Sun salutation, warrior, windmills

Today we read and looked at a few pictures of Babar doing yoga, then we learned the sun salutation! We attempted to hop back into plank pose then transition to downward dog and the kids caught on really quick! We went into warrior, triangle and then windmills followed by making a V with our bodies. (also known as core strengthening...)
The kids were then shown two ways to get into a handstand, by kicking up to the wall or by walking up the wall. Most picked walking up the wall but Mireille kicked up with a little help and did great!

I tried something new today, when the kids were in svasana I tapped a student that had been well behaved and listened particularly well the class session and they were allowed to use the Tibetan bowl to waken the other children. Today Bennet was picked for his great effort today! Congratulations!

Boats on the water

Letters at large

This week after the usual opening of breathing and centering, we worked on creating letters with our bodies. We each took the first letter of our names and tried to make the letter. When we needed more body parts we paired people with the same letters together to come up with the letter together. We then went on a jungle adventure as requested by group and each person again got to pick their animal. The kids continue to delight in making animal sounds and noises and can get quite carried away sometimes! This is when I use the chime which means to return promptly to their mat. They like to run back to their mats and return to order as much as they like becoming wild animals and roaming the room. For our group pose they posed as cactus together.
I have witnessed them retaining information and finding pride in remembering how to do a pose when I say the name.

Forests, flowers and flips

Monday I introduced handstands and headstands which they seemed to enjoy. I did a little demonstration kicking up to the wall into a handstand then I went around and helped each child get up. Many had never done a handstand before and were very excited. Some didn't think they could do it, and were very happy when they accomplished it. Some were trickier by facing the wall and then walking up the wall with their feet.
I created a new pose I call "forest" pose with many "trees" standing together. The backbends were good with many also trying one for the first time like the girl in pink! Our lotus flower was fun but everyone fell over backward when they lifted each other up with their linked hands. Wheelbarrow races were next then a mini svasana.....

Pigeons, Bridges and Rainstorms

Pigeons, bridges and rainstorms were some of the visuals we used today in yoga and after just a few classes I've noticed the kids are already more aware of their bodies.

After using lesson plans initially, I realized that I needed to be more flexible and go along with their ideas. For example, I would start by saying we were going on a trip in the jungle and I would have a specific animal in mind to begin with. The kids would blurt out another animal. I now say - "Great! Let's all try and create a pose that looks like that animal!" Then then they'd each get a turn to pick the next animal we encounter on our trip into the jungle. This kept them much more engaged and through their suggestions we ended up as frogs hopping around on the "lily pads" - our mats, eagles in eagle pose, then we climbed a mountain into mountain pose. I just guided their creative energy and ideas so they took me on a yoga journey.

The favorite pose of the day was pigeon pose. Two students said they didn't want to get out of the pose because it felt so good and they were really trying to do it precisely.

For our group exercise I had them get in a circle facing their neighbors backs. I had them imagine a rainstorm and then asked them to create a rainstorm on the back in front of them. They tapped their fingers on the backs then created thunder, lightning etc. No one got to carried away and everyone had a great time figuring out how to create a storm onto another person using their fingers.

Bridge pose was another success because I made it a game this time. I helped them with their hand placement on the mat, then said they had to go up high enough into their bridge pose to allow their partner to crawl underneath them. They partnered up and took turns being the bridge and the boat.

While we were in svasana I began a short visualization by asking the kids to imagine the most beautiful place they have seen. One student said the yoga room, which was nice, and another kid said Montana. I love Montana as well, so I started describing Montana and the mountains and streams - again using thier ideas so they hopefully felt heard and powerful.

As they lay on their mats at the end, they started giggling and I just let them for a while because - it just feels so great to giggle!