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happy baby pose

I AM YOGA

April 25, 2016 By Susan Verde Filed Under: Bending Towards Brooklyn (Yoga) Tagged With: cobra pose, downward facing dog pose, happy baby pose, Kids yoga, relax, yoga, yoga practice

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 kid’s 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. There’s school-related stress, stress from overscheduling, and, in extreme cases, stress from trauma. The poses and games, the meditations and mindfulness activities of children’s yoga help kids strengthen their bodies, calm their minds, and become aware of the mind-body connection in a noncompetitive, playful way. Kid’s 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.

Child's Pose

 

DownDog

 

IAMYOGA7

 

Book By Susan Verde • Art by Peter H. Reynolds

Filed Under: Bending Towards Brooklyn (Yoga) Tagged With: cobra pose, downward facing dog pose, happy baby pose, Kids yoga, relax, yoga, yoga practice

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