Classroom Management

These Powerful Questions Work Really Well in Kids Yoga

This summer I decided to put away my phone, take a social media hiatus, and go on some self-paced retreats. These have really helped me enter relaxation mode and it feels amazing.

Last month, we were lucky enough to book an Ontario Provincial Park campsite. The fire pit on this site faced a grove of trees that felt like a magical forest.

I set up my camp chair to face this forest and it became my spot to sit, watch, listen, breathe, meditate. I watched trees transformed by sunlight, observed mist weave through trunks and ground cover, and followed birds hunting and pecking for food.

This Rose-breasted Grossbeak hopped right in front of me during tea time.

I spotted 3 kinds of woodpeckers (pileated, red bellied, flicker) and a grossbeak too! Some of these birds stayed amongst the low branches, while others lived in the treetops, making only brief appearances.

Every time I looked into this magical forest, I felt tension draining out of my entire being.

A few friends visited us and I watched them sit in my meditation spot looking at their phones. I tried joking about the world wide web made by the Daddy Long-leg spiders, and encouraged them to look for rare forest birds. But for some, the pull of the phone was just too strong.

We struck up a lot of good conversations in front of that forest, getting to hear how everyone managed during the pandemic. Each person had a unique story.

One dear friend expressed a difficulty reconnecting with others because it seemed as if people had lost their conversation skills and their curiosity about others. She felt this made it hard to keep a conversation going.

Maybe people became accustomed to isolation? The instant gratification of scrolling, doesn’t require much curiosity. Maybe the lack of questions comes from a fear of crossing a line and asking something too personal?

I contemplated my own curiosity on my retreat. What did I want to find out next? What did I want to explore?

Connect with Kids by asking questions and listening to their answers to build trust in the class.

Encourage Self-Awareness and Confidence with Your Questions

Right now, there are places in the world where children are not allowed to question. Their curiosity is discouraged. I remembered my trip to the Himalayas where I saw young Tibetan monks debating each other on philosophy. Debating was part of the learning process.

I thought of my own experiences as a child and as a seeker, when questions were shrugged off with memorized answers, they weren’t really explored.

As I looked into the forest at a bird flitting from tree to tree, I thought about the value of curiosity for survival.

How I hope children will question what I teach them. I want them to learn through their own experience and understanding. I want their questions to mean I’m doing my job well!!!

And I want to be able to question freely too, without fear of being shut out of the yoga community or any community for that matter.

I also contemplated how questions help me teach a kids yoga class.

We had some wonderful family time during our time away and got to introduce our niece and nephew to camping. I love how curious children are when they explore nature and make new friends.

3 Questions to ask In Every Kids’ Yoga Class

There are 3 questions I ask in every single class in some form or another. Not only do I ask these questions in every class, I probably ask them multiple times, in different ways.

They are meant to help kids develop self-awareness, the habit of checking in with themselves and understanding themselves.

Here are my 3 questions.

Question 1: Is there anything you want to do to feel more comfort?

This question is the result of moving away from alignment-based teaching and towards functional and accessible movement. When I first started teaching, we were taught that the placement of the feet, knees, and arms was paramount.

Fortunately, I learned to shift and consider that each person has their own unique way to feel comfortable. This question helps children take ownership of their practice. It seems to help, one parents discovered her son practicing meditation in his bedroom because he was sad and wanted to feel better. Another child was found doing a yoga pose to help them concentrate while studying. The children learned to choose tools to feel better.

Warrior Pose Kids Yoga Teacher Certification Toronto Ontario Canada — During a Pose like Warrior Pose, check in with children and see how they can feel more comfort. They may switch arm or leg positions, or maybe even back up a bit, but when they are having fun, like in this practicum during the training, the kids usually want to be close!

What about you? Is there anything you want to do to feel more comfort? Try taking a deep breath and asking yourself if there anything you can do to tend to your needs in this moment. Then make any adjustment you want.

Question 2: What is your breath like?

I also ask different questions about the breath in class as well. Are you breathing or holding your breath? Is your breath relaxed? Can you keep breathing smoothly? Can you hear your breath? What temperature is your breath? When children bring awareness to the breath, we are doing yoga, no matter what the pose looks like.

a kids yoga teacher points to her nose as she takes a deep breath in and 4 kids follow along doing yoga breathing — Breathe In the Big Me is a Breathing Routine that Helps Kids Pay Attention to the Breath

3. Do you want a rest?

I ask this one after we’ve done a few yoga poses to help me pace the class.

As you may know from your own yoga practice, sometimes you string a few yoga poses together, then there are times when you rest in easy pose or child’s pose before doing the next pose. That’s what this question is about.

Kids often have a lot of energy and they don’t want to rest at first, so we’ll put a few poses together. Then after a while I’ll see their breath becoming more laboured, their arms hanging lower, or they come out of pose faster. That’s when I ask, “Do you want a rest?”

Sometimes everyone says no, sometimes yes, and sometimes there’s a mix. If they want a rest, they’ll watch for a bit, those that don’t, can join in right away.

The children learn that they can push themselves, knowing they can take a rest when they want to. Near the end of class, as I hear more yes answers, I start to wrap up the class with a, “Two more poses to the big rest.” The children know I never skip the big rest, so they put what energy they have into the last part and then we’ll rest for a short or long song, again giving children the choice to rest or do a meditation to the music.

relaxation during kids yoga class and kids yoga teacher training — Help children learn to wind down and relax with songs and meditations. We cover a lot of these in the Themes and Dreams Kids Yoga Teacher Certification

I’ve found these 3 questions extremely useful as a kids’ yoga teacher and I’m curious if you’ve tried them and how they work for you.

Please leave a comment or questions here.

poster for the Monthly free kids yoga teacher check-in with the course date and time and a frog cartoon doing tree pose on the side of the poster — Join us for the FREE: Monthly Kids Yoga Teacher Check-In. Click on the image to get the zoom link or watch the replay.

Ask Me Anything Check-In

In the spirit of curiosity, our Monthly Check-In for new and experienced Kids Yoga Teachers for July 2021 will be an Ask Me Anything session.

Some good questions came into my inbox while I was away, questions about insurance, waivers, and finding new business after moving. I’ll answer as many questions as I can and open up questions for your input, maybe even some debate.

In the small group breakout rooms, think of a question you’d like the other teachers you meet to answer. What would you like to find out about them in terms of kids’ yoga?

What will people want to know about you?

And a big shout out to all the teachers in these images from our Kids Yoga Teacher Training practicum classes. I hope to see you at the monthly check-in!!!

Try this One Minute Meditation to Breathe and Listen to the Forest is from the magical forest where I did my daily meditation.

Next month, I’ll be heading out for another self-paced retreat and hope to have more time to look into the forest and wonder.

How to Spot the the Signs of Trauma

Recognizing the Signs of Trauma, Anxiety, and Stress

In the Monthly Kids Yoga Teacher Check-In we look at some of the signs of Trauma and how to help children and teachers relax.

In all honesty, this topic is my own request. I know I need help.

When my presentation at the Kids Yoga Conference and live teacher training were completed at the beginning of this month, I felt exhausted.

Since March of 2020, when COVID hit with the first lock-down, it’s felt like non-stop work:

First there was moving the training online and all the work that took,

Add in the murder of George Floyd that we all witnessed and the long overdue focus on racism in our police forces, institutions, and social constructs,

Add in revelations of gross misconduct and abuse by the “Master” teacher of the yoga that I practice,

Add in lock-downs, lack of contact with my support network, not to mention fear of catching a deadly virus!

And, I understand that this pandemic has been much harder for many people for so many other reasons.

I Couldn’t Slow Down

May of 2021 was my first chance to take a long break since everything began. I planned a week off work but I couldn’t stop working! Checking emails, checking social media, reviewing spreadsheets, it was an addiction,

Slowing down wasn’t coming naturally,
I needed to make an effort to slow down.

Slowing down wasn’t coming naturally, I needed to make an effort to slow down. I took the Facebook app off my phone and made other moves to help me unplug. I got help with my business. I stepped away from my computer.

For a few days I mostly slept, watched TV, and went for walks. Eventually I had some energy for restorative yoga.

Then I pulled out my ukulele and started playing again. My fingers burned from lack of practice but it felt good to sing and strum.

I started playing ukulele in my classes with just 3 chord songs!
(This picture is from 2013)

Then one day, for no particular reason, I had a good cry, a big release of pent up energy. I had a good talk with a loved one about it, and after that it felt a lot easier to relax.

Spotting the Signs of Trauma

When there is a traumatic event, like the pandemic, we may need to just push through to survive. When we move out of the the trauma, we can turn an eye towards addressing some of side effects, like these symptoms of post-traumatic stress:

feelings of hopelessness,
difficulty maintaining relationships,
losing interest in activities you once enjoyed,
difficulty feeling positive emotions/feeling numb,
trouble sleeping,
trouble concentrating,
and more

For many, yoga and relaxation creates a space to process these feelings and reconnect. But they may not work for everyone, and each person needs to find their own helpful tools.

I’m not an expert in trauma, I recommend consulting those who know much more about this topic than me. I’ve listed some resources at the end.

This stressful, exhausting year has resulted in trauma for children and for Teachers

I wish I had a magic wand that would help everyone through it, but I’m still figuring it out myself.

One thing I do know, you need to be extra kind and compassionate with yourself during this time. To check-in with yourself and with the kids around you and look for the symptoms of trauma that may be present.

Then try something, anything, to help yourself.

Maybe its showing up to the Monthly Check-In to connect with others, maybe its something else.

My wish is that you know you are not alone and that people care.

The Monthly Check-In Question:

What yoga tools help you relax?

How do you help kids relax with yoga?

Personally I’m indulging in restorative yoga. For me, it’s a delicious rest, though I start off feeling the challenge of settling down and stop doing, doing, doing. I feel restless at first, then usually about 10 minutes into it, I deeply relax.

I did a class yesterday with a 25 minute supported savasana (all in silence) that was very refreshing.

It reminds me of when I worked in a daycare in the nap room. Kids just don’t fall asleep right away, each child had their own routine to help them. Sometimes rubbing a back, sometimes tucking in a blanket tight, and sometimes a favourite toy. Then eventually kids would settle into deep rest.

So whatever works for you – do it! No judgement here.

Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time watching the hockey playoffs. It has absolutely has nothing to do with yoga but takes my mind off of everything.

Whatever it takes to help you make it to the days when we can be with our loved ones again!

Just do what you can to make it through to the times when you can be together with loved ones. (I want to get photo-bombed again! Like in this picture from training in Nanaimo, BC, 2018)

Mental Health is Health

If you have any suggestions for relaxing, come out on Saturday or leave a comment. After the Monthly Check-In, you can get the replay here.

Here are some resources for mental health that you may find useful:

Coping with COVID-19 Mental Health Resources
Free Online Therapy Resource for Ontario Residents
Other Healthy Ways to Cope with Stress

Teaching Yoga to Boys

What happens when you are used to teaching one age group, then get a class with a whole new demographic?

I got a letter about this from Jeri Cresson, a Graduate of our 95 Hour Training. In it, she shares what happened when she taught her first group of boys.

Dear Young Yoga Masters,

Over the past few years, since my training at Young Yoga Masters, I have been working exclusively with the preschool age group. I’ve used your methods, frog yoga cards, themes, and games to develop an effective and engaging program at our Dojo.

We’ve created structure and focus to the practice of our littlest ones, helping them become quiet and still. They learned to alternate, at will, between wild playful abandon to quiet stillness, cooperation, focus, and attention. They began recognizing cues for when each was most appropriate.

It is sacred, glorious PLAY!

Learning to Teach Kids Yoga to a New Age Demographic

the cover of the inclusive yoga module of the kids yoga teacher training shows a superhero male yogi on a rocketship doing the cobra ygoa pose — The Inclusive Yoga manual cover.

However, I found myself with the opportunity to use my training with a new group of boys, in the 7-9 age group. I was afraid that I might not be able to transition from the younger age group to this one. I didn’t need to worry, as it turned out.

I cracked open the Inclusive Yoga manual and tried the Yoga Man vs. The Stressor activities. The Universal truths contained within them just flowed naturally – and suddenly, the sun salutation that started as rote memorization turned into a meaningful sequence.

The “why” dawned on me, as I was (with trepidation and anxiety) pouring over the what and how.

It was triggered when I reviewed how to introduce the breath – breathing in the Big Me, breathing out the Little Me. And I mentally added to help me realize: Breathing out the little ol’ me.

Deepening My Understanding of the Breath

I realized these 4 parts of breath:

Observing Stillness, in intentional solitude and contemplation, is a normal, still, but a conscious breath,
The Breathing in of Prana -the secret power of everything – that which is infinite and Universal,
The breathing out of the little me – is what I can personally choose to do to take action with the energy and power that I have been given,
and finally, a silent contemplative suspension of breath, feeling, experiencing gratitude, and taking inventory during rest before beginning the entire cycle over again.

a kids yoga teacher uses her whole body to demonstrate yoga breathing, with her fingers beside her nose to give kids a visual cue to breathe through the nose — Breathe in the Big Me, Breathe out the Little Me: Use your fingers beside your nose to help the visual learners remember to breathe through the nose.

From an Ordinary Person to a Hero!

“I realized that Yoga Man was once, just an ordinary person, just like me. But he learned how to harness the power of breath…”

I realized that Yoga Man was once, just an ordinary person, just like me. But he learned how to harness the power of breath, intention, focus, action, rest and reflection to outwit and outmaneuver The Stressor at every turn!

Each day he trained with this secret weapon so his powers grew. He became so strong he could leap over obstacles, dodge danger, and even rescue others – almost effortlessly.

In class we reviewed the yoga sequence, practiced with breath, and used the Yoga Man stories about the secret powers he can use when confronted with problems and challenges. Then we played a game of throwing stars.

Taking an Intentional Breath for Focus

a yoga superhero doing yoga cobra pose to help boys like yoga using images they enjoy — Yoga Man – the Yoga Super Hero doing cobra pose

Without any cues or prompting I noticed students stopping to take aim, taking an intentional breath, and then exhaling automatically with the exertion of their throw. When they did this, they were more accurate and more powerful.

Then they realized how much the breath helped.

It was magical. They were genuinely filled with glee, realizing that they, like Yoga Man, could harness the secret weapon of Breath.

Class ended with an age-appropriate, short savasana, then they joked around, touselling each other, as boys will do, each talking excitedly about how they were going to try out some “Breath Power” on something or another.

And their moms, clad in their own yoga clothing smiled, knowingly, checking that one task, “Get my boy to settle down and breathe” off the list.

Best,

Jeri Creson

Program Director – The Dojo Covington
Covington, LA, USA

New Orleans Kids Yoga Teacher Graduating Class of 2017 — Jerri (2nd from right) graduated from the 95 Hour Training in 2017

Try the Sun Salutation for Boys

Yoga Man uses breath to stay calm when facing The Stressor. I created The Yoga Man Training download and added it to the Inclusive Yoga Module because too many boys, including my three nephews, thought yoga was something their mom’s do.

Getting boys involved took some thought to get boys to participate. I even got two of my nephews to be my models in this video. The other nephew did the original drawings that eventually got digitized in Yoga Man!

Yoga Man does the Sun Salutation.

We are at Kilbear Provincial Park, in Ontario, Canada.

Check your volume and press play to bring yoga to your children!

How to Become A Kids Yoga Teacher Free Video Training Webinar

We had wonderful participation in the free webinar video training over the weekend.

I want to thank everyone for your great questions and feedback. We met, we talked, we learned a lot about becoming a kids yoga teacher. I appreciate all the questions sent in to make the webinar so informative and interesting.

Here are just a few questions that were answered:

What does it take to become a kids yoga teacher?
What is different about the 95 Hour Training compared to the 25 hour training I took?
How do you make the kids pay attention?
If you could have only 3 props in your kids class, what would they be?

We covered so many subjects for those new to kids yoga and for teachers looking for fresh ideas.

In addition to these questions, we answered a whole bunch of important questions by participants. For all those who want to know the ins and outs of getting trained as a kids yoga teacher, this is an excellent resource. If you weren’t able to attend the webinar live, the recording is below along with all the links mentioned in the webinar.

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Kids Yoga Teacher Training Resources Links

During the webinar I talked about some wonderful resources so here is a list of them:

July 14 – 26, 2019

Summer Certification in Burlington, Ontario
Come get your 95 Hour Certificate (or as many modules as you want to attend) by the shores of Lake Ontario this summer.
Summer Certification Details and Registration Costs Here

March 29-31
Toronto Yoga Show – Free Tickets to Show
Visit A Children’s Yoga Network Booth 526 at The Toronto Yoga Show
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Get Free Tickets to the Show on our Facebook Page

April 14-16
Kundalini Yoga Spring Getaway – An Amazing Yoga Weekend for Adults
Immerse yourself in a weekend to enhance your personal practice and see what a difference it makes in your teaching!
Register for the Spring Getaway Here

4 Keys to Teaching Literacy and Language with the Yoga Alphabet

When I introduce the Frog Yoga Alphabet resources to participants Yoga Literacy Certificate of the kids yoga teacher training, I emphasize that the alphabet letters make words, words make sentences and sentences make stories. It’s good thing to remember because it reveals the importance of letter learning but also reminds us that the yoga alphabet can be used in so many more ways than just learning letters.

Since we offer a Yoga Literacy Certificate and I looked into the latest research around teaching literacy. With that in mind here are some interesting findings which speak to the idea that letters make words and words make stories. Here are 4 keys to teaching literacy to young learners:

1. A Letter a Day is Better than a Letter a Week

When introducing the alphabet, rather than presenting a letter a week, Ray Reutzel in his paper Early Literacy Research: Findings Primary‐Grade Teachers Will Want to Know points out it is more effective to introduce a letter every day and then cycle through the alphabet after that. When cycling back, give more attention to more difficult letters:

…this protocol calls for teachers to introduce a new letter or set of letters each day in multiple cycles of repeated practice. Over time, as the easier letters are mastered, teachers adjust the instruction through pacing and frequency of exposure. All letters are taught explicitly at least once. However, those letters that are harder for children to learn receive more attention and practice.

2. Six Ways Kids Learn Letters More Easily and Quickly

In the same paper above, Reutzel also identified six learning orders in which children learn the alphabet letters and sounds:

Own-name effect – Young children most easily and quickly learn the letters found in their given or first names.
Alphabetic-order effect– Letters at the beginning or end of the alphabet are learned more quickly and easily than those letters ordered in the middle of the alphabet
Letter-frequency effect – The more frequently exposed letters are in printed materials, the more quickly and easily they are learned
Letter-name pronunciation effect – Occurs when a letter’s sound is heard as the letter’s name is pronounced.
Consonant phoneme acquisition order effect – That young children learn consonant letters’ names and sounds easier when they are mastered earlier in children’s oral language development
Distinctive visual features letter-writing effect – The letters of the alphabet are recognized through detection of a smaller set of distinctive visual features. Teaching students to fluently produce this smaller set of distinctive visual features before teaching them how to write all of the alphabet letters has been found to lead to quicker mastery of letter transcription.

3. Self Regulation Helps Literacy

We know that one of the aims of yoga and meditation is improving self-regulation. A recent study from Michigan State University found that literacy learning improves when combined with activities that improve self regulation. Lead researcher Lori Skibbe says :

Parents need to be aware of how their children can regulate their own behavior based on what’s going on around them. Parents can structure their home environment and routines in ways that support children,” Skibbe said. A full night of sleep, playing games with children and having time without distractions in the background are things you might not think help language and literacy development, but they do.”

4. Kindergarten Language Skills Are Good Predictors of Future Proficiency in Other Subjects

We know that teaching literacy is the foundation of building language skills in children but research from University of Washington found that a child’s language skills in kindergarten predict his or her performance in other areas, including math, reading and social and emotional learning later into their education. Amy Pace, an assistant professor in the UW Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences and member of the team that conducting the study found:

Researchers found that of the skills and milestones evaluated – social/emotional, attention, health, reading, math and language – only language skills, when a child entered school, predicted his or her performance both within that subject area and most others (math, reading and social skills) from first through fifth grade. Reading ability in kindergarten predicted reading, math and language skills later on; and math proficiency correlated with math and reading performance over time.

Yoga Literacy Certificate

If you’re interested in yoga tools that help teach literacy and language to kids, the Yoga Literacy Certificate is for you. It includes a lot more than just teaching kids yoga how to use the letters of the alphabet. It also includes partner poses, games and activities for early readers to teens and we take a look at ways of doing yoga with kids while having fun and staying safe. Plus, participants of the kids yoga training learn effective relaxation techniques that help calm kids.

Mindfulness for Teachers and Parents

How Not to Explode

Have you ever had one of those times when everything feels loud? There’s so much to do and no one is listening and all you really want is to hide in the bathroom, also because you haven’t had a chance to go to the bathroom after that big morning cup. What saves me (most of the time) from losing it in these moments is my mindfulness practice.

When I was invited to contribute to Mindfulness Month: Yoga for Kids and Families with a 5 minute video called How Not To Explode: 3 Mindful Tips to Help You When Your Fuse is Running Short (shared below), I got excited to talk about this wonderful practice because it has had such a positive impact on the way I teach and so many other parts of my life. This stuff makes a difference!

Make a Difference with Mindfulness

Parents and teachers, like you, make a difference in the lives of children every single day.

The harsh truth is that there are times when the difference we make is not the one we intended. Situations can get difficult and we lose patience and lash out at those we love. Instead of feeling better, we’re left feeling full of regret.

Those who embark on a mindfulness practice more easily identify the triggers that cause us to explode. With less explosions we become happier people. The added benefit is we also have more success teaching mindfulness to children because we will be teaching from a place of experience. Its hard to teach something you don’t actually practice yourself.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness can be practiced in many ways but always includes these two important aspects:

Mental Focus: paying attention,
Heartfelt Intention: kindness/openness/curiosity.

The founder of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) describes it this way in a Time Magazine article:

You could think of mindfulness as wise and affectionate attention.”

John Kabat-Zinn, Time Magazine, 2012

Evidence also shows that even a few weeks of a Mindful practice produces positive benefits.

Mindfulness Month with Young Yoga Masters Oct 7 — Mindfulness Month: Yoga for

How to Practice Mindfulness in Everyday Chores

So how do we “do” mindfulness? I started practicing Mindfulness with my everyday chores, beginning with a chore I really don’t like: washing the dishes.

This was inspired by a teaching story I heard about a seeker who wanted make a change so he went to serve in a Mindful community. He was told by the manager that he wasn’t yet ready to serve. “Well can’t I even wash the dishes?” the seeker protested. With kindness the manager asked him why he would wash the dishes. “Why? To get them clean of course.” The manager replied, “In our mindful community we don’t wash the dishes to get them clean. We wash the dishes to wash the dishes.”

Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hanh explains this subtle difference this way:

If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not “washing the dishes to wash the dishes.”

What’s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink.

If we can’t wash the dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future -and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness, 1975

Practicing mindfulness when washing dishes is a simple way to learn to find joy in a potentially not-so-joyful task. It prepares us to stay kind and curious in much harder times and avoid losing our cool.

Kids Yoga at a Community Centre where a Kids Yoga Teacher leads Meditaiton for Children — During the Practicum of our Kids Yoga Teacher Certification we introduce a Meditation to Children using a Mantra and Hand Movements to help Children Maintain Focus

How Not to Explode: 3 Mindful Tools to Help When Your Fuse is Running Short

Here are 3 Mindful tools that you can try, in any combination and order, to help put things in perspective when you are heading towards an explosion.

1. Acknowledge that You Don’t Want to Explode:

There comes a point when losing your cool starts to feel very ineffective. It doesn’t fix the situation, and most times it makes things worse. When I loose my cool and raise my voice at someone, I don’t feel better, I still feel upset and now I feel guilty too. Then I’m enticed into distraction by thinking how I was justified in blowing up at the person.

If instead I choose to stay present with the feeling of upset and guilt after losing my cool, it helps me recognize that I don’t want to explode like that because it does not work to bring the relief I sought. Acknowledging a true desire to change can bring relief. It helps me be kind to myself and find a better way to be kind to others as well.

So when you have lost your cool, try sitting with the negative effects. They could become the turning point towards a new response.

2. Get Curious About What You Are Feeling: Which is Often Anger

When I focus on what I am feeling before I explode I often find anger there. Anger happens when you are not getting what you want. Your desire has been obstructed and you’re tempted to bring in some dynamite to clear the path.

If my class is noisy and children are not listening no matter what I try, anger starts building in me. If I get curious about the actual cause, I may discover the problem is its so loud the kids cannot hear my instructions, or I realize I have a headache which causes the noise to be especially irritating. Getting curious about how you are feeling helps stop anger. You can’t be curious and angry at the same time.

When you acknowledge your own feelings you can respond in an appropriate way. Plus you model the proper way to handle anger for the little ones around you.

3. Practice a Mindful Moment:

Another mindful tool is the reality check, also known as bringing yourself into the present moment. Rather than flying off thinking this always happens or I’m never going to get a break, look around you and see if you are okay right now. It will be easier if you have already practiced, perhaps while washing the dishes. When I wash the dishes I feel the warm water and the dish in my hands, I see the colour of the bubbles and the sink, the plate, the wall, the counter. I smell the soap and breath easily.

In the classroom I bring myself into the present by looking at the room, what colour are the walls? What colour is the carpet? What else is going on with other children? Who is quiet? What sounds do I hear? What other sounds do I hear? Then I take a few deep breaths.

Usually by the end of this time my anger has subsided and an idea will come to me. Maybe I turn on music or stand up to turn off the lights or get myself a drink of water and take everyone for a water break. There is not one solution that will work in every moment because every moment is unique, but through Mindfulness, I have a better chance of finding what will work in THIS moment.

Mindfulness Month Video: How Not to Explode

Here’s me at a place I love for mindful walks, the waterfront near my house. I’m talking about these mindfulness techniques, edited down to the 5 minute time frame, which was not easy to do. But it did provide a good topic for the longer article you are reading here.

When we teach children it is not always big things that cause us to explode. It can be the little things that build up and start getting to us. These little things draw us away from what is happening in the moment and we start thinking of the past or making calculations for the future.

Practicing mindfulness is practicing living in the moment, unloading all those small things, and seeing that there is actually only one moment, which is right now. Mindfulness is not a big ordeal with candles and incense, it can be practiced in little moments, like when washing the dishes or serving lunch to children.

I appreciate it is easy to describe these things and much more difficult to live them.

However it is also difficult not to practice Mindfulness. It is very difficult to keep exploding, to keep alienating people we care about, and to carry the burden of regret.

Mindfulness is a tested tool that gives us a much better chance to connect with the miracles of life that are all around us.

Mindfulness for Children Teacher Training

Want to learn more about mindfulness and other meditation techniques for yourself and to pass on to the children you teach?

Check out the Mindfulness for Children module of our Yoga Alliance Registered Children’s Yoga School.