this means it will build your class rapport when you introduce new challenges to overcome together,
Self awareness developed through yoga and meditation may also increase empathetic development – in kids yoga this means time for discussion, breath awareness, and meditation can also help kids develop empathy.

Can Empathy Help the Environment Too?

I highly recommend watching the video above. Not only does Jeremy Rifkin propose that empathy could lead to a global human consciousness, he also suggests that empathy towards other species (animals) and the planet will lead to the solutions to our environmental issues.

For more information on Empathy and the Yamas and Niyamas you can also check out this guest post by Donna Freeman of Yoga in my School.

November’s Character Education theme is Empathy. Did you know about Mirror Neurons? How will understanding the science of mirror neurons help you with character development and teaching kids about empathy?

New Standards in Kids Yoga Teacher Training

With the launch of my kids yoga – printable teacher training package many parents and teachers have been happy to get their hands on teaching tools for their kids yoga classes. By offering a training download, teachers can learn from home. It saves time, money, travel, you don’t have to get a babysitter, and so on.

Now according to the brand new childrens’ yoga standards introduced by Yoga Alliance in the USA only 8 hours of kids yoga training can be non-contact hours. The new standard in the USA is 95 hours of kids yoga training.

Still, these standards are voluntary! As far as I know at this time anyone can legally teach yoga (please double check this in your country). There are no government regulations for yoga, the few attempts at regulations have failed. There are industry standards, but it is up to each teacher whether they will comply with or join an alliance or association.

What Makes a Kids Yoga Teacher?

I’m a registered yoga teacher with IKYTA (for Kundalini Yoga teachers). We seem to be among the strictest of the yoga regulations – not only do we have to take the 200 or 500 hour training, we also pledge to be a vegetarian and abstain from alcohol to be a teacher.

When I started teaching kids yoga over 10 years ago, there were no universal standards, even for adult yoga. There weren’t any 95 hour kids yoga training courses. They didn’t exist. After I did my adult training I had about 30 hours of kids yoga training in total spread over four years. The rest I learned from books. Which is why I also offer down-loadable trainings. It worked for me!

So I keep going back and forth on how I feel about this new 95 hour training requirement.

Is Yoga Teacher Training a Money Grab?

It could be easy to fill 95 hours of training – but does a new teacher really need this much training to teach kids yoga? Is it worth paying hundreds of dollars a year to register Young Yoga Masters as a training school with Yoga Alliance? Can students afford the extra tuition?

New Standard in Childrens Yoga from Yoga Alliance (USA)

This is where yoga has arrived at today, standards for a practice that existed for 5000 years without them. Take a look at this 95 hour outline on the Yoga Alliance USA Website:

Curriculum must incorporate training hours in the following educational categories:

General Background in the Specialty Area: 12 contact hours
Techniques Training/Practice: 20 contact hours
Teaching Methodology: 15 contact hours
Anatomy and Physiology: 10 contact hours
Yoga Philosophy, Lifestyle and Ethics for Children’s Yoga Teachers: 12 contact hours
Practicum: 18 hours
Remaining Hours (8 hours)

Total: 95 Hours, Total Contact Hours: 87, Additional Teaching Outside Curriculum: 30 hours

Tell us what you think of the new standards:

What do you think of the new 95 hour childrens yoga training standard from Yoga Alliance USA?

Yoga Teachers: Are you going to get the training? Do you feel you need it? Do you already have it?

Parents: What training do you want to be able to do yoga with your kids at home?

School Teachers/Educators: What training do you want to be able to do yoga with your children in the classroom or daycare? Would you feel more comfortable with a longer training?

Everyone: If the government doesn’t require it, do you think it is necessary to train 95 hours?

I’d love to hear what you think of this topic that kinda/sorta affects us all!

Yoga Man vs. The Stressor: Save on this Kids Yoga Teaching Tool

Help kids learn about stress and help yourself with 10 new games, 12 coloring pages, and 6 activity pages that you can print out for your classes with this instant download package. You could be teaching new material today! Click here to save $5 now. (discount expires Wednesday Nov. 24, 2010 at midnight – only 2 days left to save!)

New Kids Yoga: Yoga Man vs. The Stressor

In this age of computer games, we’ve got to be much more strategic to get kids attention for doing yoga! We’ve got to draw kids in with what they like or they won’t participate.

Today, I’m featuring a new video from Young Yoga Masters that uses what kids like. Yoga Man vs. The Stressor gets kids doing the Sun Salutation and playing games. It gets kids doing yoga!

Plus this week Young Yoga Masters is giving a special earlybird discount on our New Kids Yoga Training for at-home learning. Purchase the training and you’ll have the at-home training immediately! You could be using the games and coloring pages with your kids today.

First, the video. Kids get active with Yoga Man as he does the Sun Salutation. You’ll also see coloring pages from the new Kids Yoga Training:

The Stressor is an evil villain who appears in all different forms and zaps Yoga Man with stress.

These cool coloring pages plus 6 more Activities and 10 Games, are part of the new Yoga Man vs. The Stressor Kids Yoga Training. Its a tested kids yoga program that you download to learn from home. You will have the files on your computer so you can print off the pages whenever you need them for your kids and kids classes. You could be using the games and coloring pages with your kids today.

Get Activities and Games to Teach Kids about Stress
The Training includes 10 Yoga Games that help kids understand stress. Using play based learning, kids will discover what stress is, how to recognize it, and what to do about it. If you have kids dealing with anxiety and stress, or who need help focusing – these games will show them the yoga way to handle it!

The video gives you a sneak peak at all the coloring pages. These pages and the complete Yoga Man vs. The Stressor Training Package is ready for you to get and use with your kids.

all_covers575 — Yoga Man vs. The Stressor: Kids Yoga Training Package

It will be one of the most affordable Kids Yoga Trainings you have ever taken!

Help kids face The Stressor and win.

Get your Yoga Man vs The Stressor – Kids Yoga Training and you could be using it today!

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Kids Yoga

Hi Aruna,

I am going to teach a 12 year old special needs boy some yoga. He has fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). He used to play soccer so he seems to have balance, coordination, etc. He has some sensory integration issues, like he doesn’t care if his pants are twisted around his waist.

Any suggestions on yoga poses? Breath work? I thought about starting with chair yoga, but think that since he played soccer, maybe just work on the mat. Lots of grounding poses. I am not sure how he is with personal space, but maybe back-to-back breathing. Any book recommendations? Thanks!

Ashley
U.S.A.

Hi Ashley,

Thanks for your e-mail. I have very little experience teaching kids with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. With kids with special circumstances like FAS and other diagnoses, ability varies so much from child to child. It’s hard to make a class plan before you actually meet the child to find out their personality and situation.

If I were going in for the first time here’s what I would do:

Check with the parents/guardians for any physical restrictions and to find out what his personality is like. Knowing his special interests, like soccer, will help your class plan. Since he’s 12 years old (almost a teen) you can start the class asking him to show you soccer warm ups or if he knows any yoga poses already. I’d use this to build rapport with him and also to help assess his ability.
Active Listening: I’d also ask his parents/guardians if he knows he has FAS. If so you may be able to connect with him by asking him what FAS means to him. Hearing his take on it would be very informative (see the video below)! How does it make him different than other kids and how is he the same. You could also teach him about how yoga helps us connect with our true self and not just see ourselves as our labels. This would probably be a discussion to have over a few sessions. If he doesn’t know or can’t comprehend the FAS, get info about his particular situation from parents/guardians.

Video: Lingít youth Morgan Fawcett plays Native American Flute and spreads awareness of FAS and FASD, conditions he personally deals with everyday. We can learn so much by listening to what the individual has to say.

A lot of poses/short time: for the first class, before I’ve met him, I’d plan a lot of poses since he may have a low attention span. Try a mixture of poses – standing and sitting, not too many one footed poses till you discover his abilities. Breath work – short amounts (like 3 – 5 deep breaths) repeated a few times through out the session, especially when he is resting after a pose and more relaxed.
Bundle Roll: lie down and put your arms by your sides and roll across the floor, kind of like you would roll down a hill. Try not to bend at the waist. I usually lay out all the mats to create a path to roll across or a carpet is good too. I’m told that this is good for kids with any attention problems, it is grounding. I also find boys especially like the Warrior poses.
Short sequences: keep the yoga simple to avoid frustration. For instance, cat pose, downward dog, cobra pose, child pose. Do them all separately then put them together for a simple short sequence to repeat a few times.
Not too much music – so as not to over-stimulate
Let him set the pace: I would probably ask “do you need a rest?” a lot during the class and let him set the pace.
I’d ask him his favorite songs and interests – if he’s 12 years old, he may be too old for a regular kids class. I’d find out if he reads and what music he likes. Does he like Harry Potter or comic books? Then use all this for future classes.

I’ll post this on the blog and see if we can get some more ideas.

I’ve linked to some books on Amazon on the right on my blog for Children with special needs. I don’t own all of the books but they have many good reviews.

Please let us know how the class goes Ashley.

Aruna Kathy Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

P.S.: Readers – please share your insights. Do you know something about FAS? Have you worked with a child with FAS? Please list any resources, yoga ideas, or any other comments – especially health related. I need to educate myself on this topic and all info will be a great help for teachers and children!

3 Resources for Bringing Yoga into Schools

Here are three effective resources to fuel anyone’s passion for bringing yoga into the classroom, lunchroom, or gymnasium.

Know who to approach at the school:
Depending on the atmosphere at your school you may want to approach from a few directions to get yoga into a school. This article, based on an interview I did with a school Vice Principal (soon to be Principal) will give you tons of ideas for approaching department heads, parent advisory boards, and principals: How to Start a Kids Yoga Program at a School.
Know What to Say:
This video has highlights from a panel discussion called Bringing Yoga into Schools from the Yoga Festival Toronto. It has a few experts in the field of kids yoga sharing their knowledge that will help you figure out what to say. (I’m featured at about the 2 minute mark!)


Bringing Yoga into Schools from Toronto Body Mind on Vimeo.

Prepare them for a fun KIDS Yoga Class:
I have found that some schools need to be educated that yoga for children is different than yoga for adults. Kids yoga includes play based learning that can be NOISY. As the children come to appreciate the yoga and meditation, only then does it start to resemble a quiet and calm adult class.

When I go into a school, I prepare the teachers by explaining that we will start playfully. For instance, I use the coloring pages in this video that features a Super Hero named Yoga Man. Kids don’t realize that the villain, The Stressor, is teaching them about stress.

The play helps them start learning, then the yoga helps the class transform. Prepare the teachers for this learning curve so they aren’t surprised by the noise.

I don’t think you’ve ever seen the Sun Salutation done this way! Use playful games to get started but be sure to finish with a little peace and quiet. Here is a special sneak preview of the new on-line training for the Sun Salutation: Yoga Man vs. The Stressor. The official launch is coming very soon to Young Yoga Masters!

These Three Resources for Bringing Yoga into Schools contain many ideas on how to get started teaching kids yoga.

If you have any other tips feel free to add them into the comments.

Aruna Kathy Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com