Teacher training

Kids' Yoga has tremendous versatility and relevance for the lives of children today. Children welcome the ways and means to know themselves as peaceful, energetic beings amidst the stresses of the modern world. They know what makes them feel good. Most children eagerly request our time of relaxation, and as I go round with the Pom Pom Blessing from one blissful, tranquil form to another, we are all enriched. Stillness is a cultivated and empowering state of being. It is a fine balance to channel active energy into joyful effort and concentrated attention. Yoga offers us these wonderful tools....

• Breath awareness for balance, calm, energy, and motion.
• The vibrant practice of Yoga Aasanas for concentration, postural and spatial awareness, strength, and perseverence.
• Principles that stimulate children into thinking, communicating, and connecting meaningfully with themselves and with each other.
• An experiential understanding of anatomy bringing new appreciation to the workings of the body.
• A dynamic relationship with stillness, restfulness and calm.
• Healthy challenges that develop focus, commitment, sensitivity, and strength.
  

What you will learn in a weekend module of Kids' Yoga Teacher Training....

1. Communicate the power of stillness. Stillness is not merely keeping the body still although our body is the wonderful tool through which it can be directly realized. Stillness is centered-ness....the conscious, energetic presence that permeates the body.
   
2. Introduce awareness of posture, breath, and whole body vitality with techniques that delight children.
   
3. Offer challenging & evolving Yoga flow sequences that instill strength, balance, flexibility, fearlessness, and alertness.
   
4. Great ideas to get kids to rest and relax the body and mind, very useful in times of stress, such as when writing a test, performing, etc.
   
5. Awaken the spirit of inner inquiry and exploration with simple concrete examples that communicate abstract concepts (Ocean Spirit Breath), whether they are sitting in alert stillness, or resting silently.
   
6. Unite participants of all ages with group challenges, bringing kids of different ages to work together and share meaningfully with one another.
   
7. Encourage character development through concentration, discipline, perseverance, one-pointedness.
   
8. Create an atmosphere for expression and discussion in which children feel safe to express issues that deeply concern them, such as the challenge of friendship or the death of a loved one.
   
9. Encourage appreciation for this marvelous Creation and the bodywe live through with incredible facts of life.
   
10. . Harmonize your love of Yoga and kids with a fun, intelligent, and creative program that enlivens and inspires everyone!
    
11. Flow with children's spontaneity and discover the creativity and playfulness that Yoga inspires
    
12. Find the effective and complimentary relationships between subjects like geography, math, reading, science, and Yoga.
    
13. and have FUN!

Click here to read TESTIMONIALS from previous Kids' Yoga Teacher Training clients.

Format for Weekend Modules

Day 1: a full 9 - 5 immersion in Kids' Yoga land provides a hands-on experience of the theory, knowledge, and information required to structure, build, teach and promote Yoga classes for children. Humorous and heart-warming anecdotes bring ideas to life; games, poems, songs and stories provided the backdrop for different Yoga sequences and contexts in which to explore an asana flow and to communicate the spirit of the pose, such as the stability of the mountain, the strength of the warrior, or the lightness of the cloud. Workbooks invite the personal touch of participants with their own with colours, notes, and imagination. There are opportunities to work independently, in partners and in groups, to ask questions, to share our mutual expertise and originality. By the end of the day, we are nicely bonded and ready for our 3 hr. Yoga Party the next morning together with the addition of children 6 years of age and up.

Day 2: a 3 hour reunion where adults and children share in celebrating our Yoga Party. As people enter, adults and children sit together to colour their mandalas which are handed in for our draw at the closing of the event. Now we are acclimatized and ready for Yoga all together. We discuss what Yoga is, and add 'Yoga Science' experiments, using props such as candles, water and food colouring to graphically illustrate the subtlety of breath, the power of Om, and the nature of Oneness and Unity. Yoga postures challenge, relax, and capture one and all, from the young to the 'older' young. It is truly remarkable to see everyone focused, attentive, and creative, each working individually, with partners, or collectively. We sing and dance, and feast on a wonderful array of goodies provided by the participants. Click here to learn more about It's A Yoga Party!