Susan Verde - I Am Yoga

All of the material contained in this book is presented only
for informational and artistic purposes. Any person should
approach these activities with caution and appropriate
supervision and training. The publisher and author are
not responsible for any accidents, injuries, damages,
or loss suffered by any reader of this book.

The illustrations in this book were created
using ink, gouache, watercolor, and tea.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Verde, Susan.
I am yoga / by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds.
pages cm
Summary: As a young girl practices various standard yoga poses,
she imagines herself as a tree touching the sky,
a playful dog, a warrior, and more while relaxing and seeing how
she fits into the world.
ISBN 978-1-4197-1664-5
[1. YogaFiction. 2. ImaginationFiction.]
I. Reynolds, Peter H., illustrator. II. Title.
PZ7.1.V46Iaah 2015
[E]dc23
2014040993

Text copyright 2015 Susan Verde
Illustrations copyright 2015 Peter H. Reynolds
Book design by Chad W. Beckerman

Published in 2015 by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

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The word yoga means union. Yoga is the connection between
mind and body. My own yoga practice is a way to handle stress,
find calm in my mind and strength in my body, and be present as
an educator, a parent, a kids yoga teacher, and a person in a busy
world.

Kids are yoga. Their practice begins naturally as part of their
development when they are just infants. Tummy time is Cobra
pose. When they are on their backs grabbing for their toes, it is
Happy Baby pose. As they grow, children, like adults, encounter
stress on many levels, from bad dreams to arguments with siblings
to pressure from friends. Theres school-related stress, stress
from overscheduling, and, in extreme cases, stress from trauma.
The poses and games, the meditations and mindfulness
activities of childrens yoga help kids strengthen their bodies, calm
their minds, and become aware of the mind-body connection in
a noncompetitive, playful way. Kids yoga, with all its components,
is a toolbox for helping a person manage a world that often feels
too big to handle.

My hope is that this playful story of what it means to be yoga
serves as a way for children to tap into all that yoga has to offer.
As they read, play, imagine, explore, express themselves, and
breathe, they can know that whoever they are, however they are
in this big world, they fit in just fine.

Here is a list of the poses that are referred to in I Am Yoga as well
as their Sanskrit names (where applicable) and a few notes on
instruction. When teaching kids to breathe in yoga, we practice
inhaling and exhaling slowly and deeply through the nose to calm
the nervous system.