21 Mar 2013
The Light Inside-Teaching Kids About Spirituality
As a yoga teacher, part of my job is guiding my students to find their own light.
How do you teach a young child about spirituality? Children may not understand the concept of a “soul”, but they do understand the idea of a LIGHT inside or the LOVE in their heart.
Over the past few months, my yoga lessons have revolved around finding PEACE inside or how we can express the LOVE in our hearts. The children have been learning how they calm their bodies and their minds through yoga, breathing and meditation. The other day, I asked my classes if they knew why we chant OMs before yoga, and they responded “to find peace”. It’s moments like these that make me love teaching!
Children are always learning…absorbing everything they see, hear and feel.
They relate what they learn to their inner experience. Teaching a child to pay attention to their breath, tune into their feelings, and listen with their heart will help them develop a strong connection to themselves and the world around them. This builds their sense of trust in themselves and self confidence. We may think they are too young to understand but they “get it”.
The greatest lesson you can teach young children is to LISTEN to their inner voice.
It’s not often that children get to just “be” and relax. At the end of every class,they lie down in Savasana or
DO NOTHING DOLL…Nothing to think, Nothing to Do, Doing Nothing is Good for You.
While my students are resting in Savasana, with their eyes closed, I tell them a “story”, a guided visualization where they are lying on a beach or going on a cloud ride in the sky. I ask them if they can try to be so still, so quiet that they can hear the sound of their own breathing. I tell them to breathe in that calm feeling from the top of their heads to their tip toes. It may take weeks or even months before they can lie down without wiggling around or talking, but eventually they can and even enjoy it. I let them know that no matter what, they can find that quiet place inside where they can always go when they are feeling sad or upset.
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I usually end my yoga classes with a soothing song, either Kira Wiley’s Namaste Song or Snatam Kaur’s Longtime Sun. I explain that just like the sun, we each have a LIGHT inside us and to remember to let it SHINE. When I look around our circle and see their blissful faces, I know that they are IN that peaceful place, shining their light!
I leave you with this beautiful blessing. May your own light guide you on your path so that you may find your peace. Namaste.
May the longtime sun
Shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on
~ Celctic Blessing
March 23, 2013 @ 8:34 am
So beautiful Betty, and inspiring. You have given me so many ideas for savasana in my class. I would love to talk to you more about kids yoga.
March 23, 2013 @ 10:51 am
Thank you for starting this thread, Betty. I offer my Peaceful Preschooler program at an at-risk preschool that is housed at a Salvation Army facility. While the early childhood center is not overtly affiliated with Christianity, the director is a devout Catholic. I am nonreligious and, though my classical yoga training was steeped in the scriptures of Hinduism, I have taught adults for almost 20 years in corporate settings, at nonprofits including a Catholic university and at my own studio and I’ve always incorporated spiritual practice into all my asana classes.
With the children I take a similar approach. I promote the Peaceful Preschooler work, which is a whole child approach to yoga and mindfulness, as an effective program for teaching self-regulation. This is so needed for all children with the stresses in life that they are not immune from, especially children living in families with issues around addiction, mental health, domestic violence and homelessness. But there is definitely another element, which is spiritual. When I work with children, as I do with all my students and private clients, I take the approach that I learned from Ram Dass years ago in “How Can I Help?” I am not trying to fix or change anything, but simply enter into a relationship based on “one soul being with another.” This approach has shown me the most beautiful, radiant inner light in even the most troubled children.
I also sing with the children and I find that is a wonderful way to help them access that brightness within. We always close with Snatum Kaur’s “Longtime Sun,” using hand gestures that express our connection to All that Is. I’ve sometimes wondered, as a Salvation Army officer walks through the gym during our practice, if they might take issue. I believe a cornerstone of Christianity is original sin and if one looked closely this teaching is in contradiction to that. But, thankfully, it seems that the joy and innocence of children is welcomed.
Another practice I’d like to share is something that I learned from Susan Kaiser Greenland of Inner Kids. SKG calls this a “friendly wishes” practice, which is a form of Metta, or Lovingkindness, meditation. I’ve modified it slightly for preschoolers (ages 2-5). The prop is one of those big squishy balls with little soft protrusions all over. It looks like a red sea anemone and if you squeeze it it glows inside. I first tried Susan’s approach, which is that a child holds the ball and then verbally makes a “friendly wish” to a child in the circle and tosses the ball to them. It might be something like “love” or “joy” or “happiness,” but that was too difficult for the younger children. So what we do is put a smile and a hug into the ball, then call out a friend’s name in the circle and toss the ball to them. I have been delighted to see children who have limited affect “learn” to smile in this practice. And I always say how much it can cheer me up even on a tough day to have someone smile at me. The energy in the group always shifts into a lighter state with this practice. It really is a form of Namaste, though we don’t use that word at all in this setting: The light in me honors the light in you. The children really get it. Of course, some like to hold the ball longer or pull on it and we just try to keep it moving, inviting them to choose a friend to send their smile to. That child inevitably feels the glow and it spreads exponentially. The child who waits longest for the ball to get to them always gets a high five from me.
I’d love to hear from others any practices you’ve tried for helping children access their inner light. It is such a joy to see children who are getting a lot of negative feedback about their behavior find that inner space that is good and pure and where I can see they feel a connection with something greater.
March 23, 2013 @ 12:33 pm
Thank you for your lovely comment. I noticed in your profile that you are a graduate of Three Sisters…me too! I completed my training last summer 2012. I would love to share more about children’s yoga. Are you on the TSY Facbook Group? You can find me on there and send me a friend request or email me directly at beyogabelove@yahoo.com. I am organizing a “play”shop for kids yoga teachers in the next few months that you may be interested in. Looking forward to connecting with you. Namaste.
March 23, 2013 @ 1:09 pm
What a nice surprise to find you message! Thank you for sharing about your experience working with preschoolers. Some people cannot understand how such little ones can do yoga but I find that it is so natural for them to stretch their bodies and use their imaginations. The relaxation component is more challenging given their short attention spans but using tactile objects, like your glowing squishy ball! or a stuffed animal really helps them to focus . I really LOVE the “friendly wish” activity and will surely use it in my classes soon! I love connecting with other teachers who are doing similar thing, I believe we can all learn from each other and support each other in bringing yoga to as many children as possible! I would also love to hear from other teachers how they engage children in discovering their LIGHT!! Namaste.
April 7, 2013 @ 12:04 am
Playshop for kids yoga teachers? That would be nice! I also teach kids yoga and it would be very helpful to compare observations and learn from each other! Where are you located? Has the meeting already happened?
Thereza
April 7, 2013 @ 2:00 pm
Hi Thereza, Thanks for your lovely comments, the “Playshop” is taking place in NYC on Saturday May 11th from 1 to 5pm. You can LIKE my page on Facebook and I can send you more details for the upcoming event in May or you can email me directly at beyogebelove@yahoo.com. Do you live in the area? If you do not, I am planning to develop an online webinar version soon perhaps in the Fall, so stay tuned! Namaste.