I have been enlightened by an epiphany yet again!
Last weekend at yoga teacher training, Jill Gault, co-owner and teacher at Empower Yoga, walked me and my fellow yoga teachers-to-be through a kid's yoga class.
I was a little worried it wasn't going to resonate very much with me as I have no intentions of teaching yoga for children and, well, I thought it'd be really silly.
Well, it was silly. But, in a very, very good way. I'll explain.
When we finished, I felt light in heart and body. I felt joyous and energized. I felt, very simply, happy. Then, I imagined...what if our kids felt this exact same way after they did a similar class during the school day? It brought a gigantic smile to my face.
This was most certainly not a waste of time of our yoga teacher training!
What exactly did the kid's yoga class entail? It began with all of our yoga mats faced towards the middle of the room, in a circle. We sat cross-legged and repeated after the teacher: "I am amazing. I am loved." And, repeat. These were done in conjunction with calm, steady, deep breathing. It instantly calmed me.
Then, we played a game. We got into pairs and one of us assumed Downward Facing Dog pose (where your hands and feet are on the ground, and you're making a sort of upside-down "V" shape). The other would "walk the dog" by gently pulling on the collar of the other's shirt, guiding the "dog" through the room. This wonderful exercise taught teamwork as well as strengthened the "dog" participant's shoulders and legs.
Next, we did a hands-on project. Per Jill, this could involve something similar to what might be made in an art class or even something a little more practical that could be used during meditation. During our session, we made eye masks with cotton socks filled with rice and a few drops of lavender essential oil.
Towards the end of class, we did the "Yoga Slide" - an upbeat song with instruction during a recorded song. It was an extremely fun and light-hearted way to do some of the more simple yoga moves. For example, we all took tree pose, and swayed back and forth, expressing ourselves as if we were trees.
The kid's yoga class was fun and playful, yet so, so grounding and energizing. It made me think of all the benefits that I would have gleaned from going to such a class if it were to have been offered during my grade school years. I wonder how my school experience would have changed and how different my peers may have behaved or thought if doing classes were a part of the curriculum at school. It made my heart soar to know that there was potential for this type of learning to take place in our current school system. It made me, believe it or not, just a little bit more hopeful for the future of our children. Seriously, what if the inclusion of kid's yoga in the school days of our kids prevented even ONE misheard or misunderstood child from considering taking a gun to school and opening fire at random?
What if? The possibilities are boundless.
I asked Jill prior to our session what she feels are the benefits of including kid's yoga in the classroom. She says it has merit for a plethora of reasons. She thinks it's a good offset to what is common in classrooms now. There is constant sitting and more high-stakes standardized testing. Nowadays in schools there is a much more rigid and calculated approach to teaching. Most curriculum is very measured, regulated, and structured. It's very auto-tron and auto-matic. Is this the way real life is? Certainly not.
And wow, is it ever stressful. It's more stressful now than ever. Not only is everything I just described extremely stressful to kids, but simply dealing with peers and developing relationships is an ordeal. Because of the way that kids yoga classes can help kids feel, I really think that yoga could help them lead a less rigid life as well as a more open-hearted one. Yoga for kids promotes self-worth, self-expression, and self-confidence. Some of the themes I experienced in the yoga kids class that Jill took us through showed how we're all connected and encouraged positive relationships. In a previous blog entry, I wrote of how yoga has helped me not only love myself more, but also others much more as well. It's fabulous to see these themes played out in a kid's yoga class as well.
I am SO totally OK with there being more love in our schools. I don't think there's enough of it.
Thanks, Jill, for teaching us the class, and for spreading the love in our schools.
Sarah
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