Yoga with children- what it really looks like

Inspired by Giselle’s Kids Yoga Stories books and blog, I have started doing yoga with my children.

I remembered doing yoga as a teenager and young adult, and it did wonders for my self-esteem. I thought doing yoga would be a great way to connect with the children and get into shape at the same time.

I found many great apps on my iPad on how to do this, and we got started. Except it didn’t work out the way I thought.

If anybody expected us to breathe, and do the poses slowly and with grace and reverence… well, maybe that’s just not us.

This is what doing yoga with two little children (and sometimes a baby) really looks like …

Imagine you’re on your hands and feet, with your bottom in the air, in the dog pose. You’re getting uncomfortable and would like to get down on the ground again, except your toddler decides this is just the right moment to crawl under you and you can’t go back on the ground without crashing her.

You’re trying to explain breathing techniques except they’re too set on fighting over toys. You haven’t finished the pose you’re doing because your children start doing jigsaw puzzles. You finally manage to get them to do a pose, and then the baby starts to cry.

So, the iPad is more interesting than these poses…

Sometimes I wonder why I ever thought this would be a good idea. But then I remember.

That’s because they are children.

My oldest is not even four, and yet here I am, requiring deep concentration on a task. My two year old has just learned to walk, and I want her to exercise with us even though she’s still slightly off balance. And the baby, well, he’s a baby, and babies cry.

I decide to let go of my expectations.

And this is where we start having fun.

We even make up our own poses and sequences: the head-bump pose (stand opposite of each other and try to bend down and bump your heads in the process), followed by rolling on the floor laughing. We lie on the floor, all three of us together (and sometimes there is a baby lying on my belly), and we hold hands, and laugh some more.

I stop caring whether the pose is perfect, and whether it lasts as long as it should.

Instead, I focus on the fun stuff.

Like roaring like a lion, and making “ssss”-sounds like a snake and stretching our necks like a giraffe. Now this is something they can actually relate to, and they want to join me!

Butterfly Pose

We’re finally having fun and connecting.

On top of that, my three-year- old starts doing more and more of the exercises. It’s like learning a song. You learn it bits by bits, not all at once. Even my two-year-old joins in. I do some exercises with the baby as well if I can.

We may not be perfectly calm yogis. We are crazy, and loud, and chaotic, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I am a funnier, calmer mom, and they had fun with the iPad and pretending to be animals.

That’s good enough for me.

For more of Olga’s thoughts on expat life, multilingualism and parenting, find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and GooglePlus.  Thank you, Olga!

Do you use an iPad to share educational tools or children’s books with your children?  

Watch for the new releases of the Kids Yoga Stories eBooks on Amazon, starting with Sophia’s Jungle Adventure.  Sign up for our weekly Kids Yoga Stories Newsletter (at the top of the page) for updates.

Our family is creating a yoga practice together, making it up as we go along.  At home.  In the park.  At the airport.  Wherever we go, there’s our yoga practice.  A few minutes a day.  Really simple.

It’s not perfect.  Of course, we wish that we could practice more often.  But we do the best we can, in the hopes of creating a yoga-friendly lifestyle with our daughter.

An inhale-exhale with arms outstretched, an elephant pose at the zoo, picking up garbage on the street, sitting quietly together with eyes closed, or a few poses before bedtime are some of the things we do together.

Our daughter in elephant pose.

Why I love practicing yoga with our toddler: 

• increases her language development through actions, until she is ready to talk

• practices something active at home, that doesn’t involve the screen

• embraces her self expression as she imitates her natural surroundings

• gives her a sense of pride and accomplishment doing something that comes naturally

• provides us with an activity that we practice together, a sacred time to connect and bond

• enables us to speak in English and Spanish

• helps to promote a lifelong, active, healthy lifestyle that we can do together

• channels her energy into something positive and helps to calm her mind and body

• builds a platform for us to talk about the guiding principles of yoga (character education) when she is older

• improves her balance, strength, and flexibility

• builds connections to her environment in a fun, active way

• gives us a chance to bring children’s books alive by acting them out

• helps her to unwind at the end of the day and invite sleep

Why kids yoga teachers love teaching yoga to children:

What I love about teaching yoga to kids:

• Feeling the frenetic energy of a group of kids come into the room before class

• Kids saying “Hi Yoga” because they think my name is Yoga

• Making up silly stories that go along with a yoga pose flow

• Teaching about love and kindness for Valentine’s day

• Showing kids how it is easier to balance in life when you focus on one thing that is not moving

• Blowing bubbles to teach mindful breathing

• Knowing a bazillion kids music songs that don’t sound like fingernails on a chalkboard to recommend to new parents

• Having the trunk of my car filled with Beanie Babies, yoga mats, chimes, toys, Lavender oil, Heart pillows, picture books, and a parachute, instead of something “boringly adult” like car cleaning supplies or the dry cleaning

• Did I mention the parachute?

• Seeing two friends holding hands during relaxation

• Learning new poses made up by my students

• The sound and vibration of preschoolers saying “Om”

• Watching a child struggle with a yoga balancing pose and laughing it off before trying again

• Seeing their posture change from “slumpy” to tall during the class

• Smiling faces ready to practice yoga and asking what’s in my yoga bag today

• Seeing kids that might not normally be active in competitive sports have a yoga triumph with a challenging pose

• The scent of lavender eye pillows during relaxation

• Watching their bodies go from squirmy to still during savasana and relaxation story time

• Feeling the peaceful, calm, and mellow energy of the kids at the end of the class

• Lots of hugs …

Carolyn Clarke, author of Imaginations: Fun Relaxation Stories and Meditations for Kids

Web: www.imaginationsforkids.com

Blog: www.kidsyoga101.com

FB:  www.facebook.com/imaginationsforkids

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/relaxationstory

Twitter: www.twitter.com/relaxedkids

Why do you love teaching yoga to children?  What’s your passion?

Feel free to email me your ideas as well.  I would love to hear about your experiences -
Giselle at kidsyogastories dot com.

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Giselle
Kids Yoga Stories

On Passion, Part II

In Part I of our chat about Passion, we looked at the definition of Passion and what it might be for you.

Now we’re going to explore what role Passion plays in your life.

You already know you have at least one passion, something you get very, very excited about and just love spending time on. It could be anything – antiques, education, running, pizza, motorcycles, travel, musicals, movies, whatever lights you up.

Now answer: how does this show up every day in your life?

It’s quite possible your answer was, “not at all.” That’s understandable – there are important things you need to do in life around your family, your job, all that.

BUT (you knew that was coming) BUT I would like to suggest, because I truly believe, that spending time with your Passion each day will improve your well-being. Mind, body and soul. Yes, beneficial, even if it’s just 15 minutes a day.

Think back to the Wikipedia definition of Passion we talked about in Part I: a “feeling of unusual excitement, enthusiasm or compelling emotion, a positive affinity or love, towards a subject.”I think the words “compelling” and “emotion” are the important ones to note.

As we said, we’re not sure why we have certain passions, but we’re compelled by them. Compelled deep down to explore this love. It’s like our soul talking to us, and that’s something we should listen to. And the fact that it’s an “emotion” means it’s part of who we are, not something external or dictated to us.

Ignoring this powerful thing blocks us up in some way, either by chronic physical aches or a vague feeling of searching or just a general unhappiness, small or large.

If you don’t believe me, try spending at least 15 minutes a day with your Passion for two weeks, and see how things have changed. I bet you’ll be stunned. I’m serious, take the challenge. After two weeks, you won’t stop. You will need to continue to feed this love or feel like a bit of you is missing.

Although satisfying, this won’t be easy. Along with the joy of it, Passion still does hold some of the “suffering” from its original definition. It will take some juggling on your part, some sacrifices, and patience.

It’s a type of Tapas, which in Yoga Sutra means “fiery discipline.” It’s the type of focus and intense commitment that is a practice and brought forward a little bit each day. And the goal is the lifestyle you want to live.

Whether your Passion is something you enjoy as a hobby, or what you want to dedicate yourself to full time, here are five things to ponder to help you on your way for long-term Passion.

1. Define your personal relationship with time

It’s important that you see your time realistically. A person raising a 3-year-old does not have the same daily time schedule as a person in college. Meet yourself where you are. Be honest with your no-kidding, must-do obligations and give yourself props for meeting them. Then, look at the rest of your available time and decide what you want to dedicate to your passion. It takes a lot of work, but maybe not as much as you think.

2. And money

The same process goes for money. Be honest with yourself and your needs. After the necessities, how much do you estimate you need for additional things? And how much will your passion need? Facing money is something we all shy away from, but knowledge is power. Once you know what you will need to live at your desired comfort level with your passion, you can start planning changes, big or small, that will get you from where you are to where you want to be. Remember, it doesn’t happen overnight.

3. Know where your line is, and how you get yourself around it

Pursuing your passion not only includes the technical aspects (time, money) but an emotional one as well. The best laid plan runs into bumps, and it’s important to know how you’d usually respond. What levels are less than ideal, but bearable? What levels would you never, ever go to? What values do you hold to, no matter what? And what avenues do you have in place to help you through the hard times? This isn’t about creating a safety net – it’s about trusting yourself to get through the tough times.

4. Find support

There are infinite levels of support available to all of us. You just need to know what you’re looking for. Again, this goes back to knowing yourself. Maybe you need guidance, maybe an assistant, maybe advanced skills, maybe more industry contacts. Be clear and specific. Because as opportunities come into your life, you’ll know which ones you want to pursue.

5. Mind the gap

Ira Glass, of NPR’s This American Life, has a famous quote about starting out. (see You Tube, “Ira Glass on Storytelling.”) In the beginning, there’s a gap between what we see in our heads and what we’re actually producing, because we’re just not that good yet. This gap is why most small businesses close within the first two years, and why my closet is full of half-done projects. This is not to scare you – this is to encourage you to keep going. Keep producing/learning/creating/practicing. One foot in front of the other. It takes time, but if you figured out the first four steps, you can get through the gap.

Karen Hancock is an independent jewelry designer that lovingly melds metal into geometric patterns. She is also a writer and a speaker on the topic of creativity, because she really, truly wants to understand this mysterious thing. Find her jewelry at KMHmakes.com and her other stuff at GoodEleven.com.

“Follow your passion.”

It’s a mantra you hear often these days. It’s meant to inspire, to get you going, to push you to reach for the stars! So there you have it – those three words are all you need. So go forth – Follow Your Passion! Fly high! Shoot for the…oh, wait. You seem confused. Did we forget something?

Indeed. This very positive and good advice seems to have skipped a step – figuring out what Passion is in the first place. With over 9 million Google searches on it a month, especially “What is passion?” it seems we’re all confused. So let’s start at the beginning.

Etymology tells us that the word “passion,” in its early Latin root, meant “suffering, enduring.” Pretty stark. It was the Greek philosophers of the 3^rd Century BC that believed strong emotions, or passions, were the root of suffering and one should choose reason over emotion. And this meaning stuck as it evolved through the centuries in other dialects. It was only recently, in the 1800s, that the romantic idea of passion and its important place in art and industry came about.

Today Passion is synonymous with happiness and contentment.

Per Wikipedia, it is a “feeling of unusual excitement, enthusiasm or compelling emotion, a positive affinity or love, towards a subject.” I simply think of it as the thing(s) you seem to gravitate towards in your free moments. And you probably have more than one thing.

For me, I love music – listening to it, talking about it, watching documentaries about it, playing it. I also spend a lot of time thinking about creativity, reading books on it, writing about it, and of course, creating things. So I am sure that off the top of your head, you can think of at least one thing that gets you all excited and you’d chat my ear off about right now.

Well, that seemed pretty easy, defining what your passion is. It’s there right in front of you. So if it’s that simple, why are so many people searching for answers on Google for it?

One reason is that its simplicity is quite opposite to its romanticized definition. I love music – I don’t know why, it just showed up, I loved it, and it stuck with me. Isn’t Passion supposed to be a thunderbolt or a blood-pumping thriller or something you think about 24 hours a day? The way it’s talked about, Passion is such a big word, holding the weight of your existence. Relax. Forget about the supposed way Passion is your passion.

Your passion just is.

It’s yours, and yours to do what you will with it, making it as big or small as you’d like.

Maybe you’ve never really given this much thought before. You’ve just been doing stuff you enjoy and not labeling it Passion. That’s fine, too. You don’t have to name it, but please be sure to respect it. When we enjoy our Passion so much, and (sometimes) it comes very easily to us, we forget how truly unbelievable it is that we have something this joyous in our life. So keep on doing your thing but remember to celebrate it regularly for the gift it is.

Labeling something a Passion seems to suddenly add weight to it. It becomes a bit more serious. I believe that’s a good thing. We’re declaring that yes, we choose this specific thing because we love it, appreciate it and want to dedicate ourselves to a more meaningful relationship with it. You step up.

Now if you’re a person who has many interests, it might seem scary to just choose one or two to concentrate on. Yes, you are letting go of something else and it is hard. But by doing so, you have the gift of getting deeper with this love. So observe yourself and see if you prefer variety or intensity. And if you still dread choosing, it might be helpful to read the biography of a person you admire and see how they went about it.

More often than not, our role models focused on one thing and got to know it intimately.

So in this Part I, we focused on defining Passion and what it is for you. It seems the next logical step is to tackle the idea of what role Passion plays in your life. In Part II, I’ll offer some guidelines to help you figure it out. Until then, stay inspired.

Karen Hancock is an independent jewelry designer that lovingly melds metal into geometric patterns. She is also a writer and a speaker on the topic of creativity, because she really, truly wants to understand this mysterious thing. Find her jewelry at KMHmakes.com and her other stuff at GoodEleven.com.

“Moo, moo.  Bow, wow.”

Our daughter loves animals.

Who knows if it started with our family’s love of Sandra Boynton’s Moo, Baa, La, La, La.  But she’s hooked.  She also loves yoga.

So, when it’s time to play, it seems only natural that we would bring the farm into our living room through movement.

If you’re also looking for a fun play activity that you can do indoors (that doesn’t involve the screen), then how about family yoga?!

Create a farm-themed family yoga experience in the comfort of your home:

Get in the mood.  Take a trip to your local farm to get to know the animals.  We took a trip to Lemos Farm, just south of San Francisco.  The San Francisco Zoo also has a mini-farm inside the Children’s Zoo area.

Picture of us at Lemos Farm, Half Moon Bay, California.

Gather props.  Bring out your farm-themed books, stuffed animals, Schleich animals, puzzles, magnets, coloring books, stickers, or anything else.  Here is a list of books we gathered together:

Cock-a-doodle-doo! Barnyard Hullabaloo by Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz
Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown and Felicia Bond
Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton
I Love Animals by Flora McDonnell
All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri
I Spy on the Farm by Edward Gibbs

Picture of our farm-related books, puzzle, and animals.

Clear the space.  Choose a safe place, and clear away any potentially harmful objects.  Your living room or backyard might be a good option.  Yoga mats are optional.

Warm up.  Do a Sun Salute or another similar warm-up routine to get your body ready for your family yoga experience.

Choose a book.  Pick one of your farm-related books, then act out each animal as you turn the page.  Add the sounds of the animals, too!  Here is a sample farm-inspired kids yoga sequence (practice on both sides):

1. Scarecrow – Mountain Pose (Stand tall with arms slightly extended like a scarecrow)
2. Tree – Tree Pose (Stand on one foot with other foot bent, touching inner thigh)
3. Horse – Horse Stance (Stand firm in a wide-legged stance, turn toes out, bend at knees.  Neigh!)
4. Barn – Triangle Pose (Pretend the Triangle Pose is the barn door with your arm as the chimney)
5. Farmer Driving a Tractor – Chair Pose (Feet together, bend at knees, hands on wheel driving tractor.  Beep, beep!)
6. Duck – Squat Pose (Waddle like a duck in squat position.  Quack, quack!)
7. Dog – Downward-Facing Dog Pose (On hands and feet.  Lift each leg separately.  Bow wow!)
8. Donkey – Handstand Prep (Carefully kick up each leg like a donkey.  Hee haw!)
9. Goose – Pigeon Pose (Relax in Pigeon Pose for a moment.  Honk, honk!)
10. Mouse – Child’s Pose (Take a few deep breaths in Child’s Pose.  Squeak!)
11. Cat – Cat Pose (Stretch up like a cat on hands-and-knees.  Meow!)
12. Cow – Cow Pose (Lift head while on hands-and-knees.  Moo!)
13. Pig – Knees to Chest (Hug your legs into your chest like a pig rolling in the mud.  Oink!)
14. Stars – Resting Pose (Look up into the night sky at twinkling stars.  Rest.  Relax.  Breathe.)

Picture of duck at the San Francisco Zoo.

Feel free to adapt or change the sequence to suit the needs of your children.  The guide above is meant to be an inspirational tool.  Do what’s best for your family.  If you have questions, e-mail me or do a Google search of the poses you aren’t familiar with.  The experience is intended to be playful and fun, not focused on perfectly aligned poses.

Rest.  Stay in the final Resting (Corpse) Pose for a period of time, lying on your back with your arms and legs spread out.  Don’t worry if the kiddos aren’t in the mood to relax on your first experience of family yoga.  Talk to your children about the magic of relaxation, and suggest trying it out the next time.

Celebrate.  As a family, talk about what you liked best about the experience, what you learned, and what you could improve for next time.  As the kids what other topics you could focus on next time?

Because of our small apartment and our minimalist approach to parenting, play time involves being creative with our books and animals. However, I wouldn’t change a thing.  A chance to laugh, read books, and act out animals is a perfect afternoon hanging out with our daughter.

Are you interested in incorporating family yoga into your play time?

Sign up for my weekly Kids Yoga Stories Newsletter (enter your email in box in top right corner – it’s free!) or check the Free Resources page for other theme ideas.

To learn more:

History of yoga
Benefits of Yoga for Children
Zoo-themed Family Yoga Sequence

This post is shared with the Multicultural Kid Blogger Group’s Monthly Carnival with the theme of “Play Around the World.”  It is our way of celebrating different games and activities around the world that engage our families in simple play using simple materials.

Congratulations to the Winner – Lisa G, a Grade 2 Teacher, who wrote this for her entry:

How I found Daria’s music:

I reached out to the Multicultural Kid Bloggers Group and asked the group if anyone had any recommendations for multicultural music for toddlers. Leanna from All Done Monkey suggested that I check out Daria Music:

“For the last two decades, internationally known folksinger DARIA has traveled the globe, learning, sharing and making music while building communities and encouraging a new view of hope and peace for all the world’s children.”

I was thrilled to find such a comprehensive collection of resources. Daria offers so much more than music, but a vast array of tools to encourage children to be surrounded by multicultural books, toys, and instruments. Her work helps to cultivate a globally-conscious way of life through her love of music.

We have been listening to Beautiful Rainbow World, Earth Day CD, and Little Songs of the Andes all week. As soon as I put on the CD, our daughter danced, nodded her head, and swayed her body. When the first song finished, she said “more, more, more”. We have found that the CD’s are great for dancing and singing together, but also as background music as our toddler plays with her books or Lego.

What I love about Daria’s music:

• The songs are sung in different languages, on the Beautiful Rainbow World and Little Songs of the Andes CD’s
• There are variety of interesting musical instruments in the songs
• The songs are uplifting and carry positive messages
• The songs are easy to sing-a-long and have catchy tunes great for little ones
• Daria offers a wealth of knowledge, passion, and information on all her websites
• The CD’s often come with a complimentary booklet with further information and extension ideas
• You can find a lot of the songs animated on her YouTube channel to show your students

For all of these reasons, I just had to share Daria’s incredible music with you on this Earth Day. The music is another great resource when inspiring children to take action to heal our planet. In case you missed it, here is a complimentary Earth Day-inspired Kids Yoga Sequence from Kids Yoga Stories.

Check out Daria’s resources:

Daria YouTube Channel
Daria Music on Facebook
Daria Music on Pinterest
Daria Music on Twitter
Daria’s Little Village Store
Daria’s Making Multicultural Music Blog

The Music-Movement Earth Day Contest:

#1:  Earth Day CD from Daria Music has six songs including:

We’ve Got The Whole World In Our Hands

Wild And Free (About Dolphins, Manatees and Whales)

Be Kind To Your Web Footed Friends

Ride Horse Ride

Whole New World

Beautiful Rainbow World

#2: Sophia’s Jungle Adventure is a kids yoga sequence woven around a jungle story integrating reading, movement, and fun – perfect for ages 4-8. For samples pages, click here. Sophia and her family take a trip to Costa Rica. During their hike, Sophia is particularly curious about the environmental impact of the tree chopping in the jungle. The book lends itself well as a discussion tool to discuss environmental issues.

Please read the full Contest Rules below for details.

We look forward to your entries. Thank you for taking the time to participate.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary downloadable copy of Daria’s Earth Day CD to write this review. All opinions are my own. I was not obligated to write a positive review.

Win the downloadable Earth Day CD and Sophia’s Jungle Adventure storybook

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest Rules:
1. International entries are welcomed.
2. You can be any age to enter.
3. Participation in the contest constitutes that you agree to the Contest Rules.
4. Please enter using the Rafflecopter tool above, obtaining points if you Tweet, like on Facebook or answer the question. You can enter every day.
5. No purchase is necessary.
6. Kids Yoga Stories accepts no responsibility or liability for any injuries or losses that may result from practicing the yoga poses outlined in the coloring book. Please ensure your own safety and the safety of the children.
7. You must enter the contest giveaway with a valid email address. The winner will be notified by email and at that time I will request your mailing address. The shipping of Sophia’s Jungle Adventure storybook can take some time, depending on your location. I will cover the shipping costs.
8. Let me know if you have any questions by emailing me directly at giselle at kidsyogastories dot com.
9. Please note that the Earth Day CD will be delivered to you electronically to save plastic.
10. The winner will be chosen on Friday, April 19th, 2013.

This month, I’m teaming up with other Multicultural Kids Bloggers to share what Spring is like in our part of the world.  Here are some things that we like to do to celebrate the start of Spring:

We can never get enough of the Golden Gate Park.  So much to do and see.  Springtime is an especially magical time to visit the park with the flowers in bloom.  Here is a picture of some cherry blossoms during our weekend walk.

We love going to the San Francisco Zoo.  Check out this article on 10 Ways to Enrich your Family Trip to the Zoo on the Kid Friendly SF website.  Here are some daffodils that we saw in bloom.  Another sweet surprise was this darling hummingbird.

Thanks to a posting on the Best Hikes for Children in the Bay Area Facebook page, we found out about the Wildflower Walk at Edgewood County Park.  Check out Laure’s amazing book, Best Hikes with Kids: San Francisco Bay Area and her family adventure blog, Frog Mom.  Here are some buttercups from our Wildflower Walk yesterday.

Lastly, we love working in our garden.  Our daughter and I have been out there digging and weeding to get ready for this year’s veggie plant.  In previous years, we have grown corn, potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, pumpkin, peas, rocket, and zucchini.  This year we will plant a mini-garden for our daughter to enjoy.

If you are looking for ways to bring Spring into your home, classroom, or studio, here is a 3-Part Spring Pack:

• A Spring Kids Yoga Sequence to get the children swaying like a tree, blossoming like a flower, and buzzing like a bee.
• A matching Springtime Yoga Journey Handout to print out and have your child illustrate the keyword and kids yoga pose.
• A special Rachel’s Spring Day Colors Mini-Book that you can print out, read, act out, and illustrate together.

We just found this darling book in the library, Butterfly Butterfly by Petr Horacek, which would be a perfect compliment to Rachel’s Spring Day.  The pop-up butterfly is spectacular.

How do you celebrate Spring with your family?

I have fond memories of staying with our grandparents in the south of England and visiting other relatives.  Also, traveling to different places, I find myself naturally gravitating to the other travelers from the UK.

Picture of me on Worthing beach in England

Here is a collection of resources from this month’s theme on the United Kingdom:

England

Check out my dear (teacher-author-kids yoga teacher) friend’s, Nicola Preskett, article with cool tidbits about her hometown, London.  She has also shared a London-inspired Kids Yoga sequence.  Nicola’s first book, Hudson and Me, about the adventures of a little girl and her dog, will be released soon.

Picture taken by my husband in London, England

A couple other links:

Recipe for Heavenly Scones from Kid World Citizen.

DIY Instructions for Shrinky Dink Flag Bracelet from Kid World Citizen.

I-Spy Books from England.

Making a Postbox Bank from Glittering Muffins.

Ireland

Hope you enjoyed your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations earlier this month.  In case you missed it, here’s the Ireland-inspired Kids Yoga sequence based on the flora and fauna of Ireland.  You could use the plan anytime during the year!

Picture taken in Ireland by Crystal of Crystal’s Tiny Treasures

Scotland

My darling parents are avid Scottish Country Dancers.  They travel around providing demonstrations to different groups.  Teaching Scottish Country Dancing to your children is a great way to have fun, be active, and learn about Scotland.

Picture of my parent’s Scottish Country Dance group at the Celtic Festival in Cuba.

Wales

A shout out to Paul Wrangles for his artistic paintings in Anna and her Rainbow-Colored Yoga Mats.  Paul lives in South Wales!

How can you bring the United Kingdom to your home, classroom, or studio?  Drop me an email to giselle at kidsyogastories dot com.

One of the Kids Yoga Stories characters is from the south of England (guess why?!) and she will be featured in the next Kids Yoga Stories book set to be released mid-year 2013.  Find out about the release date by signing up for the Kids Yoga Stories Newsletter (on the side bar on the top right).

Off to make a cuppa tea!

Giselle
Kids Yoga Stories