by Sue Hargreaves
April seems to have arrived all at once . Spring is my favourite time of year and my thoughts go to renewal and new life. We will see this all around us in various ways, and each of us will find something that captures our focus. My focus came before April arrived, in March, awaiting the birth of my great granddaughter. A new life for our family, eagerly awaited.
This prompted something in my memory, of a former student, who taught yoga to children. Maybe it is something you do? Or wish to explore? Or just to teach your own children/ grandchildren/ great grand children ?
Here is a flavour of how she went about it.
Her ‘rules of practice’ were:-
- Nose for breathing, mouth for eating.
- Breathing for relaxation and quiet times, use top chest, middle chest, diagphragm
- Breathing during active times, in through the nose out through the mouth
- To do what suits them, rest when ready and don’t push yourself
Initially they were taught Vajrasana, Dandasana, Shavasana, Ardhasana, Tadasana.
She used a visual story to aid them to remember the order of the practice and to make it fun!
A suggestion is – going for a row in a boat to an island to enjoy the day and the attractions of the island.
Getting boat ready
- Dandasana
- shakti bandha no.3 ( pulling on rope) to put up the sail
- Triangle to unfurl the sail
- Boat balance, arms out as oars>open legs to see where going
- shakti bandha no.1 ( rowing the boat)
Out on the water- what can we see?
- Standing twist (using hands from brows) to see from the crows nest
- Shakti Bandha no.5 (the salute) to dive into the water (swimming is good, you CAN breathe underwater)
- Fish pose
- Turtle/ tortoise pose
Arrive on shore– rest in corpse for short time to get breath back. Funfair at top of hill beckons.
- Swings – balancing pose
- Helter Skelter- reverse plank
- Waltzer- seated dynamic twist
Back on shore
Sitting- watching the breath, sound around, withdrawing from them to concentrate on the breath
Relaxing in corpse using a warm visualisation.
My thanks for this inspiration go to Hania.
Something else to consider is a book I reviewed in June 2022 which is yoga for children . I wrote a full review of it, which you can view on our website in Resources, Book Reviews.
‘Once upon a time, you….’ by Maria Oliver Pub. Halldron Books ISBN 978-1-8383024-1-2
Have fun! Sue