Posts Tagged ‘daughters’


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 T

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sailboat begins the series during which your child will twist around the straight spine, which has a neutral effect on the nervous system.

 

Half Butterfly T

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 T Still Image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 T

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!

 

Dead Bug T

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 1 T

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!

Sing Song Yoga Kids Yoga App video animation

 

 

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2014.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Kid's Yoga Sequences, Parenting, Sing Song Yoga.
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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:

Sing Song Yoga Kids Yoga App video animation

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 23rd, 2013.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Parenting, Sing Song Yoga, Yoga Research.
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Am I Teaching My Daughter to Give Up?

This morning while dropping my daughter off for school, she asked me if she could have  a piece of chocolate from my purse.  I instinctively said “no.”  And she asked me why and informed me that she had eaten her breakfast.  I told her no again.  She again asked why.  I told her that I didn’t think it was a healthy way to start the day.  She asked again.  I mentioned that sometimes it would be nice if she would just accept my answer and say “okay mom.”  Then I said,  “You know baby, it’s a good thing in life to not give up on the things you want.  It’s just that it’s difficult sometimes as a parent.  So not taking no for an answer and not giving up will take you far in life.”  My daughter smiled and appreciated my honesty.  She’s used to me verbally making connections between immediate situations and life-long lessons. She then headed off to school with a gorgeous smile on her face after our daily good-bye rituals.

Lia and I started negotiating early in her life.  I consider it an important skill in life and one that instills empowerment.  If I tell her she can have 10 minutes of screen time (future post), she says how about 20, I’ll say 11, she’ll come back with 19, and so on until we settle on 15.  This gives her a sense of power in her life, works her math brain, and teaches her to not just accept blindly what others tell her.  If she follows blindly early in life, this could translate to following blindly as a teenager.  And parents know adolescence is not a time they want their kids following others blindly.

My ultimate goal in parenting is to guide my kids through childhood and adolescence to become the adults we each wish to be.  As a parent I have to slow down at times and listen to my inner voice to search for the best decision for the long run of my child’s life instead of only meeting an immediate need.  Honest discussion can help meet both the needs of now and the future.  I try to ask myself which lesson do I want to teach my child with this current issue.  What will this issue teach her about who she is and what she can do in this life?  This isn’t at all about the chocolate early in the morning, it’s about her every day drive to do what is best for herself.  It’s about learning and knowing each day that she is the driver, she’s the one who ultimately makes the decisions in her life that matter.  I can only guide.  I can only be a mirror for her to see her strengths and to allow her to see her own magnificent power: to be whomever she chooses to be, to do whatever she chooses to do and to experience whatever she chooses to experience – in each and every moment of her life.  As a child she has serious limits placed upon her daily, but my job is to be a subtle voice in her head that always reminds her that life is meant to be joyful and that she can be, do, or have anything she chooses!  My hope is to be a mirror that encourages her to be filled with joy and gratitude, go with the flow, leave worry on the banks of the river, follow her passions, love deeply and laugh often!

My learning this morning translates well to yoga for kids as well as other activities. It is clear to us that we don’t want our kids to give up while attempting yoga poses or trying to make that next basket, or scoring the next goal in soccer.  We want our kids to learn from challenges and move forward to reach their potential in our homes and out in the world!

Chocolate is not only one of my favorite treats, but it reminded me this morning of what an extraordinary daughter I have the honor of parenting and from whom I continue to learn heaps!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 13th, 2013.
Posted in Parenting.
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