Solstice and Summer (A Salutation for Kids)

Summer is upon us! The Summer Solstice this year is June 21st and with that, the longest day of the year. For parents, this may be entirely unwelcome-the prospect of a longer day possibly means less sleep. We feel ya.

But-it can be a fun day with a little bit of yoga! This practice and activity should pass a good hour of time thereby effectively making your day, feel like, five minutes shorter. A bit of exercise, some breathing, a craft, some music, and a bit of science makes this day a learning experience and honestly, a fun day with our most favorite star, the sun.

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So, the basic outline is as follows-we’ll get into detail later:

• A song
• A sun salutation
• A story
• Another sun salutation
• A craft
• Another song
• A meditation
• A final rest

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The song: This video is perfect to do a few poses to and to warm up! When they say “sun”, open the arms wide and breathe upward. When they say “tree”, be a tree. When they mention “friends”, hold hands and outstretch the arms and legs.  Alternate each time by reaching upwards towards the sun, touching the toes, and side to side. Get moving!

For the sun salutation, begin by inhaling then reaching up, followed by exhaling and reaching for the mat. Jump (or step) back into downward dog.  Inhale, do a push-up into upward dog. Breathe out again, back into down dog. Hop (or step) forward.  Kids will be able to do this infinitely more times than the adults!

Teach kids a little about the sun, while inspiring their imagination. This book is perfect for kids of all ages because it is short, sweet, and colorful! You can even ask questions at the end to assess for comprehension and get them thinking about how it all connects to solstice and their yoga practice!

If you don’t want to do the same exact salutation, you can play Sarge Salutations and salute the sun with the Sarge, call and response style!

Scout Pinterest or come to Grow’s class to do a fun sun craft! (We have an adorable sunny face planned!) It is easy, cheap, and oh so fun to celebrate the sunny sun with crafts. Not to mention, it increases attention, focus, and mindfulness.

The last song is more subtle and gets you prepared for the final meditation and rest. Grow uses this album quite frequently. But we love the celebratory feel of our favorite ball of gas!

Lastly, the meditation is meant to feel thankful for the life-giving force that is the sun, while also increasing feelings of warmth for ourselves and our friends.  Imagine the sun rising, breathe in slowly. Next, imagine the sun at the top of the sky, making everything light and bright, while the belly is full of breath and the skin is warm as can be. Then, imagine the sun setting, ready to see us again tomorrow as we let go of all the breathe in our belly.

Put your own spin on it, but use this template for a fun solstice inspired practice!

Happy Solstice!!!

May the 4th Be With You: How Prana is Like The Force

Star Wars and yoga go together like peanut butter and jelly. Huh? Well, I was watching Star Wars the other day with my young padawans and as I was listening, I immediately saw the analogy between The Force and yoga (addressed by a certain Jedi). Specifically, one of its driving principles, prana and its relation to our lives.

Have you ever been in a yoga class and heard the teacher say the word, prana? What the heck is that? What do they mean by feel your breath and ignite your prana? Or, with each breath, you are inhaling prana? It may sound hokey, and sometimes can be, but at its most basic level, the concept of prana is actually very interesting and is legitimate.

So, what is prana and how the heck does it have anything to do with Star Wars? Obi Wan Kenobi explained it the best:

It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.

Just as The Force is within us, all around us-just as it is responsible for creation and life cycles, so is prana. It is more than the air we breathe or the blood rushing through our veins. Prana is our life…force.  The same star stuff that has created and sustained the universe resides in each of us. We are all connected by the very simple atoms that comprise everything. Prana, or The Force, can be chaos or calm, happiness or despair. It drives change, feels compassion, and mobilizes our bodies and minds. In some theologies, it is called the soul. In science, it is called electricity, physics, and chemistry (and more). In yoga, it is called prana.

Even R2-D2 feels The Force..err… prana. His are just electrical!

And also just like Jedis and Siths, we can channel prana. We feel it best and can more easily recognize it when we take a step back, remove our egos, inhale deeply, and become cognizant of our physical, mental, and emotional bodies through yoga asana, meditation, and service to others. We may not be able to wield a lightsaber, but we can direct the flow of energy within us and around us to be beneficial for all parties!

Go forth and be a yogi Jedi! Move like Yoda, breathe like Darth Vader, and be a badass warrior for good like Princess Leia. For more great Force knowledge, visit this site.

May the 4th Be With You ❤

-Heather

Super Yogis!

Today is National Superhero Day! As avid comic book fans-ask any Grow Kid, they’ll tell you how utterly excited we get about comic books, movies, and Wonder Woman-we are always ready to honor a day that celebrates what it means to be a Superhero. Bravery, resiliency, and standing up for what is right perfectly aligns with yoga philosophy. As a matter of fact, those are the characteristics we strive for by practicing yoga.

So, what is National Superhero Day? Well, it is a day started in 1995 by a group of Marvel employees to encourage everyday people to step up their game, to become selfless. i.e practicing the yama apigraha.  In yoga, we learn that part of following the eight-fold path is to become selfless and help others in need. One of the best ways to do this, and as part of National Superhero Day’s mission, is to go right into our very communities and become the hero that they need.

How can you encourage yourself and your family to practice apigraha and how can you cultivate selflessness? Easy!

• Ask yourself or your kiddo what kind of superhero would they be? What powers would you/they have? Why? What would you/they want to be named?
• Don your capes and look around in your community on foot, or on social media and notice what needs improving. Become aware of your community’s strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly, try to reserve judgement and instead, think with a problem-solving mindset. Network and/or form a group where you can not only provide help but where you can practice the other aspects of yoga together. If you’re in Camden County, Ga, come to yoga every Saturday and we can be superheroes together 😉
• Support the individuals in your community who are lonely, isolated, or otherwise harshly judged. Practice empathy and friendship. Senior centers and hospitals are places that require bravery and companionship, yet few people go and devote their time to making the experiences of those patients even just a little brighter.
• Repeat the following mantra to grow more selfless and to become a superhero yogi:

The World needs wisdom

I am wise

The World needs strength

I am strong

The World needs goodness

I am good

The Universe needs love

I am love

I am a superhero

• Lastly, celebrate the day! Have fun, be goofy, dress up, watch Superman (yea, we know that’s DC, but Superheroes are inclusive). Get into Superman pose, breathe like the Hulk, become a lion like Vixen, and get bendy like Mr. Fantastic. Just don’t become invisible like Susan Storm!

Remember, “With great power comes great responsibility”. Our responsibilities, as yogis, are to make the world a better place just as our favorite superheroes do. We do have that power, through our unique gifts and through our selfless service.

 

 

 

We hope you enjoy National Superhero Day yoga style!

Crawfish Festival & Class Cancellation

No, a giant crawfish didn’t take up house at the studio, but he and his friends are coming to town! If you live in Kingsland, Saint Mary’s, or Woodbine, Georgia, you are most likely already aware of the 32nd annual Crawfish Festival taking place this Saturday, April 29th, 2017.

Because this fun fest only happens once a year, Grow Yoga will not have kid’s yoga this Saturday. We don’t want to make people have to choose between two equally awesome fun things. Plus, we wouldn’t want to insult Crawly Crawfish et. al!

Community, enjoying the Great Outdoors, and having fun are part of the integral mission of Grow Yoga. So, pack up your picnic baskets, lather on some sunscreen, and breathe your way into a happy weekend with our favorite crustaceans of the South. We’ll see you next week 🙂

If you want more information regarding the fest, visit http://www.woodbinecrawfish.com/.

Peace to you!

-Heather

Friends Day-A Yoga Class for Comrades

Kids seem to make friends much easier than we adults do!  In my observations, kids love meeting new people, having new experiences, and in general, learning about others and teaming up with them.

Of course, some kids are shy or more introverted, but I have noticed that, for the most part, when encouraged and when modeled, even the most apprehensive kids interact really well and usually find a friend with whom they form a bond.

As today is “Friends Day”, I wanted to share tips for a Friend theme kid’s yoga class that is fun and that celebrates one of life’s truest gifts, friendship.

• Start with a friendly meditation and a variant of “Peace Begins with Me”.  Have kids pair up, or pair them, if you think that is better, and show them the following mantra: “You are a friend, I am a friend, We are friends” as they face each other to clap hands and knees ala pattacake style. The goal is to eventually close their eyes and cease the claps while they hold hands, and then eventually silently repeat the mantra.
• For a pranayama activity, have them pair up again, with a different friend, and sit at each end of their mat.  With a pom-pom (the kind from the craft store), they need to breathe in and blow the pom-pom to each other down the mat.  This exercise strengthens their breath and collaborative spirit.
• Partner poses are always fun and typically end in hilarity.  Some fun ones are partnered tree (interlace the arms and stand on opposite feet), Lizard on a rock, and whole host of other stretches that many kids think up on the fly.
• Together, as a class, make an acrostic for the word “FRIEND” using a poster or butcher paper.  Decorate the paper and hang it in your room.
• Do the Yogi Shake in fun costumes! The silliness and the all-out fun helps kids to see each other as their authentic selves without any fear or shame.  It is a great way to just BE.
• Encourage your students to check in with a long-distance friend or to form a new friendship via a pen-pal.  Learning about and communicating with those we don’t see on a regular basis is a great way to build friendship skills and to build patience and compassion.
• For the final meditation or savasana, have the kids lie in a circle with their heads in the center of the circle and their feet at the “edge”.  They can hold hands if they wish.  Guide them through a meditation or story about friendship.

Yoga is a great way to model relationship-building, to spread kindness, and to teach about embracing others (and ourselves) as we are.  Yoga helps us to connect in the here and now.  Use these tips for an amazing “Friendship” class or just as tool to teach your own kids throughout the day!

 

New Year. New Goals.Same You.

 

Well, another year has passed and time is just flying.  You might even feel as if you had wings and just flew through 2016, hovering above the surface of the Earth.  While each day, each month, and each year bring us time to reflect and renew, New Year’s Day holds a special symbolism for us to show our gratitude for making yet another trip around the sun and encourages us to reach for some new stars in the coming 365 days.

Resolutions, plans, and discussions often revolve around this new year being the reason to be a “New You”.  However, I like to think of our humanity as a cumulative progress toward our truest and best selves.  We don’t just shed all that we have learned, achieved, flopped, or felt.  No, we merge and build these musings and lessons into ourselves, our layered beings.  It’s what makes us nuanced and individual, yet relates us all to one another.  If we just  cast off those parts of us that we dislike, we ignore the chance to accept ourselves as we are and yet make intentional change-to morph the negative into positive.

Your SELF is an ever-changing entity and at the same time, it is a constant core of identity.  If you were to sit down and think about what makes you who you are, what words would you use to describe you?  What things have stayed the same since childhood and what things have changed?  What has caused the constants and what inspired the changes? Notice: changes, not change. You are still you.  There is no need to be a New You because you have integrated the micro-changes into your being and have become closer to your best, truest self.

As you think about this new year, what would you like to change in and around you? What aspects of yourself have you accepted?  What are you still holding onto that doesn’t serve you and that can be transformed without losing happiness?

Achievable and realistic goals are important and they allow you to climb a little closer to your true self.  They can be tiny to huge. They don’t have to morph you into somebody you don’t recognize or someone you don’t want to be.

Yoga, which means union, teaches us that we are a beautiful layer cake.  We can add more layers and still be that beautiful layer cake!  Yoga gives us time and space to reflect so we don’t react.  Yoga encourages introspection so we can find our wants and needs.  Yoga inspires relationships so we have someone with whom we can walk the path when it gets a little tough. Yoga allows us to accept ourselves as we are and allows us to understand that reaching for goals isn’t us casting off “the bad” because we incorporate it into our being for the better.

What goals have you set this year to meet your true self? This year, remember this mantra: New Year. New Goals. Same You!

 

Holiday Special!

Save on your first month’s membership when you purchase between now (Black Friday) and Friday, December 2, 2016.

Right now, your first month is 20% off! After that, you’ll still pay less than $4/class to practice in your home with instruction by a certified teacher.

Share with your friends and family.  With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, you can afford to treat yourself to some care, relaxation, and community!

Happy shopping!

Have Life, Have Gratitude

As we head into the holidays, particularly Thanksgiving, we hear a lot about gratitude and being grateful and giving thanks.

But what does that really mean? And why should we?

In my opinion, and from the perspective of a yoga practitioner, being grateful and giving thanks is a smidge different than having gratitude. And for me, the reasons are abundantly clear.  Not because I have some sort of enlightenment granted by yoga. No.

Instead, the events of my life and the way in which yoga has framed some clarity in my understanding and acceptance of them has helped me formulate and synthesize my list of aforementioned reasons and my perspective. It is not that yoga bestowed some universal truth on me and that is a clear distinction, and possibly a discussion for another time.

So, what is gratitude then?  As I have written about elsewhere and teach in my classes, gratitude is that feeling of gratefulness put into action.  In order to do that, we either consciously or subconsciously recognize the privilege that we have. We are able to acknowledge our fortunes and how we got them and that other people simply cannot have the same, unfair and unjust as it is.  Gratitude goes beyond feeling helpless and sorry for our fellow humans. It seeks to DO something to make someone else’s life a little better and a little more worth living…

Speaking of life…this is why we have gratitude. It is why we educate, volunteer, give, seek justice, open our hearts and homes.  Prana. In yogic terms, Prana is our lifeforce.  It is our Self.  It’s a part of the air we breathe, the functions of our organs, the water we drink, and the thoughts and feelings we have. The energy which sprouts a seed to a tree.  The energy that warms the earth and that powers the stars. The energy that we share with each other when we talk, hug, and fight. All of it.  The human experience is a part of what we call life, Prana.  When we meditate and become mindful of our breath, we are tuning into more than just our inhalation and exhalation. We are finding that universal force that gives us life. This is what we, as intellectual humans and as primitive mammals, tap into and instinctively know to protect.

Yoga and Prana, as it happens, tends to help us think of life as interconnected.  So it is hard to be just grateful for ourselves and our individual circumstances when we know other humans, with whom we share the experience of life, are suffering.  Often referred to as “cosmic energy”, we know that those molecules travel and are shared among us.  When one person’s Prana is impacted by fear, hunger, and sadness we feel the need to help.  We recognize our unique position of privilege, power, and fortune so that we can go beyond just saying “thanks” to doing more to share, empower, and uplift our fellow neighbors.

It sounds hokey, and I am not the best person to explain it-I’m not going to pretend that I am.  It’s especially difficult for those of us who are scientists to explain something that is definitely spiritual.  I reconcile it by noting that the human experience (in a vast interstellar and living universe) is sometimes puzzling and inexplicable by logic, and that is okay.

The point is simple-gratitude and Prana go hand in hand.  To share an experience with others and the universe connects us in some way-that lifeforce-is Prana.  We are able to BE gratitude by our togetherness and by our reliance on Prana.

This Thanksgiving, keep in mind that after you say your “thanks”, you can follow it up by embracing your brothers and sisters on this Earth in such a way to make their understanding of Prana a little happier.  Because we are connected by the universal energy, we can give of ourselves to better our communities, our friends, and our earth.