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How exciting it is to see the Yoga
wealth enrich the lives and education of all our children. As a pioneer
of Kids’ Yoga for many years, and in B.C. for the last 15 yrs., I have
been blessed with the company of hundreds of children. I have seen Yoga
tame, settle and still…strengthen, steady, and stretch….inspire,
infuse, and delight young beings of all ages. I have listened and heard
them express, share, sing, cry, and laugh
 I
have watched them become attentive, breathe, exert, create, and rest.
It’s a special way of being with kids - breathing together, sweating,
thinking and sitting together.
The Yoga that we share embraces all its
limbs and addresses relevant issues that kids deal with. We share some
very special moments. We have some great conversations. This past
Valentine’s Day, we discussed what a valentine was: the symbol it
represents, who gets a valentine, and what motivates us to give
valentines. We came to the conclusion that LOVE is answer and that it
is more than a card with hearts and flowers…
 LOVE is all around us…we love the earth, we love the air,
we love the water and the sun. All the things that we love are born of
these. We agreed that when we love something, we want to be nice to it.
Yet, we also observed this example: even though everyone lives on and
loves the earth, Earth is not always treated with love. We looked at
ourselves in our lives and wondered if we could be mean to the things
we love. When someone said, “We love our self…” a young man blurted
out, “How can we be mean to our self?
One astute young lady said, “I can be
mean to myself”.
When asked for an example, she shared the experience of getting down on
herself by thinking that she’s not as smart as her friend who got a
better mark on a math test.
We discussed it some more, and came to
the conclusion that each person has their own unique offering that they
contribute to this world. A mark in a math taste doesn’t make us a
better or worse person. We observed that instead of feeling bad, we can
take inspiration from our friend’s great mark, be happy for him or her,
and be pleased with our own efforts. Then we continued on to perform
poses that express our respect for creation, such as the sun
salutation…poses that reflect the wisdom of the animals….poses that
honor the body like the shoulder stand, turning us upside down so that
our head and shoulders are on the earth, our feet reaching up towards
the sky. We played a creative Yoga game, rested, and meditated with our
closing ceremony.
It was a very full and fulfilling time.
We all left happy…having laid the foundation for a great day, having
sowed an invaluable seed for a great life!
Maalaa
is offering a Kids Yoga Teacher Training course in early May. Check out
the May workshop page in this website for more information
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Yoga
Teacher Training Programs
