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When I tell people that I am a kids yoga teacher, I often get a head tilt and “Aww!” response. I think people imagine that my days are filled with calm, blissed out kids silently flowing through a sun salutation or sitting and ohming for meditation. They aren’t. What is the one thing that you can’t teach a kids yoga class without? Maybe it is mats? I have about a million of them so maybe… Props? Again, about a million, but no! Yoga cards? Nope, I love them, but no. Funky leggings? Not for me thanks. Maybe all of the legal documents? Important but nope. The thing that you can’t teach a kids yoga class without is…. The ability to change energy. What? This might not have even been mentioned in your kids yoga training, but it is definitely the key to any successful lesson! Why? As yoga teachers we have certain expectations of what our classes should look like. We might use words like: fun, playful, creative, relaxing, mindful, engaging, supportive, calming, energizing or relaxing to describe our classes/ workshops or lessons. Making our classes both fun and playful AND calming and relaxing is a challenge, yet, somehow we manage it! We are like magicians, shaping the energy of the room- transforming sluggish into energised, hyped up and excitable to calm and relaxed. Often in a short span of time, and regularly with a large number of children. I love this quote from clinical psychologist, child therapist, parent educator, and author Haim Ginott: “I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized.” (Ginott, 1972, p.13 *) We are always the decisive element in our classes. Whether we realise it or not, our energy, our mood our behaviour shapes the lesson and also the experience of the children in it. When you saw the title of this blog, did you click it wondering if you had ‘the thing!’? Were you worried that there is something that you are lacking? I believe that WE are the most important aspect of our classes. There is no resource and no training or knowledge gained that is more important than being present as ourselves. WE ourselves are the vehicle of change, transmuting the energy of the room and the children. That ability is the single most important thing that you need to teach kids yoga – in my opinion. If you are needing some reassurance, if your confidence is lacking, why not book a session with me? I do mentoring as a one off (for an hour or 90 minutes) or as a six month mentoring package. I am passionate about helping kids yoga teachers to see their own special gifts and helping to plug the gaps in knowledge or skills. Do you have a question or comment? Email me at [email protected] * Ginott, H.G. (1972). Teacher and child: A book for parents and teachers. New York, NY: Macmillan
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From Julia
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January 2025
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