Child yoga: It's a dog's life

Monday, May 10, 2010

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.

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About the teacher

Courtney Nelson was born in La Jolla, California and was an avid ocean swimmer from early on. She also practiced gymnastics as a young girl at the Flair's Gymnastics Academy.

She secured a spot on a national gymnastics team at a young age but her parents didn't want her traveling for competition with a tutor so she stayed in South Pasadena. She eventually became the head tumbling, and gymnastics coach for the South Pasadena YMCA at 17-years-old. She also took to the pool her freshman year of high school and became a certified life guard.

She swam competitively and played water polo in high school and college. In college she was the first to ever make the mens' team.

While attending college she was a gymnastics coach at Seawind Gymnastics in Oceanside, California.

Because of her gymnastics background, she was tapped to replace an injured diver right before a new season - and learned 16 different springboard dives in two weeks to prepare for the first meet.

She eventually found herself back in Los Angeles where she continued her education and taught gymnastics, tumbling and dance at Caring for Babies with AIDS with her best friend Marci Johnson.

While living in Santa Monica she studied Ashtanga yoga under Chuck Miller and Maty Ezraty but she eventually studied yoga under Shiva Rae.

Rae taught a more freestyle yoga, incorporating free movements, stomping, “trance dance,” music and incense. This playfulness was the foundation she pulled upon to prepare her for kids yoga.

During her two pregnancies she taught prenatal yoga at Rainforest Yoga and took a Tibetan Heart yoga teacher training on Lopez Island, WA. The Tibetan heart yoga was attractive to her because it was a 30-minute session that promised to open up energy centers through a very specific series of poses - while dedicating the session to someone else in pain.

She layered her practice with a two-week Anusara yoga teacher training in Estes Park, Colorado in 2009. Anusara yoga is a merging of Hatha yoga (a life-affirming Tantric philosophy of intrinsic goodness) and Iyengar yoga styles but uses the heart as the focus of all the poses and the primary focus is to develop compassion for others - a trait that usually reduces bullying in children. (Anusara founder John Friend was found to have financial impropriety and has stepped down as leader of the Anusara yoga movement.) Anusara yoga is still good in my opinion.

Her father, Peter Mico, owns Downtown Yoga studio in Sandpoint, Idaho focusing on Hatha yoga, and her little sister Kristen teaches yoga in Portland, Oregon.

Kristen and Courtney collaborate and come up with classes like "Goddess yoga", or classes where live musicians interpret poses with music, or yoga under the stars.

Courtney has a BA in Sociology with minors in Psychology and Anthropology and an AA in science.

Courtney believes the yoga mat is a safe and playful space for children to explore their bodies abilities, connect their body and mind, give them tools like breathing, visualization and meditation to help them navigate their emotional worlds.

It's also a great place to keep imagination alive and take a magic carpet ride.

Story of Rabbit on the Moon

A Tale from India
Long ago, three forest friends, monkey, fox, and hare, lived together as great friends. They swore to be friends forever, and they also swore never to kill any living thing.
One day a woman decided she would test the animals' faith. She wished to understand the true nature of all the creatures in the universe. And so she disguised himself in the form of a Brahmin. She dressed herself in rags, and hobbling upon a cane, she wandered into the forest.
Before long the Brahmin came upon Monkey playing in the forest, swinging from branch to branch. "Hello," Monkey called to the Brahmin. "Can I help you?"
The Brahmin bowed her head. "I am but a poor woman," she said, "and I am terribly hungry."
"I can help you," Monkey said, and at once he climbed into the trees to pick some mangoes to offer the Brahmin.
Before long Fox trotted past. Seeing the Brahmin, he stopped to say good day.
"Ah, good day this would be if only I could find something to eat."
"I'll help you," Fox said, and with that he raced toward the river. He had just seen a dozen fish lying upon the shore. Surely these would fill the Brahmin's empty stomach, he thought.
The moment Fox was out of sight, the Brahmin spied Rabbit sprinting toward him. When Rabbit saw the old lady he too stopped to offer greetings. "Lady," Rabbit said, "welcome to the forest. Is there anything I can do to make you feel more at ease? Can I help you?" Rabbit asked.
The Brahmin smiled. "I am terribly hungry," she said.
Just at that moment Monkey returned to the spot carrying an armful of fruit, and Fox arrived soon afterwards with plenty of fish.
Poor Rabbit felt helpless. "Lady," he said, "I am so terribly sorry but I eat nothing but grass. I fear that would be of no use or interest to you."
The Brahmin nodded. "That is true."
Then suddenly Rabbit had an idea, and he whispered to his friends, Monkey and Fox. "Help me to collect firewood, won't you?"

The friends agreed, and when they had gathered armloads of wood and kindling, together they built a great fire.
"Now," Rabbit said, "because I have nothing to offer you, poor Brahmin, but myself, I will jump into this fire, and when I am cooked, Brother Monkey, Brother Fox? Will you please give me to this poor woman to ease her hunger?"
Monkey and Fox nodded solemnly, but just as Rabbit was about to leap into the fire, the Brahmin tossed off his tattered cloak and threw his walking stick into the fire.
"What's happening?" the animals cried in fright. "Who are you?"
The woman smiled and said, gently, "Please, do not be afraid. You see I am more than a beggar. And I see you, too. You are truly devoted and kind."
Monkey and Fox bowed. "Thank you," Monkey said.
"That is what all creatures are meant to be," Fox added.
"But Rabbit," the lady said, turning to face the timid creature. "Your generosity is beyond compare."
"I only wished to ease your hunger," Rabbit said softly.
"But you must learn never to harm yourself," she said, and with those words she lifted Rabbit into his arms and carried him to the Moon for safe keeping. "Here you will shine brightly forever and all will remember your generosity."
And even today if you look closely up at the moon when it is full and bright, you will see Rabbit there where he has lived safely for a very long time.