Vichar Kaur
The kids you see in this blog are not actors. They are not trained Circus acrobats who juggle fourteen fire batons while they bend in two. They are not paid endorsers, although I cannot guarantee you that their parents didn't bribe them with cookies to let them take the photos. They are yogis...little yogis...all inspired by yoga and wanting to connect in a meaningful way to their own true Self. Some found kid's yoga through Snatam Kaur's amazing cd Feeling Good Today, some through Snatam's DVD Shanti the Yogi, and some through the open and loving hearts of their teachers, whether a professional teacher in a class or their loving parents in their own home.
They inspire us all to grow to deserve such lovely children, to do our best to leave them a world worthy of their spiritual potential, and to be the kind of people they'd be proud to point to and say, "Wanna do some yoga?"
Vicky
There is no greater job that any of us have really. We have to find a way to prepare the world for something better than we've got. This world is a stunning place, and we're all a part of the Divine Creation, but sometimes when you look around at the news, or the pile of trash in your location stream, or just at the stress in your own heart...don't you know, really know, that we can do better? As a species, as a planet?
Our kids are the best hope we've got, especially in this critical age on our planet, where things can tip the scale forever in terms of destruction. The time is now to heal our planet, heal our hearts, and heal the sense of separation between ourselves and our own souls. Yoga is one way (certainly not the only, but a strong and good way) to lead us back on a path to knowing our true Divine Destiny. Yoga helps us to be healthier humans, to live a life of consciousness, to be aware of the value of service, and to live with a light footprint.
Jade
We cannot expect our kids to fix things on their own once they are adults. That never works. And we cannot give them all the answers (if we had them, maybe things would already be different). But we can show them to tools with which to find the answers in the center of their own hearts. We can help an entire generation to act with compassion, sensitivity and conscious awareness. Whoa. Sign me up.
You don't have to sit in front of the vast field of yoga and decide how to teach your children (or your neices and nephews, neighbors and friends' kids, and so on...spread the light!) all by yourself. There are many tools and resources out there to help you and help them discover the power of kid's yoga.
Spirit Voyage has a beautiful collection of Kid's Yoga DVDs, CDs and books to help inspire yogis of all ages.
(Click on the names for a link to buy!)
The Best Kid's Yoga DVDs
Shanti the Yogi Mountain Adventure by Snatam Kaur -- The luscious music of Snatam Kaur combined with a fun and educational animated adventure in peaceful living. A must have.
Shanti Generation: Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers by Abby Wills -- Suitable for the older kids (10-15) this DVD teaches yoga and mindfulness in a cool way.
Yoga in Motion by Shakta Kaur Khalsa -- Celestial commuication, uplifting music, and fun yoga!
Mykaela
The Best Kid's Yoga Music
Divine Birth by Snatam Kaur -- Start before your kids are even born with this album for expectant mothers full of sacred mantra.
Feeling Good Today by Snatam Kaur -- You don't have to be a kid to enjoy this album. Every track is amazing...Feeling Good Today, Gobinday Mukunday, I am the Light of My Soul....this is an essential in any kid's yoga kit.
Cozy by Shakta Kaur Khalsa -- How can you go wrong with "3 Nice Mice"?
Happy by Shakta Kaur Khalsa -- "I Love My Yoga" and "Fly Like a Butterfly" are sure hits.
Children's Yoga Songs and Meditations by Shakta Kaur Khalsa -- "Crabs in the Moonlight" and "I Have been Getting Up for Yoga" give you a smile.
Child's Play by Wah! -- Beautiful children's yoga music from a star of Sanskrit kirtan.
Cutie!
The Best Kid's Yoga Books
Add these books to your little one's yoga library:
My Daddy is a Pretzel by Baron Baptiste
Fly Like a Butterfly by Shakta Kaur Khalsa
Babar's Yoga for Elephants by Laurent de Brunhoff
Get your kids started today with some fun kid's yoga tools and help them grow to be the best yogi they can be! The planet thanks you!
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Yoga for children these days is like a glass of spilled water on a table. The contents spreading, and engulfing the entire surface it stood on. Yoga in general has permeated every nook and cranny of our culture. When I first began Yokids yoga in 2000 it was hard to find information on children’s yoga but in the last five-seven years this particular area of yoga has sky rocketed. Today there are hundreds of children’s yoga related materials and resources on the market. Everywhere I look someone is promoting Children’s yoga. The question is, are we making a difference in children’s lives? I say a firm Yes.
I know from the moment I open the door at the Starrett Center Day Care that Yoga has become a highlight in these two and three years olds lives. The welcome I get never ceases to elate and uplift me. As I open the door and walk in and the room explodes in a gleeful chant of “Here comes yoga ““Here come the Yoga Ladies”. The buzz begins as children scramble away from the snack table to share a yoga story with me or to latch on to one of the mat bags begging to help set up the yoga room. We are not always greeted in such an upbeat manner but I’d say on the whole children from preschool to fifth grade are looking forward to their Yoga day. We have our nay Sayers. The ones that moan and groan and say things like “why do we have to do yoga or the whispers of “I Hate yoga”. We carry on; we know these few individuals will come around.
Every year we hear the stories from the heads of the schools, this group of children are very young for their age, there are too many boys in this group, there is too much energy , there are too many learning disabled children in this class, there isn’t enough space and there’s just not enough time. We are not dissuaded, we set up and we carry on. Our strategy is different for every school. We access age, environment, class size and we determine our best course of action. We are blessed too, that many of the students we reach are now in their 4th or 5th year of yoga. We of course have many new students with each new preschool and kindergarten class.
How has yoga affected these young students new and old?
A majority of the children we are in contact with come from unstable households. Many of these children suffer from poor diet and fitness, some come from verbally and sexually abusive homes and others come from homes where their major caregivers are poor role models for a healthy lifestyle. Many of these children are overweight and in poor physical fitness. All these children including those that partake in a regular fitness program suffer from shortened hamstrings. This is due in large part to children having to sit at desks in school and then choosing some sort of a seated hobby at home for example T.V. Computer or other technological forms of entertainment. When children first begin their yoga practice many of them can barely do a forward bend and at best they can sometimes reach their knees. In the beginning classes are noisy and disruptive. There is a lack of respect for the whole; many are simply focused on their own needs and whatever it takes to get attention. We carry on. We begin all our classes in a predictable manner. We start with a simple set of ground rules and then everyone picks and reads an affirmation card. Then we use the chime to tune in. The chime is used to demonstrate that yoga is a personal practice something that the individual experiences in his or her body. We do this by having children raise their hands when they stop hearing or feeling the chime’s vibration. We ask children to close their eyes and refrain from watching/waiting for others to raise their hands. After the chime we begin the study of anatomy. We use a skeleton for every class. We demonstrate the bones needed for sitting in proper alignment. With these three simple exercises the students have all gone from thinking from the outside in to thinking from the inside out. They are now connected to themselves. and are peaceful, quiet and less disruptive. This is where real learning begins.
Aims and goals: We have broken our curriculum down to four categories. Calming, energizing, focus/concentration and crossing the midline work. Every child is responsible for learning the postures, breathwork and meditation that is attributed to each of these categories. This is their tool box for life. The students are asked to choose a pose, breath and meditation that will be their own specific tools. They are then asked to teach to the other students. As the year progresses I can barely contain my joy as these young yogis call out responses to my complex questions about anatomy, breath work posture aims and goals and specific meditations We tell our students what Yogi Bhajan has told us, that we are teaching teachers. Yes, indeed they are the next generation of yoga teachers. Their chests lift as they fill with pride and some even begin to cry with this new found power and self confidence. Everyone is successful in yoga. We never allow a child to fail. We are there to assist them in even the most challenging of poses. We challenge our students and they come right back at us with poses that demonstrate incredible core strength. Poses that on some days even the teachers can not accomplish. We are awed by the quiet determination that children demonstrate as they do the mudras and mantras to various Celestial mediations. At the end of the day the answer to have we helped these children is clear. We see it in the most attention deficit children who sleep so soundly during Savasana that it takes three of us to wake them up. We hear it in their shares at circle. The ones who are touched the most are of course the ones we would least suspect. Their shares are so deep and so full of wisdom. But of course that is how is should be as we speak to these souls so untainted and fresh so close to their creator. The majority of these students goes out into the world and uses what they have learned. We get feedback from caregivers and homeroom teachers giving us testimonial to the ways yoga is being used in and outside of the classroom. We end each class with these words. I Love myself. I am perfect just the way I am I will not change to make someone else happy. I will be true to myself. I truly feel we are making a difference in children’s lives.
Thanks for posting about the important topic of kids yoga. Studies show that that best way to health is through a healthy lifestyle and that is exactly what yoga is all about. It’s not a sport you play for a while or a fad game or diet. When kids learn yoga they are learning what it means to have a healthy lifestyle.
I have a blog about kids yoga called Young Yoga Masters that those interested in yoga for children may find useful.
Lets teach kids real yoga to help them with the real struggles we all face in our lives!