The Kids Yoga Resource

The Power of Your Child's Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success. A book review, giveaway, and free gift!

Let’s face it.  Some days it’s awfully tough being a kid.  School work, social pressures, parent expectations and overscheduled activities can all lead to stress and anxiety for children. 

As physical problems like headaches, sleeplessness, panic attacks and bedwetting appear, parents will want child psychologist Dr. Charlotte Reznick on their side.  In her book, The Power of Your Child’s Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success (a Los Angeles Times Best Seller), Reznick shares her nine tools for using imagery to empower children and alleviate stress. 

The Power of Your Child’s Imagination is based on Reznick’s nine tools for handling common struggles.  Reznick does a great job of explaining each tool, then providing a sample script for adults to explain it to a child, variations on the technique, the way a child will use the tool and troubleshooting. 

Reznick begins by teaching Balloon Breath, which we love, because it incorporates deep breathing as the foundation to any relaxation practice.  Once the reader learns and understands the value of deep breathing (or belly breathing-the practice of filling your abdomen and not just your chest with air), he or she can move on to the remaining skills, including Discovering your Special Place, Tapping into Energy, Using Color for Healing, and Meeting a Wise Animal Friend.  Because Reznick builds each tool upon one another, one does not feel overwhelmed when beginning this practice.

“These tools facilitate a child’s inward journey to that deep place sometimes called the subconscious or unconscious.  Each touches a world of metaphor, creating a waking dream,” says Reznick in her book’s introduction.   “These images help children direct their attention to problems and symptoms they want to change.  They are easy-to-use, whimsical, and remarkable effective.”

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of Reznick’s imagery-based practice is that all the tools are easy for a child to use on his or her own.  Parents or teachers provide the guidance a child needs to learn these techniques, but kids are then free to access and utilize them as needed.

“You’ll help your kids use imagination to access their natural strengths and wisdom, and deal with their problems,” says Reznick.  “With just a little guidance, our kids can gain access to the answers for most of life’s questions within themselves.”

Here at ChildLight Yoga and Yoga 4 Classrooms, we’re big believers in using imagination-based techniques for relaxation, play and staying healthy.  Teaching children tools for stress management, resilience and emotional regulation through yoga, mindfulness and reflection is the cornerstone of our programs.  We’re thrilled that Dr. Reznick has shared her techniques, used for over twenty-five years to help kids, parents and professionals.  In fact, we honor Dr. Reznick in the opening pages of our Yoga 4 Classrooms Teacher's Guide as her important work helped to inspire some of the 'Imagination Vacations' that are part of of the Y4C classroom curriculum and Card Deck activities.  As well, her book is listed as a must-have resource in both the ChildLight Yoga Teacher Training and the Yoga 4 Classrooms Teacher Workshop and Instructor Trainings.  We've recommended it to many parents who have children suffering from anxiety, and have successfully used these visualizations at home with our own children.

For more information on Reznick, her program and where to buy The Power of Your Child’s Imagination book, CDs (listen to samples!), and others products, please visit www.imageryforkids.com.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 9 TOOLS in our post from Sept. 11th, 2009.


ENTER TO WIN!  Win a copy of The Power of Your Child's Imagination by Charlotte Reznick. 

Leave a comment here telling us why you feel it's important to encourage children's imaginations and how you plan to use the book should you win it. 

Contest is open to US and Canadian residents only.  Contest will close on Dec. 31st and a winner will be selected and notified on or around Jan. 1.  Good luck!


FREE BONUS GIFT:  Dr. Reznick gifts you with a free White Light Meditation. Listen and be transported to a sanctuary of inner peace.

Yoga 4 Classrooms Card Deck Review & Giveaway: by Omazing Kids Yoga

The Omazing Kids Yoga review of our new Yoga 4 Classrooms Card Deck is well, Omazing!  We especially appreciate that Angela Moorad, the founder, notes the features that we feel make the deck and Yoga 4 Classrooms program unique, comprehensive and user-friendly. 

Highlights of the review....

Wow…. The new Yoga 4 Classrooms Activity Card Deck has it all!  The Y4C card deck provides an easy to use, well-rounded & comprehensive approach to yoga for kids. It is a “must have” for classroom teachers & kids yoga teachers.

Here’s what I LOVE about the Y4C Card Deck:

    •    Yoga is so much more than just “poses” so it is refreshing to see this expressed so well in a kids yoga product!

    •    The instructions on the back of the card are easy to understand & often provide ideas for partner variations, ideas to include books & music and other classroom extension ideas.

    •    The cards would be very easy to use in any setting with the use of standing & chair poses (no need for yoga mats or floor space) and do not have anything in them that could be viewed as “religious” (no Sanskrit words, Om symbols, etc..) thus avoiding the potential objections school administration or parents might have.

    •    The cards are colorful & large enough to be seen in a group setting.

    •    The cards are color-coded by category.

    •    The illustrations on the cards depict kids of diverse ethnicities & abilities.

    •    The words on the front of each card capture the essence & purpose of that activity or pose and would be easy to use as “affirmations”.

    •    The “Be Well” cards  address “Yamas” & “Niyamas” of yoga via “Character Education” in a classroom-friendly way. Yamas are social disciplines –  how we behave toward others & Niyamas are personal disciplines – how we care for ourselves.

READ MORE AND ENTER THE GIVEAWAY HERE.

New User-Friendly Card Deck Makes Yoga Easy and Accessible for Teachers, Moms, Kids and Others

Cards Support Nationally Recognized Yoga 4 Classrooms Program And Help Provide Optimal Learning Environment, Peaceful Classrooms

 


November 2011 (Dover, NH) -- Science has shown and educators have experienced first-hand that when children are anxious, frustrated or stressed, it is nearly impossible for them to learn. It is only from a relaxed, calm and present state of mind and body that children can be psychologically and physiologically learning-ready. 

With that in mind, ChildLight Yoga, creators of the innovative Yoga 4 Classrooms™ program, has drawn on its 10 years of experience to produce a new tool: the new Yoga 4 Classrooms Activity Card Deck can be used by teachers, students, parents, and counselors.  No prior yoga experience is required.

 “We found a real need in schools all over the country for tools that teachers, counselors and kids could use within the classroom setting to alleviate frustration and provide the most favorable environment for learning and growth,” said Lisa Flynn, founder of ChildLight Yoga.  “We used what we learned to create this easy to use set of tools that can be applied in any classroom, or by any parent or counselor.  The positive feedback we have received so far has been very gratifying.”

The 67 illustrated activities in the colorful deck were specially chosen for their suitability for the typical classroom space, and can all be done standing beside or sitting at desks, while bodies and hands remain off the floor, away from dirt and germs. The cards include a mix of yoga postures, brain boosting movements, breath exercises, visualizations, mindfulness activities, creative movement and community-building games. There are also wellness and character-building discussion points, such as the power of positive thinking, nutrition, and being a peacemaker, that address the whole child – physical, social and emotional.

Activities fall into six categories: 

Let’s Breathe: helps calm and center, or empower and energize.

At Your Desk: provides physical relief from long periods of sitting, improves focus, and keeps body systems functioning efficiently.

Stand Strong: provides simple, structured opportunities to stand up, stretch, balance and strengthen.

Loosen Up: dispels stress through energetic release or introspection and focus.

Imagination Vacation: offers child-friendly approaches to meditation through guided visualization, helping students bring their awareness to the present moment, which is the necessary state for learning.
Be Well: offers a framework for child-friendly discussions on topics supporting health and wellness.

 

About Yoga 4 Classrooms

In 2007, Lisa Flynn, E-RYT, RCYT and founder of ChildLight Yoga, was inspired by the classroom teachers she encountered to create a yoga and mindfulness-based program focused on the whole child that would also be appropriate for the classroom setting. After three and a half years of research, development and test piloting, Yoga 4 Classrooms™ was born.  Yoga 4 Classrooms helps children develop the self-awareness to realize how they feel and what they need; teaches them strategies to slow down, unwind and manage their emotions; guides them through movements that optimize their strength, flexibility and balance; demonstrates healthy habits; and reminds them to love and forgive themselves. Yoga 4 Classrooms provides students with tools for learning and lessons for life.  For more information, visit http://www.yoga4classrooms.com/

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CONTACT: Susan Harrison/HFS Communications
617.285.9766/susan@hfscommunications.com

Share Your Yoga Journey: Vishnu's OHMazing Journeys DVD Giveaway Contest

Today, ChildLight Yoga is giving away 3 copies of Vishnu's OHMazing™ Journeys, the new DVD from Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®. Keep reading to learn how you can enter to win!

My name is Meredith Paterson, and I am the Director of Trainings for Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®. A huge, heartfelt thank you to Lisa for all of her work through Childlight Yoga and Yoga 4 Classrooms and for inviting us to share our story and our journey. She does so much to foster community in the yoga world, and we have learned so much through the wisdom and information that she shares.

For me, practicing yoga has had some unintended consequences. And I have heard variations on this theme from so many people. I started yoga for the exercise, and little by little, the practice seeped into aspects of my life that I had long neglected. Yoga made me think about food differently, it made me think about the language I used, it made me see art and beauty in things that I had previously overlooked.

When Elizabeth (Beth) Reese, Ph.D., created Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®, right from the beginning, she embraced the ways that yoga connects us to all aspects of ourselves-- how we make decisions, how we create art, how we relate to one another-- and she incorporated these connections into the Yogiños teachings so that children can see how the tools they learn in yoga class apply to their lives off the mat.

The new Yogiños: Yoga for Youth DVD, Vishnu's OHMazing™ Journeys, highlights these connections. The DVD was produced in partnership with the Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas and was filmed in the galleries of the museum. It weaves together ancient narratives of the hero Vishnu and the heroine Lakshmi through yoga, centuries-old works of art from the museum, music and dance. The DVD celebrates our own journeys and the choices we make as we build relationships and extend love to ourselves, to others, and to the universe.

In ancient stories from India, Vishnu is often portrayed as a hero who helps to protect people and the planet when there is a crisis. In each story, Vishnu changes form to become that which is most needed at the time. In Vishnu's OHMazing™ Journeys, Beth and the Yogiños travel with three of Vishnu's avatars. The yoga poses for each story are woven together with sculptures and paintings from the Crow Collection of Asian Art that depict the stories. We first learn about Kurma, the great turtle who teaches us to remain steady and strong in the face of challenges. Then we travel down to the bottom of the ocean with Varaha, the boar, as he perseveres to save the earth when she is in great danger. Finally, we watch a moving classical Indian dance performance that tells a story about Krishna. As Krishna, Vishnu teaches us about love and devotion for all of the people in our lives. Each of these stories provides us with tools that we can use to become the artists of our own journeys.

Tell us about your yoga journey, or perhaps what you have witnessed about your child's yoga journey-- whether the journey has just begun or whether it is many years in the making. What has changed in your life as a result of your practice? What tools have you gathered along the way? To enter to win a DVD, comment below about your yoga journey or your family's yoga journey. We will randomly select three winners.

Purchase a copy of Vishnu's OHMazing™ Journeys or the first Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® DVD, The Story of Ganesha.

National Endorsements for Vishnu's OHMazing™ Journeys:

“Yoga is an excellent muscle toner, increases flexibility and can calm the nervous system. There's no reason these benefits should be enjoyed only by adults, so I strongly endorse Beth Reese's programs - they bring yoga to children in an easy, accessible format. The fact that she leads sessions in a world-class museum, surrounded by great works of ancient Indian and Asian art, makes them all the more enriching and valuable.”
~ Andrew Weil, M.D.

"I wholeheartedly recommend Yogiños' Vishnu's OHMazing™ Journeys. Beautiful images meet inspiring metaphors and skillful alignment cues to take yoga practitioners of all ages on their own amazing yoga journey. Delightful compassionate and encouraging, this DVD embodies the best of what body-mind-spirit education is meant to be."

~ Christina Sell, Certified Anusara® Yoga Instructor and author of Yoga From the Inside Out: Making Peace with Your Body Through Yoga and My Body is a Temple: Yoga as a Path to Wholeness

More about Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®:
Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® is an OHMazing™ interdisciplinary curriculum in English, Spanish, and Sanskrit. We weave together the 8 Limbs of yoga with original art, music, games, stories, and other sensory-integrated activities to promote flexibility, strength, balance, collaboration, civic and social responsibility, mindfulness, nutrition, and wellness both on and off the yoga mat. Learn more at www.yoginos.com or check out OHMusings, the Yogiños blog.

Play More, Stress Less: Move With Me DVD Giveaway Contest

It’s simple. It’s true. But how many of us practice it? How many of us turn to play when we feel stressed? How many of us play in our work? How many of us engage playfully in our day to day activities? Do we play with our children? Our significant others?  Our friends?

On weekends, maybe. Work, after all, is work, and play is the reward.  It isn’t essential to our everyday activities, to keeping a roof over our head, and making sure the kids get to college...right?  Play doesn’t pay the bills or win the promotion or earn our child an A in Algebra or get the dishes done before bedtime, or help us stay healthy, right?

Wrong.

Play is an essential ingredient in daily life. Play is crucial to growth, learning, and lifelong health.  In the latest research studies, mind-body scientists, childhood development experts, neuroscientists, and pediatricians confirm:  play triggers our system to produce the “positive chemical messengers” that build cognitive health, emotional stability, critical and creative thinking skills, physical coordination, strong immune systems, appropriate weight...I could go on and on.

Play also fuels relationships, joy, productivity, creativity, accomplishment and success. 

I had to learn this lesson again very recently, and I am thrilled Lisa Flynn offered me the opportunity to share it with all of you yogis, parents, and educators who are friends of ChildLight Yoga and Yoga 4 Classrooms.

Given the harried pace of modern life, it’s challenging to make playtime a priority.  I admit that until a week ago, I had let myself get way off balance in my work (and my work is teaching play!!).  My small business is only a year old, and I’ve been working at it really hard to get it RIGHT.  Doesn’t sound very playful or fun, does it? I was stressing so much that I was killing off my joy, authenticity, and creativity, and neglecting community, instead of nurturing it. I was lucky enough to take part in an amazing workshop for small businesses where, in their own language, they were preaching all the yogic and health principles that I already know, but had failed to apply to my business. In my stress and worry, in my head-driven efforting, I left my yoga and my heart ‘on the mat’, when I know very well that the best place for them is with me - everywhere I go and in everything I do.  

So, I have re-dedicated myself to living by this simple life-affirming principle: Play more, Stress Less (which really is just a variation on ahimsa: do no harm).  And to celebrate and support you in reconnecting with play as well, I am, giving away a free Yoga Story DVD from the award-winning Scooter & Me series www.move-with-me.com. These stories are pure fun for the whole family, ages 3 - 103.  As you play along, you get to be everything in the story - the lion, the cheetah, the rocket, the tree, the stars, etc.  You will also learn some helpful self-awareness and self-care skills that can effectively put you back in a play-ready state whenever you get stressed. But what it’s really about is engaging in playtime, anytime -  the learning part comes naturally.

To enter to win a DVD, all you need to do is comment here. Tell me about how you play more and stress less, and how play helps you live a happier, healthier life. I’d love to share your responses on our Move With Me blog, Facebook, and Twitter. If you’re okay with that, just let me know in your message. Sharing is a great way to learn and help our community grow in playfulness and health.

I’m looking forward to reading your responses!

~ Leah Kalish, Founder of Move WIth Me Action Adventures