Dance for the Sun

My journey to teaching kids yoga is a rather selfish one. For the last five years, my son and I do yoga together, and its been a terrific bonding tool. There is something sacred about sharing the breath with someone else. We work side by side on our mats, although in the very beginning he would spread out his bath towel. His inspiration came from the Good Night Show on Sprout (who says TV can’t be educational!) Every night, they would do a yoga asana, and Little Man was always ready and raring to go.
Fast forward five years…
He was ready to move beyond mommy and me, and to actually take a class. With a real live instructor and mats and other students, even. I began my quest. I live in Sioux Falls, SD and there aren’t many choices for yoga to start with. The studio that I liked had a children’s class, but it was during the week and by the time Little Man left school and got there, the class was half over. So, I emailed the then studio owner about if there was a possibility for a class on Saturday. She asked me if I was willing to teach.
Me?
I’m still learning, even though I have been practicing yoga for 25 years.
In my children’s ministry programs, I have included yoga for years. I use breathing exercises like lion and snake breath. Kids like pretending they are different animals, so I have them do animal asanas to get wiggles out. Guided meditation is a great tool to teach kids, and I love for them to do savasana at the end of Sunday School. I call it quiet time, although now that I am working with a multi age group, its harder to get them all to be quiet at the same time. There are so many practical applications for it in a child’s life, and I love to (sneakily) share this knowledge.
In my own life, I have seen my son grow and blossom, with yoga being partially responsible. By practicing, he is able to focus more. The breathing techniques we do together help him to manage stress and anxiety. We used to see a lot more stim behaviors, and by teaching Little Man to control his environment by breathing or stretching, it has allowed him to be more neuro-typical. In fact, some of the teachers in his school have begun using different breaths with their students, and they are not autistic!
And so my journey to teaching kids yoga has begun. I am now going into my third session with an amazing group of kids, and we are learning so much-and growing. They are learning some really great moves, and I am learning to guide them into a new activity.