Tips for Keeping your Kids yoga class under control!

You may have all the lesson plans in the world, but if your class is out of control, it will be hard to teach anything! Here are a few ways to make your classroom an effective place for learning:

-Come well prepared for your class. Go over your lesson plan before children come to see you and have some extra ideas at the ready.

-Do yoga or meditation before teaching. Children will often reflect your own mood. The more calm, enthused and organized you are, the better your class will be.

-Be sypathetic to those who are acting out. Though some kids may be in a “bad” mood, children who do not understand directions, consequences or find an exercise too easy or difficult may act out. Look at your teaching strategies to see if some changes can be made to accomodate that child.

-Arrive before your class starts so the classroom is yoga friendly with distractions and dangers (such as toys, books, dirty floor) are out of the way.

-Continue your education. Observe other teachers in action and incorporate what works into your teaching strategies.

Need More? Asana Alphabet holds periodic teacher trainings….many coming up in February-April, 2012.  More TBA at our website: www.AsanaAlphabet.com

Using music in a teen yoga class

A week before our next teacher training workshop (Jan. 21-22 in NYC..one spot left!) and once again I find myself going through the guidebook making sure I’ve caught every last spelling mistake.  I thought I’d share a new excerpt from our upcoming preteen/teen yoga teaching guide…enjoy!

MUSIC for Teen Yoga Class

As an adult yoga teacher, I have strayed from using music in my classes so that my students can more easily listen to the sound of their own breathing. While music can inspire us to go deeper, it is often relied upon by some teacher to distract us or, if you will, to continue the ongoing chatter in our brains that we are trying to smooth out.

I also want my teen students to listen to themselves and silence can really be golden for them; but I feel music is a great gateway for getting teens to be interested and engaged in yoga, or even to want to attend in the first place.  A useful technique is to play background music softly during the majority of class then slowly begin to fade it out.  I find that the contrast of music then silence can bring the students more in touch with themselves.  If you are good at keeping rhythm, using a drum to count breathing rhythms can also be engaging.  Most teens love music they listen to in their free-time, and it may be a fun option to allow students to play DJ or have a free choice once in a while.  Most of the time, teachers need to “re-select” choices because of language and subject matter that is not promoted in schools, so asking for music choices a few days beforehand is advised.

Teachers can use this opportunity in yoga to expose students to a variety of music styles.  Perhaps using a relaxing piece by Bach that they are also studying in music class or taking a pick from the wide selection of music from other cultures. If you don’t have these selections on hand, try exploring the website GrooveShark where you can sample full songs of many artists (but be mindful….if you constantly pick an artist or a certain song, it’s worth the good karma to actually purchase it).

Finally, we school teachers also need to watch out for yoga music that chants about a particular God.  Many schools I have worked in will not tolerate a chant praising Ganesha or Shiva so perhaps opt for a more “nonreligious” choice like Dharmma Mitra’s long Aums.  And if you teach younger kids, you can also find some child-friendly yoga songs for purchase at www.AsanaAlphabet.bandcamp.com.

Asana Alphabet Teacher gets started in Atlanta, GA

We’re really going to miss Nicole Levin here in NYC! Nicole recently gave up a somewhat “corporate” career for teaching kids yoga and she really came out of the gate running.  Shortly after taking Asana Alphabet’s certification program, she found herself teaching yoga at our open classes in Soho, at a Williamsburg YMCA and at a Sheepshead Bay summer camp.  Let’s just say she works hard, is super creative and her love for kids really shines through.  Nicole has relocated to Atlanta recently to study towards a degree in nutrition where she also plans to continue teaching as well (and perhaps leading some Asana Alphabet trainings too, we’ll see!).

Our best wishes to you!!

Teen Partner Yoga

Though doing partner yoga is a popular way to make yoga fun for both adults and kids, teachers often think that teens will be too self-conscious to try it out or will think it’s just not cool. At Asana Alphabet, we think that if you commit to the idea and present it in a teen-friendly way, incorporating partner yoga can: add a social component to your classes, challenge collaborative skills, expand yoga pose boundaries and most importantly, add a fun and unexpected element to class.

Asana Alphabet is happy to host our next “Teacher training” in teen yoga, Jan. 21-22, 2012 in the East Village.  There will even be teens on hand so you can see and employ the techniques right away. To register, email AsanaAlphabet@gmail.com.  

The Joy of Giving

This Thanksgiving, Liam, a brand new yogi, received Asana Alphabet’s yoga book, “Yogi and Yogette Learn the Asana Alphabet”.  With a yoga pose for every letter of the alphabet, it helps kids reinforce the alphabet through yoga and movement.  As many of us already know, young children learn best through movement so this book canbe especially inspiring as it encourages you to try out the poses yourself. Since English is Liam’s second language, that’s just another bonus as he sounds out the letters of the alphabet.  His favorite pose in the book? TREE POSE!  Apparently was so excited about the book that he had to transfer his love along to his sister afterwards (see below).

“How can I give one of these?”  you ask…go to our shopping tag at www.AsanaAlphabet.com or sometimes you can find them at Amazon.com (title: Yogi and Yogette Learn the Asana Alphabet).  Order by Dec. 14th for holiday deliveries.  50% of all sales on our website go to providing more FREE classes for our kindergarten students on the lower east side.

Thanksgiving Yoga Thoughts for Kids

This week, my elementary school yoga class had a Thanksgiving yoga party (imaginary food mind you, it was a yoga class) where we made apple pie with kurmasana and set the yoga table (table pose) with fancy chairs (chair pose).  We also invited our yoga animal friends like the cat, cow, cobra and downward dog.  The kids kept saying, “We forgot the turkey! We forgot the turkey!”  At first, I just ignored their shouts but as it wouldn’t stop I had to think of something.  I didn’t want to serve turkey at our yoga thanksgiving (yoga philosophy is in favor of going veg) so I asked them, “Why do you think we aren’t having turkey at this Thanksgiving?”  After about 5 seconds of thought, they all said that we’ve invited animals to the party so we shouldn’t serve another animal because that might scare them (no, I did not give them any hints!)  Is your heart a bit more open now?

A weight-loss show, Biggest Loser, is currently playing on the TV….the host just mentioned that Americans eat approximately 4500 calories at Thanksgiving with about 200 grams of fat.  Let’s watch what we feed (and how much we feed) our children, even if it is a special occasion.

I rounded out class with some abdominal exercises to help us feel better after eating so much and finished with a yoga dance party.  Hope this inspires some of you to be creative in your teachings.

Inspiration and Collaboration at Princeton Training

One piece of teaching is that the teacher can always learn from their students and I find this to be true.  So I thought I’d honor some recent teachers of mine today.

Training others to teach children’s yoga has been such a great joy knowing that the teaching will be passed on to so many kids.  Selfishly, I always love connecting with these trainees and many of them are as experienced as myself and creating their own unique paths in the world of kids yoga.  This past fall in Princeton, I had the pleasure of working with Santokh Rinpoche of Happy Vibe Yoga who beautifully incorporates many styles of yoga into her classes and encourages her adult students to find their playful and child-like selves.  A fellow choreographer too, it was nice to see a parallel life being had near Doylestown, PA.

Karen La Du, http://www.khladu.com/, has a beautiful way of combining art, creativity and yoga for her students and is working on baking the yoga way as well.

I was also inspired by Ms. Kamen, A Spanish teacher at Princeton Day School (where I also teach) who clearly sees that her middle school students could really open up.  Her methods of incorporating Spanish language, storytelling and yoga are fun and engaging.  Ms. Griffin, who is a pre-k teacher also at PDS, demonstrates a true understanding of her students needs and how they learn through movement and April, also a Prek teacher, readily sees how classroom dynamics can be improved simply by adding in some quick yoga games to keep children’s attention.

With Gratitude! Ann

 

 

Quote for post 11/11/11 Teachers

Everyone is born a saint, innocent.  

Be innocent and be humble.

Flow. 

Share with others.  

Share your information but do not push.  Every individual has to grow. Live most relaxed and feel a FUN about everything.

-Yogi Bhajan, March 21, 1974

Teaching philosophy for yoga teachers: Meet your students where they are at.  Have a good time and they will too.

Our first yoga photo award: Archer Pose

Congratulations to Jamie whose daughter is here demonstrating fantastic alignment in Archer Pose!  I not only love looking at this photo (it’s the screensaver on my phone), but it really is difficult for young children to perform such a great looking lunge with the front knee bent and the back leg straight. And look at the power in her arms! Love it!  Jamie claims that she learned this from “Yogi and Yogette Learn the Asana Alphabet”, our children’s yoga book that demonstrates a pose for each letter of the alphabet (sample cartoon next to above photo).  You can get your own via www.AsanaAlphabet.com.   And we offer them in bulk upon request for schools and studios (asanaalphabet@gmail.com).

Yoga for Healthy Sleep

When a teacher sleeps well, her/his ability to effectively teach is magnified. This weekend, Asana Alphabet’s director, Ann, will be teaching “Kundalini Yoga for a Healthy Sleep Cycle” at 3rd Street Yoga Studio in Edmond, OK; Friday, 7-9pm. Appropriately enough, one of our favorite yoga writers as well as one of best children’s yoga teachers, writes this week in the Examiner about this same subject.  I could write about it myself, but she does it so well, just click on her link here.  Apart from the tips MacKenzie Pause gives us in her article, the Kundalini Yoga tradition offers several breathing meditations as well as physical sets to help with a healthy sleep cycle, namely left nostril breathing and Shabd Kriya.  Note that these adult sets are NOT intended for children; however, if your child can sleep on her/his right side (and thus keep the left nostril open), this is one way the parasympathetic system can begin to calm down a young body for sleep. Sweet Dreams.