Rawlinson - Creative yoga for children: inspiring the whole child through yoga, songs, literature, and games: forty fun, ready-to-teach lessons for ages four through twelve

Copyright 2013 by Adrienne Rawlinson. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.

Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712

Cover design by Brad Greene

Creative Yoga for Children: Inspiring the Whole Child through Yoga, Songs, Literature, and Games is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: The following information is intended for general information purposes only. Individuals should always see their health care provider before administering any suggestions made in this book. Any application of the material set forth in the following pages is at the readers discretion and is his or her sole responsibility.

North Atlantic Books publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Rawlinson, Adrienne.
Creative yoga for children: inspiring the whole child through yoga, songs, literature, and games / Adrienne Rawlinson.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-58394-572-8
1. Hatha yoga for children. I. Title.
RJ133.7.R39 2012
613.7046083dc23

2012013562

v3.1

This book is for Steve, Julia, and LukeI love you.

Thank you to Tom and Shirley Slee, Deb Cunningham, Karen Gardner, Jen Maclean, Alice Williams, Gary Senter, Melinda Clarke, Heather Lynn Berry, Jane French, Mayling Chung-Robinson, Gord Phippen, and a special thanks to my teacher, Maureen Rae. I would also like to thank the children in the book: Peri, Jordan, Logan, Erica, Cameron, Luke, Neeraj, and Julia.

Welcome to our program! Creative Yoga for Children is the product of many years of observing children in both yoga and Montessori classes. After teaching both Montessori and yoga, I have observed that the likenesses between the two are abundant. We know that yoga is the process of uniting the body and mind to become clearer and more centered. Montessori education is a holistic, hands-on approach to education that includes physical movement. So when combined, these two philosophies can only complement one another. This book merges the two practices into a fluid and beneficial program.

I have created a program that is completely accessible to all educators and parents, not just Montessori or yoga teachers. The classes are individually and logically laid out. They are divided into easy-to-use, age-appropriate parts (ages four to six, seven to nine, and ten to twelve). The classes help develop each childs conceptions of many subjects while remaining active and fun.

Like any learning environment, an engaging yoga class has a centering effect on children. It aids in constructing their confidence from the inside out. There is no huge emphasis on producing an end product, just a joy in the process. Children always feel successful in yoga; there is no competition, just an individual progression. Any child can enjoy yoga.

I believe in creating an environment that feeds a young childs need for order, movement, sensorial exploration, and language. This notion has been at the center of my yoga program. My teaching experiences have taught me that childrens minds are at their optimal period for learning and absorbing the worlds lessons and experiences before the age of twelve. These too are the key years for introducing them to the world of yoga.

Creative Yoga for Children provides a contemporary extension to traditional classroom activities. The childs understanding of specific educational topics is reinforced through a series of yoga poses, activities, and games. I know you will find this compilation of classes, developed from my years as a teacher and yoga instructor, to be beneficial to the children in your lives.

I remember my first taste of yoga. It was in our family room in Montreal in the 1970s. My mother would watch a morning yoga show, and I would rush to join her for our half hour together. The lady on the show doing poses fascinated me. I would giggle as I did the lotus, the crow, and other postures that introduced me to a whole new world. There were breathing exercises and even Sanskrit names for postureshow different! Of course, I was oblivious at the age of six to the monumental benefits of yoga. I just loved the time with my mom and the process of connecting and doing something together that put no pressure on either of us. This memory stands out vividly to me.

Now I realize that this little adventure mom and I shared left me with a feeling of acceptance, togetherness, and peace. Neither of us could actually do the poses, but this was irrelevant.

Years later I became a busy teacher and mother of my own two children. Yoga was no longer a part of my daily life. It was not until I felt a need to decompress and slow my busy life down that I took my first yoga class again in more than thirty years. The feeling of being right in the moment, of being soothed and satisfied, returned to me again. I wanted to pursue and explore my refound feelings.

I then immersed myself in my yoga practice. After obtaining my yoga teaching certification, I realized that I could apply yoga principles to the classroom. Kids had always been my comfort zone. The concept of harmonizing yoga with holistic education was the perfect fit!

I began to take various training workshops on teaching yoga to kids, all full of wonderful, usable ideas. After those workshops, it was time to get out there, culminate my training and experience, and give my childrens yoga class a go.

I taught in churches, community centers, yoga studios, and even my own childrens school as an extracurricular activity.

My enthusiasm grew, as did that of my students. My experience has always been that the key to success of any educational program is to methodically observe the needs of each individual child. So I learned from the kids by listening to and watching them. Consequently, I began to perfect my ideas and modify things I had planned to do, all in response to their input. Children, as we know, are infinitely wise, are honest, and have not yet constructed any walls to protect them from the world around them. I discovered that children were able to best learn concepts and ideas through movement and action. Through connection to movement and each other, children can learn complex concepts, such as our place in the universe, and have fun at the same time!