Teacher Training

Chair Yoga for Children

When I first started teaching I had so much passion for yoga because it has transformed my life. Once I became a yoga teacher, I wanted everyone to discover it’s miracles. Finding a niche in children’s yoga, I began teaching in after school programs, community centers, and daycare centers.

The learning curve is steep to jump from adult yoga to kids’ yoga, but there was help out there to figure it out.

That curve became steeper the day I walked into one of my kids’ yoga classes and met a new student who used forearm crutches every day.

A cartoon frog sits in a chair doing chair pose. Text: Monthly Kids Yoga Mini-training with topic All Abilities Yoga — Explore Chair Yoga and Monthly Mini Training (click the image to see more details)

Mistakes to Avoid

I was unprepared and untrained to teach all abilities at that time, but I had to learn what I could because we were thrown into it together. What I saw was a need for:

Less transitions, e.g. moving from standing to floor to standing again,
More options in balancing poses,
Practicing in community with everyone together in one class.

I’d like to say I got it right but unfortunately, I made a lot of mistakes. My lack of training led to some bad ideas, including unintentionally singling out the student by offering chair yoga only for her and asking her to be at the front of the class.

We both did the best we could with our limited knowledge until she moved to another school.

If you learn how, you can teach all abilities in one class.

Teaching All Abilities in One Class

Years later, I showed up to teach a class which included a child using a walker. I had learned a few more skills about how to teach All Abilities Yoga by that time including:

Putting out chairs for everyone,
Offering everyone the option to sit on chairs or mats
Offering many options for each pose.
Doing breathing and mindfulness activities with everyone in a chair.

Understanding Able-ism

When I first started teaching, I had an ableist mindset, buying into the common misconception that yoga can heal anything and the “full expression of the pose”is the best version that everyone should work towards. It turns out that is just not true. My beliefs were more harmful than good and founded in the ableist mentality I had learned.

According to Accessible Living, ableism is “the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. At its heart, ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require ‘fixing’ and defines people by their disability. Like racism and sexism, ableism classifies entire groups of people as “less than’ and includes harmful stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalizations of people with disabilities.”

Examples of ableism show up in yoga everywhere. It starts when Chair Yoga is defined as a modified form of yoga.

In reality Chair Yoga IS yoga, not a modified form of it.

Asana is not about flexibility, according to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Sutra 2.46 says:

Sthira sudhamasanam.

Asana is a steady, comfortable posture.

The 8 limb path describes asana as only one limb, and there is nothing about flexibility or pretzel poses in the description of asana.

Now We Can Do Better

It was hard to find out about modifying poses when I started teaching yoga, but it is a lot easier now.

A few excellent All Abilities books:

Accessible Yoga: Poses and Practices for Every Body by Jivana Heyman.
Yoga for Everyone: 50 Poses For Every Type of Body by Dianne Bondy
Teach People not Poses: Lessons in Yoga Anatomy and Functional Movement to Unlock Body Intelligence by Mary Richards

Over time, my original nervousness has transformed into excitement about the idea of being better able to share yoga with all abilities and inspiring other teachers to do the same. I appreciate how much everyone benefits when everyone is welcomed into a class.

Free Monthly Mini-Training: All Abilities Yoga

Learn more about All Abilities Yoga in Kids Yoga using the Frog Yoga Alphabet in the monthly Mini-Training for May, 2023. Details are here. You’ll practice chair yoga poses and understand how to quickly adapt your lesson plans for everyone.

Insights on Mindfulness in the Classrooms from a School Teacher

Are you wondering how you could introduce mindfulness to children and integrate it into your home or classroom routine?

Stephanie S. Cheung, elementary school teacher and kids yoga and mindfulness teacher, wrote a book to answer this question that she often got asked by parents and colleagues.

As a school teacher, Stephanie uses mindfulness in her classroom at the start of the day, helping her students become focused and relaxed and ready to learn.

She shares her experienced in the December Mini Training. Watch here to get a look inside her book with this Mindfulness Read-along of her book Mac Learns to Roar: A Mindfulness Book for Kids and Animals.

Mac Learns to Roar: A Mindfulness Book for Kids and Animals

Mac Learns to Roar: A Mindfulness Book for Kids and Animals, authored by Stephanie S. Cheung, is a book made to teach children and even adults to easily understand mindfulness.

This book has exercises throughout the story. It also has instructions in the back pages for 6 mindfulness practices.

The story revolves around Mac who is learning how to roar. As a young lion learning to roar, he finds it hard. He feels anger, frustration, and sadness. Thankfully, his friends, teacher, and family are here to help.

Join Mac as he learns simple practices to help calm his frustrations and feel brave. Get the book here.

Kids Yoga Teacher Training

If you missed the live zoom meeting, watch the full replay here under DECEMBER 2022.

Stephanie also shared some freebies. Get the colouring pages here.

This training qualifies for Continuing Education (CE) for Yoga Alliance registered Yoga Teachers. A CE Certificate is available here.

Professional Essentials for Teaching Kids Yoga

I feel a little embarrassed that when I first started teaching yoga, I had trouble with pacing.

I would run out of time and cut the savasana to 2 minutes. Then overcompensate the next class and run out of poses and give a 15-minute relaxation!

It took me a couple of years to get really good at pacing. There were fewer standards when I took my first teacher training in 1998 and I did not learn about pacing.

When I look back on it, my lack of training also made it difficult for my students. They didn’t know what to expect. To create a professional class, you want students to feel safe, and one way they feel safe is with predictability.

Rounding Out Your Training

Pacing falls under “Teaching Methodology” in the Professional Essentials category in a 200-Hour Teacher Training. In a Yoga Alliance Registered Training, at least 50 of the 200 Hours go in the Professional Essentials category.

This includes pacing, sequencing, cueing, and other important “Teaching Methodology” competencies.

While Teaching Methodology is covered in the children’s yoga for 33 hours, you will cover an additional 50 hours in this topic in the adult yoga teacher training. It is thorough.

In this video, Claire and I talk about the Ambassador Yoga Training and the Teaching Methodology competencies.

We talk about what it is, why it’s important, and one of the fun activities we use to make the training experiential and not lecturing.

Check out what it’s all about here:

Take Your Teaching to The Next Level

In the September 2022 Monthly Mini-Training we’re going to look at the different levels of certification for children’s yoga teachers and what each one means.

Why is the 200 Hour Training Important? The bottom line is it means you have so much more training as a yoga teacher and with the Children’s Yoga Training you can qualify for the RCYT designation.

What your learn in the 96-Hour Children’s YTT and 200-Hour YTT: A Comparison Chart looking at the Yoga Alliance Core Curriculum

Every profession requires professional development and most yoga teachers, whether children or adults, take training to maintain their skills and their motivation for teaching.

Come check it out on September 20, 2022, at noon to 1 pm EST, where we will talk about the training you need to be a Kids Yoga Teacher.

Click the button below to register.

Why get a 200-Hour Yoga Certification As A Kids Yoga Teacher

How can a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Certification help you as a Kids’ Yoga Teacher?

If you want to level up in your kids’ yoga teacher career, you might have considered registering with Yoga Alliance as a Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCYT).

Yoga Alliance Requirements for Kids Yoga Teachers

To register with Yoga Alliance as a RCYT you need these two training requirements:

200-Hour Adult Yoga Teacher Certificate (with an RYS)
95-Hour Children’s Yoga Teacher Certificate (with an RCYS)

Plus these Teaching Requirements

Has at least 30 hours of teaching experience in children’s yoga since completing training with an RCYS

Yoga Alliance sets standards for Yoga Teachers to voluntarily meet.

You can see by these requirements, you do not need to have your RCYT designation to teach yoga to children. If you did, you’d never be able to get the 30 hours of experience.

5 Reasons People get the RCYT Designation:

5 Reasons to get the RCYT Designation explained

To feel proud of having the highest most recognized qualification for children’s yoga teachers.
To deepen your understanding of yoga with both the 95 our children’s yoga training and the 200 our adult yoga training.
When the children you teach become tweens and teens, you can give them a more age appropriate yoga experience.
To get discounts on your insurance and other younger related perks only available to those with the qualifications.
So you can become a children’s yoga trainer and open your own yoga school with yoga Alliance.

Consider the 200 Hour Training

The trainers talk about what happens in this training and the doors the 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training can open for you as a Children’s Yoga Teacher. We will be the lead trainers for the upcoming Certification starting in September.

You can watch the replay here:

Yoga Alliance’s online training provisions extend until Dec. 31, 2023. This gives you enough time to get your 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Certification over the next year.

Registration is now open for the 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Certification. Check out all the details here:

Become a 200 Hour Trained Yoga Teacher

5 Activities for Kids Yoga Summer Camps

It’s finally summer! A perfect time for a Kids Yoga Summer Camp.

I remember the first time I offered a full day/full week kids yoga camp, it was not what I expected.

The biggest learning curve was not the yoga part. I had taught a lot of kids yoga, it wasn’t hard to think of activities.

No, it was sorting out the washroom routine! There were no public washrooms at the playground so if one child had to go, that meant the end of the playground visit for everyone.

If you’re planning a summer camp for kids, don’t forget to plan these details and if you also want kids yoga ideas, we’ve got that covered here.

Mini Training Highlights: Summer Camp Activities

Here are some of the key takeaways from the topic of Kids Yoga Summer Camps from our live mini-training for June 2022:

There are many wonderful activities that take too much time for a regular kids yoga class so camps are the perfect time for them,
Choosing an activity that is age-appropriate is key! We talked a lot about the age for each activity.
A one week camp with 10 kids can be a good cash injection, you just have to make sure you don’t burn yourself out.

Check out my 5 Favourite Camp Activities and the discussion around them in the video replay in the June Free Mini Training because some of you might be looking for activities to do during your camp.

These 5 activities will enhance your camps. Some are of my favourites because with a camp you have a lot more time to do activities that you can’t fit into a one hour class.

Preview: Kids Yoga Summer Camps

Here’s a preview of the video with the first 3 activities from our YouTube channel:

Watch the full video in the June 2022 replay in the free course here.

5 Kids Yoga Activities to Enhance Your Camps this Summer

1. Chakras

If you’re doing chakras for children, try presenting them over a series of classes.

If I was teaching the chakras to children, I would limit this to a yoga studio. That’s because if you’re doing chakras in a school or a daycare, they may be a little too esoteric, some people might mistake it for some kind of religious teaching. You just don’t want to have any problems in that department. I really recommend this for a private camp, yoga in the park, in a yoga studio or in your home studio.

Here’s what the activity could look like if presented at a camp from Monday to Friday:

Monday: What are Chakras (see April 2022 Mini-Training for Lesson Plan). Introduce the concept of the chakras.
Tuesday: The Lower Triangle (Chakras 1, 2 + 3)
Wednesday: The Heart Centre (4th Chakra)
- You can include all kinds of social-emotional learning and empathy lessons into that one lesson plan.
Thursday: The Upper Triangle (Chakra 5, 6 +7)
Friday: Your Chakras are your talents, how will you use them? For those who have the workbook from the chakras for children training, you can do use the questionnaires in those worksheets. Or the kids can reflect on which of the talents are associated with the chakras

Watch the April 2022 Free Mini Training – Chakras for Children here.

Consider getting the 4 hour Chakras for Children Certificate here.

2. Mandala Activities

These Mandala activities can take a while to complete so they are great for camps.

This activity requires some big paper, some stamps, and stamp pads.

One of my colleagues tried doing this at home but she said her mandala turned into an oblique shape. The secret to stamping a mandala is very similar to why we meditate. It about starting in the center and moving from the centre to the outside.

If you start at the outside, trying to make a circle, its will be a lot harder to make it look even the way a mandala does.

The idea is that you meditate you check in with yourself, this is what my meditation teacher used to say to us. If you want to love yourself, the way you do that is to know yourself.

We start in the center and then from there we create our vision for our life based on what we want to achieve and what we can do. Whereas if you’re always trying to create your life from what other people are telling you to be, that is a very difficult existence because it’s really hard to please everybody.

We should create a mandala just like meditation, from the inside to the outside.

Then you can move this activity into yoga by making a group yoga pose in Mandala shapes as pictured in the image above.

3. My Song

The My Song activity is where you ask the children to share a song that is meaningful to them. Each child can say their song and talk about why they like that song. Then everyone can listen to the song.

When I started doing the My Song activity, I actually had an iPod!

My Song - Kids Share Why They Like Their Favorite Songs - part of the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training

One bonus of this activity is it’s a great way to discover songs to add to your music playlists. I don’t listen to pop music very often so this is one way to find out the songs that are popular with children.

When it comes to music, I use a lot of playlists when I teach classes, to sort the music by the mood.

When I’m teaching classes I’ll have relaxing songs, warm-up songs or songs with the moves built right into them. When the time comes and we’re ready to relax, I can go to the relaxing songs playlist and find a song.

A little back story about the My Song activity, I did this for the first time when I was in high school and one of my teachers did it with our class. I still remember people’s songs to this day. It was a nice way for us to get to know each other in the class.

People chose all types of songs so not only did it expose us to different genres of music that we might not listen to, it also gave everyone a way to talk about something that was meaningful to them without it being too risky.

4. Eye Pillows

This is a very simple activity that can be done a number of ways.

When I have a lot of time we sew eye pillows in class with a needle and thread and rectangles of material. We sewed an outer pillowcase that we can wash and an inner pillow that we filled with rice.

The class of students, mostly over six years old, really enjoyed it. They were amazed that they can just make their own thing.

I remember one camp we did sewing, and I helped a student sew up a hole in their sock. They were both amazed and happy that the sock was fixed.

When I have the time, I like to sew with kids, but if I don’t there is another option. You can buy socks from the store and use fabric markers to draw on them to make a colourful pillow case. You have to set the drawings by putting the sock in the dryer or pressing with an iron.

Kids Making Eye Pillows using socks filled with rice and Pillow Cases coloured with fabric markers. - part of the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training

Then you fill the inner sock with rice and tie the end with an elastic.

You can incorporate scents if it is appropriate, like lavender or other herbs, or essential oils, to add to the eye pillows. Make sure to check first if that’s okay with the kids because not everyone likes scents. I would advertise the use of scents in the class description so there are no surprises. ikm

You can use the eye pillows for the rest of the week. There are more activities with the eye pillows in the Inclusive Yoga Certificate.

5. Yoga Names + Names

We developed the Frog Yoga Alphabet especially to help keep kids busy during kid’s yoga and yoga camps. You can print and play all kinds of games with them.

Sometimes people think a Yoga Alphabet is just for children learning the alphabet, but with a little imagination, those letters become words and the words become games and stories!

In this activity, we used the Frog Yoga Alphabet to spell children’s names. Every letter has its corresponding pose and children can colour different letters each day.

We also do yoga for the letters.

In the picture above, we had an afternoon camp that was about three hours. Lauren finished colouring her letters and we also did the yoga poses. Then we came back to colouring and do another person’s name.

Lauren stapled her letters in the corners after she coloured in the pictures. She got to take home a name banner that day to put on her wall.

I like Lauren’s idea for a banner. I had been stapling the poses like a book.

If you were in a studio where you could hang up all the names and leave them up throughout the week, you could inspire others with the activity.

Then, when kids arrive they could to their own name, or a friend’s name, and do all their poses as a warm-up.

Kids Yoga Summer Camp

Yoga and fun go hand in hand. So when you’ve got the extra time in a Yoga Camp let these activities inspire you to enhance your camps.

Watch the full June 2022 Free Mini Training here or click the button below.

watch the Kids Yoga Summer Camp – jUNE 2022 free mini training

What the New Yoga Alliance Online Training Provisions Mean

In August of 2021, Yoga Alliance (YA) announced the updates for the online training provision. Many Registered Yoga Schools anxiously awaited the new provisions so they could set their training schedules for 2022 and beyond.

Let’s review the YA announcement and then I’ll share what I learned from the online training we offered in 2021.

Yoga Alliance’s (YA) Online Training Provisions Explained:

Why? Yoga Alliance is adapting to the world-wide coronavirus pandemic.
When? How Long? The new Online Training Provisions extend for 2022 and 2023.
Who? It applies to all YA Registered Yoga Schools: 200 hour, 300 hour, and the combined 500 Hour Trainings, Children’s (95 HR) and Prenatal (85 HR) Schools too.
How? Schools must APPLY for the exemption (it is not an automatic exemption) and the application process for 2022-23 opens for YA Schools on Oct. 4, 2021 and takes about 7-10 to process and get approved. There are new recommended requirements that I’ll review here too.
What and Where? Training must include a blend of Synchronous and Asynchronous training (see chart), though YA did not give minimum hours required in each. They did however give some new teaching models that must be incorporated (see details below).
What Else? Yoga Alliance is using the new exemption application as a bridge to getting schools to upgrade to the “Elevated” RYS Standards. The elevated standards were announced before covid (June 2019), and the deadline to upgrade to the new standards has shifted to December 31, 2023.

Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning

Schools must have a blend of synchronous and asynchronous learning and Yoga Alliance is NOT requiring a minimum number of hours in each category.

This is a huge change because for so many years YA told schools that asynchronous learning was not permitted and was held up as the inferior model.

Now we are forced to move into asynchronous learning styles and it turns out they can be pretty amazing!

Even though YA does not have a minimum of each type of learning, they do want schools to be transparent about what they are offering, so a student knows exactly what they are signing up for.

This Chart is taken from the Yoga Alliance Website

How to Offer Synchronous and Asynchronous Yoga Training

Moving our Yoga Teacher Training online was a bit of a mind-bender at first. We thought a lot about how we could still deliver a quality training.

In the beginning, I think we leaned too far into the synchronous learning, just trying to do everything the same, but let it be live on zoom.

But the screen time got exhausting and eventually we found a good blend of styles.

Here are some examples of where we have landed at Young Yoga Masters, with the different teaching methodologies for both types of learning.

Synchronous Yoga Teacher Training

Some forms of synchronous training we use include:

Scheduled Live-Zoom Training that is interactive and allows time for question and answer,
Break Out Room Activities in the Training: giving students in the training a chance to interact with each other and work on assignments for the Training,
Monthly Kids Yoga Teacher Check-Ins: where we cover a topic live on Zoom each month and allow time for students to discuss in the break out rooms too,
Office Hours with Trainers: Students have the option to book a zoom appointment during office hours whenever they have questions or need clarification,
Final One-to-One Check-In: We meet with each student to review their practicum Lesson Plans and Reflections and check-in before the final Certificate is Printed.

Asynchronous Yoga Teacher Training

This type of training is easier to deliver in many ways. Here are some ways we utilize asynchronous training in our Certification:

Prerecorded Training: recordings of interactive live-zoom sessions that students can watch in their own time,
Prerecorded Webinars: led by your lead trainer utilizing slides, video, and reflection time,
Prerecorded Kids Classes: you can observe your Trainers teaching children where the children are in-person with the trainer and also where the trainer and child are meeting on zoom.
Self-reflection exercises: where you complete the prompts to reflect on your training and practicum classes.
Practicum Teaching: creating your own Lesson Plans and teaching them to children.
Online Quizzes: to review material covered in the training and check for comprehension.

Teaching Models for Yoga Teacher Training

The Yoga Alliance Provisions now state:

RYSs will be required to provide details about their course design, including how the RYS will incorporate the following teaching models to integrate knowledge:

Trainee-to-content: Use of pre-defined feedback, tutorials, reading discussions, quizzes, and/or other competency testing
Trainee-to-trainee: Planned interaction(s) that encourages problem solving and critical thinking skills among trainees
Trainee-to-teacher: Teacher-led interactions and discussions to cultivate a sense of connectedness while enhancing learning outcomes

Yoga Alliance Website Look under 2022-2023 Application Details

These teaching models can be easily met by the various types of training, but especially the synchronous training methods when it comes to interactions.

Lessons Learned from Online Yoga Teacher Training

2021 was a huge learning curve for everyone and moving our Kids Yoga Teacher Training online opened my eyes to many new aspects of training.

Most importantly, I learned the value of online self-paced training.

I learned that not all people enjoy in-person training. Many new students embarked on the training, some were self-professed introverts, some busy parents, some who worked on weekend.

Self-paced learning opened doors for people who had been watching from the sidelines, hoping for an easier way to get trained.

I also learned that people still learn through self-paced study, and in some ways, get a more thorough and complete training because they can:

Go back and watch parts they didn’t understand or missed (for whatever reason)
train on their own timeline, when they can be most alert and ready to learn,
access training that is physically far away from them,
save money in travel, accommodations, printing, and even registration fees from courses that can pass on savings to students.

I’ve seen doctors, educators, counselors, parents, and community leaders graduate from both the self-paced and live-zoom training this year and in our final check-in, I feel confident in their comprehension and ability to teach kids yoga.

Yoga Teacher Training: Moving Forward

I’ll be getting ready to complete the 2022 application form on YA that opens in October. Online training is here to stay for my school.

I’ll keep you posted on what the application process is like and any further developments in the Yoga Alliance policies.