This week we talked about Ahimsa (non-violence) with our Red Monkey Yogis. This 7 week session is titled "Making Yoga Connections" and we'll be learning about the Yamas and Niyamas as a way to bring yoga into our everyday lives. What a bright group of kids this is!! They brainstormed several ways that they can practice ahimsa everyday-using kind words, helping people in need, walking away from someone who isn't being nice were among the list. We also discussed how important it is to listen to your body when it's trying to tell you something. If something hurts, you need to back off and make sure your alignment is correct. If your stomach is full, you probably don't want to keep eating. Lori and I learn so much from our class with these kids. They are so open to the teachings and so willing to connect what we do on the mat to how they live. We did some fun poses and a great partner pose called "elevator". Ask your child if they'll teach it to you.
With our Yoga Oasis group, we learned about the symbol for OM. We read a great book and talked about how OM connects all of us together. That's why we begin each and every class with 3 OMs. We asked the kids to put their hands on their chests and feel the vibration of their heartbeats. Then we talked about how each one of us has a heartbeat; it may beat differently than everyone else, but it is common to every living being. Each student got an OM symbol on a piece of paper that they got to disguise in their own creative drawing. We had OMs inside tshirts, inside robots, and more.
We worked into bakasana (crane pose). The kids love this because it takes strength and concentration. They really cheered each other on and enjoyed watching each other try the pose.
We'd love to hear from you and your child. Please send us any posts you'd like us to put here at yoga4youthtucson@gmail.com.
Namaste!
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