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You are here: Home / Archives for Lesson Plans / Character Development

Character Development

Social Emotional Learning from Inside an Ashram

If you’ve read my bio, you saw that I once lived in an Ashram for six years. The Guru Ram Das Ashram in Toronto to be exact.  It had 16-18 seekers living in one very large house/yoga centre, with more seekers visiting for classes and events every day.

The Ashram was an environment where social and emotional learning opportunities were everywhere, some very beautiful and some not easy.

Living with that many people in a place of spiritual setting, you aspire to be kind and compassionate, but of course there are times when you fall short. Feelings get hurt, toes get stepped on.

After one particularly difficult interaction with another resident, I sought advice from a mentor and senior teacher about moving out and how nice it would be to have my own place. He told me this story:

“They say that if you want to cook your dinner faster, don’t put one potato in a pot to boil, put a bunch of potatoes in the pot. When the potatoes cook together they bump against each other, which helps to soften them up. They cook faster together.”

Then he went on to explain how people are encouraged to do spiritual work together.

Having a spiritual community is challenging but speeds your growth, much like the potatoes getting cooked faster.

How Can a Yogi Grow Spiritually?

It is easy to read spiritual principles and philosophy on your own, but the concepts are more deeply understood when they are put to the test with other people.

In an environment like the Ashram, we emotionally bumped against each other as we worked through our stuff.  However we were committed to, and supported by the yoga and meditation practices that brought us there.

Spiritual teachings enhanced our social and emotional growth.

AND social emotional learning catapulted our spiritual growth!

This photo from Guru Ram Das Ashram around 2001 (I'm 2nd from the right)
This photo from Guru Ram Das Ashram around 2001 (I’m 2nd from the right)

Does Social Emotional Learning Enhance Spiritual Growth?

So when I did my last business planning session, I looked long and hard at the direction for my business.  Everything seems to be going online, but was this the right focus for Young Yoga Masters training? Participants receive over 600 pages of printed manuals when they take the 95 Hour Kids Yoga Teacher Training with Young Yoga Masters. It would be possible to turn this material into online courses. Was this the right direction for the training right now?

After much thought, I chose to focus on building community through live training.  I want to pour my energy into powerful, community centered learning opportunities for kids yoga teachers.  I love being with aspiring teachers who care about Kids Yoga the way I do.  I like that we spend time together in a social environment that nurtures growth and community.

Social Emotional Learning 2.0

I feel my penchant for in-person training has helped me understand Social Emotional Learning (SEL) more deeply.

SEL is needed because as our time spent on screens goes up, our time spent in community goes down.

Social and Emotional Learning needs to happen in a social environment.  Live events, meeting cool people, getting challenged by others, puts you in the best position to grow.

Just like how in kids yoga, the games are as much social and emotional as they are physical.

Learning, live and in person, gives you a depth of training that printed and online training can’t match. You engage with mentors, you get exposed to various teaching methodologies, you get to ask questions, and you get asked questions.

During the practicum you interact socially and emotionally with actual children. You learn what works and what to do when things don’t go as planned.

You grow!

Social Emotional Learning with a Yoga Twist

And perhaps most important, in the case of our Kids Yoga Teacher Training, all of this is supported by the wisdom of yoga and meditation.

You learn about kids yoga and you learn about yourself as a social and emotional being.

You get professional growth and personal growth.

Training with others is a social and emotional learning experience that enhances your growth as a yogi.

I’m always super excited before a training weekend or 12 day intensive because it’s a return to the joy and the challenges I felt living in the ashram, the joy and challenges of spiritual community.

My aim is to  create this opportunity with each community that forms in our training.

There will be times when you are challenged because you have left your comfort zone. However, this challenge may give you the best opportunity for spiritual growth. This may be the fastest way to grow as a kids yoga teacher and a yogi.

Social and emotional learning is an essential part of every kids yoga teachers journey.

Filed Under: Character Development, Inspiration, Kids Yoga, Teacher Training Tagged With: children's yoga, continuing education, kids yoga teacher training

Give Your Creativity Free Reign

Give yoru creativity free reign as a kids yoga teacher

The holiday season is officially over.  Gosh, how I enjoyed this break!  It’s so cold outside, I just love being holed up in my cozy attic and giving my creativity free reign in my bullet journal, vision boards and dreaming about all the things I want to do in 2018 and beyond.

Have you been doing any dreaming and planning for the year ahead?

I’m a firm believer in conscious planning for the future because most of my major accomplishments have started as notes in my journal.  As far as I’m concerned, creativity is king in visioning.  Its a key step to setting my intentions and goals, especially for my business.

Here’s the process that has helped me add a touch of magic to my planning.

Steps for Setting Intentions and Goals

My first step is always looking at what I intend to get done this year.  For example, in 2018 I see three major projects on my horizon:

  • Update our Kids Yoga Teacher Training
    (RCYS – Registered Children’s Yoga School)
  • Grow Ambassador Yoga Train-the-Trainer
    (200 Hour RYS – Registered Yoga School)
  • Mentor New Trainers for both my Yoga Training Schools

Right now my top priority is the first one, the update.

yoga teacher vision board business planning
Letting Ideas Flow on a Vision Board I created one night just doodling and writing what I want for the year ahead.  Now it’s taped on my wall to remind me of what I want.

 

Write Down What You Know for Sure

Some of my intentions are foggy and unclear but there are always a few things I know for sure.  I recommend acknowledging the things you know for sure, because this action can help the other elements come into focus.

In the case of my RCYS update, I know a few things for sure, things I’ve learned since starting the RCYS in 2012.  So I randomly listed all the things I’d like to change, add, reorganize, delete, and research in my journal.  I just let it come out in any order, I will organize it later.

I capture my initial ideas a couple ways:

  • Journals: I’m currently using a bullet journal but any journal will do,
  • Trello is an online tool to organize tasks and ideas.  I have Trello on my computer. On my phone I use the Trello App to capture my ideas. Trello is free, and here is my affiliate link if you want to check it out.
bullet journal for yoga teacher to track habits
Here’s a page from my bullet journal that I use to track personal habits I know for sure I want to encourage in my life.

 

Put Everything on the Table and Design Your Destiny

I also recommend you put everything on the table to examine and make sure it is something you still choose to pursue.

Have you ever done this when you clean out your handbag?  Just empty everything on the table and then decide what you really want to put back in again.

In the case of visioning the RCYS update, I even put whether to stay with Yoga Alliance on the table. This decision wasn’t hard because I feel the Yoga Alliance Standards have made my training more thorough, complete, and professional.

Affirming my connection with Yoga Alliance led to this vision board, a playful way to review the Standards for a RCYS for the update.  I like to get the most out of life by enjoying my work and vision boards do it for me.

Registered Childrens yoga school standards and educational categories of learning for Yoga Alliance Certification
It’s important to me that our RCYS is in integrity with the YA standards, educational categories, and provides proper contact hours and non-contact hours allowed in each training.

 

Give Your Creativity Free Reign

The next part is the hardest part for me because I’m tempted to jump into planning mode.  Yet visioning requires lots and lots of time for new ideas.  This is time to let your imagination run wild and to slow down, to meditate, be still, get creative, and listen.

Continue using your journal, post it notes for ideas, tidy, clear out the old and create space for the new.

Try to resist the urge to do final planning, you still need a creative incubation period.

 

Organize Your Plan into a Vision

For my update it took a couple months for a new direction to came into focus.  It took a month longer than I thought it would take.

I just hit this phase last week, but the creative space allowed me to get really clear on what I want for the update.  These ideas sprung from the synergy of all the other steps and activities. If I started planning earlier it would have felt like work, and the result would be quite different than the ideas I have now.

I know I am ready to start my final update because I feel really happy and excited about the new ideas.

Your Vision is a Priceless Treasure

Visioning for your future is a priceless treasure, without your own vision you are borrowing from other people’s treasure, living a vision someone else created.

The New Year coincides with a slowdown in my business so it is a great time for me to work on my vision.  Visioning is best done all year long, even though it is hard to find the time, its something you don’t want to ignore.

If this New Year gives you the feeling to look at your vision for your life, or your yoga classes, or family planning, or other business, consider that there is no better time to start then right now.  The process can take weeks, months, and sometimes years to get excited about.

However setting your own vision is one of the most important things you can do to love and care for yourself.

It can also be wildly creative and what better way to live then letting your creativity reign free for a while.

Happy New Year and New Planning to you!

 

Aruna

Young Yoga Masters

 

Upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Training Courses and Dates in Toronto at this link
Our next Kids Yoga Teacher Training starts soon!

Filed Under: Business Development, Character Development, Inspiration, Kids Yoga Tagged With: business, business development, business side of yoga, vision board

What Great Kids Yoga Plans Do You Have This Summer?

I’m away from home and I’ve been thinking about a family of swans I stumbled across a couple of weeks ago while I was out for a walk.

I just finished teaching a full week of the 95 hour kids yoga teacher certification in New Orleans and I’ve got one more week left. Then I’ll be back home preparing to deliver the 95 hour summer certification in Burlington, Ontario.

yoga swan building nest
Hard at work preparing family home!

Before I left for New Orleans I went for a walk along the lake shore of my hometown and to my utter delight, right smack in the middle of the marina along the pedestrian path, was a swan family building a giant nest!

Mama and Papa swan were hard at work piling branch upon branch making a home for three big eggs. The swans barely noticed us nosey human beings gathering around them (at a distance) pointing and giggling and taking photos. The majestic birds just focused on their nest building preparing to incubate their eggs and expand their family.

The swan is one of the most important symbolic creatures in all of yoga. It represents the breath and the connection of the finite to the Infinite. The symbolic swan can take us from our tiny individual self to our expansive higher Self.

In Sanskrit, a swan is called a hamsa and an accomplished yogi is called a paramahamsa (meaning transcendent swan). A yogi is one who gracefully glides across the ocean of life to liberation from time and space.

In other words, just like the swans I came across along the city lakeshore, being a yogic swan means living in the world with homes and traffic and humans side by side (all that stuff that can sometimes rub us the wrong way) while remaining cheerful and energized and focused on expanding ourselves.

yoga swan incubating eggs
The nest is built and the incubating has begun!

Since swans incubate their eggs for about forty days I’m hoping I’ll get to witness those swan eggs hatch into baby cygnets when I return to Canada to begin the kids yoga teacher training in Burlington. That would be a great summer treat!

That got me wondering, what yoga plans do you have hatching this summer?

If you’ve been incubating the idea of becoming a kids yoga teacher then the Burlington 95 hour, 12 day certification which starts July 23 is a great way to get certified within two weeks. You still have time to take advantage of the early registration discount. The early registration deadline is approaching fast on June 30, 2017.

If you’re already a kids yoga teacher then I’ve got some links below to some earlier posts with ideas for the summer.

I hope you hatch something wonderful this summer!

  • Already a kids yoga teacher? Here 5 yoga ideas for the end of the school year.
  • Here are 8 Helpful Hints things kids yoga teachers can do in the summer.
  • Summer can bring all kinds of volunteer opportunities for kids yoga teachers. I recently received a question from a past grad asking about when to volunteer and when to charge. Here is a blog post I wrote about that very topic.
  • Some kids yoga teachers might still question their legitimacy. Here’s an article about risks and rewards of kids yoga teaching and using a mandala meditation to get clarity around that.
  • And finally if you’re new to kids yoga teacher training here is an article explaining the different levels of certification.

Filed Under: Character Development, Inspiration, Kids Yoga, Meditation with Children, Teacher Training Tagged With: children's yoga, continuing education, Kids Yoga, kids yoga teacher training, yoga in school, Yogic lifestyle

6 Strategies to Protect Children From Troubling Times

Toddler holding American flag

Protect Children Through Troubling Times

Children are like sponges, absorbing the energy around them. Once they’ve internalized their environment they begin to reflect it back outward. They may not know why they feel afraid or even that what they are feeling is fear. It’s up to us adults to protect kids by creating a healthy emotional environment for them.

In times of emotional distress, how can we make ourselves and the children around us feel safe and grounded? The key is to give ourselves some perspective and a few messages of hope. Here are 6 strategies for feeling grounded again:

  1. Practice mindfulness – take a few slow, relaxing breaths and bring yourself into the present moment. Remind yourself, in this moment, in your own home, you are safe. This will help you release fear of catastrophes that are formulating in your mind. Follow up with yoga and meditation to refocus your mind in a healthy way.
  2. Acknowledge life is not always easy – There may be very difficult times ahead and the only way to get through them is to keep grounded, strong and healthy to do the important work ahead. I moved through my pain and disbelief by talking it through with friends. These like-minded people helped to remind me that life may not be easy but having the support of others makes getting through the hard times easier. No matter our distress, finding positive minded individuals can get us through it.Silhouette of woman holding up baby
  3. Focus on personal or family goals – Our path doesn’t always move forward in a straight line. Sometimes things drift too far left and other times too far right. They may even seem to be going backward at times. It’s our job to ensure we keep moving towards our goals and well-being regardless of the detour the world throws at us. The world will come around to join us eventually.
  4. Focus on personal values – Ask yourself “What’s important for me and my family? What do I hold dear?” Don’t let your values go out the window when times are tough. Hold on to them because they will be your guide and anchor during the hard times. Those with strong values guide others who are feeling lost. It’s during troubling times more than ever that it’s important to have leaders who remain focused on their true values.
  5. Conserve your mental energy – Limit the amount of time you read or watch news. A continual barrage of bad news or dismal forecasts can be mentally exhausting. Just like the student in the story of the empty cup, once your mind is full of unhealthy ideas there is no room left for healthy ideas. Save your energy to tend to your well-being. Don’t spend it on fear and worry.
  6. Take action – Sometimes the only thing that helps is doing something concrete. Honor your feelings. Sometimes even anger and fear can spark positive action. Focus on clear and easy things you can do. Donate to a cause. Volunteer to help a group in need. Bring yoga and meditation to those in distress. Teach children why you hold your values so dearly. Or choose to not add to the doom and gloom, especially when children are around.

Circle of hand holding of various skin shadesAccepting Disagreement

Yogi Bhajan had a saying, “If you don’t see God in all, you don’t see God at all.” This is a reminder that everyone is different and they have their own lived experience. Yes, there are terrible people in the world and we should not give terrible people a free pass to do terrible things. But not everyone we disagree with is a terrible person.

We can use the tools of mindfulness, awareness and yoga to continue to work together to make the world better for each other and for all our children, even in troubling times.

Now Your Turn… Share Your Strategies

Have you found strategies for keeping centered during times of stress? Do you need suggestions?

You can share your ideas in the comments. Let’s come back to these when we need them!

Other News

Link here for Kids Yoga Teacher Training courses in Toronto Ontario Canada new orleans USA If you’d like to fill your cup with more yoga and meditation tools and resources visit the Upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Training Courses page.

Filed Under: Character Development, Inspiration, Kids Yoga Tagged With: character development, news, relaxation, stress management, Yogic lifestyle

5 Ideas for End of School Year Kids Yoga

“You’re not going yet!?”

Right after we do yoga breathing at the beginning of my toddler class, on three year old exclaims, “You’re not going yet!?”

Because we do yoga breathing at the end of class too, she sometimes things we’re coming to a close.  She doesn’t like to say good-bye and I have to admit, especially as we’re drawing to the end of another school year, I can relate!

Yoga in the Classroom

I’ve written before about the sadness I experience as a teacher at the end of the school year. I’ve done yoga with kids from their diaper days, to seeing the big gap in their front teeth,  to them transforming into adults.  If you’ve ever got the privilege to teach in the same school long term, you know what its like. Relationships form, we make connections that light us up when we see the kids in our classes.

A six year old student that I’ve taught since she was two years old was in the hospital with pneumonia this winter, we didn’t know if she would make it, she was very sick.  Thank God she returned, much tinier, after missing three weeks of school. Now she’ll be moving on to grade one. Simply put, I love her. But from past experience I’ve seen that for most kids, the last class is no big deal. They’re thinking more about summer holidays, swimming, or learning to ride a bike.

Its me who’s silently saying, “You’re not going yet!?”

Fortunately we have many powerful yoga teachings about attachment to help us let go and move on.  The good news is they work equally well for children and teachers.

5 Ideas for End of School Year Yoga

Idea 1: Normalize The Process:

In yoga, the Hindu philosophy explains the cycle of Brahma (Creator), Vishnu (Sustainor), Shiva (Destroyer).  In Kundalini Yoga we say Sa (Universe) Ta (Life) Na (Death) Ma (Rebirth). In Christianity, Christ died so there could be a resurrection of new life. So many spiritual practices point to teachings on the cycle of life: Endings lead to new beginnings.

In my end of year classes I try to bring this to life with a theme about cycles. Consider using these yoga flows:

  • Growth Cycle: start with a seed (child pose), become a sprout (kneeling with upward hands) then grow up to a plant (mountain pose), the plant creates a flower (standing with upward hands), the flower blossoms and dies (downward dog) which plants a new seed (child pose).
  • The Seasons (warm-up first):  Spring (half-wheel/bridge lifts – inhale up, exhale down), summer (from corpse pose come to legs up to 90 degrees or shoulder stand), fall (plow pose), winter (corpse pose).
  • Meditation for Change: If thoughts go to sadness about losing someone, use the “Sa Ta Na Ma” meditation to refocus your mind during these times.  Here’s a link to how the Kirtan Kriya Meditation is done.  I regularly do this meditation for about six minutes with children. 

    Saying Good-bye lets us practice Non-Attachment.

Idea 2: Take Care of Unfinished Business

This may be the last time you will see some of the kids so if there is anything you want to share, now is the time.  Yogi Bhajan said “I did not come to collect students, but to train teachers.”  As teachers we want to build students to be ten times as powerful as ourselves.  I think about how I can make these children ten times more powerful than I am!  That’s how I will know I’ve done a good job. The wheels start turning in their young minds when they hear my last instruction to go and teach what they’ve learned.  They sit up a little taller and consider who they can teach yoga to. Now their yoga practice doesn’t have to end when my classes end.

Idea 3: Gratitude Circle

Etch out some circle time for each person to say what they are grateful for about yoga and each other.  An attitude of gratitude helps us remember all we have instead of crying about what we don’t have.

Idea 4: Make a Wish and Let It Go

When the three year old I mentioned says “You’re not going yet!?”  at the beginning of class, we make a wish and then let it go.  Consider giving kids their wish emotionally, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could do yoga together all day.  That would be so fun, wouldn’t it?”  I recommend you DON’T finish it with, “But we can’t do that” or some other negation of the wish.  Just make the wish and let go of it.

Then move on to thoughts of all the fun things planned for the class, “Now we’ve got our warm-up song, our yoga poses, downward dog, cobra pose… and our meditation. Wow, we’ve got a lot to do together!”

I’ve done this for three or four weeks with my little friend and she smiles and gets ready for yoga.  By the end of the class she’s satisfied that we’ve completed our routine.When I feel sad, I make a silent wish for the children I’m going to miss, a wish for them to have a happy and healthy future.

Idea 5: Choose Your Favorite Yoga Poses for Yoga at Home

Since the kids have done yoga all year, they know a lot.  For the last class try invite each child to name their favorite place to do yoga at home.  Then go on to have them teach each other their favorite yoga pose.

Children will get a mental picture of their home practice, bringing them one step closer to actually doing yoga at home.  Plus it’s fun to hear poses like – upside down on the couch pose or TV watching cobra pose.

You probably won’t be able to do all these in your last class.  But you may pick and choose a few of these ideas to make a smooth transition at the end of the school year.

Am I the only sentimental yoga teacher out there?

I doubt it.  I’ve met enough yoga teachers to know how open-hearted most of us are.  Have you ever grown attached to your students?  What are you going to miss about them?  Feel free to share your memories, your wishes, or your own tips in the comments because sharing is a great way of processing our feelings and letting go of attachments.

I wish for all of you a smooth transition and a wonderful summer!

 

 

“You’re not going yet!?”

There’s a three year old girl who right after we do our yoga breathing at the beginning of  class emphasizes, “You’re not going yet!?”   She doesn’t like to say good-bye and I have to admit, especially as we’re drawing to the close of another school year, I can relate!

“You’re not going yet!?”

There’s a three year old girl who right after we do our yoga breathing at the beginning of  class emphasizes, “You’re not going yet!?”   She doesn’t like to say good-bye and I have to admit, especially as we’re drawing to the close of another school year, I can relate!

“You’re not going yet!?”

There’s a three year old girl who right after we do our yoga breathing at the beginning of  class emphasizes, “You’re not going yet!?”   She doesn’t like to say good-bye and I have to admit, especially as we’re drawing to the close of another school year, I can relate!

Filed Under: Character Development, Kids Yoga, Lesson Plans Tagged With: lesson plans, non-attachment, schools, themes, yoga in school, yoga poses

Exploring Kids Brains On Yoga

In the first post on kids’ brains on yoga we saw how the three E’s, Exploring, Energizing, and Engaging help develop healthy brains.  This post looks more deeply at the importance of the first E: Exploring.

How Exploring Builds Better Brains

In our mother’s womb, sixteen weeks after conception, our brains start receiving signals from our ears. This experience of sound begins a life long bombardment of stimulation from the senses to the brain. When we are thrust into the light of day our baby brains are flooded with all the senses: sounds, sights, smells, tastes and touch.

Our baby brains begin organizing neurons to understand this onslaught of sensation. Making sense of our senses becomes a life long project we undergo as infants, toddlers, kids and eventually  as yoga teachers.

As we age we experience ourselves as a “self” exploring a physical world; a self that faces the ultimate questions of life. Who am I? Where am I? What can I do? Modern brain scanning techniques reveal our brains take a starring role in our exploration of the world.  These brain scans also reveal Exploring builds better brains.

Three Ways to Encourage Exploring with Kids Yoga

Kids engage in exploring when they interact with their environment in new and novel ways that pushes their physical, mental and emotional boundaries. Through exploration kids push their brains to develop new connections and learn new skills.

You can foster healthy brain development by providing good exploring activities for kids:

  • Moving the body–  Teaching big movements that involve the entire body and small movements that involve just parts of the body.  Kids Yoga: try a rocket ship launch – start in a squat position and use your fingers to do a countdown from ten to one (small movements) then stand up slowly like a rocket ship launching and flying to the moon (large movements).

    Explore Music in Yoga – Try a Singing Bowl
  • Handling physical objects – Teaching the handling of age appropriate toys, props and musical instruments.  Kids Yoga:  Introducing a Singing Bowl during class is a fun way for children learn to play it, while the other children watch and learn how to play and listen for the sound of the bowl singing.
  • Interacting with others– Teaching singing, dancing, game playing  and partner yoga.  Kids Yoga:  consider partner yoga bicycle legs (see picture).  For toddlers try adult/child partner yoga, with the adult moving a child’s legs like they are riding a bicycle.  Then switch and let the toddlers grab the adult’s feet while they slowly bicycle.

    Partner Yoga – Bicycle Legs

In the Young Yoga Masters kids yoga teacher training we emphasize choosing postures and activities appropriate for the age group. Remember for toddlers merely standing up is a balancing posture.

Exploring Develops Confidence

When kids Explore they not only develop problem solving skills and motor skills they also develop emotional strength in the face of hardship. Kids faced with a hard task or a complex movement will struggle and learn to deal with struggling.

Kids’ yoga teachers need to be keenly aware that stress can be devastating for children; nevertheless, they shouldn’t be too quick to help a struggling child. Struggle in the right doses helps kids go from not being able to do something to being able to do it easily. We don’t want to deny kids this lesson as it is one they will benefit from for their entire lives. Ziggy Marley and Paul Simon explain it perfectly in song, “Walk tall, walk tall, even if you fall get up.”

In encouraging kids to Explore kids yoga teachers foster problem solving and perseverance in the face of obstacles. Kids become stronger and smarter in a fun, playful and safe environment. Who could ask for anything more?

For a great resource on kids brain development take a look at the Baby Brain Map on the Zero To Three Website.

Written by: Aruna Kathy Humphrys and Hrishikesh Singh

Upcoming Events:  Don’t Miss Out!

People are registering for the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training from all over the world.  Summer is a great time to visit Ontario, Canada and upgrade your skills.  Please check out the link or contact me for information on our six certificate weekend trainings and Registered Children’s Yoga School with Yoga Alliance.

You can bring Yoga Yoga Masters to your area – This training is like no other!   Contact [email protected] to discover the delightful world of kids yoga and become a kids yoga teacher.

Filed Under: Character Development, Kids Yoga Tagged With: brain development, health, Kids Yoga, lesson plans, news

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