Dragonfly Yoga for Kids and Teens

Dragonfly Yoga for Kids and Teens

    It is hard to believe that we are already in November! The Fall is going by so fast! We have been very busy at Dragonfly Yoga this Autumn season! We have been working on Eye Yoga, Balance, Gratitude, and Nutrition. We have invited our friends to join us in our practice of yoga! We held a special Halloween class as well.

Eye Yoga

    In our eye yoga class, we learned which was our strongest eye and how we can do yoga exercises to balance the strength of our eyes. As we headed into Autumn, we took some time to practice our balance poses, as the Autumn Equinox is a time of balanced light and dark. Mid October, we stared our six week theme of gratitude. During our first class, we decorated a grounding tree with things we are grateful for. The next class found us decorating two tress, a giving tree and a thankful tree. There are many things that we are thankful for and many things we can give to others. In our class last night, we talked about nutrition and food. We are so grateful for the many healthy food choices we have available to us. We talked about the idea of moderation (the yama Aparigraha or "non-greed") We also recognized that the the yama Ahimas (non-violence) can help guide us as we make healthy food choices. Many of us yogis do not eat meat as we are practicing Ahimas. We can practice the Niyama Shauca or "cleanliness" when we eat foods that are pure instead of filling our bodies with junk. We decorated a Cornucopia of healthy food that we are grateful to have access to in our lives.

    On Halloween, we dressed in our costumes and practiced yoga to Halloween songs such as "Monster Mash", "Thriller", and "Ghostbusters". We used pool noodles as our ghost-busting tools while we practiced our Warrior Series of poses. We practiced Pumpkin Breath and played several fun yoga games such as, Yogi Says ( a version of Simon says), Red Light Green Light (where we have to freeze in Tree Pose), and musical mats ( a version of musical chairs with yoga mats). A fun time was had by all who participated!

Side Plank

    As we move towards Thanksgiving, our yogis will be collecting food for the local food pantry. On November 21st we will hold a Karma Class where we will dedicate the food. We will once again, invite our friends to  practice with us. In December, we will work on affirmations and transformation as we head into the Winter Solstice.

   We will start charging a monthly fee for classes in December. Instead of $75 for six weeks, we will charge $50 each month. The price is the same. We will still have a drop in rate of $15 per class. All new students will receive a free first class! If you are looking for a program with many benefits, please consider yoga for your children.

Fall Equinox Class and Eye Yoga

   Dragonfly Yoga for Kids and Teens has had two really fun classes these past two weeks. The first on was a Fall Equinox Balance Class while the second on was a class about Eye Yoga. The children have enjoyed taking a break from our regular class routine to explore some new poses!

   Our Fall Equinox Balance class was created based on the idea that on the Autumn Equinox, the day and the night are of equal length. The Equinoxes are the point of balance in between the two Solstices. The Autumn Equinox marks the beginning of the dark, composting phase of the year. We prepared ourselves for this time of the year by practicing balance poses in class. We learned some new poses that involve balance as well!

Sunlight and Shadow
Go within.
Focus your senses. Face the challenge.
Balance sunlight and shadow.
Blend with the path.
This is the way of the Tao.

TAO. 56

By aligning your own energies to the natural rhythms of the earth and the suns' cycles you can achieve outward success during the growth phase of the year, and enjoy rest, contemplation and renewal during the dormant phase of the year. 

At the Autumn Equinox there is a shift of emphasis from outward achievement to inner reflection and contemplation.

We are moving from:
Sun to Moon
Light to Dark
Yang to Yin
Outer Achievements to Inner Reflection
Action to Contemplation
Fire to Water
Growth to Dormancy and Incubation
Fruitfulness to Composting
Building up to Letting go
Movement to Stillness
Samana to Langhana

 Our Eye Yoga class worked on strengthening and exercising the eyes. Eye asanas are important. Approximately 40 percent of our brain is associated with vision. Over time, our eyes lose their flexibility and tone, and this contributes to eye problems as we age. The loss of elasticity in the muscles of our eyes can lead to an impaired ability to focus and adversely affect our cranial nerves and brain, causing headaches, anxiety, stress. 

   First we used kaleidoscopes to determine which eye is our strongest eye. Then we did many exercises to work on strengthening our eyes.  We ended our eye asanas by palming. Palming is when you rub your hands together and cup them over your eyes to give your eyes a rest. Resting the eyes in between exercises is also important. This can be done by blinking or closing the eyes. 

For more information about our program, please visit our website at

• http://dragonflyyogakids.com  or visit us on Facebook at  www.facebook.com/Dragonflyyogaforkidsandteens

What sets our program apart from other kids programs?

What Sets Dragonfly Yoga for Kids and Teens apart from other kids yoga programs?

 

There are several things that set our program apart from other kids yoga programs.

First, our classes run for six week session consecutively. When one session ends, another begins the next week (except around the holidays).

Secondly, the yoga instructor is also a certified elementary and special education teacher with many years of working with kids of all ages and abilities and modifying classes so every child can be successful. Our yoga classes are also educational!

The third thing that sets us apart from other programs is that we offer a drop in rate and a make up option. Any child can drop in and try a class without committing to the six week session. We also try to offer a make up option, if you miss your regulatory scheduled class time. 

The last thing that sets us apart is that our classes are planned with our students in mind. Jessica takes the time to get to know her students, what they enjoy when they come to yoga, what they would like to do more of, and what they would like more assistance with when planning her classes.

We strive to provide the best possible yoga experience for your child! Our program does this by consistently running weekly classes, having an instructor who is also a certified teacher, offering drop in options and possible make up classes, and by planning our classes based on the needs of our students. 

Our first fall session focuses some on the principles of yoga. This session runs September 4th-October10th with classes on Tuesdays from 4:30-5:30pm and Wednesdays from 4:30-5:30pm and 7-8pm. Out topics for each class are as follows:

September 4th and 5th: Back to School Yoga
September 11th and 12th: The Yoga of Speech
September 18th and 19th: Fall Equinox Class (a class about balance)
September 25th and 26th: Eye Yoga
October 2nd and 3rd: Bring a Friend to Practice for free
October 9th and 10th :Last class of first fall session. The last class is a class choice class. The yogis pick the theme! 

Our second fall session will focus on gratitude. During this session, we will have a Halloween class, a class about nutrition, another Bring a Friend class, and a Karma class (where we will collect food for the local food bank). The other two classes this session promise to be fun as well!

Our last fall session will be a four week session, due to the holiday season. This session will cost $50 instead of the $75 for a full six week session. This session will include a class on affirmations, a winter solstice class about transformations, among other themes. 

For more information, please see out website: http://dragonflyyogakids.com

Start The School Year Off Right!

 
 We all know how important establishing routines is for healthy child development just like we all know the shift from summer to the back to school schedule can be challenging. I prefer to look at challenges as opportunities! Here are some ways that we can make the most of the opportunities that arise as we prepare our kids for a successful transition into the new school year.

Let us start with the basic need for rest and quality sleep. Many children get into a later bedtime habit during the summer. This can lead to a shift in sleep routine, causing the child to get to bed later and sleep in later the next day. It is always best to try to stick to a regular sleep schedule however, summer can bring some opportunities to deviate from that regular sleep schedule. Try starting to get that school sleep schedule started at least two weeks before school start. This will help your child adjust to the school schedule with greater ease. Remember, young school age children need up to 12 hours of sleep while tweens and teens need at least 9 hours.

The next opportunity to consider is bringing the body into balance. To begin with, many children do not get enough exercise. Add to that academic demands, media consumption, a reduction in PE and recess and we have the perfect storm for behavior and attention problems, obesity, and other long-term health issues. Now add academic pressures, sports schedules, various other lessons, social gatherings, busy and often rushed parents, and much more and your child may now feel stress.  Enter yoga. Yoga helps your child learn techniques for relaxation, breathing, inner fulfillment, and self-health.Physically it enhances flexibility, strength, and coordination. It increases a sense of concentration as well as a sense of calm in children. Additionally, children's relaxation improves. Practicing yoga is exercise for children that connects them with their inner self and brings them into an intimate relationship with the natural world that surrounds them.

The last opportunity I would like for you to consider is community and compassion.Setting norms of face-to-face behavior and appropriate social skills are more important than ever, thanks to the constant distraction and influence of electronic media. Social and emotional learning have been shown to improve academic achievement in the classroom. Yoga stimulates and balances on all levels including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects in your child's life.

Having your child regularly practice yoga will help improve his sleep (our first opportunity), promote fitness, body awareness, flexibility, strength, stamina, and balance, (our second opportunity), and support self-esteem, promote unity and respect for all people, increase behavioral self-regulation, and improve social skills (our third opportunity). A yoga program is a wonderful thing to add to your child's back to school routine. Starting the school year off right with healthy habits and behavioral skills won't just help with academic success but also with life success, health, and happiness!


 

Where yoga fits into the back to school routine

Why Yoga is an Essential Part of the Back to School Routine

Our children live in world of pressures from school, busy parents, competitive sports, various lessons, social gatherings and much more. We do not often think of these influences as being stressful for our kids, but often they are. The bustling pace of our children's live can have a huge effect on their innate joy, and not always for the better.

Yoga can help counter these pressures. When children learn techniques for relaxation, breathing, inner fulfillment, and self-health, they can often navigate life's challenges with more ease. Yoga encourages self-esteem and body awareness with a physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual activity that is non competitive. Fostering cooperation and compassion, instead of opposition, is part of a yoga practice and one of the greatest gifts we can give to our children. 

There are many other benefits children can derive from yoga. Physically, it enhances flexibility, strength, and coordination. It increases their sense of concentration as well as their sense of calmness. Additionally, children's relaxation improves. Practicing yoga is exercise for children that connects them with their inner self and brings them into an intimate relationship with the natural world that surrounds them. 

Yogis that developed asanas thousands of years ago, lived close to the natural world and used animals and plants as inspirations the sting of the scorpion, the grace of a swan, the grounded stature of a tree. Children can relate to these poses and enjoy imitating them. It gives them a chance to get inside another being and take on its qualities. For example, the power and behavior of a lion. Not only are children aware of the power of the lion, they become aware of their own sense power, when to be aggressive, when to retreat. These physical movements introduce children to yoga's true meaning: union, expression, and honor for oneself and one's part in the web of life. 

Having your child participate in a yoga practice may help the school year become a little less stressful.

For more information on Dragonfly Yoga for Kids and Teens, please see our website at

• http://

dragonflyyogakids.com
 

Yoga and Sports

Does your child play sports? If so, doing yoga may help your child perform more effeciently in that sport. Yoga can also help lessent he risk of injury while playing a sport. For example, sports that emphasize running, lifting, and swinging can leave telltale signs of tight hamstrings, quads, and shoulders. This tightness can lead to imbalances in the body, injuries, and stalled performance results. Practicing yoga actually helps you get better at your sport and helps keep you injury free! Yoga also helps an imbalanced body gain needed symmetry.

Many professional athletes practice yoga. The US Women's Olympic Soccer Team practices yoga together. Jen Kessy, beach volleyball world champion, Mariel Zagunis, two time Olympic gold medalist in fencing, and Andy Murray (tennis) practice yoga. Olympic athletes are not the only athletes who practice yoga. The Philadelphia Eagles, The LA Lakers, and The Ottawa Senators all practice yoga as a team. Troy Palamalu (football), LeBron James, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Shaquille O'Neal, Evelyn Stevens (professional road cyclist), Tim Thomas (hockey), Maria Sharapova (tennis), and Daylan Childress (baseball) all pratice yoga. Many more athletes practice as well.

The reason many athletes practice yoga is that yoga builds muscle, improves felxibility, and fends off injury. Yoga gives you the power to better understnad your body. You learn where you are strong or weak, tight or flexible. Correcting these problems can raise an athletes game. As an added bonus, yoga strenthens your core and builds a lean, sculpted physique.

If your chid plays a sport, consider having him or her practice yoga. Dragonfly Yoga would welcome teaching a yoga class to your child's sports team. For more information call 215-738-6357 or email jessreese10@gmail.com

Please visit our website at http://dragonflyyogakids.com 

Why teach yoga to kids?

I am often asked why I only teach yoga to kids. There are several reasons that I choose to work only with kids. One of those reasons is that many yoga studios exist so that adults can practice and reap the many benefits of yoga, but not many studios cater to kids. Kids need yoga and its many benefits as much as adults do. Today, kids and teens face several challenges, many if which can be stressful. There is a lot of pressure on kids to perform in school and a multitude of other activities. There is media pressure to have certain things or look a certain way in order to be accepted. Children are "plugged in" so much that they often lose sight of what it is like to just breath and be still. Many do not know how to be still or feel calm. When a child is given the tools to be still, to breath properly, to go inside themselves and learn who they are, the outcome is a healthier, happier, calm and focused child who knows that they are good enough and can handle themselves in tough situations. Many children come from broken homes or homes that are struggling in this economy. Children pick up on the stress of the adults in their lives. Yoga gives children the opportunity to be still, to breath, to be creative, to learn about themselves, to learn to focus and concentrate, to learn mindfulness, to affirm positive things about themselves, and so much more. Yoga with kids is approached differently than it is with adults, therefore I feel specializing in just kids yoga allows me the opportunity to focus solely on curriculum that will benefit kids and teens.

I am a certified elementary and special education teacher. I believe that children are the area in which I specialize, in part due to my education and also due to the results I have seen with my own children as a parent. I have four sons, one whom is on the autistic spectrum. I have seen the benefits of yoga for all of my children. I have also seen the benefits in the children I teach. I teach, both academics and yoga, to students with disabilities, as well as typical students. I have seen yoga benefit typical kids, kids with ADHD, kids on the spectrum, kids with Down Syndrome, kids with emotional issues, kids with sensory issues, and many others.

Children are wonderful to practice yoga with since they are so willing to try new things, without a care as to what they might look like. Children are not intimidated by the same things adults are and children tend to have more of an open mind, which makes practicing yoga with kids so much fun!

Kids often play sports and a yoga practice helps them become more flexible, which can prevent them for incurring more injuries, while playing sports. Yoga helps kids build strength, stamina, agility, and balance, all useful while playing sports. Yoga can improve the posture of children, as well as improve focus and concentration in children. Yoga gives kids useful tools, such as self-discipline, self-realization, self-recognition, self-esteem, and body awareness. Yoga is noncompetitive, making it more beneficial to children as they seek to explore these tools and benefits for themselves. Yoga can help improve social relations, motor planning (including gross and fine motor skills), speech and language skills, and unity and respect for all people.Yoga promotes fitness in kids, improves sleep patterns, and stimulates on all levels including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Giving these tools to kids at a young age can help instill healthy lifelong habits. Just like teaching our kids in schools, teaching our kids these things is just as important! Now you know why I only teach kids.

For more information on Dragonfly Yoga for Kids and Teens, visit our website at

http://dragonflyyogakids.com