5 Days To Increase Love in Your Life

Make your Valentine’s week more loving by connecting with yourself and others in a positive, respectful way. From Monday to Friday of Valentine’s Week put into practice these simple daily tasks and watch your heart embrace goodness and joy with appreciation and compassion. Get your family and friends involved too.

It’s easy to cultivate love in your life with the YIMS Valentine’s Week Tender Loving Care Challenge.

Monday: Give the Gift of Love

Tell each member of your family you love them. Look them in the eye and let them know the depth of your feelings. Write a note and slip it into their lunch bag. If they live far away, send them a quick e-mail, e-card or Facebook message. If you can, pick up the phone, Facetime or Skype them so they can see you and hear you as you express your love. Simple or profound, doesn’t matter. Just let your family know how much they mean to you.

Tuesday: Increase Confidence w/ Compliments

Tell the people in your life what you admire about them. It could be your kids, spouse, co-workers, boss, teacher, neighbor, friend, or a stranger on the street. Express how much you like their natural style, how they take on challenges, their new haircut, a piece of jewelry, their smile, the kindness they show to others, etc. The best compliments are those which are specific and sincere. Compliments are a wonderful boost to anyone’s day so be generous.

Wednesday: Share the Love of Positive Affirmations

Affirmations are a powerful way to access your sub-conscious. Share positive, encouraging, heart-felt messages with those important to you, including yourself. Write them on post-it notes, cards, homemade Valentine’s, paper plates, poster-board, Facebook messages, Twitter updates, lipstick on the mirror…everywhere and anywhere. Have fun, be creative. Some ideas to get the ball rolling: Believe in Yourself, Love with an open heart, You are Fabulous, Sweeter than Candy, Smile from deep inside, Share the joy, Abundance abounds. Photo from ChildLight Yoga Facebook Page.

Thursday: Indulge in a Hand or Foot Massage

Healing touch is a wonderful gift. Take a few moments and connect physically and emotionally with someone. You don’t need to be an expert, simply use confident strokes, gently giving attention to all areas, especially on hands: the fingers & fleshy part at the base of the thumb, and on feet: the toes & the tender areas of the arch. For specifics watch this video on how to give a fab foot massage.

Friday: Relax w/ Loving Visualization

Spend 5-10 minutes lying in savasana while focusing on opening your heart. Let go of old hurts. Clear your heart and mind of those things which are holding you back. Soften and let go. Allow space within your chest for the heart to rest comfortably and perform it’s proper function. Focus on your heart center, anahata chakra, and tap into your true heart’s desire. Fill your body with compassionate awareness and peace. Take this feeling of contentment and hope with you throughout your day and share it with others.

Leave a comment letting us know how the YIMS Valentine’s Week TLC Challenge went in your life. Have fun cultivating love!

More Yoga Valentine’s Day Ideas

For more yoga inspired ideas on celebrating Valentine’s Day visit

• Kids Valentine’s Day Yoga Class: a heart centered practice
• play Sending Joy: fill the the entire world with good intentions and watch it make our own life more loving
• In Search of a Softened Heart healing & opening for teens and adults
• Give Love: A Valentine’s Day Yoga Lesson Plan from OMazing Kids Yoga
• enjoy this Loving Kindness Meditation
• play Hearts Hide ‘n Seek: increase intuition & sensitivity

photo courtesy of lifelikeapps

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At the beginning of each year I am struck with a sense of possibility. 365 days ahead in which to do, to create, to heal, to rejoice, to connect, to become. I know some people love to set resolutions, or intentions, or goals, or sankalpa for the New Year, others hate it. My one wish for you, no matter how you approach the New Year, is that you will value your time and use it wisely to come to know yourself, your potential, your uniqueness, and all the amazing things you are capable of. Be and share your best with yourself, your loved ones, your community, the world. Happy New Year!

To realize the value of One Year,

Ask a student who failed his or her AP exams.

To realize the value of One Month,

Ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of One Week,

Ask an editor of a weekly magazine.

To realize the value of One Day,

Ask a daily wage laborer who has six kids to feed.

To realize the value of One Hour,

Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of One Minute,

Ask a person who missed their train.

To realize the value of One Second,

Ask the person who survived an accident.

To realise the value of One Millisecond,

Ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

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idea submitted by Alicia Watins

with additions from Yogainmyschool.com

The Fourth of July is Independence Day in the United States of America and is usually feted with fireworks, BBQs, picnics, parades, fairs, concerts, family reunions and all manner of fun summer activities. Red, white and blue and the stars and stripes abound in decorations, clothing and food choices. If you are looking for a fun and healthy addition to your 4th of July celebrations be sure to chorale the kids for this inspiring kids yoga sequence.

Fun Children’s Yoga Poses for 4th of July

Star: start as a baby star and grow big, reaching arms and legs wide. Twinkle hands and toes. Alternatively practice star pose.

Stars & Stripes: have children stand in a row side by side, an arm’s distance apart. Every other child is a star and the others are the stripes (mountain pose, tadasana). When you ring a bell they switch. Like half jumping jacks.

American Eagle: eagle pose (garudanasa)

Statue of Liberty: mountain pose (tadasana) with appropriate arm actions to imitate the torch (right hand) and tablet (left hand). Mantra to repeat: I stand for Liberty, Peace, Democracy.

Golden Gate Bridge: bridge pose (setu bandha sarvangasana)

Swimming: lie on stomach and imitate breast stroke and front crawl. Pause for a moment then reach the right arm and left leg away from one another. Rest. Reach the left arm and right leg away from one another in a lateral stretch. Rest. Reach the right arm, left arm, left leg & right leg, lifting everything then relax completely and bask in the sun, floating on your stomach or back.

Yoga Picnic: in groups of 3-5. One person can get into table top pose (hands and knees or like a crab with belly up). Other kids sit is hero’s pose (virasana) around the ‘table’ and pretend to have a picnic. After a few ‘courses’ (the children say what foods they’d like at a picnic) they can switch places and another child can be the ‘table.’

Lemonaid Squeeze: children sit up and hug their knees into their chests and squeeze everything (hands, feet, belly, face) – this is the squeeze part. Then, let all the juice flow out as they lay back on the mat to release and relax. Repeat 3-5 times.

Apple Pie: wide angle seated forward bend (upvistha konanasa), sit with legs extended and wide apart making a piece of pie triangular shape. Mix the pasty dough, roll it out. Slice apples and spread a nice thick layer. Season with cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg, etc. Layer top crust evenly making sure to touch toes and crimp the edges. Brush with cream. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake (lean forward putting your pie in the oven). Count down from 10 until your pie is done and you can eat it all up.

Two Scoops (of Ice Cream): a partner variation of child’s pose (balasana) where one child is the bottom scoop (does child’s pose) and the second child does child’s pose on their back becoming the second scoop. Decide what flavors of ice cream you are depending on the colors you are wearing ex: green = mint chocolate chip, pink = strawberry/bubblegum, turquoise = blue raspberry, etc.

Fireworks: squat down into a ball and jump up high, arms and legs extending out. Don’t forget to shout “Boom! Pop!”

Rocket Fireworks: tree pose (vrksasana) with arms overhead in temple mudra (clasp hands, intertwining fingers, index fingers extended like a steeple)

Hot Dog: roll kids up in their yoga mats for final relaxation (savasana). Be sure to let them choose their condiments first.

Guided Visualization: imagine you are a firework, waiting until the perfect moment on a clear summer evening to burst forth, showing the world how amazing and incredible and beautiful you are. Decide what type of firework you will be. One that is loud, booming high overhead. Maybe one that dances and spins with light spilling in all directions. Maybe you shoot higher than all the others. Or pop and crackle quickly, sparkling in the night. Imagine what color you are as you burst across the sky: red, purple, yellow, orange, green, blue, silver. Hear everyone ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ in delighted amazement at your intensity, brilliance and splendor.

Ignite the light and let it shine, just own the night like the 4th of July

Cause baby, you’re a firework, come one show ‘em what you’re worth

Baby, you’re a firework, come on let your colors burst

~Katy Perry

If you enjoyed this post be sure to check out our other holiday inspired kids yoga class including Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Cinco de Mayo.

Alicia Watins is the founder of Wee Warriors Yoga Playtime in NYC. She has trained with Karma Kids, Every Kids Yoga for Children with Special Needs and Post Partum Yoga with Baby Om. She has a passion for sharing the benefits of yoga with children while stimulating their imaginations.

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Yogainmyschool.com presents a mindful listening game which promotes conscious awareness of sounds, improves listening skills and is ideal for the Easter season. Using a variety of commonly found items inside plastic Easter eggs students play with sound, finding the matching egg which ‘sounds right.’ This game encourages children to listen attentively and effectively in order to discern subtle variations in sounds.

Sounds Right

Hello, this is Donna Freeman, the founder of Yogainmyschool.com. Today I’m going to show you how to play the mindfulness game Sounds Right. It is a fantastic game, especially for the Easter season, that’s why we have a dozen large eggs. Inside, however, when you open it up there are a dozen plastic Easter eggs.

You’ll want six different items and a matching six. For example inside we have salt, lentils, rice, beans, buttons and paperclips.

The goal here is that they are mixed up. The child or the student needs to match up one with the other. When they find two that sound the same they have a match.

Sounds Right is a fantastic game for developing mindfulness, for sensory integration for children with special needs, and it is ideal for the Easter Season.

Enjoy Sounds Right this Easter with your students. You can find a host of other fun yoga and mindfulness games at Yogainmyschool.com.

Thank-you.

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Celebrated yoga instructor Cora Wen shares her extensive knowledge regarding Chinese traditions as they relate to Chinese New Year and the Chinese Zodiac. Discover how the animals were chosen, the influence of the elements and much more. Most importantly Cora will share practices to align your life, home and yoga practice with the year and the seasons to encourage peace, prosperity, longevity and good fortune. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Original Air Date: February 2, 2011

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If you don’t have time to listen to the entire 30 minute interview now, download it to your iPod by visiting the Yogainmyschool.com iTunes feed. Please take a moment to rate and/or review the show while you’re there. Thx.

Upcoming shows: I Heart YogaDork: Live and In Person – February 11, 2011

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The eternal “Dharma Brat,” Waylon Lewis joins us to chat about 2010. Waylon is an avid environmentalist, a shameless self promoter, the editor of elephant journal and host of Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis (BTW we’re looking forward to the 2011 interviews). From awards to fav posts, Waylon shares his perspectives on the past year, his greatest challenges and living the bodhisattva vow. We’ll get a peak at the behind the scenes workings of #elej as well as find out what’s on tap for the coming year.

Original Air Date: December 24, 2010

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Waylon can be found everywhere at elephant journal on Facebook and on Twitter @waylonlewis

Other interviews in this series include:

• Dec 1 – Sadie Nardini
• Dec 2 – Karen Maezen Miller
• Dec 6 – Elena Brower
• Dec 7 – Bob Weisenberg
• Dec 8 – Esther Ekhart
• Dec 14 – Cora Wen
• Dec 16 – Kathryn Budig
• Dec 20 – Faith Hunter
• Dec 21 – Brock & Krista Cahill
• Dec 24 – Ally Hamilton
• Dec 28 – John Friend

Subscribe to Yogainmyschool.com on iTunes to receive all our interviews. If there is a guest you’d like to see on the show leave a comment. We’re already making a list of possibilities for Reflections 2011.

Thank you for joining us for Reflections 2010 – hope you enjoyed the interviews and all the best in 2011.

Watch for these upcoming interviews:

• Yoga for Girls: Benefits for Tweens and Teens with Sarah Herrington (Jan 3)
• Yoga for Teens with Christy Brock (Jan 17)
• Ring in the Year of the Rabbit with Cora Wen (Feb 2)
• I Heart YogaDork (Feb 11)
• Green Bus Project: I Love Yoga Tour (Feb 22)

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