Announcing: Kid Yoga Teacher Training Dates

Avoid the common mistakes of teaching kids' yoga:  

Young Yoga Masters Certificate Program:  Kids Yoga Teacher Training

Announcing the next Kids Yoga Teacher Training Dates
This Kids Yoga Teaching Training course gets you ready to teach kids yoga and avoid the problems that new teachers experience.  With a tested six week kids yoga curriculum filled with yoga and activities that kids love. You will also discover additional poses, games, meditations, and songs to build the skills and confidence to design your own classes.  This course will equip you to spread the health and joy of yoga with children at home, in daycares, studios, or in the classroom.

Two New Courses starting in 2010:

1. New Program:  12 Hour Training + 6 Hour Co-Op Training (6 weeks): Toronto, Ontario, Canada  Starts Tuesday, January 12, 2010
   
   
2. 12 Hour Training Weekend:  Toronto, Ontario, Canada
   Friday, April 30 – Sunday, May 2, 2010

Who Should Attend the Kids Yoga Teacher Training:

Attention:  Those who want to give kids the life-long rewards of healthy bodies and happy minds.

• Yoga Teachers
• School Teachers
• E.C.E.’s (Early Childhood Educators)
• Doctors, Therapists, and Kids Specialists
• Specialty Kids Teachers
• Teaching Assistants
• Parents
• Grandparents
• Those who work with kids
• And all those who love and care for kids

Teaching Kids Yoga Training is for you!

About the Course:

Connect with kids from toddlers to tweens with a meaningful yoga practice.

Young Yoga Masters is a unique Kids Yoga Teacher Training program that will give you the tools to explain yoga and meditation to kids.  It is for those who are just starting out and also for those who teach kids regularly and want to rejuvenate their lesson plans with inspiring ideas and activities.

For Developing Focus & Keeping Imagination Alive
Teaching Kids Yoga features age old postures and meditations that can build self-awareness and confidence. The stories from Ancient Secrets of Success for Today’s World by Tulshi Sen inspire teachers and kids alike.
Take your classes from good to awesome!  In this weekend workshop you will discover:

• Classroom Management: How to gain kid’s cooperation, work with groups, and build passion for yoga,
• Child Development: An overview of the ages and stages of children’s abilities and development,
• Yoga Fundamentals: The fundamentals of yoga and meditation and how to present them to kids,
• A six week class curriculum based on Ancient Secrets of Success for Today’s World by Tulshi Sen – a tested program that inspires kids, filled with inspiring kids yoga, meditations, games and stories.  This curriculum tells you exactly how to introduce yoga to kids in a way they can understand and apply.  It will give you the tools to create a meaningful yoga curriculum to teach in your kids classes;
• How to develop your own kids yoga classes for different ages, time frames, and settings from the living room to the classroom;
• Quick Yoga: Quick, everyday tools for calming and centering for kids and adults;
• Rejuvenation: An amazing course to connect with others and nourish your soul.  Practical and personal development that’s full of imagination and fresh ideas.

For full course details link here:  http://www.youngyogamasters.com/in-person-training/

Please contact me if you have any questions about the course.  I'd love to see you there,

Aruna Kathy Humphrys
Aruna@YoungYogaMasters.com

Halloween - Did You Have these Kids Yoga Problems?

Last Friday's Kids Yoga Halloween Class

Halloween makes a great theme, as mentioned here and here, that can be used for at least a week before the actual holiday.  But a kids yoga class that happens during a Halloween party requires special attention. As I experienced last Friday, here are a few....tricks and treats.... for those who end up teaching a kids yoga class where the children are actually wearing costumes.  Be sure to watch for:

1. Overheating:  some costumes are full body cover ups, some even made for trick-or-treating outside in fall weather. If you're teaching kids wearing costumes, go for simple easy poses (tree, warrior, spinal flexes) that won't get the kids overheated. 
   
   
2. Pointy Objects:  Get these out of the way before you start your yoga.  I'm talking Magic Wands, Swords, Pitchforks, and even wire used in wings and capes.  Some costumes make many yoga poses difficult to do - like lying on your belly or back if you've got a belt, skirt, tail or other extra appendages. I ended up doing mostly standing and sitting poses so the kids could participate. 
   
   
3. Candy Overload:  Depending on when your class takes place, the kids may have already ingested a lot of candy, chips, and other forms of junk food.  So hold off on any intense forward bending.  Teach a light class that you could give someone who's just had a meal.

When I taught my classes last Friday I knew yoga was going to happen during the Halloween party. I dressed up as an Indian Princess, I'd like to know how women do yoga in Sari's - trust me, it's fun to wear but your legs get stopped in the long slip if you try to take a big step apart. 

I also don't give out candy, I give out bindi's (stickers for their forehead or hand) which everyone wanted, both the boys and the girls.

To compensate for the costumes I knew the kids would be wearing, I brought in one of my felt board stories.  We started with an old folk tale about how to think positively and we talked about how to stay calm when you might feel a little afraid.

For this class the story time increased, the yoga time was reduced, we did a daydreaming session for meditation - imagining flying through the sky, and we finished with a good round of freeze dance to keep the party feeling going.

The thirty minute classes went by in no time, especially because the children were so enamored with their costumes and had a lot to say.  Halloween is such an active exciting time, yoga can be a fine opportunity to relax, daydream, and find peace of mind.

Does anyone else have any Halloween costume/yoga stories to share?

Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

Character Development Theme: Responsibility

Kids Learn about Character in School and at Home

( In my city, school teachers have been given a monthly theme to teach in the classroom. The Toronto District School Board calls it Character Development. So I went to the Yoga In My School specialist - Donna Freeman for some insight into the monthly themes. Thanks to Donna for this guest post.)


Teaching Responsibility Vital to Living Well in the World
A Guest Post by Donna Freeman from Yogainmyschool.com

One of the primary goals of teaching and parenting is to create responsible adults. By this we hope to create individuals who make moral decisions, meet their obligations, are motivated by their own initiative, and are accountable for their decisions and actions.

Yoga’s yamas and niyamas, often referred to as the commandments of yoga, are based upon developing responsibility for oneself, for others, and for the environment. This may be manifest through focussing on Ahimsa (non-violence) learning to live with peace, kindness and love, or Tapas (self-discipline) striving to better yourself through goal setting and hard work; Asteya (non-stealing) taking only that which is freely given, or Saucha (cleanliness) taking care of yourself and your environment. Each of these foundational 10 philosophies is based on living a life of responsibility.

I appreciate this quote by John D. Rockefeller, Jr for what it says about how responsibility is woven into our daily lives.

I believe that every right implies a responsibility;
every opportunity, an obligation;
every possession, a duty.

Small acts consciously repeated in regards to community, family, church, work, and self demonstrate responsibility. Caring for self and others, arriving on time, showing respect, following through, being honest, being accountable for actions, saying what you’ll do, and doing what you say are all hallmarks of responsible kids and teens.

Seeing responsibility in action often assists in knowing how to act in this manner. The example set by parents and teachers is vital. You may also enjoy the series of one minute videos produced by NBC for Liberty Mutual’s Responsibility Project which model living responsibly.
As we teach and demonstrate responsibility, we integrate actions and attitudes. We strive to:

• Be actively engage
• Be future oriented
• Focus on self-improvement
• Be aware of boundaries
• Ask for help
• See relationships as win/win
• Be open to change
• Live with integrity
  

I hope we will create opportunities to develop responsibility. As we do so we are empowering our children to live pro-active, purposeful lives. Take action. Do what is right. Live responsibly.