by sara | Apr 3, 2024 | Kids Yoga Lesson Plan
Are you ready for the solar eclipse? Read on to see how you can celebrate this event as a family with some fun and aligning yoga poses.
On April 8, 2024 the moon will completely eclipse the sun. People all over the United States will be able to witness this rare event. The alignment needs to be perfect for the moon, sun, and Earth so that the moon can completely block out the sun.
Make this event even more memorable with your family. While waiting for the eclipse, try these creative yoga poses and activities.
Rocket Breath: Make practicing deep calming breaths fun and relevant for kids by doing Rocket Breath. Breathe deeply in through your nose while counting up to five. When you get to five, hold your breath for a moment and then exhale out loudly through your mouth as if blasting off.
Sun: Stand in Mountain Pose with arms stretched overhead as if you are reaching for the sun.
Rocket: Go into Chair Pose with legs together, knees bent, and arms overhead to resemble a rocket getting ready to blast into space.
Star Pose: Place your feet wide apart and extend your arms overhead forming an “X” with your arms and legs. Practice a few star jumps as if you are a shooting star.
Half Moon Pose: Begin in Mountain Pose. Place your hand on the ground to the outside of your foot. Lift your other leg behind you. When you feel balanced, lift up your arm and reach for the sky.
Stargazing Savasana: After practicing these yoga poses, it is time for Stillness and Savasana. Lie down slowly as if floating in space. Feel weightless and relaxed with your eyes closed for a few moments. You deserve it.
All of these yoga poses can be found in our Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards. This makes it memorable, fun, and easy to practice!
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by sara | Nov 13, 2017 | Kids Yoga Lesson Plan, Mindfulness, Presenting, Yoga at School, Yoga Poses
Affirmations and mantras can be an important tool to help children develop positive foundations on which to grow. A positive self-belief system built in childhood will hopefully stay with a person throughout their life. While attending the National Kids Yoga Conference, I got the pleasure of meeting Erin Hurley, an elementary school guidance counselor from Virginia. Erin was also named “School Counselor of the Year” for her school district.
She is the kind of guidance counselor that any of you would love to have your children work with and learn from. Erin has a kind and creative spirit and truly cares about children. Plus she definitely understands the importance of introducing yoga and mindfulness to children so they will have these skills for life.
Erin shared with me how she uses the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards when she works with students in her elementary classrooms. She has loved using these pose cards with her students as they are visual, age-appropriate, and include simple yet memorable mantras.
Each yoga pose card has a corresponding empowering mantras for success such as “I am strong” or “I am fair and equal.” This ensures that the students are not only receiving the health benefits of each pose, but also the mental and mindfulness benefits as well.
Erin shared with me one incredible activity and lesson plan that she did with her students that I wanted to pass along. This lesson could be done anytime throughout the school year, but would tie in nicely with the beginning of the school year, Thanksgiving or a kindness theme.
Mantras and Mindfulness Kids Yoga Lesson Plan
This lesson would work well with children 
ages 5-11.
First, brainstorm with the students about positive qualities that they see in themselves. For example being kind, honest, hardworking, caring, strong, etc. Write these qualities on the board.
Next, the students took the “hand template” and wrote qualities that described themselves. They did this by writing around the hand template. 
Finally, the students were able to put the yoga poses and mantras for success together to practice and perform. This absolutely made the lesson even more memorable as it ties together so many different types of student learning such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. 
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Want more kids yoga lesson plans?
by sara | May 25, 2017 | Kids Yoga Lesson Plan
Eagle Pose is a wonderful yet challenging yoga pose for kids and adults. It has many benefits and is a fun pose to continue to work on.
How To Do Eagle Pose
- Begin in a standing position. Cross your right thigh over your left leg.
- Try to tuck your right foot behind the calf of your left leg.
- Bring your arms straight out in front of you, and then cross left arm over your right arm at the elbows.
- Bend left arm at elbow and bring palms of hands together. If palms do not touch, then have the backs of hands touch.
- Bend your knees and hold your arms out in front of you with fingertips toward the sky.
- Squeeze everything tight.
- Repeat on the other side.
The Benefits
- Stretches shoulders and upper back
- Strengthens legs, hips and ankles
- Increases calm, focus, and concentration
- Works on balance and stability
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by sara | Apr 24, 2017 | Kids Yoga Lesson Plan
I had the fun opportunity to guest post over at Having Time.
“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.” – Goethe
How Yoga Taught Me One Valuable Lesson I Will Never Forget
I vividly remember my first yoga class. I was in my early thirties and the midst of teaching kindergarten, earning my master’s degree, parenting three young children, and training hard for triathlons and marathons in the early morning mornings so I could fit it in. There wasn’t any “off season” or down time. I just kept doing what I knew…
Read the full story here.
