Wake up call!
A great way to wake up your mind and body is the sun salutation. The sun salutation pose sequence can be a challenge for adults and children because it requires us to hold plank and low push up positions. Many people can’t do those positions safely so to protect kids’ growing bodies, I made a safer variation for them.
This child-safe sun salutation skips the poses where form often suffers and instead replaces them with poses more people can do to make it safe and accessible.
Want to give it a try? Print out your FREE sun salutations poster and follow along while watching my video!
View the Video! Learn How to use the free download and teach this sequence safely. Add in call-and-response when you’re with live children!
Sun salutation tips:
? Do the sequence slowly the first time, learning the form of the poses
? Go a little quicker the second time, adding the poetry line for each pose as a call-and-response
? Do it a third time, using the poetry again as a call-and-response
? Once the children have it memorized, have them take turns teaching it. Bonus if they can remember without looking at the words!
? Use a rhythmic voice
? After practicing, have everyone take a mindful seat and turn their attention inward.
Questions to ask:
☝ What do you notice about your temperature?
☝ What do you notice about your overall energetic state?
☝ Do you feel more energized?
☝ Take a few moments to allow the children to discuss their experience.
Takeaways
If the children noticed they felt more awake and yet relaxed, you can point to the sun salutation as a good possible activity to do before something important, such as a big test. Or even as a way to start their mindful morning routine.
A sun salutations study showed a group of students who practiced daily movement using the sun salutations flow for only two weeks “reported a quiet mind, feelings of rest and joy, and less worry” compared to a group who did not practice. Bringing the mind and body together helps boost mood and awareness.
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What’s coming next week? Easily distracted? You might need a brain break! Next week we’ll be taking a brain break with star tracing breathing!
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Want to learn more about teaching mindfulness & self-care to children?
Trainings, Courses, & Workshops:
Yoga & Mindfulness in Schools: If you are an educator, yoga teacher, or school administrator looking to bring yoga and mindfulness to your school — then this course is perfect for you! Learn about relationships with administrators, school staff, students, and more.
Self-Care for Children: In this course, we explore a framework for self-care for children, while examining your own practices. Take it live, or catch the replay!
The Foundations of Children’s Yoga: (18 hour teacher training) Learn the skills and confidence to teach yoga and mindfulness to children. Our comprehensive training focuses on yoga, mindfulness, and the social-emotional development of children. Graduates will leave our training equipped with new tools to create engaging and captivating yoga experiences for kids of all ages. Graduates receive our comprehensive Kids Yoga Teacher Training PDF manual and a Certificate of Completion.
95-hour Children’s Yoga Teacher Training: Participate in 11 unique courses to complete your 95-hour training, or take individual courses as you wish! Register for individual classes or the full training. You must take all 11 courses to become RCYT or a Certified Children’s Yoga Teacher. If you can’t make the classes live, it’s ok. Right now, the Yoga Alliance is allowing live or pre-recorded trainings to count toward contact hours for your 95-Hour Registered Children’s Yoga Certification! If you certify that you viewed the classes, you can still use the hours for continued education or toward your 95-hour certificate. Fall cohort begins October 1st!
Products we Recommend
Empower and Calm Teacher Bundle
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