Seastars, bow and arrows and things that grow

After a couple years of teaching, I’m starting to really understand the value of partner poses for children. There is something very valuable about the cooperation it takes to work together to create a pose with another.

I planned to do bow and arrow, make a square, and rock and sunbather with a modification for partner poses..

Rock and sunbather

Rock and sunbather is similar to waterfall pose in that the students take turns supporting each other so I modified the things they like about both poses and created a new version. Instead of making a wheel over someone’s back (back bend) they simply stretched out straight on the other who was in childs pose instead of table pose. The sunbather completely relaxes, opens up and stretches out, while the rock gets a small back massage and is pressed into their curled up pose. Then they switch and experience the opposite pose.  I think this is important to experience because yoga is all about doing poses and their opposites. Down dog, and cobra, fold and open etc.

 We did a yoga sequence of “things that grow” and then we tried a new pose called seastar. They stretched their arms and legs out and stretched their necks into a fifth leg and they were seastars! This was a complete opening and stretching before we went into svasana.

Bow and Arrow

Before doing bow and arrow which is bow pose (lying on your stomach, grabbing your feet and pulling everything up toward the ceiling.) and arrow which is standing tall and stretching with hands together toward the ceiling, we did them alone first. Then we partnered and took turns being the bow and being the arrow. They liked this although it was slightly challenging and most had to be walked through it. We talked a little about the focused energy needed for a bow to fly across the room toward the intended target. They liked it!

Square pose

We first used the wall to make ourselves into a right triangle, then they paired up to make a square with each other. The kids were soon giggling because they were looking at each other from a new angle, upside down and laughing. This made them laugh even harder and their square would start falling apart. I came around with the camera, which has them try and do their best and they were able to stop laughing long enough to make a square together.

 My son invented a pose with me last weekend while we were on a walk in the forest. We started doing some stretching poses in the nook of a huge tree and this led to inventing new ones. My son invented one he called full moon. He put the soles of his feet together and let his knees fall open. Then he arched his back, supporting it with his hands and let his head hang back so he was looking up at the tips of the tall pines, with the moon visible between them. He shared it with the class along with it’s creation story and everyone was buzzing about it later.

Svasana was a guided meditation that relaxed each part of their body from head to toe. A few were a little restless but by the end they were still. I gonged the Tibetan bowl to awake them and slowly brought them out of their relaxation. They continue to say that this is their favorite part of yoga. It’s my favorite part too.