Welcome to the Mini Me Yoga Meditation Blog!
Welcome to the Mini Me Yoga Meditation Blog!
About Mini Me Yoga
I have personally been teaching kids yoga for 6 years now, since Mini Me Yoga was founded.
Mini Me Yoga is now a global community in 19 countries around the world with our 90 Ambassadors empowering parents/teachers/childcare givers to bring 15 minutes of yoga and positive thinking into a child’s life whether it be in the home or classroom.
I love having the opportunity to work in so many amazing countries, getting to meet wonderful parents/teachers whilst doing what I love to do: yoga, kids’ style.
I hope to be able to share my experiences with you in my blog, to address some of the worries, concerns people have when starting to teach kids’ yoga, and share some of the amazing stories of how yoga has helped children with all sorts of challenges, that I have come across on my travels.
Yoga… and Kids’ Yoga
Yoga has been around for many thousands of years. Some people think it is a fad because it has become very popular over recent years, its principles have been in practice for a very long time. It has lasted the test of time because it WORKS!
Kids’ yoga is somewhat different to the picture we may have in our mind of the calm adult sitting in the lotus position, ohming. Many parents/teachers have commented to me over the years on how the children in their care would not suit yoga as they have way too much energy or can’t sit still. My reply is always the same… that is exactly why they should be doing yoga!
We do kids’ yoga for many reasons, and there are many studies now available for us look at the stats on how kids become more focused, fitter and get better academic results, whilst having less behaviour referrals. But the main in reason we do kids’ yoga is because it’s FUN!
Yes, we do kids’ yoga because it’s fun. Fun matters. When we are having fun we are positive and able to tackle things with a positive mind. And yes there is a science behind this, check out this study from Harvard.
Kids’ yoga is designed to burn up any energy that we no longer need, it allows the body to expel toxins, it works our body and mind so that we can become calmer and more focused. Yes, we may look like we are running around, dancing and singing, making animals noises, pretending to be trees and all sorts of other child-like things, but kids’ yoga has a serious effect upon children and their well-being.
I have worked with children of ages, from many different cultures, will all levels of physical or mental abilities. I have learnt that yoga is all-inclusive: there is always something a child can do from the place that they are. After all we can all breathe for a start and that is a pretty perfect place to start from health point of view. Cast your mind back to when you were really stressed or upset and someone came along and said “take three deep breaths” didn’t you feel great? Simple but so effective.
And, yes, breathing can be fun. Used for a group or individual game it can bring huge benefits when done in the most optimal way for our bodies. I could write a whole article on the benefits of breathing (and perhaps that will one of my next posts).
Now for something fun to try at home.
Let’s start with one of my favourite activities to get you started on the kids’ yoga vibe straight away.
Visit our website, go to the meditation page, download and print off the mandalas and follow the instructions of this simple but amazing colouring meditation.
How to use the Mini Me Mandalas:
What you’ll need:
• Crayons
• Soft music
• Mini Me Mandalas
Step 1 Allow your child to choose the mandala that they most connect with.
Step 2 Play soft music in the background. Instrumental music or classical with no words is best.
Step 3 Read the words on the mandala out loud together. Ask your child to take a few deep breaths and select colours one by one as they colour in the mandala.
Step 4 Sit with them in silence and colour you own mandala. Make it a game. If your child wants to speak whilst doing the exercise, look at them directly in the eye, smile, nod and continue you colour your mandala.
Step 5 Colour for as long as they can be silent – it could take 5 minutes or 30 minutes. Feel free to come back to it another day if they don’t finish in one sitting!
Step 6 Head back into your daily routine filled with positive calm.
Let’s work together
I look forward to supporting you to bring yoga, positive thinking and fun to the children in your life you can reach out to me, ask me questions. I will do my very best to answer them through my blog posts.
I can’t wait to see pictures of your amazing mandalas. Please email them to info@minimeyoga.com
