Yoga in the Classroom

Since the start of the new academic year, we have been working collaboratively with schools across Asia to implement yoga into children's every day learning. Yoga has endless benefits for children, teens and teachers, especially when applied daily. Here are our favourite techniques on how to incorporate children's yoga into your classroom or home: * Sun Dance Start your mornings with a sun dance or salutations to the sun. Don't worry about getting the sequence perfect, just put on your favourite sunny tunes to move, dance & flow. The children will naturally move to the rhythm and copying without verbal instruction encourages further concentration, creativity and body awareness.

* Story-Time Whether you're reading a classic tale, a Greek myth or an Eric Carle book, yoga and meditation can be incorporated to bring the story to life! Ask the children to use poses to re-enact the story, different breathing techniques to represent sounds or guide them through a relaxing visualisation based on the book. * Let the Children Create If you're not familiar or confident with many yoga poses, ask the children! They have the wildest imaginations which will create yoga poses of all shapes and sizes. In children's yoga, the importance isn't placed on forming the perfect pose but in moving your body in any way to create strength, body awareness and presence.

* Be Artistic We love to incorporate art into yoga. Expressive art is a great way for children to process and express their emotions, ideas and thoughts. Encourage children to create a group mandala or free-art to represent their movements, poses, ideas and visions. * Meditation Jars One of the most popular meditations with young children is using the Meditation Jars. Let children create their own, using coloured water, glitter, beads, buttons and all things sparkly! Once their meditation masterpiece is complete, they can shake it up and quietly watch until all of the glitter has settled to the bottom of the jar. This is such a simple but fun way to improve focus, patience and stillness of the mind.

Interested in one of our tailor-made children's yoga programmes? Email info@divine-light-yoga to discuss hosting a health awareness programme or professional development day at your school.