Here's a little something from one of our older students...
Hello, my name is Megan, and I am 11 years old. I started the kids yoga class in September and it has been so fun and amazing for me. Yoga has really helped me breathe and forget about all the struggles in life. Yoga has given me an opportunity to get stronger and more open to everyone and everything. I think everyone should get the chance to do yoga, or even try yoga. I am positive that it will help them in ways such as opening your heart more, and seeing the goodness in yourself as well as the goodness in others. If everybody practiced yoga, the world would be a better place to live in.
This is why we love teaching Yoga 4 Youth!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Yoga and the Chinese New Year
This week Lori put together a great unit linking yoga and the Chinese New Year. We talked about how yoga helps you know yourself and who you really are. The kids each found what sign of the Chinese Zodiac they were and the personality traits that go along with that animal. We talked about these traits and if they thought that they were correct. This started a great discussion about how many of them felt that the traits listed with their particular animal did fit their own personality, but that they were also much, much more than those traits. This is why we love teaching kids! Of course they know that they are much more than a few personality traits! They each chose two traits that and wrote about it or drew pictures of it. Our youngest student (5) drew a picture of himself on a bike because his zodiac trait was athletic.
We also did many backbends during practice. Backbends are always fun with kids because they are just so flexible. It's great for Lori and I to see them do poses that, for us, are extremely challenging, but to them are easy. It was an energetic practice that had them very excited and wanting to show us more and more poses that they could do and we couldn't! Our hope is that through this yoga program, we can help kids continue to have a wonderful self esteem. By teaching them to know more about who they really are, they will be able to stay true to themselves throughout their childhood.
Each and every week we are so thrilled to see so many kids excited about doing yoga. They are very open to new poses and new ideas. Our Yoga 4 Youth classes inspire us to be more creative and fun in our adult classes too. We are currently working on a summer program, so please look for information on that very soon!
We also did many backbends during practice. Backbends are always fun with kids because they are just so flexible. It's great for Lori and I to see them do poses that, for us, are extremely challenging, but to them are easy. It was an energetic practice that had them very excited and wanting to show us more and more poses that they could do and we couldn't! Our hope is that through this yoga program, we can help kids continue to have a wonderful self esteem. By teaching them to know more about who they really are, they will be able to stay true to themselves throughout their childhood.
Each and every week we are so thrilled to see so many kids excited about doing yoga. They are very open to new poses and new ideas. Our Yoga 4 Youth classes inspire us to be more creative and fun in our adult classes too. We are currently working on a summer program, so please look for information on that very soon!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
kids love yoga!
Lori and I have been teaching Yoga 4 Youth classes since September. In that time we've seen our students get more flexible, stronger and more able to relax. The middle school students tell us how much the yoga has helped them deal with stress at school. The younger ones still like to ask us why we can't do the super bendy poses that they can do! We have learned so much from all of these students in the past few months. It's been so amazing to bring real yoga to these kids. We do have fun, we do laugh, but we also do real poses, call them the sanskrit name and explain what muscles are being used and how to protect them.
Being school teachers, Lori and I know that we don't have to dumb things down for kids, we just have to explain it a bit differently than we do to adults. I think it's awesome that our students know what a "midline" is and that if they hug into their midline during a balancing pose, it gets easier! Of course, we also have a ton of fun playing "freeze yoga" and doing partner poses like "lizard on a rock". What has been the most fun, is watching our students open up and try new things. They are so willing to dive right in and see how bright they can truly shine. They are a constant inspiration to both of us.
The fact that we get to teach our own children in our classes just adds to the delight! Lori has two boys, I have two girls, and they all love doing yoga. It's so great that at such an early age they are learning the skills they need to deal with stress, to take care of their bodies and to know that their own potential is limitless. Maybe, just maybe, they will not suffer from migraines because of stress, or suffer sports injuries because of overuse and under-stretching, or maybe they'll just feel good about being themselves. Hey, all of those options are great reasons for all of us to do yoga.
The bottom line is that yoga is great for everyone! We feel blessed to teach yoga to both kids and adults. We will be blogging about our experiences on this path, giving suggestions for kids to do at home to further their practice and even posting interviews with our young students. Thanks for reading and feel free to post your own comments and questions.
Being school teachers, Lori and I know that we don't have to dumb things down for kids, we just have to explain it a bit differently than we do to adults. I think it's awesome that our students know what a "midline" is and that if they hug into their midline during a balancing pose, it gets easier! Of course, we also have a ton of fun playing "freeze yoga" and doing partner poses like "lizard on a rock". What has been the most fun, is watching our students open up and try new things. They are so willing to dive right in and see how bright they can truly shine. They are a constant inspiration to both of us.
The fact that we get to teach our own children in our classes just adds to the delight! Lori has two boys, I have two girls, and they all love doing yoga. It's so great that at such an early age they are learning the skills they need to deal with stress, to take care of their bodies and to know that their own potential is limitless. Maybe, just maybe, they will not suffer from migraines because of stress, or suffer sports injuries because of overuse and under-stretching, or maybe they'll just feel good about being themselves. Hey, all of those options are great reasons for all of us to do yoga.
The bottom line is that yoga is great for everyone! We feel blessed to teach yoga to both kids and adults. We will be blogging about our experiences on this path, giving suggestions for kids to do at home to further their practice and even posting interviews with our young students. Thanks for reading and feel free to post your own comments and questions.
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