Tis the Season to be Giving!

Now that the holiday season is upon us, so is the time for exchanging gifts!  Everyone loves receiving holiday presents, especially children.  Having been extra good all year long and having compiled a detailed wish list, little boys and girls will wait with bated breath for those wishes to come true this holiday season.  As much as we all love receiving gifts, giving to others can be even more rewarding. The holiday season is the perfect time to teach children about giving to others, especially the less fortunate.  While there is never a bad time to donate time or resources to the needy, Christmastime is a particularly meaningful time of year to think about others.

This month at Lil Zen Yogis, the kids will be learning about the yogic discipline of Aparigraha, or non-greediness.  One of the ancient Yamas, or social teachings of yoga, the principle of Aparigraha transcends time - in this trying economy, charity and giving couldn't be more important.  For the month of December, our little yogis will be writing holiday greeting cards to troops overseas, as well as holding a winter clothing drive right here in the studio.

There are many ways for you and your children to make a difference this holiday season.  Working together to make someone else's Christmas special will bring you and your child closer, and will teach the value of giving as well as receiving.  Here are a few ideas:

1.  Food pantry donations - Bringing non-perishables (like canned goods) to your local food pantry is as easy as it is rewarding!

2.  Toys for tots - this and other similar programs in your area work to make holiday time special for all kids.  Help your child pick out a toy that another child might like to have for Christmas or Hanukkah this year and donate it!

3.  Soup kitchens are always in need of helping hands, especially as the weather gets colder.  This month, spend an hour each weekend with your little one lending a hand feeding the hungry.

4.  Clothing drives are crucial as the seasons change and temperatures start to plummet.  There are always kids and adults who are in need of warm clothing like hats, gloves, jackets, and shoes.

So many of us already know the importance of giving, and many of us already uphold a traditions of charity.  If they do not already participate in this tradition, I urge you to include your children in your practice of holiday Aparigraha - together you both can make someone else's December special while creating lasting and meaningful memories! :)

Yoga + Music: a Recipe for Kids' Success

Have you ever met a person who doesn't like music?  With so many different styles and genres to meet every listener's tastes, it's no wonder that music can play such a big part in the lives of so many diverse people.  Music makes us happier, and it makes us smarter - hearing my favorite song on the radio can salvage even my worst mood, and I can even remember some Japanese words from a song that I learned way back in first grade.  Recent studies have confirmed music's undeniable positive influences on mental health and cognitive ability, particularly for children with autism.

While music can provide a great source of emotional release for anyone, it is an especially valuable therapeutic tool for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Music Therapy is a successful approach to helping children and adults with autism to reach their full potential to lead happy and productive lives.  By its very nature, music is accessible for people of all ages and abilities.  Studies involving children with autism have shown that music can help encourage social interactions, improve behavior, improve communication, and even reduce anxiety.  Music is stimulating and fun, making it the perfect teaching tool!

Like music, yoga practice can also be beneficial for kids with autism.  The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that a regimen of yogic movement alongside music therapy was effective in treating key symptoms of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Yoga and music education together are a dynamic duo for child development.  All children can benefit from music and yoga!

Yoga: the Vaccine Against Teenage Angst

  Most of us remember our turbulent teenage years with a cringe - only a cruel God would couple hormonal awkwardness with crippling self-consciousness as the two most prominent characteristics of adolescence.  We all survived, and the sentimental among us might even suggest that we are stronger having faced the many challenges of growing up.  However, while puberty might be a fact of life, I don't believe the suffering has to be a rite of passage.

Timeless depiction of teenage angst.
(Combat angst by imagining Emilio Estevez doing yoga)

  Self Esteem: the only known antidote for teenage angst.  This is a particularly important concept for young women as we tend to be our own harshest critics, known to compare our bodies to those of classmates, coworkers, and even photoshopped celebrities.  For teenagers in a state of physical and emotional flux, this preoccupation with an impossible standard can be devastating, leading young women especially to take extreme and unhealthy measures to look like someone else.  It is important to instill the value of self-love in our children before these changes start taking place to help make growing up a happy transition.  A regular yoga practice for kids and teens is a great place for young people to get to know and love their bodies, even as it changes shape and size.

Coordination. Yoga is the perfect way for young people to get acquainted with their bodies, gaining and maintaining control of motor skills as they grow and develop as children and young adults.  Practicing bodily control on the mat will help teens combat the clumsiness that comes with adolescence.

Tuning out.  Teenagers are already famous for their selective listening skills - now yoga can help them become experts at even tuning themselves out!  During class, they will learn to quiet their minds, focusing on the practice and listening to the cues of the teacher. This also means being better able to turn off that self-critical voice that governs teenage self-doubt.

Patience.  Yoga takes a great deal of patience; but with practice, improvement is inevitable.  It is hugely rewarding once any yogi realizes she can now stretch deeper or balance longer in a challenging pose.  The pride that comes with improvement in the yoga studio will facilitate self-esteem in all aspects of life.

  While self-esteem is crucial for young girls, it is hugely important for all kids.  Another unfortunate truth about growing up is the existence of bullies.  It is often a lack of self-esteem that leads kids to be cruel to others in the first place; luckily self-love helps the victims of bullying to stay strong and cope.  Growing up can be awkward, but it doesn't have to be painful. Through teaching kids yoga, we can help them to be happy in their own skin and embrace their bodies!

Halloween Time Yoga Fun!

Halloween is always exciting, especially for children.  Holidays and special occasions are the perfect opportunities to incorporate fun and different activities during these times of year.  Yoga for kids naturally takes the form of playacting and pretending, so a Halloween theme is the perfect fit for a class of little yogis!

Here are 5 fun ways to make your yoga routine extra spooky:

1.  "Boo" breath Breathing exercises have always been calming and cleansing - now they can be fun!  As an opener for class, start this exercise with kids sitting in easy pose (criss-cross-applesauce, that is).  Have yogis take a deep breath in, then exhale with their favorite ghostly noises.  BoooOOOooo!

Lil' yogi witch

2.  Witch  Commonly known as Utthita Tadasana, or extended mountain, this will be an instant Halloween hit!  Have little yogis take a few deep breaths while making a tall, pointy witch hat with their hands.

3.  Spider pose  To us grown-ups: Ardha Purvottanasana, or crab pose.  To a bunch of spooky yoga kids: a fun way to creep out their yoga teacher!

Frankenstein!

4.  Frankenstein walk  Everybody's favorite Halloween personality, Frankenstein!  Have kids monster-walk from one side of the room to the other by trying to touch opposite hand to opposite foot with arms and knees held straight.  Monster noises are to be encouraged. (BONUS: Play Monster Mash and make this move into a full-blown Halloween line dancing routine!)

5.  Corpse pose  Halloween time is the only time that I will call Savasana by its otherwise morbid English name in a kids class - "sleeping vampire" works just as well, too.  After laying still, have kids "rise from the grave" by reaching their hands toward the ceiling, sitting up slowly.  Spoooky!

My favorite part about Halloween season is seeing kids wearing their costumes 24/7 for the entire month of October, but a close second is doing Halloween yoga!  Namaste, and happy haunting!

Jenga, and other Fun Ways to Focus

Trying not to tumble the tower...

While getting kids active is a major goal of any little yoga class, an equally important goal is helping kids be calm and centered.  If it were as easy as just telling youngsters to be calm, it wouldn't be such a challenge!  Luckily, yoga is a perfect way for kids to practice focusing their energy on a productive task.  One of our favorite activities in my studio is Yoga Jenga.

Before starting the game, we do yoga breathing exercises while we warm up our fine motor skills.  We play using classic Jenga rules, with the addition of a yoga pose written on each block that must be performed to complete every turn.  The kids love seeing how tall they can get the tower without knocking it over, so they don't need me to remind them to be calm and careful during the game! It is the perfect excercise in self-control and concentration, and with the common goal of keep the tower from toppling, the game is lighthearted and no competitive. 

 Jenga is one of my favorite kids yoga activities, but there are countless ways to practice concentration and attentiveness:

Read.  Have your kids listen as you read to them, checking in periodically to see that they are following along. Let older kids practice reading aloud to you - what better way for them to get ahead with literacy!
Color.  Kids of all ages love coloring!  You can find hundreds of free printable coloring sheets here.  Even better Han coloring is drawing.  Play some instrumental music, and on a blank sheet of paper have the little yogis draw or color whatever the music makes them think of.
Sing.  Learn new songs together! Or teach them new ways to sing old favorites, like singing Row Row Row Your Boat in a round.
Origami. You can often find free community newspapers that have the perfect pages for making a kid-size origami hat.  Only a few simple folds, add some color customization, and it's ready to wear!

All of these activities are fun ways for kids to apply themselves.  They are perfect ways of playing that are simple, inexpensive, and great learning opportunities - just like yoga!

5 Poses to Prepare Lil' Yogis for Bedtime

  Every mom knows how important regular sleep is to a child's mental and physical development; and every mom knows that this importance is particularly hard to explain to a reluctant child come bedtime...  Luckily, yoga works as a fun way to help your little ones unwind when it's time to rest.  Try adding these five relaxing asanas to your child's bedtime routine - in just a few minutes your lil' yogi will be ready for a restful night's sleep.

1.  Rag Doll  With feet shoulder width apart, bend at the waist with knees soft and straight, letting head, torso, and arms hang down toward the floor.  Encourage your child to take a nice deep breath followed by an audible sigh, releasing any excess energy.

2.  Hare Pose   Reminding your little one to be quiet and still like a bunny, sit back on the feet in a low kneeling position, then fold the torso forward until the top of the head is on the ground and arms are back by the sides.  A few breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth will help reduce your child's heart rate and prepare the little yogi for sleep.

3.  Child's Pose   The classic yoga resting posture.  Begin on knees, sitting back on the feet.  Fold the torso forward with arms out in front, letting the forehead rest on the floor.  To help quiet the mind, have your lil' yogi roll the head side to side, gently massaging the forehead.






4.  Happy Baby   Getting sleepier... Lying on the back with knees bent, grab onto each foot.  Gently rock side to side to massage and relax the muscles of the back.





5.  Savasana   A relaxing end to a calming yoga sequence.  Get your lil' yogi tucked into bed for this final pose of the evening.  This would be a perfect time to talk your child through a guided meditation or read a short bedtime story - before long, he'll be fast asleep.

   A short yoga series works equally well with unwinding for nap time.  Encourage occasional deep breaths, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.  Have a short playlist of soft instrumental music playing softly in the background, letting it play a minute or two into savasana until your yogi is asleep.  With the addition of yoga to the sleep routine, your child will be excited for nap time and bedtime!

Yoga for Cyber Age Kids: Tuning in to Inner Calmness

  Modern yoga has become wildly popular among everyone from expectant mothers to senior citizens.  This is no surprise to the seasoned yogi; all the known benefits of regular yoga practice make it well worth a try, and just one class will have you hooked.  As yoga continues to grow in the twenty-first century, it is time to share its invaluable rewards with the next generation of yogis: our children.

  Among the growing ranks of childhood epidemics in this country are the all too familiar attention deficit and behavioral disorders.  More and more kids each year are diagnosed and prescribed expensive medications to facilitate that coveted calm and focused classroom demeanor.

 Between television, video games, and the internet, kids are exposed to constant on-screen stimulation.  It is no wonder why a child does not know how to act when this stream of visual entertainment is interrupted, as is the case during school and at the dinner table. 

  Enter yoga.  One of the discipline's most celebrated benefits is that it promotes a state of centering and total calmness.  Yoga practitioners of all ages boast unparalleled placidity with regular asana, or yoga poses.  The Mayo Clinic even reports that yoga breathing, known as pranayama, can help you "control your body and quiet your mind."  Just a few hours a week of yoga offers kids an escape from the fast-paced digital world, just like it does for adults.  

 Yoga practice can teach children that while there is a time for TV and NintendoDS, there is also a time to turn them off.  As a little yogi learns to find his calmness without digital stimulation, this calmness will come more easily to him in the classroom as well - it just takes practice.

  Even the simplest postures can yield measurable results in coordination and self-control.  A yoga routine tailored to the needs and developmental capabilities of young yogis is a safe and effective way to exercise their minds and bodies together.  Kids yoga class makes for good old-fashioned unplugged fun!