Guest post by Sarah Herrington.

Bringing out a bag of colorful soft feathers adds instant excitement to yoga class.   Feathers allow kids to see the breath, add a fun twist to bird poses of any kind, and make for some fun yoga games!  Feathers can even make savasana more special.

Pranayama Practice

Even the youngest of yogis can become more aware of breath and the connection between breath and emotions.  Simply holding a feather in front of your nose during kid-pranayama practice (which might consist of Bunny Breath to energize or Take Five Breath to calm down) makes breath visible.  Try blowing soft enough to move the fluffy part of the feather and then hard enough to move the stiff part of the feather.  Can you see your feather move, fast or slow, depending on how you’re breathing?  How does “fast” breath make you feel?  How does “slow” breath make you feel?  Practice Ujjayi breath by holding the feather under your nose and keeping your lips sealed like an envelope.

Floating Feather Game

Celebrate the power of breath by playing this game with yourself or a friend.  Using only your breath (no fingers or toes), keep your feather afloat.  Don’t let it touch the floor!  Try playing a little feather-volleyball with a friend.

Find the Feather Game

“Find the Feather,” is an intuition game.  Invite one yogi to be the “seeker”, and ask her to hide in the corner of the room, with no peeking.  Then, hide the feather under another yogi’s mat. Invite the seeker back and ask her to guess where the feather is hiding.  Talk about what it means to “go with your gut” and use your intuition.  You’d be amazed how many times the yogi will find the feather on the first or second try!

Bird Asanas

Feathers make learning our bird poses even more fun.  Hand out feathers when working on Eagle pose or Flamingo.  Let the kids be inspired to feel the source of their asanas even more fully given the feathers.  Decorate your pigeon with a feather or two or allow your swan to ruffle its feathers in movement.

Savasana

Feathers are great to use during savasana/ relaxation.  You can give your savasana-students “Feather Massages.”  As always, ask kids if they want to be touched.  (I have students put a thumb up in the air during savasana if they want an adjustment or massage.)  Lightly move the feather across the third-eye area.  Kids will lie really still in anticipation of a feather massage, so this helps in savasana management!  You can also gently place a feather on the belly or chest during savasana so there is an awareness of how breath effects the body when it enters and leaves.  You may even want to place several feathers around each relaxing yogi and lead the class through a “Bed of Feathers” guided visualization.  All of these techniques keep young yogis more still during savasana time.

Let your imagination soar as you and your students invent even more ways to use feathers in yoga class!  Even hanging some feathers in the yoga space can act as a constant reminder of this important, but invisible, part of the yoga practice.  Breathe deep, and let the feathers fly! 

Sarah Herrington is a full-time kids and Vinyasa yoga teacher in Manhattan.  For the past several years she’s taught 25 kids yoga classes a week in the public school and charter school system in NYC.  She has completed trainings through KarmaKids Yoga, MiniYogis and YogaEd, along with the training of teaching daily.  Her kids classes are infused with the joy and fun of yoga, and her Vinyasa classes with the power of intention, mindfulness, and breath.  She can be found online at: http://www.sarahherrington.com

Relaxation is essential. Learning to relax is key to a healthy lifestyle, stress relief, and knowing oneself. Children today are over-stimulated, over-programmed, and often have no idea what true relaxation looks or feels like. I often encourage educators, parents, health professionals and youth leaders that if nothing else from all that yoga has to offer for children, please, please teach the children in your life how to relax.

For all of you who have attended my workshop Once Upon a Pose, this short guided visualization will bring back wonderful memories of the last few minutes we spent together exploring the world of children’s yoga. My Favourite Colour is the guided visualization included at the back of the FREE e-book The Pet Store/L’animalerie, which you can download by entering your name and e-mail in the right side bar.

So close your eyes, sit back, and breathe.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Many more guided visualizations for relaxation which are easy to do with children are included in the book Once Upon a Pose: A Guide to Yoga Adventure Stories for Children, Chapter #6: Relaxation.

I hope you have a wonderful day filled with light, vitality and energy. Namaste.

Recently I was fortunate to be able to interview Lori Lite of Stress Free Kids and Shark Tank fame. She is an amazing woman whose life work is to reduce anxiety, stress and anger in kids, while building self esteem and promoting a peaceful sleep.

Visit My Interview with Stress Free Kids Author Lori Lite to listen to the entire interview.

We talked about how vital it is to help children reduce the stress in their lives. Kids today are more aware of what is happening in the world, are victims of violence, live with the repercussions of divorce, and have greater stress and anxiety than ever before.  It is vital that we teach children the skills they need to combat these stressors. Lori’s books and CD’s use well known and effective stress management techniques in an engaging and age appropriate manner. During the interview we discussed four different techniques and how useful they are in reducing anxiety and stress.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

Becoming aware of your breath is vital. Once you become aware, your breath deepens and evens, and the mind becomes calm. Children need to learn how to breathe properly and diaphragmatic breathing is the first step in reducing stress. It is easy and is how babies breathe naturally, using their belly instead of their chest.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Active & Passive

Focusing, in turn, on specific parts of the body and tensing, then releasing (active) or simply willing the stress to leave (passive) are commonly used relaxation techniques during savasana (corpse pose). These techniques help to dissolve tension and teach the body what it feels like to be relaxed. Children can then recall that sensation during times of stress or use the techniques themselves to reduce anxiety and promote calm.

Visualizations

Taking a mental vacation is a method of stopping the chatter in your mind. Guided imagery and visualizations provide a focal point that replaces the mental chatter with the imagination to heal the body. These often involve colours or scenes such as the beach, park, etc. to encourage the body to relax.

Affirmations

Affirmations are extremely powerful at improving self-esteem. These are personal positive statements that help empower and relax children. Children can create their own affirmations to help them throughout the day which they can use anytime, anywhere. The words we think and say influence how we act, feel and live. Affirmations are a potent tool in the battle against stress.

For more information on these techniques listen to My Interview with Stress Free Kids Author Lori Lite.

You can learn more about Lori Lite or her many books and CD’s which help kids reduce stress and anxiety by visiting her website Stress Free Kids.

Lori Lite of Stress Free Kids.

Listen to my interview from BlogTalkRadio with Stress Free Kids Author Lori Lite!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.