Butterflies can teach us so much about change, growth and embracing our best selves. Let your inner butterfly dance upon the breeze with these life lessons.

• Let go of the past
• Trust your future
• Embrace the change
• Come out of the cocoon
• Unfurl your wings
• Dare to get off the ground
• Ride the breezes
• Savour the flowers
• Put on your brightest colors
• Let your beauty show

Thank you to Mitzi Coulombe Connel

Butterfly pose and other Bug Yoga poses are great fun!

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Aesop’s Fables are well loved the world over for their entertainment value and moral education. Here Sydney Solis adapts The Farmer and the Fox into a yoga story perfect for kids yoga classes. See also The Lion and the Mouse from last week.

From Sydney Solis of Storytime Yoga – See original post Mercy or Revenge? Aesop Stories and Yoga for Children

There was once a farmer who had a large wheat farm. One day he discovered that a fox had been eating some of his chickens. Furious, he vowed revenge. “I’ll get that fox!”

The farmer finally caught the fox.  ”Now you will pay for what you did to me!’ He soaked a rope in oil, tied it to the fox’s tail and set it on fire. The fox was aflame, but it squirmed and broke lose. It ran from the farmer and dashed into the wheat fields that were ready for harvest. All of the farmer’s wheat fields caught fire, destroying his farm and all of his crops.

Yoga Asana:

Who is this story about?

Farmer: Warrior I, virabrhadrasana I, II and III

Fox: Downward dog - adho mukha svanasana

What happens in this story?

Fire: Bound angle pose, baddha konasana

How does the story end?

Running through the fields on fire – Upward facing bow pose, urdva dhanurasana – then rolling side to side, spreading fire as you roll. Then run around the room!

Shavasana and Meditation:

See the farmer in your mind’s eye. See the fox. Think of someone that has harmed you and who bothers you. Smile at that person. Send love and forgiveness.

Discussion:

How are you like the farmer? Have you ever been angry about something someone did? What happened? What did you do? What was the outcome? How would you change what you did? How are you like the fox? Was there a time when you harmed another? What happened? What did you do to make amends for what you did? Is it ever too late to apologize or forgive? Does two wrongs make a right?

Think of a time when you were angry. Where do you feel the anger in your body? In your belly? Heart? Touch that spot. What is the emotion behind the anger? Were you shamed, afraid, betrayed?

How can we deal with the anger we may feel when we are wronged?

• Breathe
• Take a time out
• Talk about it with someone

For older children and teens: Contemplate and discuss the following quotes:

• “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.” – Ghandi
• “Mercy is setting the prisoner free only to discover the prisoner was me.”
• “In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over he is his superior.” – Sir Francis Bacon.
• “If you are slapped on one check, turn the other too.” The Bible Matthew 5:43
• I mount the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Affirmation:

• I am peace in every step. I am peace in every breath. I am peace.

If you enjoyed this post and are looking for more check out Yoga for Literacy and the Language Arts Page. Be sure to subscribe (RSS or e-mail) or sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on this topic.

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Aesop’s Fables are well loved the world over for their entertainment value and moral education. Here Sydney Solis adapts The Lion and the Mouse into a yoga story perfect for kids yoga classes. Watch next week for The Farmer and the Fox.

As told by Sydney Solis of Storytime Yoga – See original post Mercy or Revenge? Aesop Stories and Yoga for Children

Once upon a time there was a great lion.  Roaming in the jungle, he spotted a tiny mouse and pounced on it. “Ah ha! I have caught you!” The lion roared. “Now I will have a tasty snack!”

The little mouse shook in fear, but found the courage to say, “Lion, please, I beg you. Do not eat me. If you spare my life, I promise to return the favor and help you one day.”

“Ha! How can such a little mouse do anything important for such a great creature as I? I’m hungry!” And he lifted the mouse up by its tail and opened his great jaws wide.

“Please! I am sure I can help you one day! Give me a chance. Such a great creature as you surely has the power to spare some one his life!”

“All right. I will let you free,” the lion said, and went to sleep under a tree.

The next day, the mouse met the lion again, but  this time the lion was caught in a net from a trap that hunters had set for him. The Lion looked at the mouse with sad eyes and said, “Dear friend, can you help me?

And the little mouse looked at this great beast trapped and helpless. Then the mouse said, “Of course!” And went to work gnawing the ropes with his teeth and setting the lion free.

Yoga Asana:

Who is this story about?

Lion – Lion pose, simhasana, – roar like a lion, the great courageous and powerful creature that you are.

Mouse – Child pose, balasana, – then squat, bring hands to chest like a mouse and walk around squeaking. No matter how small you are, you are capable of big things!

What happens in this story?

Net – Upward facing bow pose, urdva dhanurasana, or upward boat, urdva navasana, The trap of pride, fear, anger, hatred and revenge.

Gnawing – Opening and closing mouth wide, exaggerating chewing motions, puckering mouth to exercise the muscles of the face.

What is the benefit of showing mercy?

An Open and Free Heart , Peace and Freedom- Camel pose, - ustrasana

Shavasana and Meditation:

Visualize a lion in side your heart. See its radiant, golden mane. Feel its strength, courage and power. The lion’s power comes from his peaceful abiding. He knows that his strength and power comes from divine goodness, forgiveness and love. He does not harm others but grants them mercy and freedom instead.

See a little mouse inside your heart. Know that that little mouse is capable of great things – kindness, intelligence, quick-thinking. Nothing is ever too small to be of no importance. Know that you are important. Practice acts of kindness small and large.

Discussion:

How are you like the lion? Have you ever had the opportunity to have power over another? What did you do?

How are you like the mouse? Have you ever been bullied or threatened by someone bigger and more powerful than yourself? What did you do?

What do you think would have happened if the lion ate the mouse instead of freeing it? How would that have affected the lion’s ability to be freed from the net?

Make a list of creatures in your life that are small and helpless. How do you treat your pet, baby sister or the spider in the bathtub? How does remembering the way you treated them make you feel? Happy? Proud? Ashamed?

How can we treat others who are different from us in looks, clothing, language, religion and nationality with respect and dignity?

Look at your body. Every human being has the same fingers, toes, bones, ligaments, organs and muscles.

Affirmation:

• I use my power for love and mercy toward all creatures in the world.
• I treat others as I wish to be treated.

If you enjoyed this post and are looking for more check out Yoga for Literacy and the Language Arts Page. Be sure to subscribe (RSS or e-mail) or sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on this topic.

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Setting goals is an important skill to teach children. By reflecting on their interests and abilities and deciding upon areas where they want to improve, children learn valuable self-reflections tools. Goals also help improve concentration, self-esteem and motivation as they provide a focus for mental and physical energy. Having a defined purpose also helps avoid feeling lost, bored or depressed and assists children in feeling stronger, smarter and able to take on even greater challenges each and every day.

While yoga teaches contentment with the here and now, it also encourages us to strive to be our best selves. Two yoga niyamas deal with setting goals. Tapas (self-discipline) encourages making a concerted effort and not giving up easily by developing habits of hard work and perseverance. Svadhyaya (lifelong study and learning) encourages self-contemplation and investigating subjects of interest with an open heart and mind.

1. Create Goals

The first step in setting goals is to reflect upon what you want in life. Allow children to come up with their own goals thereby increasing self-motivation. The role of the adult here is to help them make the goals realistic and attainable being sensitive to age, interests, maturity and resources. Create a vision of what life will be like when the goal is achieved and why it is important.

2. Develop a Plan

Next you need to develop a plan and take focused action. This is where you define the goal, outline the steps needed to achieve the goal, consider roadblocks and how to overcome them and set deadlines. Often children will need to set mini-goals, breaking down big goals into specific, measurable tasks. Be sure to write down the goal and post it somewhere where it can be reviewed regularly (on a desk at school, the bathroom mirror). It is helpful to set an intention and create an affirmation which support the goal and powerfully impact its accomplishment.

3. Build Community

The final step is to build support for turning intentions into reality. Work together to achieve goals, being supportive and encouraging. You are your child’s biggest cheerleader. Tell others about how hard your child is working and how they inspire you through their hard work, willingness to improve and self-discipline. Be an example yourself by working toward your own goals and discussing the things you are learning in open, loving ways. Most of all have fun, enjoy the journey, laugh at your foibles and celebrate success.

Be it at the new year, the beginning of the school term, at the solstices, or anytime throughout the year, taking the time to set goals will help children feel in control of their life and increase their sense of accomplishment.

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Dedicated to John, Diane & Greg – may the journey ahead deepen your understanding, enlarge your heart and become a blessing to many. Love you.

Open your heart just a crack, a hair line fracture in the shell that you think protects you. Experience being, breathing, life in its fullness, in this very moment. Honor who you are and what you feel. Slow down and enjoy the now.

I spent some time being reminded of the power of love, the wonder of life, and the joy of sharing and caring this week as my nephew received care at the Stollery Children’s Hospital. Then I found this lovely video of adorable PocketPeople hand made by Rita Ross. I had to share their Alphabet Wisdom so that your heart would open to the beauty and majesty that is life with all of its ups and downs.

“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

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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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