• Skip to main content
Kids Yoga Teacher Certificataion in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and also New Orleans, Nanimo BC and elsewhere.

Young Yoga Masters

Kids Yoga Teacher Training and Certification

  • Home
  • Kids Yoga Teacher Training
    • Children’s Yoga Teacher Certification
      • Mindfulness for Children (16 Hour)
      • Yoga Literacy (16 Hour)
      • Inclusive Yoga (16 Hour)
      • Themes and Dreams (16 Hour)
      • Chakras for Children (4 Hour)
      • Family Yoga (4 Hour)
      • Kids Yoga and Mindfulness (8 Hour)
      • Level 2: Curriculum Design and Business Planning (16 Hour)
    • Upcoming Dates and Registration
    • Young Yoga Masters Guide to Kids Yoga Teacher Training
    • FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
    • Meet Your Trainers
    • Private Consultations
  • Dates/Registration
    • Training Dates and Registration
    • Already Registered? Go to online training here.
  • Yoga Classes
    • 200 HR Yoga Teacher Training
    • Kids and Family Yoga Classes in Toronto
    • Adults Yoga Classes in Toronto
    • Private Consultations
  • Shop
    • Teen Leadership Program – Ambassador Yoga
    • Scavenger Hunt
    • All Kids Yoga Resources
    • Kids Yoga Alphabet Teacher Training
    • Yoga Man vs. The Stressor Teacher Manual
  • Free Resources
    • Free Monthly Teacher Check-In on Zoom
    • The Essential Starter Guide to Teaching Kids Yoga
    • Free Print and Play Downloads
    • Kids Yoga Blog
    • Yoga Games
    • Meditation with Children
    • Business Development
    • FAQ
  • About
    • About Young Yoga Masters
    • About Aruna
    • Contact Us
    • Links
    • Sitemap
You are here: Home / Archives for Classroom Management / Attitude

Attitude

What my Mother did that time I was 15 and got in a Motorcycle Accident

Aruna Kathy Humphrys and her mom.
That’s a happy baby me, Aruna Kathy Humphrys with my mom.

Once when I was fifteen, I was lying flat on my back on the hot asphalt of a road not far from my house, staring up at a blue summer sky, willing myself to not move a single muscle because I was afraid I might be paralyzed. I had no idea this moment would lead me to a powerful lesson taught to me by my mother.

It all began a few months before this event when I met my first boyfriend, who was eighteen and owned a motorcycle.  I was excited to explore my new romance on the back of a Honda, free from public transit, free from parental chauffeuring, a couple of carefree teenagers on the road.

Of course, my parents had made it completely clear I was never to get on the motorcycle and I had promised I wouldn’t. So whenever my boyfriend came to pick me up he would park the bike a couple blocks away from my house and then walk to my front door.

“Okay, we’re off to the mall,” we would tell my parents as we left, “we’re taking the bus!”

We would walk two blocks, get on the bike and zoom off to wherever our hearts desired, which was usually the mall.

One day we were on the motorcycle and a car unexpectedly pulled out of a driveway and hit us. We were both thrown off the motorcycle.

I still remember the sound of my helmet hitting the road as I landed flat on my back on that hot asphalt that fine summer day.

By the time the ambulance arrived and the paramedics were putting me on a stretcher I had started to regain movement.  “Okay, I’m not paralyzed,” I thought, “I’ll be fine and my parents will never have to know.”

The only problem was that at fifteen I was still a minor and the hospital wouldn’t admit me without adult consent. “I really, really don’t want to tell my parents,” I thought, “I need a way out of this.”

As crazy as it sounds, the universe gave me a way out of it. My boyfriend, who had been looked at by the doctors and cleared with only a sprained ankle, had left me with his mother and was outside the hospital waiting to be picked up by his buddy. They were going to go check on the state of the motorcycle. At that same time my older sister, who was eighteen, was waiting across the street from the hospital at a bus stop. My boyfriend hobbled over to my sister and told her what happened. She was old enough to sign for me and then arranged to get me home.

“Go have a soothing warm bath,” the nurse told me as we left the emergency room, “It’ll relax your muscles.”

A few weeks later at work, I got a phone call from my mother. “Kathy I just got off the phone with the hospital billing department. They sent us a bill for use of an ambulance. I made it absolutely clear to them if my daughter was ever in an accident and needed an ambulance, I would know about it. I let them know they made some big mistake somewhere.”

Reluctantly I ‘fessed up to my mother and she told me in her stern “you’re in deep trouble” voice to come straight home after work. The time between my mom’s call at work and the time I got home was as nerve wracking as the motorcycle accident itself.

My parents sat me down at the kitchen table and told me they were very disappointed but having had time to think about it, what concerned them most was that I didn’t call them when I was in trouble.

“There’s nothing you can can do that you should be afraid to tell us about,” they said. “There’s nothing you can do that will make us stop loving you, so it’s better we know so we can help you. That’s our job.”

Their message of genuine caring went deeper into my heart than any punishment they could have given me that day. And I’m grateful my parents took the time to reflect on what message they really wanted to give to me.

Of course, I got grounded that day too,  for sure,  but I don’t remember for how long or if that grounding affected my life in any big way. I also don’t know what happened to that boyfriend after we broke up at the end of the summer.  What I remember most from all of it was the message my mom and dad gave me about unconditional love, I knew that when bad things happened to me, they would be there for me. That message has stayed with me my whole life long.

Mother is the first teacher
I first heard this from Yogi Bhajan and it has helped me understand what it means to be a teacher.

There is a quote I heard from Yogi Bhajan that says, “Mother is the first teacher.”

This week when I reflected on the theme of Mother’s Day for my kids yoga classes, I thought of what my mother has taught me. I created a lesson plan exploring the idea of Mother as first teacher, what a teacher does, loving unconditionally, right or wrong, naughty or nice.

Mother is the first of many teachers in our lives, she sets the stage for all the others. My mother’s lesson has informed my own quest to love unconditionally, a journey I take with myself.

The yogis also tell of the teacher within that is called Intuition. Your inner teacher conveys the lesson of unconditional love by telling you, “There’s nothing you can do that will make me stop loving you.  That’s my job!”

May you enjoy the gift of Mother’s Day, the gift of the first teacher, and the gift of unconditional love.

Yours truly,

Aruna

YoungYogaMasters.com

Filed Under: Attitude, Inspiration, Kids Yoga Tagged With: childrens yoga teacher training, kids yoga teacher certification, kids yoga teacher training, mothers day, registered children's yoga school, Yoga Alliance, yoga for children, yoga for kids

How to Meet the Needs of Kids in Yoga

My suitcase is at the front door and I’m heading out for a Kids Yoga Teacher Certification in New Orleans tomorrow. Though it is the 7th time I’ve taught this 95 hour program, I’m as excited as the first time.  I’ve been learning some new training techniques and I can’t wait to try them.

One that’s on the forefront for this course is putting the needs of the participants before the needs of the activity.

put the requirements of the particpants before the requirements of the activity in kids yoga

As a trainer, this concept is realized by changing some of the typical rules of training, for instance, we don’t always cover every square inch of the manuals.  Rather, we make sure learners thoroughly grasp each idea and concept and stay engaged.  If I see anyone’s eyes glaze over, I’m not doing my job, even if I am covering the manuals!

The same is true of kids yoga.

kids activities must meet the needs of the kids not the needs of the activity

Using a lower net makes the game fun!

Some of the rules of yoga go out the window. Imagine a five year old playing basketball.  The rules of basketball state the basketball net is supposed to be 10 feet high.  Now if rules were rules, that five year old would think basketball was the worst game ever because they could never get the ball in.

So we lower the net so a five year old can have fun playing.  We break the rules.

Why? Because we put the needs of the participant ahead of the needs of the activity.

One problem many adult yoga teachers come across when they teach kids yoga is that alignment takes a back seat to engagement. For a yoga teacher from a strict alignment background (think Iyengar or Bikram), this feels like torture.

Alignment is important but does not always meet the needs of the learner. To meet the needs of kids:

  • we may choose a pose, like a standing forward bend, simply because someone mentioned an Elephant in our story.  The standing forward bend may not normally go next in a sequencing protocol, but any pose works in a play based kids yoga class
  • we may play Yoga tag and not check alignment because they’re not “It” anymore
  • we may make noise in a yoga pose, when we are supposed to be breathing deeply.

We put the needs of the participant ahead of the needs of the activity.

This is one method of an effective kids yoga teacher.  It’s also a mark of a good training too.  So for all those joining me on Friday in New Orleans be ready for lots of interactive activities that make learning fun.

For those of you teaching kids yoga, in what ways do you put the needs of kids before the needs of yoga?

Upcoming Events

Kids Yoga Teacher Summer Certification

Complete your 95 Hour Certificate with Young Yoga Master’s Yoga Alliance Registered Children’s Yoga School training.  Check out our upcoming schedule here:

Kids Yoga Teacher Training Yoga Alliance Registered Childrens Yoga School
Click this image for prices and more details of the Summer Certification

Adult Yoga Retreat

Looking for a great Yoga Get Away to deepen your own practice of Adult yoga?

I’ll be teaching at this yoga retreat for adults with a host of other wonderful teachers and musicians.  Come give yourself a weekend that will deepen your personal practice. See my upcoming adult yoga schedule here.

Yours truly,

Aruna

YoungYogaMasters.com

 

Filed Under: Attitude, Classroom Management, Kids Yoga Tagged With: Kids Yoga, kids yoga teacher training, physical literacy, stress management, yoga poses

Benefits of Yoga for Kids

Looking for the benefits of Yoga for Kids for a proposal, advertisement, or even to convince your own children?  These benefits just might convince someone that yoga for kids is a great choice.

Benefits of Yoga for Kids

 

All Kids Can Do Yoga: One of the major benefits of yoga for kids is that you don’t have to be an athlete to do it.  In yoga, kids won’t stand in line waiting to be picked for a team,  and you won’t let a team down if you don’t have skills. Yoga meets you where you are at, whether you touch your thighs, your knees, or your toes.  Saying you’re too stiff to do yoga is like saying you’re too old to have fun!  it just doesn’t make sense. Yoga is for everyone willing to try.

a grandmother and young girl and young boy do the forward sitting bend in yoga pose
Yoga is for Every Child

 

Learning for the Joy of Learning: In yoga you can learn because you enjoy it, not because you have to follow a lesson plan or fulfill a curriculum. Now I know that notion may be hard for some of us who were raised in authoritarian classrooms where you learned because you had to pass.  Imagine if you also got to learn because you were interested.

Yoga gives children and teachers permission to be in the moment and explore what interests them.  If everyone is enjoying a pose or activity you can stay with it a little longer.  Kids benefit from slowing down, not rushing from one thing to the next, and taking the time to know yourself and your preferences.

As the yoga proverb goes: we are human beings, not human doings.

 

Mother and Daughters share a tender moment in Kids Yoga Camp.
Yoga Lets You Go At Your Own Pace, To Speed Up or Slow Down as You Wish

 

Child Directed Play and Learning:  If you have a group of children who aren’t interested in what you have planned, you can change the plan.  This is a HUGE benefit because school teachers HAVE to get through a curriculum.  Yoga teachers have to build community and trust with their students, which means yoga teachers can listen to their students and take direction from them.  Yoga allows children to set the course, which means children are more likely to enjoy what they are doing and keep coming back.

We discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.
– Maria Montessori

 

The Science of Yoga is recommended from to learn about the health benefits of yoga.
Recommended to learn about the health benefits of yoga.

Health Benefits for Children: 

As yoga becomes steeped in our culture, more studies are surfacing on the benefits, and also the dangers, of yoga.

If you are looking for a scholarly look at the health benefits of yoga, I recommend The Science of Yoga by William J. Broad. Broad takes a relentless look at the claims made by yogis, and aims to bring yoga into the world of science. He asserts that, gasp, you can’t just say something to make it true.

I was surprised by some studies, like how yoga breathing actually works.  I was reassured by other studies, like the proven emotional  benefits of yoga. Broad also explains why it is so important that teachers become properly trained to help students avoid injuries. This book is well worth the read to educate you on the science behind the yoga.

 

Students enjoying Kids Yoga Teacher Training doing yoga poses and smiling.
Going to Yoga Teacher Training puts a smile on your face!

Going to Yoga School is Fun:  Every once in a while I’ll have a stress dream about taking an exam or writing an essay and I don’t even know the topic.  Its a throwback to my school days when you learned what you were told to learn because it was on the curriculum.  School took discipline, homework, and study. School could be really stressful.

Now before you object, I agree that it takes dedication to be a kids yoga teacher too.  But you will see so many happy faces in a kids yoga teacher training because people are there because they want to learn.  Plus, it’s just plain fun to learn through play.  Its fun to remember what its like to be a kid again. How does this benefit kids?

You know, a happy teacher makes a happy classroom.

There are other benefits not listed here, I invite you to add them in a comment.  What benefit have you seen kids experience because of yoga? What benefits have you experienced?

Thanks for reading.

Aruna

P.S. there are many amazing things coming up for you to consider – please take a look below and see if any of them will benefit you:

Upcoming Kids Yoga and Other Yoga Events

Training that Counts!

To See our latest schedule of Kids Yoga Weekend Training and Summer Certification Programs visit our Teacher Training Page.

Click Here for Upcoming Dates for the childrens yoga teacher training
Click Here for Upcoming Dates
Yoga Alliance Registered Children's Yoga School Seal
Take a kids yoga training that counts!

Young Yoga Masters is a Yoga Alliance Registered Children’s Yoga School.

 

 

Filed Under: Attitude, Kids Yoga Tagged With: benefits, Kids Yoga, kids yoga teacher training, lesson plans

What I Learned From My Week of Continuing Education

Last week I trekked down to Palm Springs California for the Yoga Alliance Leadership Conference. Reflecting on my week, here are my 3 big takeaways:

  1. Wear Many Hats as a Yoga Teacher:  I learned that as
    I saw this spider with many legs, which reminded me of all the hats a yoga teacher must wear.

    a yoga teacher I must play many roles. Yoga teachers need to lead a great, safe class, but at times, must put on other hats. Like your business hat if you want to make enough to pay your living expenses.  You wear your marketing hat to tell people about your services. Plus the hats like friend hat, confidante hat, parent hat, citizen hat, activist hat, employee hat, boss hat and on and on.  While all these roles are interconnected, giving yourself permission to change hats when needed, lets you resist giving everyone free yoga classes, or find the courage to invite people to your classes. All these hats will help grow your yoga teaching.

  2. Being a Yoga Teacher Requires Planning:   I generally feel good about many of the business choices I have made, but I learned that I need to do much more planning.  Planning, as in setting the direction for a whole year rather than just one week or a project at a time. Having business plans and timelines are practices of successful businesses.
  3. Student`s Want to Feel Special:  I also visited two studios in Los Angeles, studios that I had never been to before.  It was great to do yoga, but even more illuminating to be reminded of what it is like to be a new person in a yoga class.  I wanted to connect in those classes, and these studios did not let me down.  Whether for kids or adults, we all want to go into a class and feel acknowledged.  That feeling is what keeps people coming back to yoga.
The Friendly Yoginis I Met Were so Supportive!

These were just the top three eye opening experiences from my week of continuing education.  It was a delight to learn from experts who understood what it is like for me, who could save me the trouble of figuring everything out by myself, and most importantly, could help me recognize the mistakes I was making.

What kind of insights have you gained from continuing education?

 

Upcoming Events

and now to put on my announcer`s hat:

Announcing:

Join the faculty of the Young Yoga Masters Children`s Yoga School as we introduce the upcoming Teacher Training program to you and answer any questions that you may have.

 

Here are the details:

Open House Webinar

Wednesday, November-07-12 at 9 PM Eastern Standard Time.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/920195413

Topic:  95 Hour Certification in Kids Yoga Teacher Training

 

Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) – a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.

Canada: +1 (647) 497-9372

United States: +1 (805) 309-0027

 

Access Code: 920-195-413

Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting

Meeting ID: 920-195-413

 

Join us for this info session to find out more about full Certification to become a Kids Yoga Teacher.  To see more details about the November 17 – 18 Weekend Teacher Training visit here.  This program is eligible for Continuing Education Credits and is a Registered Children`s Yoga School with Yoga Alliance.

 

Filed Under: Attitude, Business Development, Kids Yoga Tagged With: continuing education

How the Olympics and Yoga Can Inspire Children to Believe

How the olympics and yoga can insprie Children to believe
How the olympics and yoga can insprie Children to believe

Helping Sore Losers by Using the Olympics and Yoga

“I Don’t Want to Play If I Get Out!”

At the end of a kids’ yoga class I announced, “Now it’s time for a game.”

To which one child responded, “Is it a game where people get out?  I don’t want to play if I get out.”

Today’s blog post is about olympic spirit and the joy of playing. It includes important yoga philosophy that can help children, especially kids who have trouble with losing, understand why it really isn’t whether you win or lose, its how you play the game.

Competition for Kids: Good or Bad?

This yoga lesson plan aims to show kids that competition is not necessarily good or bad, rather our perception of competition is what makes it so.

When competition is seen as a rivalry, it’s easy to understand why kids don’t like to play. They risk the chance of becoming “losers” rather than participants.  The root of the word competition means “to strive together.”  In this sense of the word, competition can be a wonderful experience of completely involving yourself in a task, bonding with a team, improving a skill, and striving towards a goal.

Take the example of the school children in this picture. They broke the world record for the largest Olympic rings.

 

children, competition and the Olympics
School children work together to break the world record for largest Olympic rings

To give kids a fresh look at competition, consider a lesson plan with this insight from my yoga teacher, Yogi Bhajan.  He said we all have three minds:  the Negative Mind, the Positive Mind, and the Neutral Mind.

The Negative Mind

The negative mind is not negative meaning bad.  It is awareness of the negative, the dangers and obstacles that will result from a choice.  Simply put, the negative mind may think “if I play a game then I might lose”, which might make someone less inclined to play at all. The negative mind thinks that losing makes a person a loser. It pays attention to all the things that could go wrong in any given situation.

Ask the kids for examples of the negative mind in their life or with family or friends.

The Positive Mind

The positive mind is not necessarily the good mind because of the word “positive.”  It’s thinking that helps us see opportunities and pleasant outcomes.  The positive mind may think, “I’ll play and I’ll win, and that will make me a winner”. It is the mind that realizes that there is value in trying your best, no matter the outcome.

Ask the kids for examples of the positive mind.

The Neutral Mind

The neutral mind weighs both the positive and the negative, and then decides.  It quickly recognizes that everything can potentially have dangers and opportunities that can be evaluated before a decision is made.  The neutral mind also sees how both negative and positive events help you grow.

The neutral mind thinks, “I may lose or I may win, but that will not determine who I am. I will play for the fun of doing my best, being part of a team, and becoming a stronger player.”

Ask the kids when they have noticed their neutral mind in action.

Yoga Poses for the Neutral Mind

To strengthen the neutral mind, try yoga poses that raise your energy from the base of the spine upwards.  Examples include:

  • cat cow
  • bridge pose
  • bicycle legs
  • leg lifts

Then move to yoga poses that open the heart:

  • archer pose
  • warrior poses
  • yoga mudra (hands clasped behind the back) while standing, sitting in rock pose, or resting in child pose
  • bow pose

Squeeze and Release Relaxation

Finish with a body scan for relaxation. Squeeze your feet tight, hold, then release your feet.  Squeeze your legs, hold, then release them.  Continue through the body, from the feet to the face. This body scan show kids that many things, like tension, can be both harmful and useful depending on how they are used.

Leave a  silent period at the end to let the children rest in a neutral space during relaxation.

The Olympics are wonderful example of striving together.  Try watching the Olympics together to observe athletes handling both victory and defeat.  These athletes can be valuable role models to help children discover the joy of striving, regardless of whether you win or you lose.

With a neutral mind, what matters is playing the game.

Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below!

Upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Training Certification

 

Upcoming Courses

Filed Under: Attitude, Kids Yoga, Lesson Plans, Olympics Tagged With: character development, classroom management, fairness, inspiration, Kids Yoga, lesson plans, Olympics, sore losers, The Mind, win, winning, yoga, Yoga Games

May You Be Blessed Like This

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  A quick message of Thanks Giving for those celebrating today and those who posses an attitude of gratitude everyday.  May you be blessed with a quiet moment to reflect on the things that you are thankful for.

Here are five things I’m thankful for:

  1. The enthusiastic three year old who answered my question, “What is Bliss?” by pointing to her foot and saying “It means you have a blister!”  We sing the song:  I am the Light of my Soul.  I am beautiful, I am bountiful, I am bliss. I am. I am. Finding out what children think it means is sometimes a shocker. I’m thankful that I’ve been blessed to enjoy kids yoga and their delightful surprises.

    meditation for kids
    Give thanks for your blessings with the joy of a child!
  2. Running water, electricity, a roof over my head.
  3. All the Teachers who have guided me along the path.  Teachers who told me your job as a teacher is not to get students but to make teachers who are ten times more powerful than yourself.
  4. After last weeks Teacher Training weekend one student left this comment on my Facebook wall:  “EVERYTHING is different. I absolutely loved it, and highly recommend it. Aruna is definitely a gift sent to us by the Creator of imagination.”   To all the students I get to teach: THANK YOU for being there so I can pass on what I learned from my teachers.  Don’t let the wisdom die with you.  Make those kids ten times more powerful than yourself!
  5. The belief that I can make the world a little bit better.

What are you thankful for?  Please spread your blessings in the comments to help inspire anyone out there who has forgotten.

Filed Under: Attitude, Inspiration, Kids Yoga Tagged With: imagination, Thank You, Thanksgiving

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 5
  • Go to Next Page »

Copyright © 2021 Young Yoga Masters