14 Mar 2013
Partner and Group Poses for Kids
A great way to teach children about working together is by doing partner poses.
Partner yoga teaches kids to work together and be gentle with each other and kids love it too! Begin with a discussion on how you can help others and then introduce how we can also help each other with our yoga poses. Select a few poses that can be done with a partner or all together as a group and then start by doing each pose alone. Some great poses to try together are TREE, FLOWER, BOAT, PRETZEL, and DOWNWARD DOG. Then pair children up with a buddy for some poses and do others together as a group. For example, when you do Tree or Flower with everyone holding hands in a circle, you can make a Forest of Tress or a Garden of Flowers together.
Downward Dog Tunnel is a great activity to teach kids about focus, body awareness and working together. Children line up and come up into down dog together as one child goes under them through the “tunnel”. They really enjoy watching their friends as they crawl under them and waiting their turn to go through the tunnel!
Downward Dog TunnelPartner poses are not only fun but can be a great platform for teaching children the importance of getting along, working together and being mindful when interacting with one another. Doing yoga together teaches kids valuable life skills that they can use at school and at home and carry with them throughout their lives.
16 Mar 2013
AcroYoga: Dare to Fly
Last weekend I attended an amazing AcroYoga Elementals Playshop at Starseed Yoga in Verona, NJ. The class was led by Lorrie Sheppard and Brian Yuen of Interactive Yoga. I have done partner yoga with my niece before and love doing inversions on my yoga swing, but had never taken a formal acroyoga class.
AcroYoga is a form of partner yoga where one person (the “base”) supports the other (the “flyer”) in a series of aerial postures.
Lorrie and Brian created such a safe, fun space to explore acroyoga! We began with some partner and group stretching, where we were able to get a deeper stretch by working together. The instructors first went over some of the basics and safety guidelines and then we plunged right into the flying!!
We practiced some very challenging poses which involved doing advanced backbends. We also learned important techniques in “spotting” or assisting both the base and the flyer to feel supported and safe. It was a team effort, as we helped each other find the balance and alignment in each pose.
AcroYoga allows you to fully immerse yourself in a pose while your weight is being fully supported by your partner.
There is a fluid synergy between the base and the flyer, as you work together to discover creative ways to join your bodies in flight. Each of us took turns being the base, the flyer and the spotter, so we all got to experience the full spectrum of AcroYoga. The playshop was nourishing on so many levels and gave us the opportunity to connect with others and try certain postures which required openness and trust. But most of all, we all had FUN!
For me, the lesson was about trust and surrender.
There is something so freeing about being able to fly in the air and trust that you are being held and supported. Just like in AcroYoga, life is about learning to trust and surrender to the Universe, knowing that you are supported and will be taken care of. That is not always an easy lesson but daring to take risks and fly is the only way you can soar!
I can’t wait for my next AcroYoga Adventure! For upcoming acroyoga events, be sure to visit Interactive Yoga’s website at http://www.interactive-yoga.com.