Thank you Stephanie!

To thank Stephanie Quigley, the owner of Raven Yoga Shala for the donation of her beautiful space, we came up with the idea of making a heart out of our bodies. When there were still bodies left after the heart, we had the rest do child's pose in the center.
Thank you Stephanie!!!! We really appreciate the space and hope to continue next year if we are welcome!
namaste

Final days of yoga

As first year of yoga wraps up, I'm learning about more opportunities for the kids to learn around the setting up and clean up of a class. The mats are a great way to create critical thinking skills.
While I would go get the kids for class, my youngest child would be instructed to lay 6 mats evenly spaced throughout the room. He really enjoyed having a job, and it made him think about his strategy in the room, use of space and counting mats.
At the end of class, I saved a few minutes for the kids to practice the art of rolling up their mats so they would fit into the shelves nicely. They were rewarded with a spray of water if they were able to fit it into the shelves. (the room gets really hot) If they struggled, they were allowed to ask a classmate who had done it to help them. They learned patience which is needed to roll up a mat well.
We also had a yoga final exam. I would demonstrate a pose and they would raise their hands if they knew the pose. Then they each got to pick their favorite pose for the class. We had downward dog, cobra, pigeon, pretzel, lion, triangle, warrior and child's pose.

It's a dog's life

Today we had a special guest - gus the therapy dog with an injured foot. We started with down dog, then we did happy dog pose and each child had the spotlight to come up with their version of happy dog pose. Some jumped around and acted excited, some rolled on their back, some pretended to be sleeping with their tongues hanging out.
We did waterfall pose and then headstands and svasana.
Svasana we were rose smelling flowers in a field - someone picked us and we went from watching the world go by to walking along. Then we got rained on (I sprayed them with water) and we each made eye contact and said namiste... everyone petted the dog.

Magic carpet ride

Yoga today was really magical. We did our twists and stretches, then we ended with svasana. I made up a trip on a magic carpet ride where we lifted off the floor - flew out the window and took off down the Gastineau channel toward South Sawyer Glacier. We saw whales surfacing and breaching, birds flying then we went by a waterfall and our carpets pulled up so close, we got sprayed with water. (I had a water bottle I pulled out and sprayed on them at this point.) We flew back in through the window and when they opened their eyes they all said "that was real! that was soooo real! - That was magic!" they were all buzzing about the magic carpet ride all the way back to the classroom. Success!

Pillows and waterfalls

Today we had many requests for specific poses! Pillows, waterfall and lotus flower were all requested and done today. Svasana was a little noisy at first, but I began a visualization of us all riding on a puffy cloud down the channel, picking up speed as our cloud changed colors. Then the cloud landed on top of the Mendenhall glacier and we all slid down the glacier like it was a big slide - going so fast that we were catapulted to the school and flew in through an open window where we landed on our yoga mats. It was fun!

Waterfall and headstands - the favorites

This day we tried to do child's pose and deepen the stretch with a partner laying on their back like waterfall. The boys ended up facing each other and laughing at looking at each other upside down!

Leprechauns on St. Paddy's Day

On St. Patrick's Day we had fun pretending to be leprechauns and tried experimental poses. One girl, TL, showed us what she thought a leprechaun pose would look like then she scrunched up her face, got into a squat and started making the cutest funny sounds. The whole class was so inspired by her ability to channel the green elf that the whole class started doing it!

Circle of trust

This week I tried something new that worked at my Taproot yoga class. I brought a hula hoop and each student took center stage and demonstrated their favorite pose. Each student had to name the pose so it was fun and each child got everyone's attention!
We also did waterfall pose and some students started crawling around with someone on their back turning it into a "ride." They were giggling and laughing as they were moved around the room.
Headstands are a problem because most students need help getting their legs up so I enlisted people to be headstand and handstand assistants. The kids loved being a helper and it eliminated the need for being everywhere at once.
Svasana was interesting because many preferred to lay on the floor instead of their mats. I guess they all wanted to be more grounded. ;-)