Flower pose is a fun individual or group pose which resembles a flower blooming. This pose builds core strength, develops coordination, teaches body awareness and improves balance. It’s an ideal pose for spring or whenever you teach a garden theme.

Flower Pose

Hi yogis, this is Donna from Yogainmyschool.com. Today we’re here to teach you how to do a really fun pose for spring: Flower Pose. Alea is with me to demonstrate.

First thing you need to do is put the soles of your feet together in baddha konanasa (bound angle pose). From there put your hands on your feet and sit up nice and tall.

Next, place your hands underneath your ankles. At this point a lot of kids will try and do it this way. So you need to make sure that their hands are underneath their ankles.

And then…you lift up and off. Make sure you are lifting your heart to the sky just like a flower opening under the gentle rays of the sun.

You can make this into a partner pose or a group pose by being close enough and maybe at a little bit of an angle to one another, often done in a circle with an entire group. Again, knees are wide, hands go under, lifting off. And then grasping hands with the people beside you.

And that’s flower pose.

For more videos and ideas on teaching yoga to kids please visit Yogainmyschool.com. Have a wonderful day. Namaste.

For more yoga poses for kids visit Yogainmyschool.com’s Alphabetical List of Poses.

photo courtesy of Mountain Mom Report

4 people like this post.

Like

Unlike

Welcome to Yogainmyschool.com. Today we are going to learn how to do a forward bend that helps to energize the body, calm the mind, and improve circulation and flexibility.

Jillian is here to demonstrate. First she is going to reach way up on a big inhale, and exhale she is going to flop all the way down with her knees slightly bent and her arms are going to go up behind. Inhale reach all the way backup. Exhale come down again. Perfect.

Now we are going to get Jillian to turn to her side so that you can see it from a different angle. She is going to do this 10 times in a row in quite quick succession inhaling and exhaling at her own pace.

This is a great exercise. It…

• teaches how to move with the breath
• teaches how to take complete inhales and exhales
• improves flexibility in the back body while being a soft exercises, available to all
• helps to improve brain function - stimulates the proprioceptors through movement

For more information about yoga in classrooms and yoga for kids and teens please visit Yogainmyschool.com. Namaste.

Be sure to visit Yoga In My School TV on YouTube for more great videos on teaching yoga to kids.

Be the first to like.

Like

Unlike

Musical chairs meets yoga. A fun, inclusive version of the classic game combining upbeat music, kids favourite yoga poses and loads of energy. This will be a hit with your group and can be played with any age, including teenagers. It is especially fun for Family Yoga and with groups of varying ages and abilities. Musical Mats is an enjoyable way to improve listening skills and social skills.

Musical Mats

Teacher Prep

Set out one yoga mat per participant. I often do this in a circle, oval or large rectangle with all mats facing into the center. Onto each mat place a yoga pose card. Try ABC Yoga Cards for Kids, The Kids Yoga Deck, Elevator Series Pose Cards, or make your own using our alphabetical list of poses. Have a bunch of fun, upbeat music uploaded to your iPod.

How to Play

Before beginning to play, review all poses to make sure everyone knows what they are expected to do and how to practice the poses properly and safely. Have students stand in a circle on the outside of the mats. When music plays students walk, skip, hop, walk backwards, etc. (something different each round is fun) around the mats. When the music stops each student claims a yoga mat and performs the corresponding pose on the mat’s yoga card. Encourage students to find a new mat each time.

Teacher’s Assistant Variation

Put out enough mats for one per student minus one (i.e. 15 students, 14 mats). Each time the music stops one student will be left without a mat. They are the Teacher’s Assistant and get to help everyone else perform their pose, giving suggestions and encouragement. Sometimes children will delay choosing a mat in order to be the Teacher’s Assistant. Make it understood that everyone will only get one opportunity to be the assistant. If someone really doesn’t want to be the assistant make a pose into a partner pose and go onto the next round.

Partner Poses Variation

Choose a partner. As the music plays walk together around the mats, holding hands or arms linked if desired. When music stops claim a mat and perform the partner pose which corresponds to that mat. This is great fun for a Family Yoga class or anytime you want to build connections and develop cooperation and social skills.

Themed Musical Mats

Pick a theme and choose only yoga poses and music which correspond to the theme. This is great for birthday parties, to reinforce concepts in a school unit (Insects, Shapes, Amazon, etc) or for seasonal yoga classes (Valentine’s, Cinco de Mayo, Halloween, etc)

8 people like this post.

Like

Unlike

In this video we demonstrate how to teach three bug yoga poses: butterfly pose, dead bug pose and spider pose. This is a fun activity for children who are interested in the outdoors and the many creepy crawlies found there. It is also an ideal way to incorporate yoga into the science curriculum or a unit on insects and engage kinaesthetic learning.

Bug Yoga

Preschool children love bugs. So today we are going to learn how to do some Bug Yoga. I’ve got Garner and Marcus here to help me.

The first pose we are going to do is butterfly pose. This pose stimulates the heart and stretches the thighs. You can tell the differences between a butterfly and a moth by the directions that their wings stay when they are at rest.

The second pose that we are going to do is dead bug pose. This is a great activity to open the hips and build listening skills.

The third bug pose that we are going to do today is spider pose. Sitting in row like a train while in easy pose we are going to sing the song Itsy Bitsy Spider. Switch places and sing various versions of the song. For example: The Edmonton Spider.

The Edmonton spider went up the water spout

Down came the snow and froze the spider out

Out came the sun and it didn’t do a thing

So the Edmonton spider stayed frozen until spring.

I hope you have enjoyed Bug Yoga today. The next time that you are out walking and your kids are totally engrossed in the creepy crawlies across the sidewalk make sure you come home and do some bug yoga and get them into their bodies, into their minds, into their spirits. For more ideas on teaching kids and teens yoga please visit http://www.yogainmyschool.com. Namaste.

What other Bug Yoga poses can you think of?

1 person likes this post.

Like

Unlike

Discover how to energize your day with chair pose (utkatasana). This is a wonderful pose to build strength in the lower body and will vitalize your body and mind. This video includes breathing techniques and a twist that will quickly chase away fatigue and lethargy leaving you feeling invigorated and ready to meet new challenges.

Chair Pose – Utkatasana

Have you ever felt really sluggish and tired at school. Here’s a great way to energize your day. It’s called chair pose, utkatasana.

To do this pose you need to stand up nice and tall with your feet slightly apart. Then, bend your knees and stick your bum out as if you were sitting on a chair. From there, reach your arms up with your palms facing together. This is a fantastic pose to work the hips and the thighs and improve your lower body strength.

To really get a boost in your day we’re going to combine utkatasana with a breathing technique. As you inhale, reach up. Exhale, breathe out and bring your arms down with a ‘ha.’  Inhale reach out, exhale ‘ha’. Again. Up and out. Inhale up, exhale out. One more time. Inhale up and exhale out. And then return to standing.

Shake your legs out a bit before we go into the next part of this pose.

Chair Pose with a Twist

For the second part we are going to do utkatasana with a twist. So standing in mountain pose with your feet slightly apart. Come into chair pose, sitting your bum down, keeping your knees parallel to one another. Bring your hands to namaste in front of your heart. Inhale lengthen your spine. Exhale bring your elbow to your knee. Press your hands together. Press your knee against your upper arm. And keep breathing throughout the pose.

This kind of gets hard to do and you might feel your legs start to shake a little bit. That’s OK. Don’t worry about it.

Inhale come back to centre. Exhale and twist to the other side. Perfect. Very nicely done. Keep breathing. Remember you are working at increasing your energy and your strength. One more breath. Finally come back to centre and stand up.

And that’s utkatasana. It’ll help increase your energy whenever you are feeling tired.

For more kids yoga poses visit the alphabetical list of poses.

2 people like this post.

Like

Unlike

Downward Facing Dog pose is a fantastic yoga pose to increase health and vitality while building strength and flexibility. However, it is not always feasible in a classroom to move desks out of the way and get on the floor to do yoga. The solution is Chair Dog, Downward Facing Dog pose with a chair. This is an excellent way to benefit from this pose in a classroom or office setting while making it accessible for everyone including those with special needs, weight issues, carpal tunnel/wrist concerns or overly tight hamstrings/back body. If a chair isn’t handy feel free to use a desk, counter top or even the wall.

Chair Dog (Downdog with a Chair)

Laura is going to show us how to do Downward Facing Dog pose with a chair, otherwise known as Chair Dog. Using a chair place it in front of you. Now, grabbing onto the back of the chair with your hands, you want to place your feet a little bit further back so that eventually your head comes down in between your arms and you make an ‘L’ with your body. If it’s difficult to make an ‘L’ because of tightness in the hamstrings or lower back, bend your knees and then push your hips back as far as you can push them. Your back will gradually lengthen and flatten. From there, if it is comfortable, straighten your legs maintaining the length through your back.

Hold this pose for a few breaths feeling the energy from your fingertips through to your hips and from your hips down into the ground and your feet. When you are ready come back to standing. And that’s Chair Dog.

If you enjoyed this video be share it with a friend and visit our YouTube Channel for more great yoga poses for kids and teenagers.

1 person likes this post.

Like

Unlike