Archive for the ‘Benefits of Yoga’ Category
Yoga in Schools: Kids and Teachers Talk Kids Yoga.
A quick peek into what kids and teachers are saying about using the Sing Song Yoga app in the classroom. Kids yoga in schools explored… Highlights from the video clip:
Tell us about Sing Song Yoga®
What I would tell other kids about Sing Song Yoga is that you have to try it because it calms you before, if you do Daily Five in your classroom or writing. ~ first grader, MI
It all started with a simple challenge from our movement specialist in the district to say we’ve got to get our kids moving and that will increase the engagement. And I would say that Sing Song Yoga is our perfect answer to doing that. ~ Kristi Zoerhof, First Grade Teacher, MI
- “It keeps you strong and healthy and it really keeps you calm when you’re doing stuff.”
- “I would tell other kids that Sing Song Yoga is really fun.”
- “It is the funnest thing in the world.”
- “It gets your body moving and it makes you exercise.”
- “The app is my favorite because it is completely customizable. Whatever you have time to work with, whether its 5 minutes or 20, you can create yoga sequence videos for your kids to do. And it is actually a spot in our lesson plans that we have a spot for yoga.”
- “It’s really really fun and it’s relaxing.”
- “They love it. They look forward to it. They request it. And it is probably our most popular activity of the day.”
- “They should do it ’cause it’s really really fun.”
How does Sing Song Yoga® make you feel?
- “Sing Song Yoga makes me feel happy and calm.”
- “We find that we are more focused and our work time is more productive.”
- “I feel happy from yoga.”
- “Sing Song makes me feel happy.”
- “Sing Song Yoga makes me feel calm.”
- “It’s calming.”
- “I like crane pose because it makes me feel steady.”
- “Sing Song Yoga makes me feel happy.”
- “Sing Song Yoga makes me get happy and excited.”
What would you tell other teachers about Sing Song Yoga®?
- “I’m really sure that if your children do it, it’s going to be fantastic.”
- “Truly, every minute spent in Sing Song Yoga we have seen the rewards and the benefits in our classroom work. I would recommend it to every classroom teacher who wants to give their students a moment to have intentional movement breaks.”
- “The songs are really cool.”
- “You can see it on the iPad and you can see it on the screen.”
- “Try Sing Song Yoga. You will not be disappointed.”
- “I love Sing Song Yoga.”
Related Posts:
Getting Kids Ready to Write: Yoga in Schools A teacher question answered: “I was wondering the best combinations [of poses] to use [with my students] for getting ready to write.”
Twitter Leads to Most Rewarding Visit Imaginable Sing Song Yoga founder does yoga with students she connected with on Twitter.
Top 5 Tips to Help Kids Yoga Balance: Kid Twitter Question Answered A kid question answered: “Do you have any tips to help us balance better?”
At Sing Song Yoga we love tweeting with students about their yoga ideas, experiences and questions. We also love chatting with teachers! 
For more info:
Sing Song Yoga® Kids’ Yoga App
Sing Song Yoga® kids’ yoga DVD
Sing Song Yoga® school program
This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2015.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Education, Sing Song Yoga, Yoga in Schools.
Tagged: app, brain breaks, children, childrens yoga, dvd, education, educators, kids yoga, kids yoga app, movement acivities, movement in the classroom, schools, sing song yoga, testimonial, yoga for children, yoga for kids, yoga in schools, yoga in the classroom
Kids Yoga in Schools: Getting First Graders Ready to Write
Sue, a first grade teacher from Michigan writes:
I was wondering the best combinations [of poses] to use [with my students] for getting ready to write.”
This is a great question! Yoga in schools can be a powerful resource for helping kids get ready to write, as well as do other school tasks. Kids’ Yoga is not going to take overly energetic children and mesmerize them into a state of conformity, but it can help a child transform their energy into a more usable form for accomplishing particular tasks. As teachers we occasionally need tiny reminders that children are not built to sit for long periods, and their squirminess might be good feedback to us that their bodies truly need to move in order for their brains to work most efficiently.
I know that, as an adult, when I rush around my world to run errands and then sit down in front of my computer to get some work done, it takes me a bit of time to refocus on my task at hand. Also, if I sit for an extended period of time I need to get up and move to focus most efficiently. Similarly, if a child is moving from one activity to the next without time to refocus with some deliberate guidance, or is sitting for extending periods of time without a chance for specific movement, then it’s likely that s/he won’t be able to give her best.
Yoga in schools can provide purposeful tools for helping children refocus. There’s much involved in how yoga can do this. However, simply put, focusing on one’s body to get into and hold a pose can help quiet the mind’s chatter, allowing more space for purposefully focused thought. And if the yoga movement itself is sufficiently involved it can fulfill the body’s need to move in order to stimulate the necessary systems for optimal learning.
In other words the physical yoga poses and the focus necessary to accomplish them work in tandem to help children refocus.
In addition to this, particular sequencing of poses also has the potential to calm the nervous system, which counters the stressors that physically shut down the brain for learning. The brain of a child who is in distress physically shuts down the networking necessary for learning. The brain of a relaxed child has much greater learning potential.
When thinking about yoga in schools it might be helpful to know that poses can be divided into three categories regarding their main effects on the nervous system:
- energizing poses (red – see arrow in pic below)
- calming poses (blue)
- neutral poses (yellow)
Poses can be sequenced to deliberately shoot for particular goals. For example, our Brain Break sequence was created to assist students in refocusing within their school day with the least number of poses necessary to accomplish the goal.
Brain Break Sequence includes:
- Triangle – general movement lengthening and strengthening the entire body
- Standing V – the inversion allows blood flow to the brain which may enhance mental functioning and forward bends calm the nervous system
- Eagle – crosses the mid-line helping the two halves of the brain communicate through the corpus callosum (helping to coordinate skills being carried out in different parts of the brain). Eagle also stimulates the vestibular system (balance), stimulating the brain for new learning
- Sailboat – crosses the mid-line and twisting allows for additional release of tension
Note below: the color coding above each pose in the app screenshot: red, blue and yellow represent energizing, calming and neutral poses respectively.
Brain Break Sequence shown in Canvas. Press Play to begin video.
The Jazz up My Brain sequence within the Sing Song Yoga App is a longer version at 22 minutes. Teachers can throw poses out or add poses within the app within the sequence canvas and make it work for each situation. Sequences you create can be saved and named. And here’s another example of the app in use.
Thanks for stopping by! We intend to continue growing our posts dedicated to helping teachers enjoy the benefits of yoga in the classroom!
Until next time, Happy Teaching!
We would LOVE to hear from you – how you’re using yoga in schools or questions of how to begin. We are on Twitter @singsongyoga and Facebook and really look forward to connecting!
For more info:
Sing Song Yoga® kids’ yoga DVD
Sing Song Yoga® Kids’ Yoga App
Sing Song Yoga® school program
This entry was posted on Saturday, January 24th, 2015.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Education, Kid's Yoga Sequences, Sing Song Yoga, Yoga in Schools.
Tagged: app, children, childrens yoga, first graders, health, ipad app, iphone app, ipod touch app, kids, kids yoga, kids yoga app, kids yoga benefits, mindfulness, physical activities for toddlers, research, schools, sing song yoga, test prep, writing, yoga for kids, yoga in schools, yoga in the classroom, yoga poses
Yoga in Schools – Twitter Leads to Most Rewarding Visit Imaginable
Twitter is one of those things that I tried simply because I was told it was necessary for today’s startups — but did so reluctantly with little engagement. Then one day I received a twitter notification from a first grade teacher who was using Sing Song Yoga with her students. This gradually evolving connection not only inspired me to reach out to more yogis and educators on Twitter, but it eventually led to… meeting in person!! 
When you develop a program you hope that someone will find benefit in it, utilize the tools and share its value with others. But just because YOU love it and think it’s great doesn’t mean anyone else will find it valuable!
It was delightfully surprising to me how connected I began to feel with Mrs. Z. and her #firstgradeyogis on Twitter. They tweeted about their experiences with yoga in school and asked great questions (#ssykidquestion). We learned from, and encouraged each other and made continued Twitter connections – even with first graders in China! 
And last Tuesday my heart grew!! Have you ever gotten to know someone only online and then get the chance to meet? Well it’s just like in the movies! When you see their familiar faces and begin to chat it feels as though you’ve known them forever. The mutual excitement is tangible! Hugs and chats and hugs and chats! And then… the magic continues as our yoga songs fill the air. My songs have become their songs. My heart skips a beat the moment their voices join with mine and fill the room — with about as much love as a room can contain before bursting at the seams! As I write this I can still feel the expansion of my universe that occurred in those moments. 
Thank you Mrs. Z. from Michigan for not only providing the loving platform tying my heart to yours and your students’, but for providing your kids with the practical tools and benefits that kids’ yoga has repeatedly demonstrated. Your kids get a jump start on their learning each day because you have taken the time to learn what’s best for kids — and of course yoga is only one part of that!
Until we meet again… Thank you from the bottom of my heart! 
If you’d like to connect with @singsongyoga on Twitter or Facebook we’d love to hear from you…
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2014.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Education, Sing Song Yoga.
Tagged: childrens yoga, dvd, gifts, kids christmas, kids yoga app, schools, sing song yoga, testimonial, twitter, yoga benefits, yoga for children, yoga for kids, yoga in schools
Top 6 Kids Yoga Poses for Bedtime: a calming sequence
Ahhhh! Summer is here. After long lovely days at the beach, at the ballpark, on the playground and running around the neighborhood, kids tend to remain wired when heading to bed. Unless of course a calming activity is deliberately infused into the routine leading up to bedtime.
One such activity can be a short series of kids yoga poses. Here are top 6 yoga poses for helping your child begin to calm their bodies and minds — in as little as 8 minutes. These poses also happen to be the included poses in the free Sing Song Yoga App. So enjoy – and let us know what you think!
Sailboat begins the series during which your child will twist around the straight spine, which has a neutral effect on the nervous system.
Next comes Half Butterfly. Forward folds have a calming effect on the nervous system and the one bent leg opening up the hip adds to the calming effect.
Fish pose is a lovely night time yoga pose to add to our sequence. We tend to hold stress in our hips, so allowing our legs to relax out to the sides enhances the relaxation effect. Open up the chest and allow your head to relax back and look behind you (slightly different than the picture). This multifaceted pose works beautifully to continue the calming effect.
Bridge pose is an inversion well known for its calming effect on the nervous system. This kids’ yoga pose can also be used anytime you have an extra minute during your day to give your child an extra sense of calm. Great, of course, for moms and dads too!
Deadbug pose adds a final dose of a calming response before the big finale! Your child can even add the hum of the bug to enhance the relaxation. Hearing the humming sound within one’s own head can also double the calm for some children.
Savasana is the final yoga pose in this series and the granddaddy of the relaxation poses. Encourage your child to lie flat on his or her back, close the eyes and imagine themselves floating on a cloud allowing their bodies to completely relax. For preparing for bedtime, it can also be helpful for your child to do savasana right in their bed and then allow themselves to drift softly into dreamland! Ahh! Now mom and dad can slip off for their own quiet time.
If you would like to learn the songs and more in-depth directions to these Sing Song Yoga kids yoga poses, check out the award-winning Sing Song Yoga App in the iTunes Store. The above poses are the free ones at launch. Or see our website to order the DVD.
To see a fun White Board Animation about our program click here!
This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2014.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Kid's Yoga Sequences, Parenting, Sing Song Yoga.
Tagged: app, app store, boys, children, childrens yoga, daughters, dvd, girls, health, ipad app, iphone app, ipod touch app, kids, kids yoga, kids yoga app, kids yoga benefits, mindfulness, music, parenting, physical activities for toddlers, raising kids, sing song yoga, toddler yoga, video, yoga, yoga app, yoga benefits, yoga for kids, yoga poses
Can a Tablet Actually Get Kids Moving?
Tablets are typically a source of screen time for kids. During screen time the child is still, the eyes hold a fixed gaze, and the image on the screen is moving. So as a teacher and a mom, I’m thrilled to encourage your kids to use the Sing Song Yoga® kids yoga app to transform their screen time into some “music and movement” time.
This whiteboard animation and jingle are a fun way to say the same thing…
When kids move, play and sing they use their brains well.
Building their brains is naturally fun.
Paving the brain roads and making connections
A well-developed brain makes learning easy and fun!
But too often now kids sit with one of these.
Which at times can be a bit of a concern.
So let’s use tablets to get kids moving
So we can see the benefits of moving return
Experts find that yoga helps kids
With focus, awareness, coordination and more.
A kids’ yoga studio on your TV
Find the Sing Song Yoga® App in the App Store.
So have fun encouraging your kids to use their tablets to keep moving! And thanks in advance for sharing this post!
The Sing Song Yoga® App is available in the Apple App Store and is explained in detail in this former blog post.
For more information about our program check out www.singsongyoga.com
screenshot:
This entry was posted on Saturday, November 23rd, 2013.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Parenting, Sing Song Yoga, Yoga Research.
Tagged: app, app store, boys, children, childrens yoga, christmas, daughters, dvd, gifts, girls, health, joy, kids, kids christmas, kids yoga, kids yoga app, kids yoga benefits, music, parenting, physical activities for toddlers, raising kids, research, schools, sing song yoga, studies, toddler yoga, video, yoga, yoga app, yoga benefits, yoga for kids, yoga poses