Lynn Hasselberger, founder of myEARTH360, is a woman on a mission to make everyday living environmentally friendly, kind to both people and the environment. Fueled by her eco-passion, she started with custom designed reusable water bottles for kids and has since developed an entire site packed with items from eco-friendly school supplies to green pet products as well as providing eco news and tips on her blog. Lynn joins us to talk about sustainable living with tips on how to make every day Earth Day and much more.

Original Air Date: April 21, 2011

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Connect with Lynn on Facebook or Twitter and be sure to check out all the inspiring eco-loving products on myEARTH360.com. The wildflower notecards are my fave!

Coming on May 4th our next interview will feature blissologist Eoin Finn. Don’t miss his 5 Big Easys to discovering bliss.

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Donna Freeman, founder of Yogainmyschool.com, is interviewed by Stacey Shanks of Yogaandlife.com. We discuss building a kids yoga community of sharing, where to get inspiration for kids yoga classes, benefits of yoga for children, the impact of yoga on kids minds & bodies, the wealth of information found on Yogainmyschool.com and in Once Upon a Pose, and the power behind thematic yoga adventure stories.

Connect with Donna on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and join the YIMS community for amazing tips and techniques on teaching yoga to children and teens.

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Guest post by Jennifer Cohen Harper

There are dozens of potential uses for a singing bowl in a children’s yoga class, but the one that is the most potent is also the absolute simplest. The activity described below has a unique way of engaging children’s cooperation in the exact manner that you hope, while at the same time showing a profound respect for their independence.

At the beginning of every class, no matter how many routines you develop or guidelines you give your kids, there is a certain amount of noise, movement, conversation and other distraction that is a natural part of the transitions that children go through during their day. Sometimes there is complete chaos that threatens your ability to start your class in the peaceful, centered and happy state of mind that every yoga instructor hopes for.

This point of transition, where you set the tone for the entire experience that both you and your students are about to have, is a particularly challenging one to navigate. You must bring all of your students attention together at the same time, there is often noise so if the kids are going to hear you it might mean raising your voice, and all of the conversation that your students are having with each other are compelling to them and they are going to need some pretty good motivation to wrap them up. This can lead to frustration on the part of the teacher, and a gradual escalation of your voice until you are actually yelling at your students before you have even started your class.

There is a better way. When I begin a children’s yoga class, my goal is fro the children to turn their attention to me naturally, because they are interested in what is about to happen. I also want to respect that all of the conversations they are having are important to them. They are not doing anything wrong by having these social interactions during a lull in their very managed day, and I do not want to make them feel as through they are in some way bad because they are communicating with each other.

Rather then say anything at all, I recommend using a singing bowl in a very deliberate way to let the students know that you are about to start class. The following steps are so simple, but the honor the students by giving them time to transition gently, wrapping up whatever they are saying and doing with no abrupt shift, no implication that they are doing something wrong, no order, no anger and no raised voices. If is important to follow these steps slowly and remember your intention – a group of children who feel respected, engaged and happy to be in your presence.

Singing Bowl Opening Ritual

1. Enter your classroom with a relaxed, happy attitude. Smile at your students and allow them to adjust to your presence in the room before asking them to do anything at all.
2. Go to where you are setting up your space. Put your things down in a slow and deliberate manner, keeping any clutter to a minimum. Place a singing bowl next to you. Always handle the singing bowl with gentle respect. You want to create a sense in the children that the singing bowl is something very special and something to be treated with care. This naturally make is more interesting to them.
3. Settle onto your mat and model for the children a grounded and mindful seat. Take a few deep breaths. Pick up the singing bowl, and hold is at heart height. Make sure you are treating the bowl with reverence, and that you are directing your gaze and energy at it, rather than looking around at the kids. As the students notice what you are doing, they will look where you look.
4. After a few moments and a few breaths, gently ring the singing bowl. Keep your gaze fixed on the bowl until the sound completely dies away.
5. After the sound of the bowl is gone, look around at your students and make eye contact. If many of the kids are still not with you after the sound of the bowl is finished, take several breaths and then ring it again. Be careful not to show any frustration or annoyance. This ringing of the bowl is an invitation to your students, not a command or a reprimand.
6. There will be a moment of quiet after the sound finishes, when the children’s attention is turned to the bowl and to you. Take advantage of that moment (and it may not last long) to draw them in. Depending on whether the children are still up and about of they are on their mats, say good morning, ask a question, give them an interesting piece of information, or move directly into an activity. This is your opportunity to start class from a  place of engagement. Try not to be overly concerned if every single student is not completely silent or still when the bell finishes ringing. As long as the general orientation of the class is towards you, you have a space to being your teaching.

This method of beginning gets more and more effective as you use it. The children learn the routine and many will begin to get themselves set up for class just by watching you take the singing  bowl into your hands. Remember that the singing bowl must always be treated as something special – don’t ring it in anger or frustration or desperation or it will lose it’s meaning. Your attention to the attitude you convey at the beginning of class will make a tremendous difference in the attitude of the children. Become a model of patience, grace and loving acceptance. Invite your students on a journey, and you may be surprised at how willing they are to participate.

Jennifer Cohen Harper is the founder and director of Little Flower Yoga, a unique organization that provides education based yoga programs to schools and youth organization, teaches creative and nurturing classes for children and families, and trains teachers to engage, encourage and inspire joy in all students. Come grow with us.

This a continuation of our My Favourite Prop series written by experts in the yoga for kids and teens field. Visit our Yoga Props page to view the complete collection including how to use feathers, hula hoops, puppets, hoberman sphere and many more.

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Monday, March 28, 2011 was a great day, a momentous day, a once-in-a-life time kind of day. It was the day I woke up to find my name in the Wall Street Journal. Yes, the actual Wall Street Journal.

In mid-February I was contacted via e-mail by WSJ reporter Emily Glazer who had heard about Yoga In My School from Shari Vilchez-Blatt of Karma Kids Yoga in NYC (a million thanks to Shari). Emily was looking for information on yoga in schools, yoga for special needs, interesting/creative ways of teaching kids yoga. You’ve come to the right place!

I remember calling my husband, as he was out of town on business, and saying I’d received an e-mail from the Wall Street Journal. He chuckled and said to make sure it wasn’t spam but was actually from wsj.com. It was. Emily & I e-mailed back and forth and set up an interview date & time.

The interview lasted over an hour – a little longer than the 20 mins we’d planned on. Emily asked a lot of interesting, thought provoking questions and was intrigued by the interconnections between the brain’s function and movement. She was kind enough to ask about my personal story, how I came to be an expert in kids/teens yoga, and wanted as much information as possible about the kids yoga community and others involved in doing amazing things in bringing yoga to kids. For this we kept referring back to the Yoga In My School Blog Talk Radio series and many of the Yoga In My School give-aways.

As well she wanted proof: studies showing the claims stating the benefits of yoga for kids were true. This is the Wall Street Journal after all, not a feel good article or a personal interest piece.

Needless to say my follow up e-mail was lengthy with lots of links to substantiate the kids yoga and mindfulness movement and shine a light on the many amazing people with whom I have the privilege to work (check out our Yoga Links I Love list).

Emily then pitched the story to her editors. She came back with further questions via e-mail and phone calls on various occasions wanting to know the number of schools in the US who use yoga, the costs of funding a yoga program, training expenses, locations where it is especially popular, and hurdles or obstacles which prevent yoga from being adopted into all schools. Some of these questions were challenging as I felt I was representing all kids yoga instructors with my answers and I wanted the information to be accurate, informative and authentic.

Emily then let me know that the article would be published on March 28th. I waited. In the meantime I learned that WSJ was also filming a video regarding kids yoga and that elementary students in Encinitas, CA were involved in a photo shoot. By Sunday the 27th I was simply happy to have been part of the process, that getting the message out regarding kids yoga and the good it can do for children of all ages and abilities was what was most important. I hoped that the WSJ’s article was open and fair, and that thanks to its reach and credibility more schools would offer yoga to their students.

It was with some trepidation that I googled the article Monday morning. First I found the video. How fun! Then I clicked on the article and found myself in tears as I read. Emily had done a fabulous job with the material … and I even got quoted.

So yes, Monday, March 28th, 2011 was a great day! A great day for yoga for kids and teens.

Please share the article with parents, teachers and school administrators in you know. Together we can make a positive impact on children’s lives, their mental, emotional and physical health.

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Incorporating a daily mindfulness practice into their day is a wonderful way to help children and teenagers connect to themselves, improve happiness, reduce stress and increase focus. Mindfulness is a tool which can be used throughout our lives and increases awareness of the present without judgement. Ideally this practice will be repeated at the same time each day (for example after lunch recess) to help instill the habit of mindfulness and reap the greatest benefits.

Here is a simple two minute mindfulness practice/lesson to repeat daily and includes one minute of mindful listening and one minute of mindful breathing.

• Sit quietly, lengthen your spine by reaching the crown of the head to the sky, feet or bottom firmly connected with the earth, close your eyes.
• Bring your attention to the sound you are about to hear. Listen until the sound is completely gone.
• Ring a mindfulness bell, or have a student ring the bell. Use a bell with a sustained sound or a rain-stick.
• Raise your hand when you can no longer hear the sound.
• When most/all of the students have raised a hand ask them to slowly and mindfully move their hand to their stomach and feel their breathing.
• Breathe in and out, paying attention to the breath as it moves in and out of the body. Is it warm? cold? shallow? deep? smooth? even? ragged? long? short? Breathe in, breathe out.
• Ring the bell after one minute to end as students open their eyes and resume their day.

Here is an mindfulness bell audio clip that you can use for this activity if you don’t happen to have a chime, bell or rain stick on hand.

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Visit our Mindfulness Category for many more games, activities and techniques which teach children and teens to live mindful lives. We add new content all the time so be sure to subscribe (e-mail or RSS) to receive these posts directly to you.

Photo courtesy of cogdogblog

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In a previous life (or at least sometimes it feels that way) I was a French teacher. French was in fact my third language after spending a year in Brazil as an exchange student picking up Portuguese along the way. When I decided to learn French I knew that the most effective way to learn a language was through immersion because then it wasn’t simply a subject in school. The language became a tool for living whether it was taking the bus and knowing which stop to get off at or ordering from a menu to get the food I wished to eat. So off I went to the Faculté St Jean in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to study.

Slowly French began to seep into my brain. I quickly discovered I retained more the days I rode my bike to and from campus, which thank heavens was most days, even when it was -20° celsius and snowing. The language also opened an entire culture and the world became more reachable, the people more understandable.

Years later while living in Cape Town, South Africa I was introduced to yoga. It was love at first pose. Immediately I began to look for ways to incorporate my language background with this new endeavor. The interconnections between mind and body were like learning an entirely new language, this time the one spoken of by my mind and body. I began to more fully understand the Upanishads where it says:

It is not the language but the speaker we want to understand.

Combining my two loves I realized that yoga provides a wonderful avenue for introducing foreign language education to children and youth. There are two ways this is done. 1) Yoga in the second language classroom and 2) second language usage in the yoga classroom.

Yoga in the Second Language Classroom

It has been proven that exercise increases neural pathways and neurogenesis (see Brain Rules #1Exercise Boosts Brain Power). Increased movement makes us more alert, provides a better sense of well-being and improves memory. Using yoga in the classroom allows teachers to harness the power of movement and to create an enriched learning environment. Yoga is easy to incorporate into the classroom as it requires no additional equipment, is adaptable to all individuals, can be done alone, with partners or in a group, and has a flexible time requirement (as little as one breath to an entire period).

In addition yoga partner poses, such as Tricky Tree and Two Scoops, provide a unique opportunity to engage learners in cooperative work requiring communication (in the target language, of course). Yoga Jenga, Swami Says and other yoga games will also encourage students to use their bodies and communication skills while having fun. Using yoga in adventure stories will increase vocabulary and maintain interest and attention.

Second Languages in Yoga Class

Second languages are easy to incorporate into yoga class. In fact, most yoga instructors will use Sanskrit terms for poses (asanas,) breathing (pranayama) and relaxation (savasana). Where ever you go in the world Sanskrit is the international language of yoga. You may not know which pose is “l’aigle” but if they say “garudanasa” then you are set. If you are unfamiliar with the Sanskrit names the alphabetical list of poses provides the English and Sanskrit names for each. In addition, the Online Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide will prove invaluable to acquaint learners with proper pronunciation.

Other languages are also easy to incorporate into yoga class in creative and fun ways. Positive attitudes toward target languages and speakers will result, as will improved cognitive development. Second language acquistion promotes more complete and more complex connections between the right and left hemipsheres of the brain. So not only will children have increased body memory, they will also have improved communication skills and greater appreciation for the world.

Here are a list of resources which will prove useful when using yoga for foreign language learning.

Kids Yoga Resources in Foreign Languages

• Once Upon a Pose: A Guide to Yoga Adventure Stories for Children by Donna Freeman – English/French/Sanskrit
• Shanti Generation Yoga Skills for Youth Peace Makers DVD - English/Spanish/Japanese
• Yoginos: Yoga for Youth DVD - English/Spanish/Sanskrit
•  Yoga con cuentos: Como ensenar yoga a los ninos mediante el uso de cuentos
  by Sydney Solis – Spanish
• Karmakids – German
• Yoga pour les enfants by Liz Lark – French
• La casa nella prateria: Yoga Con I Bambini - Italian

BYKI is a great site to learn languages on line with free resources in 70 languages.

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