Yoga In My School » teens

Five Good Moments: Focus on the Positive to Increase Happiness

DonnaKFreeman — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:42:58 +0000

Mindfulness Games for Kids & Teens

We often get stuck on negative moments and enlarge their significance. This game teaches children and youth to pay attention to the events of each day and intentionally focus on the positives. It encourages paying close attention, living in the moment and appreciating all that life has to offer. Learning to pay attention to how different moments/events make us feel is an important skill leading to emotional intelligence, improved self understanding and greater compassion and empathy.

Five Good Moments

Suggest to your ‘Negative Nelly’ (my apologies to all the positive Nelly’s out there) that they pay attention today/this week to moments that make them feel good and try to find five different ones. The moment might be a thought that inspires, a view that is lovely and makes them pause, an interaction with someone, etc. What it is doesn’t matter. What matters is that for at least a moment it made them feel good. You do the same. When you get together at the end of the day/in class next week, share your five good things with one another.

We do this as a family each evening, each person saying one thing at a time in a circle, and call it “Thankful For.” Often at the end of a full day the responses are, “I’m thankful for bed, pillows, sleep, etc.” When the offerings get generic and often repeated (my family, my friends, my home) we remind the kids to think of something specific from today (a trip to the park, the colours of the clouds at sunset, the taste of fresh picked berries, etc). We also occasionally switch it up by saying “If I were so-and-so (the family member to their right or left) I would be thankful for…” This is always an interesting exercise and prompts some insightful observations. It also helps teach children to think about others and what happened of importance in someone else’s life that day.

Over the next while YIMS will be providing numerous mindfulness and compassionate living exercises and games so be sure to subscribe (RSS or e-mail) in order to get them delivered directly to your reader or in-box.

photo by Hamed Saber

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Kids Yoga Poses – Shark Pose looks Suspiciously like Dolphin Pose

DonnaKFreeman — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:15:09 +0000

Two notes. That’s all you need. And everyone knows they are in for Shark Pose. The Jaws Theme Song continues to terrify and kids far and wide can’t wait to get into this basic inversion.

Shark Pose/Dolphin Pose

Hello, this is Donna from Yogainmyschool and I’m here today with Alea to show you how to do Shark Pose, known in most adult yoga classes as Dolphin Pose.

Hi, my name is Alea and I’m eight years old.

The first thing you need to do, to do Shark Pose is come onto your hands and knees. Do you see how her hands are below her shoulders and her knees are below her hips? That’s perfect.
The second step is to lower yourself to the ground on your elbows, intertwining your fingers.
The third step, curl your toes under and lift your hips high in the air. Let your head hang loose. You can shake it ‘yes.’ You can shake it ‘no.’ And do you see how her body forms a triangle. That is supposed to be the fin of the shark.

Shark Pose is a really good pose for strengthening the shoulders, the chest and building stamina. After a few breaths, you can come on down, and return to sitting.

Thanks Alea for showing us how to do Shark Pose.

Visit the Alphabetical List of Yoga Poses for a complete listing of yoga poses that kids love.

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Put Me in the Zoo – Old Favourite: New Lessons

DonnaKFreeman — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:52:03 +0000

Dr Seuss asks You to Discover Your Place in Life, Be Your Best Self

We just got home from vacation. Each year we head to my parent’s cabin on a beautiful lake in British Columbia, Canada. There are so many memories of my childhood there. I especially love picking up the well worn books off the shelf in the corner to read to my children. These are the books I read as a child. Illustrations, rhymes, tattered covers take me back to the innocence, joy, and simplicity of that time.

This year my six year old loved reading the Dr Seuss books. As I read Put Me in the Zooby Robert Lopshire for the umpteenth time I was struck by the fundamental life lessons found within those pages.

Questioning Who You Are

First the leopard is rejected and tossed out of the zoo, then he is asked by the young girl and boy “What good are you? What can you do?”

Don’t we all ask ourselves those same questions? Again and again at various times in our lives we search to define who we are, our worth, our contributions.

Your Time to Shine

And so the leopard shows all he can do by turning his spots various colours, juggling them, changing their size, etc. He is one talented leopard!

You are too! It is vital to remember that we all have talents and abilities…divine worth. As we come to know ourselves, we can shine by being the genuine article: our best, truest self. Share it with the world. Do your thing!

Finding Your Place

However, the girl and boy regretfully inform a disappointed and discouraged leopard, “But you should not be in the zoo.” Only to show him his true calling, “…the circus is the place for you.”

We also need to find the place we truly belong, somewhere we can shine. We may need a guide, a teacher, a friend to show us the way. That place may also change as we grow and learn, progressing along life’s journey. However, once we are there, we, like the leopard, can bask in the joy of finding our place, of being our best selves.

So I thank Dr Seuss (and my sweet daughter) for making me reflect on these essential life questions.

What is your mission?
How can you fulfill it?
Have you found your place?
Are you sharing and giving joyfully from the heart?

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What is Mindfulness for Children

DonnaKFreeman — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:07:18 +0000

Mindfulness means “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgementally to the unfolding of experiences moment by moment.” (Joh Kabat-Zinn) It is an active process involving staying aware of the external environment and the internal bodily sensations in the present moment without judgement, positive or negative.

Children live in a world of being told what to do: what time to wake up, what to eat, where and when they have various activities such as school, sports, music lessons, etc. This can lead to going through the motions of living without conscious awareness. For example, if you ask them what they ate for lunch they may not be able to tell you. This in not simply because of poor memory, but more likely because they were not paying attention at the time.

Children are often much closer to their experiences than adults. Watch an infant experience anything for the first time; they look at it, touch it, feel it on their face, taste it. Every experience is fresh and new. They live in the moment reacting emotionally and immediately to stimulus, then moving on to the next experience.

However, children also exists on auto-pilot, are easily distracted, are forgetful, lack concentration, have poor self-control and often do not understand themselves or the world. Mindfulness exercises address these concerns and can assist children in living with attention and awareness of themselves and their environment.

Keeping the needs and abilities of children in mind is key when adapting mindfulness exercises to various age groups. Children learn through concrete activities with clear, descriptive instructions. They also enjoy engaging their imaginations and creativity. And don’t forget the power of humour or the need for play.

Be sure to start with brief activities which will lead to success. Beginning with a five minute focus activity will be better than a 15 minute seated meditation.

Like all activities, mindfulness training improves with practice. As they learn mindful techniques, children can practice independently in everyday life: as they walk, as they eat, as they play. Purposefully engaging in their various activities will actively shape the mind helping children to live deeply each moment of daily life.

In the coming months we’ll be posting specific techniques and methods of teaching mindfulness to children and adolescents. Be sure to subscribe (RSS or e-mail) to receive these articles as they are published.

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Useful and Fun Yoga Games – Yoga Jenga

DonnaKFreeman — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:00:16 +0000

Most of us are familiar with the game of physical and mental skill called Jenga where a number of wooden blocks are stacked in a tower and each player must try to remove one block per turn using only one hand without toppling the tower. Adding a yoga element to this classic game is a sure fire hit to include in yoga class. It maintains interest, can be used with any sized group, helps kids learn how to take turns, improves hand eye coordination, instills patience, and is easy to use again and again with endless variety.

Yoga Jenga

Take a jenga game and write a different pose on each block. I took inspiration from the 60 poses included in Once Upon a Pose writing the English pose name on one side and the French name of the other thereby creating a bilingual game (the name in Sanskrit, Spanish, German, etc. would be equally as effective – See Language Learning Thru Yoga).

Have a couple of kids set up the game by stacking three blocks across three blocks until a tower is formed.

Choose a child to carefully remove a jenga block.

Perform the yoga pose written on the block.

You can place the block back on to the top of the jenga tower in order for it to continue to build. If you don’t want to repeat any poses during the class simply place the used jenga blocks off to one side. As well we more often than not simply run out of time long before the tower comes down.

Choose another child and repeat until all children have had a turn, class is over, or the tower falls over.

Visit the Yoga Games page for more engaging yoga activities to use in your class. Also join us on Facebook and check out our YouTube Channel where there is always lots of great content to keep your kids and teen yoga classes fun and inspiring.

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Yoga during Algebra? – Donna Freeman talks about the benefits on Breakfast Television

DonnaKFreeman — Mon, 10 May 2010 06:28:57 +0000

Yoga during algebra? A good arguement for it in this BT Bite!

It’s great for your breathing, flexibility and stress relief and it isn’t just for grown-ups. Donna Freeman is the founder of YogaInMySchool.com, an innovative program aimed at kids and teens, and she joins Breakfast Television with a few young friends.

Teens are at an ideal age to practice yoga. It helps them de-stress, focus, develop mentally, emotionally and physically, get to know themselves and become all they can be.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Tim Thomas Hockey All Star & Yoga Master

DonnaKFreeman — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:59:40 +0000

The Boston Bruins are on a roll. Monday night they won against the Sabres and are now heading into the next round of the NHL playoffs.

Tim Thomas, a goalie for the Boston Bruins, uses yoga to enhance his hockey performance and stay on top of his game both physically and mentally. Check out this video to discover how he does it.

Tim Thomas is considered one of the Top 10 Goalies in Bruins History. We are thrilled with the example he is setting for young hockey players and other elite athletes.

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Benefits of Yoga for Teens

DonnaKFreeman — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:23:11 +0000

A teen’s life is full of change, stress, peer conflicts, relationships, academics, part-time jobs, life altering decisions, and discovering oneself. Yoga can be an instrumental tool in helping teens become their best selves while dealing with the day to day challenges which come during these turbulent years. This pod-cast will discuss some of the ways yoga benefits teens specific to their social, physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual needs. Tune in to discover how yoga helps with everything from peer pressure to getting enough sleep. Encourage the teens in your life to establish life long health and vitality by introducing them to yoga today.

Original Air Date: 11/24/2009 3:00 PM

For more information on yoga for teens be sure to subscribe via RSS or e-mail and receive hints and helps directly to your reader or mailbox. We’re also in the process of developing a number of resources for teen yoga classes. Let us know what you are looking for and the questions you have so that we can answer them.

You may also want to check out these articles:

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Playlist for Teen Yoga Class

DonnaKFreeman — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:04:13 +0000

I’ve been playing with the play-list for the Hot Yoga for Teens class I teach once a week. It’s an abbreviated class, only one hour in duration, but involves as many of the 26 hot yoga poses as we can fit in, along with a lovely savasana at the end. The students spend the first few weeks learning the poses and then each week we add in a few new challenges and technique hints to bring up their level of yoga and deepen their experience.

I like to include a lot of current and pop tunes which are fun and have positive messages. I always keep in mind the teens and try to choose stuff they’ll enjoy. Also, I encourage my students to suggest tunes to add and they love to hear their favourites during class. This particular play list may be more energetic than most yoga play-lists, which are known for their relaxing, calming sound tracks. I wanted to empower the students and let them know anything is possible through hard work, dedication, focus, and love. So this is what it looks like currently. It’ll change before the next session starts, but for today we’ll enjoy this version.

Breathe – Sia

Amber – 311

Hey, Soul Sister – Train

This Too Shall Pass – OK Go

Uprising – Muse

Sober – Pink

Karma Police – Radiohead

Sewn – The Feeling

Love Is The Answer – Weezer

Hey World (Don’t Give Up) Michael Franti & Spearhead

Hungry Heart – Minnie Driver

Breathe – Anna Nalick

Claire de Lune – Claude Debussy

For suggestions on music for kids and teens yoga class visit The Magic of Music on The Kids Yoga Resource.

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Children’s Relationship to Food Needs an Overhaul

DonnaKFreeman — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:31:04 +0000

Today children are inundated with poor food options. From chicken nuggets to processed treats, its all readily available and marketed to the hilt. One of the worst culprits is school lunch. School cafeterias often don’t have a single ‘from scratch’ option made without preservatives and chemicals. Where are the fruits and vegetables that are supposed to make up the largest portion of the daily intake? And ketchup is NOT a vegetable!

Educating children about healthy eating is critical. There is much we can do to promote fresh, healthy, delicious food. It is essential to change children’s relationship to food so that they understand that what they put into their bodies effects how their bodies feel and perform.

Here is a 20 minute talk by Ann Cooper, the renegade lunch lady, who is passionate about changing what kids eat for lunch. She promotes a local, sustainable, seasonal and educational diet.

There are numerous ways to change how children relate to food. Here are a few suggestions

Teach proper nutrition- develop awareness for the food groups, portion size, and label reading
Involve kids in the kitchen - even the smaller kids can help in the kitchen, get them involved and empower them with life long skills
Eat together – studies show famlies that eat together have better health habits
Grow your own food – even a small garden can grow fresh produce for the table
Appreciate the body - learning basic anatomy develops an appreciation for and awareness of the body, its systems, and how to care for it with proper nutrition

Other articles with a focus on improving the health and nutrition of children include:

Food Issues — Karmaspot’s Blog
Kids are Eating a Wheelbarrow full of Sugar — Young Yoga Masters
Food, Mood, Behavior and Learning — The Kids Yoga Resource
Yoga Can Help Diminish Childhood & Teen Obesity — Shanti Generation Blog
Eating Local Tips for Busy Moms on a Budget — The PranaMama
Watermelon Pose — Alluem Kids

If you have a related article or website please post a link in the comments.

Together we can make a difference. This is something we are completely in control of, so get involved, make an effort, take the time.

Over the next couple of months I’ll be ellaborating on ways to change how children relate to food so be sure to subscribe by RSS or e-mail.

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