Friday, October 28, 2011

end of year special

I know towards the end of the year finances get tight as do our schedules. So I'd like to offer something to satisfy both constraints. Have b'yom yoga come to your regularly schedule playgroup for an introductory kids and caregiver class for just four dollars per child! I'll meet you at the park or home...I'll bring the yoga, you bring the yoginis! This would be a great way to introduce yoga to your babies, your toddlers, your preschool age kids and even older brothers and sisters before the holiday crunch, and offer you stress reducing ideas to help you get through the end-of-year crunch with fun and finesse!!

Call, text or email me anytime-I'd love to share a practice with you!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, October 27, 2011

What's on your playlist

I always have tunes from Laurie Berkner and Elizabeth Mitchell and Ziggy Marley ready for all my kids classes...and I'm starting to make awesome lists for future adult classes.. but tell me, what do you like to play or listen to when you do yoga..alone? with your kids? with friends???

my list include Queen, Sting, Michael Fronte, Alicia Keys, Jack Johnson, Natalie Merchant and more....


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Breath in through your nose...

When I bring out the Hoberman Sphere (aka the Breathing Ball), all eyes (and sometimes hands) gravitate my way.... this large collapsing sphere is a fantastic tool for illustrating how we open our insides for breath, then constrict our muscles to release. It's almost natural to start breathing IN and OUT as the sphere opens and closes.

We sing the song "Breath IN through your nose...Breath OUT through your nose...." slowing down or speeding up as needed.

Even little Eli (who was the first in class to crawl INTO the sphere!) understands the connection between the ball and the breath, even at 25 months. Often when he's upset I'll just sing the "breath in" song and depending on his mood he'll follow along with the breath. Sometimes, if he just wants to be upset (and, heaven knows, we all have that feeling sometime) as soon as I start to sing, he wails "Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!"

But I know the simple trick is to just say "okay, let's just take a deep breath" and sure enough, he'll inhale through his nose, then actually do an energy releasing mouth exhale. And voila, the crying is abated even just for a moment. People have looked at me slack jawed when they see this little boy doing a deep breathing exercise, long before the notion of what "breathing in and out" really means....

I'd like to think that all that yoga I did while pregnant has ingrained some things into his little spirit. But truth be told, it's me RE-learning that taking a deep breath is a sure fire way to break the stress cycle, and passing that on actively to my little punkin' that has worked.

For classes where passing around a $40 "toy" is not possible, I like to do the pretend breathing ball exercise. I show them how it works, and ask them to imagine that they have one inside of them. Then we put our hands in front of us, cupped with fingers wide, making our OWN little breathing ball, that we can open and close on our own. We can close our eyes and REALLY imagine we are holding a ball. We can go around the room and ask "what color is YOUR breathing ball?" - we can open it just a a little, for puppy breaths, or a LOT for big balloon breaths (check out YogaKids for more on Balloon Breath).

And, not surprisingly, after giong through any breathing exercise with the families and children, I too always feel a sense of calm, groundedness, and health. Brain, Body, Breath - united.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Yoga for the Hallo-day! Trees and Spiders and more....

So you want to 'scare' up some kooky Halloween ideas for yoga? No need to get elaborate, some of the basic first yoga poses, so fundamental yet so accessible, can be turned into great Halloween fun.

Trees
Tree pose takes on a whole new dimension of balance challenge when you have the children take the form of a craggy, creaky, crabby, bare limbed and rickety tree. Have them change arm positions while balancing on one leg, then hold the arm position while switching legs. Try trees blowing the wind - and let them have fun (gently) falling over.

Something I'd like to try with an older group, after setting some ground rules (e.g, no touching, no getting too much in someone's face): One student can be the wind and walk around the room blowing (gently) on the other trees. See how this affects the standing ones! We all know that just having a teacher walk NEAR us while practicing balancing poses can throw us off balance. I think this could be fun!

Cats
Scary cats on a fence is something I'm going to introduce with the young ones this week at MKC - let them caterwaul while exhaling into strong arched backs, long tails reaching down, for a really good spinal release! Then we're going to go into cat crawl (a modified up dog/lizard style pose) and creep along the floor, claws extended, hunting for "mice" (aka cotton balls)!

Spiders
I also have a little ditty I composed while teaching at the JCC esp. for the little littles: it's called The Tiny Yoga Spider (to the tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider). For 2 and up, I mention that a spider has four arms and four legs (or 8 legs)...

Start on all fours, on the yoga mat
The Tiny Yoga Spider was on his yoga mat

Arch back low, crown of head up, tails up
First he was a cow

Arch back high
And then he was a cat

Now, lift one arm at a time, go around to each arm twice
Then he wiggled his arms, his arms, his arms, his arms

(breath) Lift each leg twice
Then he wiggled his legs, his legs, his legs, his legs

Curl up into child's pose, slowly

Then the tiny yoga spider, was ready for his bed.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

B.Y.O.M. = ????

A little internet research (again) yielded some intersesting results, that made me smile. BYOM, while having meaning as a hebrew contraction, or just a catching name, actually has an urban definition that I think captures the spirit of the kind of practice I want to provide.
B.Y.O.M - Bring Your Own Music

And isn't that what yoga is supposed to be about? Bring your own song, your own light, your own inner (and maybe iPod!) to the practice, make it YOURS - like I say, "It's your day, make it your yoga."

So I thought I'd put out a little "comment please" teaser. Ask your inner light, ask your children, giggle about it with your friends...let's see what we can do with BYOM.

A few of my ideas:
Bring Your Own Mat
Bring Your OM
Bring Your Own Mantra

I think I have a theme for my next class!

byom yoga at My Kids Clubhouse - Poway and Bonita

Yoga for Kids & their parents/caregivers 
@ My Kids Clubhouse

10:30-11:15 Wednesdays @ MKC Bonita (no class 11/23, 12/21, 12/28)

10:00-10:45 Fridays @ MKC Poway starts (no class 11/4, 11/25, 12/23, 12/30)

Text, call or e-mail me to reserve your spot at least 12 hours in advance. We are no longer doing drop ins so please let us know if you want to share some OM time with us!

All ages welcome - under 18 months FREE!

$10 per child includes admission to Clubhouse ($2 off per additional child)
Members/Punchcard holders only $5 per child ($1 off per additional child)

MENTION THIS BLOG AND GET YOUR FIRST CLASS FREE!

Instructor Jackie Gadd weaves age-appropriate poses and breathing techniques into fun-tastic sessions filled with music, games, stories, art, dance, and of course, RESTING! No yoga experience needed – beginner to advanced, all are welcome! A practitioner for seven years, Jackie truly believes in its power for ALL AGES to calm and strengthen the mind and body, and would love to share her love of yoga with you and your children!