There are so many things I’ve been learning from my students!  As I teach them, they are teaching me.

Fearlessness and Harmony:

My 5-8 year-old students love practicing inversions… Handstands! Headstands! You name it, they want to learn it. They can barely wait for me to explain the poses to them before they fly their legs up in the air or on the wall. It is amazing to see such fearlessness in them. I envy their ability to trust the ground beneath them, and to trust their own bodies in order to kick up into handstands. Little do they know, they are teaching me a great deal. One day, after chanting a few OMs, I asked the little ones what they thought the word meant. One extremely bright yogi said Harmony. His answer allowed me to better explain the meaning of the word in a way that they could grasp. I basically told them that OM is the sound of the whole entire world, and chanting OM brings everyone in the whole entire world in harmony with each other, and connects everyone together.

Chakras, and taking the moment to teach:

During another class, I taught a girl with some developmental disabilities. It was a private class so I was lucky enough to be able to practice some partner poses with her. She especially loved Seesaw, whereby we sat back to back and took turns forward folding while the other person leaned back to allow the other person to deepen into their forward fold. Later on, she noticed a picture of the Chakras on the wall. She was so curious about all of the different Chakras and their meanings and she begged me to explain to her what they meant. I hadn’t planned on teaching her the Chakras, but it seemed to be a perfect opportunity to share one of my favorite things with her! I explained to her the different Chakras, or main energy centers along the center of the body, and their meanings, and the colors associated with them. We began with the 1st Chakra and worked our way up to the 7th Chakra, stopping after I explained every Chakra to practice a song, pose, or breathing technique associated with the Chakra. I was so, so glad to have been able to share this with her! She even told me at the end that she thinks her 1st Chakra is blocked and that she wants to get more rooted! 

Sattvic amid chaos:

Today, during one one of my classes, I taught Tree pose, and one of my students always closes his eyes while practicing the pose. While the other kids were practically flailing about, he stood there, literally as strong as a tree, with his eyes closed. It was amazing to watch. The same boy, at the beginning of every class, always looks so peaceful with his eyes closed when we practice our breathing. Most of the other students ALWAYS peak, but he keeps his eyes squeezed tight. He inspires me to be more sattvic, or peaceful.

I can go on for hours about all of the things I have learned from my little yogis, but there is more to come!

 When I heard of an opportunity to sub for some preschool yoga classes I jumped in and learned the morning of that I would be teaching 6 back-to-back classes for ages one-and-a-half to five. Here are some big things I learned from little yogis: 

“Yoga may serve a preventive role in adolescent mental health…”

We love to see the Good Stuff in the press. :))

Go yoga for TEENS~~~

thx, Huff Po

<3, OS

The following Sun Salutation Poem was recently shared by a graduate of the OM Schooled Teacher Training who is teaching kids’ yoga in schools near Orlando, Florida.  She uses call and response while practicing the Sun Salutation (aka Surya Namaskar or “the Sun Dance” for little ones) to aid in memorizing the movements.

I’ve definitely found adding songs and poetry/words to movements can help kids internalize lessons FAST.  Be ready…they’ll learn and ask for variations…you’ll have to keep up with them!

*Each line below corresponds with a movement….also bring in pictures of yogis practicing the Sun Salutations to reach visual learners.

Namaste!

The Sun, The Sun,
I salute the Sun,
I offer my heart,
To everyone.
The sun rises,
The sun sets,
and in the world, my heart rests.
Again I rise
Ready to live,
Happy to be,
And Able to give,
The sun, the sun,
I salute the sun,
I offer my heart,
to everyone.

*Poem performed to the motions of a
traditional Surya Namaskar/Sun salutation.  Thanks to the Orlando SANGHA for this contribution!!

because if you want to learn yoga, try teaching it to kids. :)

-following from Daily OM

When we approach children with the awareness that they can teach us, we automatically become more present ourselves.

As grown-ups, we often approach children with ideas about what we can teach them about this life to which they have so recently arrived. It’s true that we have important information to convey, but children are here to teach us just as much as we are here to teach them. They are so new to the world and far less burdened with preconceived notions about the people, situations, and objects they encounter. They do not avoid people on the basis of appearance, nor do they regard shoes as having only one function. They can be fascinated for half an hour with a pot and a lid, and they are utterly unself-conscious in their emotional expressions. They live their lives fully immersed in the present moment, seeing everything with the open-mindedness born of unknowing. This enables them to inhabit a state of spontaneity, curiosity, and pure excitement about the world that we, as adults, have a hard time accessing. Yet almost every spiritual path calls us to rediscover this way of seeing. ! In this sense, children are truly our gurus. 

When we approach children with the awareness that they are our teachers, we automatically become more present ourselves. We have to be more present when we follow, looking and listening, responding to their lead. We don’t lapse so easily into the role of the director of activities, surrendering instead to having no agenda at all. As we allow our children to determine the flow of play, they pull us deeper into the mystery of the present moment. In this magical place, we become innocent again, not knowing what will happen next and remembering how to let go and flow. 

Since we must also embody the role of loving guide to our children, they teach us how to transition gracefully from following to leading and back again. In doing so, we learn to dance with our children in the present moment, shifting and adjusting as we direct the flow from pretending to be kittens wearing shoes on our heads to making sure everyone is fed and bathed.