All about the rose water!

The yoga room we use is very hot. They usually do ashtanga there and keep the room toasty.
The kids find it a little stifling, but they adapt. I started rewarding them for good behavior by spritzing them with rose water during svasana and after they put their shoes on they get an extra spray. This is now the highlight of the experience! I never knew this but the children beg me for it. I have not had it the last couple sessions however since I have misplaced it and I assure them I will have it again.
As with most people, svasana is also the favorite part of yoga. They love the visualizations and they must like to lie quietly, despite how active they usually are.
Next week I will be introducing some brand new poses since I have gone through the class once now. By only taking 6 students at a time, it takes 4 weeks to get through the class and I have time to perfect my lessons by doing similar classes every time so they don't miss anything!
I will load photos later, must get them off my phone first.

Yoga begins for the year!

Today was a wonderful day at yoga. We had two kids who had never taken a yoga class before.
We started with an om chant, then we went on a camel ride through the desert to get the breathing going. We ran into a cobra snake, then we went into down dog and it just flowed from there. Cat and cow, mountain pose, tree pose, triangle, waterfall, lotus flower opening. I think it is important to always do a partner pose and then a group pose to bring the group together. Svasana was peaceful.
Everyone was really quiet on my guided magic carpet ride meditation.
We sat up and I taught them that Namaste meant that "I see the good in you" which they had to say to each person while making eye contact. They had so much fun with that they started saying it to inanimate objects like the ceiling and the mats running around.They all rolled their mats to get an extra spray of rose water. (It gets hot in the room)
After they went out in the hallway to put on their shoes - I could hear them all chattering - "that was awesome! That was so fun!" Success and a great start to a yoga this year.

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!