Yes, a half hour....
Well, it may seem like a whimpy beginning, but to me it's pretty courageous, considering that I never imagined I might teach yoga to anyone, let alone children!
Having spent several years in a 3-6 year old Montessori classroom, I'm all too aware of how quickly the kids can go from serenity to absolute chaos.
So a half hour of children's yoga is a milestone, and I'm happy to have begun!
We had 8 children, ranging in age from 4 to 10. Several parents joined their children on the mat and went through the session too, which was a lot of fun. Those parents not on the mat stood in the back of the room and laughed at their children's antics. Somewhat of a distraction, but it was fine.
I spoke briefly about the breath, about how it animates our bodies, and invited the children to stand up straight, put one hand on their tummies, one hand on their upper chests and take a few deep breaths. We all agreed we could feel our breath. Looks of surprise when I told them that on the average we take 5000 breaths a day! And to think, it's all involuntary, unless you do a practice like yoga.
I also spoke briefly about the concept of Ahimsa, and how it was a good practice to kind to ourselves, our family and friends, animals and insects, and our Earth.
So on our Yoga Hike, we were going to focus on our breath and on Ahimsa.
This is how we began our Hike:
*Put your knapsacks on
*Put your sun hats on
*Make sure you've got water!
*Walking In Place (on the trail)
*At the river, frog swim across (slow breast stroke, opening the chest)
*When we reach the other shore, we shake off (shaking hands, arms, legs, feet, torso)
*Walking In Place again, until we reach the mountain.
*Mountain Pose (invited the children to once again use their hands to feel the breath in their tummies and chest)
*Tree Pose ( addition of wind blowing our leaves and branches, swaying)
*The Rock (invited the children to place their hands on their backs to feel their breath on the ribcage)
*Rolled up to Table Top
*Scared Cat, Curious Cat (Rounded Cat, Hollow Cat)
*Back to Table Top
*Puppy Stretch
*Rolled up & sat on mats
*Butterfly (soles of feet together, using the knees as wings, and then folding the body forward)
*Happy Bees Humming (sat with legs crossed, eyes closed, humming for several breaths)
*Letting the Bees Go (raising the arms, wiggling fingers in the air, saying goodbye)
*Namaste (explained what Namaste means, children repeated the word and mudra)
*Shavasana with guided Butterfly Meditation (invited children to chose a butterfly, whatever color they wanted, and we flew back over the bee hive, over the puppy, over the cat, over the rock, the trees and the mountain. We flew back across the river and over the trail until the butterfly landed on our hearts and stayed there.
*Silence
*Asked the children what color butterflies they were. When I asked where the butterflies were, everyone said, In my heart, and we did Namaste once more.
Part of the practice also involved unrolling/rolling up your own mat and putting them away.
The half hour sped by! During the walking part of the hike, we all had to become robots, since the youngest (a very energetic 4 year old boy) just had to get some energy out. So he led us as robots, and then settled down. Later, when he lost his concentration again, I asked if he wanted to sit on my mat and be a butterfly with me, and he did very well. Even still, it was a long half hour for him.
Our Shavasana was probably the fastest on record, but we got it in, and I think everyone really liked the guided meditation. Later on in the afternoon, one of the little girls was off in a corner practicing her new yoga asanas, ending with Namaste. Watching her totally made my day!
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