Raffi has been working tirelessly on his mission to make the world a better place through his Chid Honouring organization www.childhonouring.org 

As part of that initiative, he is also bringing awareness to non-violence in sports and has created the song “On Hockey Days“.  The song focuses on having fun and being a good team player who respects others.  Check out the song here:  http://www.childhonouring.org/onhockeydays.html

The song is for sale on iTunes.

Find Raffi on Twitter at:  @Raffi_RC
Find Raffi on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/Raffi.Cavoukian

Yoga Match

The cards can be used the same way as the game Concentration works, except that when the kids turn over a card, they each do the pose that they turned over.

When they turn over matching cards, they both do the Victory Pose.

Teachers in classrooms can empower children to choose 4 poses to build a Yoga Flow.    Here is a great flow to take the kids through:

This flow is great because it gets the heart rate up, moves the spine, and energizes the arms, legs and hips.

Yoga is all about self-empowerment, so by allowing the children to choose 4 poses they like and sequence those poses in a way that works for them,  it gives them an incentive to do the practice and make it their own.

Give it a try and let me know how you made out!

Click HERE to buy it now!

For those unfamiliar with Yoga, there can be a perception that Yoga is about turning into pretzels and doing gymnastics. But as this report shows, and as Yoga Instructors know, Yoga is about tuning into the body and focusing the mind. Concentrating the mind on the breath, the movement, and the poses helps children become more centered and relaxed. With all of the slow, deep breathing, more oxygen is going to the brain, making children more ready – and most importantly – more able to learn.
For those schools who have implemented Yoga, being able to track the
concentration ability in kids and seeing how it manifests in excellent grades,
must be very satisfying to the teachers, parents, but most of all to the
students themselves.

The students in this video are in their middle school years, a timeframe fraught with hormones and wild emotions starting to kick in. Hearing so many of the students talk about how Yoga helps them manage their emotions, giving them a clear mind, having the ability to reflect on themselves and their past actions, and helping them look wisely at choices to move forward, is a wonderful benefit of Yoga. For those who practice Yoga, they know that “This is what Yoga is all about!”

The teacher in the video said it beautifully when she shared that “Yoga is about learning the process for internal listening”. She also said that “She hopes each child can become a person who makes good choices – even when the choices are challenging and the answers aren’t clear.” Clearly, we need more inspired Teachers in schools, who are willing to give children the powerful tool of Yoga to their children, to help them deal more effectively with the pressures of their daily life.

If you would like to become an inspired teacher and offer your children yoga in your classroom or daycare, we have easy to use resources for Teachers in our Teacher Value Pack and a Self Guided Children’s Yoga Teacher Training Course that gives you everything you need to start your yoga program quickly and easily.

For more informtion about the Teacher Training click here.

For more information about the Teacher Value Pack click here.

National Attention is being given to this Current Health Issue.

On August 31, 2011 President Barack Obama declared September as “National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month”.  It is wonderful that national attention is being given to this serious issue and that positive steps to change have been introduced.

Children’s Yoga Books supports that President’s initiative and his Proclamation which can be read here:   http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/31/presidential-proclamation-national-childhood-obesity-awareness-month

On the website “Healthier Kids, Brighter Futures” they explain http://www.healthierkidsbrighterfutures.org/
that -
“More than 23 million children and teenagers in the U.S. are obese or overweight, a statistic that health and medical experts consider an epidemic. Childhood obesity puts nearly one third of America’s children at early risk for Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and even stroke – conditions usually associated with adulthood.

It’s not too late for our children. The first-ever National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month in September 2010 drew important public attention to the issues surrounding
childhood obesity and made an impact in reducing the prevalence of the epidemic. This year, we’re doing even more to spread the word to communities throughout the U.S., and President Barack Obama has lent his support to this important initiative through his recent proclamation.  But we can’t do it without you. We need your help to spread the word to encourage children to be active and eat healthy.”

So, we here at Children’s Yoga Books are doing what we can to get children moving in classrooms in schools and living rooms in homes.   We have helpful and easy to use resources for parents and teachers and a yoga program that children find fun.

Receive your free copy of the “12 Ways to Incorporate the Yoga Lifestyle into Your Child’s Daily Life”, by entering your name and email on the right hand side of the page.

Happy Yoga-ing!

The Creativity of Children and Yoga:  How We Started with “Sea Shells” and Ended Up with “Going to the Beach”

I teach yoga to children ages 4-8, on a weekly basis, at a local yoga studio and I have used many of the activities from Donna Freeman’s fabulous book “Once Upon a Pose”.  I also teach parents and teachers how to do yoga with children and I wanted to share how effective and fun “Sea Shells” has been with my students.

One of the children’s favourite activities is the “Sea Shells” game, which they request on a weekly basis.  I always encourage creativity in my yoga classes and I enjoy empowering children and fostering self-confidence within them by letting them ‘direct’, ‘lead’ and ‘teach’ the class through a yoga pose or share an idea that we all can try.

I have also been blessed to teach highly intelligent, fun and inventive children, so when we started playing “Sea Shells”, I started with having them run to the Sea and to the Shore and then calling out “Sea Shells” and having them do a Yoga Pose.  They loved it and we played it so often that I started adding distinctions like Deep Sea vs Shallow Water, and Shoreline vs Shore.

Each part of the story has a different area of the room that the movement or activity has to be performed in.  We ended up with so many movements and activities, that I created a map.  We also used some of the poses that are from my book “What I See, I Can Be:  A Guided Yoga Flow for Children”.  This is a wonderful activity because children like to run, which gets their heart rate up, they find it fun wondering what will come next that they have to dash off to, and they get to incorporate yoga poses into a story.

When I call out “Sea Shells” they choose which yoga pose they are going to do.  I encourage them to choose a different yoga pose every time that I call out “Sea Shells”.  I also leave the “What I See, I Can Be” Full Size Poster in a place that they can easily reference, in case they need an idea for a yoga pose.  This helps alleviate any potential stress for young children who may not be able to remember all of the poses or think of a new yoga pose to do in the excitement of running from place to place, and allows it them to focus on the fun aspect of the game.  This is also an excellent activity because other than the poster, no equipment is required and every one is a winner.

Click here to purchase “Once Upon a Pose”: http://www.childrensyogabooks.com/products.html#Item_701

Click here for the “Going to the Beach Game and Map”:  http://www.childrensyogabooks.com/pdf/how-to-play-going-to-the-beach-yoga-game-and-map.pdf

The story goes like this:

1. “All the children get into the car – mom and dad are taking us to the beach”. – The children then do an excellent abdominal yoga pose by sitting on their bottoms, bend their knees, put their feet in the air and press on the imaginary gas pedals, and their hands are on the steering wheel straight out in front of them.  They drive the car to the beach and I call out – “Faster, Slower, Turn to the right, Turn to the left, Stop at the light, Go again, See the Beach Entrance, Find a Parking Spot”.  This encourages them to hold the pose longer, as they pretend to drive their cars.

2. “Everyone we have arrived.  Time to get out of the car”. – The children stand up.

3. “Run to the Shoreline and put your toes in the water.  Check the temperature of the water”. – They go to the shoreline.

4. “Swim to the Deep Sea” – Using their arms they swim as they run to touch anywhere on the back wall.

5. “You see Dolphins swimming and playing. Go in and join them” – They do the Dolphin Yoga Pose, by placing their hands and forearms on the ground
and with their feet behind them, they push their bums into the air as they
would in Dog Pose.  Then they make their heads move in a circle by coming forward with their body as far as they can go (usually just passed the fingers) and then they swoop back as far as they can go (usually around the elbows).

6. “Sharks are Circling” – They run in a circle.

7. “Children in the playground” – They go to the back corner and pretend to be in a playground.

8. “There is a Large Boat in the Deep Sea” – They do the Boat Pose from the book “What I See, I Can Be”.

9.“There are large butterflies on the beach.  Join the Butterflies” – They do the Butterfly pose from the Yoga Match Game.

10. “There is a Row Boat in the Shallow Water” – They get up and go to the Shallow Water and they sit on their bottoms, raise their legs in the air and balance in a V pose and move their arms as if rowing the boat.

11. “Time to Fly a Kite” – They do the Triangular Kite Pose from the book “What I See, I Can Be”.

12. “Time for a healthy lunch.  Join Mom and Dad on the Picnic Table and have a Picnic.” – front wall in the middle – sitting down pretending to eat.

13. “Have to wait after eating before going swimming – Put on sunscreen and Sun tan on the Beach to catch some sun rays”.  – They do the Meadow Pose from the book “What I See, I Can Be” on the beach.

14. “I see Oysters on the Beach” – They do the Oyster Pose from “What I See, I Can Be”.

15. “Trees in the Forest” – they do Tree Pose along the front wall.  (Chairs in a Circle in the Forest – If there are enough children, they make a tight circle with their left shoulder facing into the middle of the circle and their right shoulder on the outside of the circle, and slowly and carefully, they can squat down, until everyone is sitting on someone else’s knees and then they raise their hands in the air.  This is known as the Yoga Chair Pose, but in this case, with some support from each other.  Again, everyone is a winner.

16. “Making Sand Castles on the beach” – they use their imaginations and build sand castles.

17. “You found a 5 pointed Star Fish on the Beach.  Be a Star Fish” –the children lay down and make 5 points with their 2 arms and 2 legs and 1 head.

18. “It’s finally time to go swimming.  Splash in the shallow water”. – the children pretend to splash around.

19. “Lily Pads in the shallow water” – the children do Full Lotus Pose or Half Lotus Pose, with legs crossed.

20. “Frog squatting on the Lily Pad” – the children do the Yoga Squat Pose, with knees bent, feet apart and pointing at 45 degrees outward, bum close to the ground, back straight and head pointing to the ceiling.

21. “Frog jumping off the Lily Pad and eating flies” – the children jump up out of the squat pose and stick their tongue out to catch flies.

22. “It was a great day and it is time for a photo.  Take a picture” – Children pretend to take a picture.

23. “Smile and Do Your Favourite Yoga Pose for a Group photo” – children smile and freeze in a Yoga Pose as I pretend to take a group photo.

24. “Catch the last rays of the sun before leaving” – children do the Meadow Pose from “What I See, I Can Be”.

During these 24 steps, I will call out Sea Shells randomly 6-7 times as we are going through the story and the children then choose a yoga pose to do.  We hope you have as much fun playing “Going to the Beach” as we have!

This is our free download for you to enjoy.
Just click here for the PDF of the “Going to the Beach Game and Map”:  http://www.childrensyogabooks.com/pdf/how-to-play-going-to-the-beach-yoga-game-and-map.pdf

He is playing the guitar, but you can see in the clip here that “something” is playing through him.  His hands and fingers seem like they are operating beyond conscious control.  He seems to be stepping aside in some way and allowing himself to be used as the instrument, thus making space for a sublime performance, which never would have been possible if he had really been trying hard.  He is literally becoming the music and inviting us, through our ears, to join him.  A sublime form of Ear Yoga!

This experience was a wonderful reminder of how we literally become our Yoga practice on our mat.  We step aside in some way to drop the mind-chatter with the lists, plans, and worries to become one with the breath, to become one with the pose, everything around us dropping away and we surrender into a sublime experience on our mat.  We are listening to the breath and listening to the heart beating, as these sounds create our own unique symphony inside.

Celine Dion sings “I’ve Got The Music In Me”, and it is a great line because we all have it in us!

Everyone attending the concert felt compelled to sway and dance with Jesse Cook’s music, the chords resonating in deep places that only music can reach, getting lost in the sounds, allowing ourselves to be moved by the melodies.

It reminded me of watching young children dance to music, seeing how they naturally allow themselves the freedom of expression to move, without inner criticism, without inner judgment.  It is beautiful to witness how this freedom comes through when they practice Yoga.  It is a wonderful experience to practice Yoga with children as they haven’t yet developed a strong ego that needs to step aside in order to have something express through them.  They effortlessly become the pose, without any self consciousness, as Jesse Cook effortlessly becomes the music.  Through this concert Jesse transported us back to that child-like experience.

After the concert, there was a feeling of elation, of an experience that was special and exciting and transcendent.  It was an encounter that really was beyond words, and yet we spent the rest of the night searching for the right expression to describe how we were feeling.  This is exactly what happens after a great Yoga practice!

But for all the sophisticated expressions of delight we can come up with to describe a fantastic experience, the best one is from one of the children in my class, who said with bright eyes and a wide smile, “Janet that was so much FUN!”

Jesse that was so much FUN!  Thank you!