Comment below to enter this giveaway. Contest ends Friday, October 14th at 9:00 pm MDT.

The good folks over at Addriya have done it again. Created another fab yoga card deck, this time with a focus on small spaces.

Yoga for Small Spaces includes 52 large sized (5″x7″), heavy duty cards that can withstand lots of use. Each card features a yoga activity which can be done in a small space such as an office, classroom or airplane. The front of each card has a fun graphic which shows the pose and an object the pose is inspired by. The back is packed with information including step-by-step instructions, benefits, modifications and a positive affirmation.

One of the things I like best about the cards is the color coding system. Each card has a border which defines the health and behavior benefits such as Red: to help ground and support especially good for people that are nervous, anxious or fearful or Yellow to help foster self-esteem, risk-taking and leadership. I find this super helpful as a reference tool when preparing classes.

For years I have taught a popular Yoga with a Chair class in schools and for professional development workshops. Everyone is always amazed at the thorough and fun workout you can get by sitting in a chair. This yoga deck added to my repertoire of poses and is handy for a quick yoga game.

So if you think you can’t do yoga unless you move the furniture or have a yoga mat, block, strap and other props, think again. With Yoga for Small Spaces yoga can be done anywhere and the poses are ideal for all ages and abilities.

You can purchase your own deck for $19.99 from the Addriya on-line store.

To enter to win leave a comment below sharing the most unique location you’ve ever done yoga.

Additional Entries:

• Follow Addriya Yoga on Facebook and comment back here
• Share this review on Facebook with an @yogainmyschool.com mention (multiple entries allowed-max of one per day)
• Tweet it including an @DonnaKFreeman mention (multiple entries allowed- max of three per day, one hour apart): “Small Spaces Yoga Cards #giveaway @DonnaKFreeman @addriya“

Addriya generously donated resources for this review and giveaway. The opinions expressed here are completely my own.

Contest ends Friday, October 14th at 9:00 pm MDT. Winners will be contacted by e-mail and will have 48 hours to reply. Winners names will be published here, on Facebook and Twitter.

Update: Congrats to Julie Johnston who was very excited to win the Yoga for Small Spaces card deck.

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Comment below to enter this giveaway. Contest ends Friday, October 7th at 9:00 pm MDT. 

Children’s yoga expert Leah Kalish along with a group of talented individuals have launched yet another well produced and extremely useful resource. Move with Me Action Adventures boasts 9 DVDs ideal for active indoor play for ages 3 to 7. With child friendly topics such as Monkeying Around a the Zoo, Lost and Found in Africa, and Coral Reef these DVDs appeal to young minds and help develop imagination and creativity.

Each story tells of an adventure taken by Scooter and the Boy. Children act out the adventure and are able to become various parts of the story including thunder, animals, flowers, motorcycles and so much more. Teacher Wendy is cheerful and energetic as she moves through the activities demonstrating each movement.

I’m a firm believer in the power of story telling to assist in learning and love how Kalish and her team have developed these fun adventures using yoga poses, Brain Gym, Exercise Science and other modalities which address and develop the whole child. Individual DVDs take 20 minutes to complete which along with the story line and many fun activities keep children attentive and asking for more. These DVDs are perfect for the upcoming gift giving season for your fave little yogi. As well,  they make a valuable resource for teachers or homeschooling families to explore the world in a fresh, integrated way.

Move With Me Action Adventures is giving away three copies of individual DVDs to three lucky winners. Each winner can choose between The Birthday Gift, Monkeying at the Zoo or Possum’s Tail.

How to Enter

Enter to win by leaving a comment of  how yoga develops the whole child: body, mind and heart.

Additional entries can be made by:

• liking Move With Me Action Adventures on Facebook – comment here letting me know you did
• sharing this contest on Facebook with an @Yogainmyschool.com link – one entry per day allowed
• Tweeting this contest and including an @DonnaKFreeman tag – 3 entries per day allowed at least one hour apart each

Contest ends Friday, October 7th at 9:00 pm MDT. Winners will be contacted by e-mail and will have 48 hours to reply. Winners names will be published here, on Facebook and Twitter.

Enjoy this video trailer of Move with Me Action Adventures.

DVDs can be purchased individually, in a series (Body, Mind, Heart: each with 3DVDs) or a 9 DVD box set from Move with Me Action Adventures.

Move with Me Action Adventures generously donated copies for this review and giveaway. The opinions expressed here are completely my own.

Listen here to an interview with Leah Kalish.

Update: Congratulations to our winners Kim Davis, Dee Wilkinson and Alissa Hearn. Watch for more great give-aways on YIMS. Enter often for your chance to win some fab yoga swag.

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Yogainmyschool.com is thrilled to offer three downloadable kids yoga classes. Family Time, Man on the Moon and Tour of India are fun, engaging and a great way to teach yoga to children. Expert in yoga for children and teens, Donna Freeman leads these 30 minute classes and is joined by young yogis who demonstrate real kids practicing yoga, making the videos easy use at home or in the classroom.

Based on stories found in Once Upon a Pose, these classes reinforce themes taught in school, involve children physically, mentally and emotionally in the learning process, reduce stress through movement, breathing and relaxation, and improve mental and physical health and well-being.

Available for download in both PC and MAC formats, these videos are now available for the introductory price of only US$9.99 each.

Visit the Yogainmyschool.com Store for details/to purchase.

Practicing yoga with kids has never been easier!

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Three sets of books will be given away. To enter leave a comment mentioning your child’s fave animal yoga pose. Contest ends Aug 26, 2011. This contest is now closed.

Meet Buzz. “Buzz is a curious little bee” and he wants to “bee a yogi.” To help him on his way, four friends (Dog, Cow, Cat and Frog) teach him their favourite poses. This is the idea behind Buzz Learns Yoga! by Kami Evans & Jackie Y. Lee, the creative duo who strive to make yoga fun, interactive and meaningful to little yogis. Inspired by her daughter Hannah, Kami Evans became a certified kids yoga instructor with a specialty in yoga for children with special needs. (Read her story.) She founded Elahi Yoga as a way to enrich all lives through creative movement and yoga.

Buzz was launched into the world in Buzz Learns Yoga! There are a number of things I like about this sweet, little book. First it’s short and ideally suited to the attention spans of young children. Second it’s colour rich as each animal/pose has an assigned colour (Cat = Orange, Frog = Green) which reinforces the poses in a visually appealing manner. Third, even though Buzz is the newest kid in yoga class he also has something to teach the more experienced yogis. The lesson ‘that everyone has something to offer’ is one we all need to incorporate into our lives.

The Elahi Yoga Student Workbook is another fab resource for pre-school children. Following the alphabet, animals are used as the basis for yoga inspired movements and poses: B for BEAR, N for NIGHTINGALE, U for UNICORN and 23 others. Each page has an animal to colour, letters to trace to spell the animals name and instructions on how to perform the pose. At the end of the workbook are a number of pages with fill in the blanks and creative drawing & writing to further enrich your little one’s understanding and integration of the concepts and ideas. This is a perfect example of how yoga develops early literacy skills.

Elahi Yoga has provided three sets of books (one Buzz Learns Yoga! + one Elahi Yoga Student Workbook) for this giveaway. Leave a comment below stating your child’s fave animal yoga pose to enter to win.

Since you’ll want to enter more than once, additional entries can by made by:

• Liking Elahi Yoga on Facebook – comment here once you do this
• Posting a photo of your child practicing their fave animal yoga pose on the Yogainmyschool.com Facebook page
• Sharing this contest on Facebook with an @yogainmyschool.com link
• Tweeting about the contest with an @DonnaKFreeman mention

Contest ends on Friday, August 26th, 2011 at 9:00 pm MDT. Winners will be contacted by e-mail and will have 48 hours to claim their prize. Winners names will be listed here, on Facebook & Twitter. GOOD LUCK!

To purchase copies of these resources visit Amazon (Buzz/workbook) or Barnes & Nobles (Buzz/workbook) online.

Disclosure: Elahi Yoga generously provided copies of Buzz Learns Yoga! and the Elahi Yoga Student Workbook for this review. All views are expressly my own and I am in no way compensated for this review and giveaway.

UPDATE: Congratulations to our winners: Anita Kaiser, Eve Agush and Sarah Womer. Thanks to everyone for your fab comments, photos and tweets. It’s always such fun doing a give-away and seeing everyone’s participation.

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Child Led, Child Friendly DVD a Winner

Enter to win a copy of Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle DVD by leaving a comment below mentioning one quality of an eagle which you admire.

Yoga Calm’s new DVD entitled Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle is sure to captivate. Inspired by Ryley’s song about eagles (which is used during the guided relaxation at the end of the yoga class) Flying Eagle encourages children to identify with an eagle’s positive traits of vision, strength, freedom and gentleness.

I absolutely love that the entire class is inspired and led by children. Young Haley leads the class with poise, confidence and clarity. She hands off the teacher’s mat to student leaders who take over during various activities and who receive compliments for their efforts and willingness to lead. Haley is matter of fact with her presentation using vocabulary, poses and visualizations appropriate for an elementary aged audience. The children modeling the class represent average children everywhere and help to encourage all to participate and adopt a “can-do attitude.”

The class itself is well thought out and includes breathing exercises with props (hoberman sphere & rock), floor work, standing poses, sun salutations with variations for ability & strength, partner and group poses, reclined twists and a final relaxation. There are 15 different activities in 20 minutes which may feel a little fast but which provides great opportunities to pause and explore at your leisure before pressing play to continue. Other kids will find the pace perfect to keep them engaged and active.

In addition to the yoga class there are also short bonus segments including:

1. a talk about eagles by naturalist Steve Engel of the Audubon Society
2. an interview with Lynea & Jim Gillen, founders of Yoga Calm
3. a Focusing Fun Silent Ball activity with ADHD expert Dr Jeff Sosne to build focus and encourage eye contact.

Enter to win a copy of the DVD by leaving a comment below regarding the admirable qualities of eagles.

For additional entries:

• Visit YogaCalm on Facebook and post on their wall about the giveaway
• Share this review on Facebook with an @yogainmyschool.com mention (multiple entries allowed)
• Tweet about the contest on Twitter with an @DonnaKFreeman mention (multiple entries allowed) “Check it out! Flying Eagle Kids Yoga DVD #giveaway @DonnaKFreeman @yogacalmkids http://bit.ly/iurfve”

This contest ends May 31, 2011 at 9:00 pm MDT. Enter often and share generously! Good-luck.

Visit the Yoga Calm Store if you’d like to purchase a copy of Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle – US$16 +S&H.

I received a copy of Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle and other promotional material from Yoga Calm for this review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Lisa Kelly, the winner of a copy of Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle DVD from Yoga Calm. Upon learning of her good fortune she said, “Looking forward to drawing inspiration from Flying Eagle! Thank you Donna for your continued hard work in helping other teachers spread the yoga-for-kids love. We are very lucky have you as such an amazing resource.”

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Yoga for Boys Comic Hero a Teaching Treasure

A new super hero is ready to squash harmful stress in Young Yoga Master’s Yoga Man vs The Stressor Sun Salutation Training Package. Taking her cue from comic books superheros Aruna Kathy Humphrys has created a child friendly, adventuresome and entertaining way to help children learn not only the poses which make up Surya Namaskar but also to teach them correct breathing, mental discipline and stress reduction principles.

This extensive package includes 112 pages filled with well prepared, age appropriate information and useful print-ables such as:

• Colouring Book: full page and quarter page versions of each pose
• Handout Activities: matching, fill in the blank, etc.
• Teacher’s Aid: with alignment details to ensure proper execution of each pose
• Pose Manual: detailed instructions including colour photos of boys performing the poses, precautions and super hero verbal cues ex: “Activate your core muscles at your ‘Power Centre’.”
• Games & Activities: 11 games to teach and expand application of Sun Salutations
• Secrets of the Sun Salutation: insight into our relationship with the sun and the light of consciousness

My favourite part of the package is the Games & Activities which provide creative ways to teach children about stress and ways to deal with it in their lives. Varying in duration (15-60 mins) each game is inspired by Sun Salutations, use the pose cards from the Colouring Book, and include reflection questions to deepen and expand the practice. The 11th Bonus Activity encourages groups to perform 108 Sun Salutations and provides instructions and hints on how to successfully hold a yoga fund raiser with kids.

Humphrys has taken a theme and developed it to the hilt. Boys everywhere will connect with Yoga Man in this classic battle of good vs evil. As they learn Sun Salutations children will become superheros and develop the skills to conquer The Stressor in their own lives.

Young Yoga Masters has generously provided a free giveaway of Yoga Man vs The Stressor (value of $39.00) to one lucky Yogainmyschool.com reader.

To enter leave a comment below telling of what Sun Salutations mean to you or some insight you gain when contemplating the sun (warmth, light, etc.)

For additional entries:

• Visit Young Yoga Masters on Facebook and post on their wall about the giveaway
• Share this review on Facebook with an @yogainmyschool.com mention (multiple entries allowed)
• Tweet about the contest on Twitter with an @DonnaKFreeman mention (multiple entries allowed) “Yoga Man teaching resource #giveaway rocks @DonnaKFreeman http://bit.ly/gYPXrg”

Contest closes on May 2nd, 2011 at 9:00 pm MDT. Winner will be chosen at random and their name will be posted here, on Facebook and Twitter.

To purchase a copy of this downloadable kids yoga teaching resource visit Young Yoga Masters.

For more information on how to encourage boys to do yoga check out the Yoga for Boys Interview.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Sara Guenther who won our giveaway of Yoga Man vs. The Stressor. Thanks to all who entered. Watch for our next giveaway – a copy of Flying Eagle: Kids Teach Yoga DVD by Yoga Calm.

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