Ready, Set, Grow

Re-cap

We “grew” to our full potential in yoga today with a Ready, Set, Grow, yoga theme.  I am always so impressed with how the kids remember the names and the poses, some after just a few short weeks.  We reviewed our Spring Break happenings first to get out the chattiness, it's all good.  Sounds like everyone had a nice break.  I got a little more grand-baby time in Utah!  The shoulders of all of my shirts smell like baby goodness.  I’m thinking about not washing them.  We started today with a centering exercise, lying supine, with supportive bolsters under our spine to open up our chests, and feet together in Cobblers pose to open up our hips.  To combat all that tightness from traveling in cars or planes.  We practiced quiet, calming breath.  Ahhhh, so relaxing. To complement our growing theme, I retold the Chinese folk tale of the Empty Pot , the moral of which is honesty.

We imagined getting a field ready to plant, by moving rocks (Rock and Roll), cutting the weeds (Sit and Twist) and plowing the fields (Plow pose). Our background music was Everything Grows.  Then we discovered all of the critters trying to get to our crops.  The kids came up with the critters and we did the poses for Butterfly, Frogs, Bees, etc.  We became watering cans with Triangle pose, we move into this pose using the I’m a Little Teapot song.  Then we took off our muddy clothes and washed them and dried them with more yoga poses.  This is where things got silly.  A good silly though.  We ended our yoga practice with Lavendar oils and wrapped up in blankets, dormant seeds in the earth.  

Class Highlight
At the end of class, I had a couple of girls pretending to be asleep, as others in the class folded blankets and rolled mats and got ready to go.  Whatever it takes to calm their minds and bodies for five minutes, right?  I'll take it.  Pretending (practice) can turn into reality someday!

Trending

Check out this Instagram sensation of a yoga instructor mom and family doing yoga poses!

Pose of the Week

Rock and Roll or Spinal Roll.   In a seated position, draw your knees up and bend your head to your chest.  Place your hands under your knees and join them.  Make sure that your spine is rounded or gently curved.  Lightly rock back and then forward, keeping your head bent to your chest.  To increase the difficulty, straighten legs and extend as your bring them over head.  Do several repetitions and then lie in corpse pose. 

Benefits
-do this exercise right before bed as it has a soothing affect and will promote sleeping soundly

-done in the morning, the spinal roll can shake of the sleep and drowsiness and energize you for your day ahead

-massages the spine and neck

-relaxes the nervous system

Play and Namaste! 

Susan

http://yoga4kidz.jigsy.com/

 

March 3, 2014

Re-cap

Today our yoga theme was a South American folktale called Rainbow Birds.  I told the stories of the drab colored birds and how the cockroaches came and started to destroy their beautiful rainbow.  A phoenix came from the heavens imploring the birds in the rainforest to help him fight the cockroaches.  The birds that helped defeat the cockroaches were rewarded by the Phoenix with bright rainbow colored feathers as they flew through the rainbow.  Those who were selfish learned the lesson too late, to help a friend in need.  We added poses to our story and re-told it as we did each pose.  We also painted a picture of South American birds, and completed our practice with a Silence Game Meditation.  Yes….your children were absolutely silent for about 4 minutes! 

Class Highlight:

I had a basket of flowers in the middle of our class today.  One of the boys groaned as he pointed to them.  The other boy said that it’s like his brother told him, even the most violent movies have people kissing in the end!  He was right, we turned into buzzing bumblebees (complete with stingers) and practiced sipping breath, pretending to sip nectar out of the flowers, and beezing, as we buzzed from one flower to the next. 

Practice Pose of the week:

Plow pose [Halasana].  Here is what it will look like when your child does it, and what a grown-up tries to achieve.  The kid version is just fineJ  They  were rolling around and almost doing this pose without even knowing it, so I threw it in and gave them the terminology.  We even talked about the function of a plow.  When the body claims the full expression of the pose, it reflects that of a traditional Indian plow and when practicing this pose, one ploughs the body like one digs the earth, making it loose, free, and open to healing.

Benefits
-calms the mind

-reduces stress

-brings balance to our inner bodies

-actively stretches the spine just by using gravity and body weight

*Reminders:

I will be holding our LAST CLASS next Monday, March 10th, which will be our last class for this session.   

February 24, 2014

Re-cap

Our yoga practice today centered on the theme of Outer Space.  We strapped on heavy moon boots and warmed up our legs with slow motion lunges as we picked up “moonstones” to take back to earth.  We did Sun Salutations to the beats of the Beatles tune “Here Comes the Sun”, as we said goodbye to the sun.  Then we strapped into our rocket ships in chair pose, and counted down from 10, 9, 8… then burst upward into volcano pose.  Then we said hello to the moon in half moon pose, and, well, you get the picture;) 

Our younger classes took a few minutes to build a transportation shuttle out of Magz (magnets).  They were all very creative.  We did several partner poses like the turbulent massage, and driving our hovercrafts, and alien stretches.  The first and second graders finished up our practice lying all criss-cross with our head on a friends tummy, connected like the milky way feeling the rise and fall of each other’s breath, listening to “I don’t want to live on the Moon”

Class Highlight:

Well, for me it was showing a picture of my new grandson.  I attached one of my favorites in case you missed himJ 

Trending:

Some of our yogis came hungry today.  Made me think of one of my kids favorite snacks. 

http://skinnyms.com/skinny-peanut-butter-yogurt-dip/

Practice Pose of the week:

Try Half Moon pose against a wall.  You can place a sturdy prop under the supporting arm to level out your torso with your extended leg.  Practice before homework to lift your mood.  Encourage your child to hold for 3-6 breaths by having them sing a planetary song, or recite the phases of the moon: new moon, waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, waning crescent. 

Benefits

- strengthens your legs, ankles, abdomen, buttocks and spine
- Stretches your groin, hamstrings, calves, shoulders and spine
- Builds coordination and balance

-Aids in stress relief

*Reminders:

Thanks everyone for being so flexible at the last minute while I was out of town!  Sorry for the inconvenience.  I will be holding a make-up class next Monday, March 3^rd, which will be our last for this session.   

January 22, 2014

Re-cap

This week in our Yoga practice we had a little winter sports conditioning!  While on vacation in Salt Lake City, I went to the speed skating trials with my family.  I was fascinated by the training maneuvers they were doing in preparation for their speed skating event.  They were doing yoga poses!  They used straps and blocks and held positions, did warrior I and chair pose, strengthening targeting those muscles they use for skating.  It reminded me of one of my students that does synchronized swimming and I really appreciate how yoga can benefit the body for sports and dance.

Our theme this week was Yoga for Snow Sports .  We did poses for tubing down a hill, riding a chairlift up the slopes (chair pose), raised our heart rates with X-country ski moves, and did some snow board “shifty air” kicks.  We added in some poses to mimic the things we see in the beautiful snowy mountain wonderlands with mountain pose, eagle, rock (child’s pose) and tree. We used blankets and bolsters and picked up snowballs (cotton balls) with our toes and had…  Snow Much Fun!

Class Highlight:
I had one of my 5 year old students who had just been to India, remind our class that you must always look someone in the eye when saying Namaste or it is bad luck. In our culture we teach children to look people in the eye when you say hello or shake their hand.  I love the even deeper meaning of the word namaste, it provides a true opportunity for connection.  In the Sanskrit language the literal meaning breaks down like this

namah = bow
te = to you
Namaste ~ I bow to you

And Wikipedia says this: Namaste as a gesture is used to greet one another. It’s a gesture of respect that can be used globally between people of all age, race and gender. Totally encompassing the belief that “we are one.”  Hands together at heart center “represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra”.

Namaste. What does it mean to you?


Trending:
Check out this great pic from Us Magazine! http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-moms/news/gisele-bundchen-does-yoga-with-daughter-vivian-11-months-for-second-time-picture-2013112

Practice Pose of the week:

We usually call this one superman (viparita-shalabhasana), this week it became tubing, or tobogganing down the wintery slopes.  Hold for 3 breaths, rest, repeat 3x.

Benefits

- Great warm up pose for core work
- Strengthens the lower back, upper back and buttocks
- Massages the abdomen and improves digestion

*Reminders:
For VG and Growing Room: No Classes Monday Jan 20 (MLK Jr. Day) or Monday Jan 27 (staff development day).