Yogavita November News English

Yoga for children in association with «Yakafaucon».We had planned yoga for children which naturally transformed into yoga for parents and children!

Hands joined in front of the heart, namaste, we begin.
The little light in me salutes the light in you. Equal to equal. A bright ball circulates, when you catch the ball you say your name.
Standing, bare foot we walk in a circle to ground oneself and also to warm up. It’s nippy on this november 21st. We take a «hot shower» by rubbing our hands together to make fire. We take the whole body into account by passing this hot energy from the head, shoulders, arms, torse, back, left leg, right leg, left foot, right foot. The whole body.
One child said to me last week «it tires my feet». Surprised by his reaction I decide today to give particular attention to our feet. We move our feet in a circular motion, inwards and outwards! We massage our own feet, then we pass our foot to our neighbour for a foot massage. I hear someone say «ooooh it smells» as he continues to lift the foot to his nose, he realizes, no smell at all! We often forget our feet. Closed up in socks and shoes, we sometimes lose connection with what carries us all day long, our roots in the earth!
The adult foot has 28 bones, so for 2 feet that represents a quarter of the whole skeleton. Take care of your feet by massaging them and bathing them in luke warm water with coarse salt and a drop of lime juice.
We continue with the sun salutations surya namaskara, child’s pose balasana otherwise called the grain for the purpose of today’s story. The children in the «grain» posture are resting in the earth, with a little water, wind, and sun, the grain grows and blossoms. The children are present, the elements too.
We stretch upwards to catch stars whilst remaining grounded in the earth. We exhale with the vowel «aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa» which brings opening and relaxation. We make a rainbow, we stretch the arms out in a cross shape, the palms of hands wide open towards the exterior. A posture from Egytian yoga.
We grab our big toes, we stretch and lenghten forward, as far as we can today.We test our balance in upavishta konasana by leaning backwards, whilst holding our big toes, legs straight. Sometimes we fall, we get back up. Sometimes we manage to hold the posture. Sometimes we laugh.
The parents do the dog posture «adho muka svanasana» side by side forming a bridge which the children pass through like snakes. The parents start to get tired. THis posture requires strength in the arms. The children, cute, take all the time in the world :)
The bell signals the relaxation and meditation. The attention is on the body, the breath. The belly moves up and down. Up and down. Up and down.
One young boy who came with his sister was hesitant to join in. Eventually curioisty got the better of him. At the end when I asked him how it was he told me «there were things i liked, and things i didnt like». I advised him to keep what he had liked.
Namaste 
Tracey