• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Kids Yoga Stories | Yoga and mindfulness resources for kids

Yoga cards, mindfulness resources, yoga books, yoga resources for kids.

  • Home
  • START HERE
  • BLOG
  • SHOP
  • *FREE Resources*
  • ABOUT
    • Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
    • Graduate-Level Professional Development
    • Media Kit
    • Sign Up for Newsletter
    • Printing Instructions
    • Download Troubleshooting
    • Kids Yoga Monthly FAQ
    • Guest Posts
    • Privacy Policy
  • KYM Login
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Heart Yoga for Kids

Giselle · January 29, 2014 ·

Heart Yoga Class for Kids for Valentine's Day on Kids Yoga Stories

Please meet our guest writer, Erin McDonald, a kids yoga teacher living in British Columbia, Canada.  She shares her Heart Yoga Class Plan with us in honor of Valentine’s Day.  Erin details each step of her lesson plan to make it easy to bring this nourishing practice to your children.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

My six-year-old daughter is having bully trouble at school. There’s nothing more painful than watching your child have her feelings hurt.

Something I’ve learned along the way: I have no control over how she learns her lessons. No matter how much I love her, I cannot save her from her lessons.

This realization causes me to ask myself, “Self, what is the most important lesson you’ve learned from emotional pain?”

And I answer, “Processing it so I don’t hold onto it or make my life a shrine to it or make myself sick with it.”

How does this thirty-one-year-old deal with heart pain (after learning the wrong ways to do it for many years)?

Yoga, meditation, affirmation, stillness and spending time with kind people who make me laugh.

Perhaps I can’t save my daughter from her lessons, but I can share with her every tool in my thirty-something arsenal so that this tough time in her life doesn’t become something that defines her.

This was the train of thought that led to the inspiration for the heart yoga class I taught to a group of eight and nine year olds today.

Heart Yoga for Kids on Kids Yoga Stories


Heart Nourishing Yoga Class for Kids

We always follow a similar format for each class. I find that the children settle more easily when they know what to expect. If they are in high anticipation the entire time, it can be hard to focus.

General Format

We review the rules:

  • Ÿ Guided meditation/breathing
  • Ÿ Asana (physical postures) – we review some of the poses from last week and learn new ones to use in this week‘s games. I usually teach three to five new poses per class, depending on the age and experience of the group.
  • Ÿ Yoga games
  • Ÿ Savasana (resting pose)/visualization
  • Ÿ Namaste – we also go around the circle and tell one another something we’re grateful for or something awesome that happened today.

Heart Yoga Class Plan for Children

1. Rules

We take turns talking

We stay on our mats

Our mats stay on the floor

(Pretty basic but I find it really helps to lay it out at the start and refer back to it if necessary)

Heart Kids Yoga

2. Guided Meditation/Visualization/Conversation

Ÿ  Let’s all sit criss-cross on our mats, nice and tall, with our eyes closed.

Ÿ  Place one hand over your heart.

Ÿ  If you’re really still, you can feel your heart beating under your hand.

Ÿ  Take some very deep breaths into the palm of your hand.

Ÿ  Open your eyes but keep your hand on your heart.

Ÿ  We all have things that happen to us that hurt our hearts and make us feel sad or angry.

Ÿ  I’d like you to think of one of those times, please. You’re in a safe space here.

Ÿ  Does anybody want to share how this heart-hurt feels in your body?

“I feel angry in my tummy”

“My heart feels heavy”

“I feel light (but not in a good way)”

“I feel it in my arms right away”

Thank you for sharing. You might also feel anger or sadness in your chest or your hips.

Now I’d really like for us to brainstorm some nice things that we might say to one of our friends if he or she is feeling sad or mad.

“Are you okay?”

“Do you want to come and play with me?”

“Can I help you?”

“What happened?”

“I would give a hug.”

You are really good at being friends. We can also say things like, “I love you” and “I’m here for you”.

ŸPlease close your eyes again.

ŸWe’re going to begin massaging our hearts in a nice circle.

While you’re doing that, I’d really like you to say to yourself, either out loud or in your head, all the nice things that you say to your friends when they’re upset. Speak really kindly to yourself. Be the best friend you can be to your sore heart.

(Note: There were many silent tears during this part of the class, which was so moving to me. Boys and girls both. I got some good hugs after class).

3. Asana

“Does anyone remember some of the yoga we learned last week?”

They remembered:

Ÿ  Downward Dog Pose

Ÿ  Tree Pose

Ÿ  Cobra Pose

Ÿ  Scorpion (which is not actual scorpion but one that a little boy made up which requires a lower body twist   while on your belly and mostly ends up with a great deal of flopping and giggling.)

Ÿ  Surfer

Ÿ  Superman

Ÿ  Say Hi to the Sun (Sun Salutation)

Tree Pose for Kids

4. New Asanas this week

Ÿ  Cat/Cow pose

Ÿ  Puppy Pose

Ÿ  Camel Pose

Ÿ  Pigeon Pose

For images and descriptions of the yoga poses, see Kids Yoga Poses.

5. Games of the Week

We pretended to go to the Pet Shop this week because pets make our hearts feel happy.

ŸWe went around the circle and each child got to take home a pet. There was an equal number of kids that remembered the asanas we’d learned and those that made up poses to go along with the animals they chose. We also got to learn fish pose because a little girl wanted to buy one.

This is a great one to do cumulatively if you have a small number of kids or a lot of time. We had neither this week so we just went around the circle and took turns.

We also played a game of Yoga Dance Freeze because it’s a favourite.  I  often give cues as to the “style“ of dance to use. Today we were dancing like Space Men/Women. When the music stops, we froze in an asana. (We don’t do “out”).

6. Savasana (Resting Pose)

ŸClose your eyes and pretend it’s a dark summer night. You’re warm and safe. As you look up at the sky, you see the stars are coming out. Suddenly, you see the biggest, brightest, and most perfect wishing star. Make a wish on the star and hold it safe in your heart.

7. Namaste

I always feel blessed to spend my days sharing yoga but I found this class particularly moving. Yoga is a soft place to land and a way to move the pain of being human through our bodies and our kids need this as much as adults do, if not more.

 

Kids Yoga Teacher Erin McDonaldErin McDonald is the luckiest woman in the whole world because she gets to teach yoga and be a writer. Her website clumsygrace.com is a place for seekers of the authentic lifestyle to meet up and laugh (or cry) together. She’s been privileged to work with master yoga teachers Karuna, Paul Erickson,Ganga White, Tracey Rich, as well as Mugs McConnell and Dorothy Fizzell of the South Okanagan Yoga Academy with whom she did her yoga teacher training. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from UBC, a six-year old daughter, a really nice husband and a toy Maltese poodle, Sam Spade who is mostly for looks and cuddles. Erin lives in Cranbrook, British Columbia and teaches primarily at Exhale Yoga and Movement Studio.

Follow Erin:  Website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr.

LOVE Yoga Cards for Kids

Heart-opening yoga sequence to build confidence!

Download these 18 heart-opening yoga postures (backbends, chest openers, and shoulder stretches) to help release emotions, build confidence, and open your heart to receive love. Each yoga pose is coupled with 18 affirmations. An index, parent-teacher guide, and pose descriptions are included. The illustrated yoga kids are multicultural from seven countries.
Recommended ages: 3+.

LOVE Yoga Cards for Kids PDF Download (English) ImagePurchase your LOVE Yoga Cards for Kids here

You Might Also Love

Valentine's Day yoga sequence by Kids Yoga StoriesValentine’s Day Yoga Love-themed easy yoga ideas | Kids Yoga StoriesLOVE Yoga
I LOVE YOU yoga for kids | Kids Yoga StoriesI LOVE YOU Yoga Valentine's Day Card |Kids Yoga StoriesFree Valentine’s Day Card

Other Yoga for Kids Links

Monthly Kids Yoga Themes

Holiday Kids Yoga Lesson Plans

List of 58 Yoga Poses for Kids

Kids Yoga Ideas Using Children’s Books

Seasonal Yoga Lesson Plans

 

Get Updates from Kids Yoga Stories

Looking for more kids yoga lesson plans?  Sign up for our free weekly Kids Yoga Stories Newsletter by adding your email address to the box at the top of the page.  Would be great to see you there!

Yoga Kids holding Kids Yoga Stories books

Shop Yoga Books | Kids Yoga Stories

If you liked this post, share it here:

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on LinkedIn

Filed Under: Free Resources Tagged With: holiday yoga, kids yoga lesson plan, kids yoga teacher, valentine yoga, valentine's day yoga, yoga for kids, yoga poses for kids

Primary Sidebar

FREE POSTERS

yoga poses for kids, kids yoga, yoga printables

Welcome

Giselle Shardlow Profile Image Welcome to Kids Yoga Stories. To create the yoga books, yoga and breathing card decks, and yoga and mindfulness classroom resources, I draw from my experience as an international teacher, a world traveler, a certified yoga teacher, and a mom to a spirited child. I’ve been practicing yoga practically my whole life, and after I became a mom, I fell in love with the idea of sharing yoga and mindfulness with my daughter. Read more.

Social

  • Facebook 29 K Likes
  • Pinterest 22 K Followers
  • Insta 4 K Followers

Recent Posts

  • 5 Ways to Teach Breathing Techniques to Kids Using Different Learning Styles
  • Black History Month for Kids: Affirmations and Yoga Poses to Honor Black Historical Figures
  • Australia for Kids: Learn about Australia through Yoga Poses for Kids
  • Seasonal Kids Yoga Lesson Plans
  • Lunar New Year for Kids: Books and Yoga Poses for Kids
  • Arctic Animals Yoga Poses for Kids (+Printable Poster)




POPULAR YOGA PRODUCTS FOR KIDS

Yoga Cards Collection Image
Yoga Cards for Kids
Yoga Book Collection Image
Yoga Books for Kids
Yoga Bundles Collection Image
Yoga Bundles for Kids
Teaching Resources Image
Teaching Resources
Yoga Pose Image
Yoga Pose Images for Kids

POPULAR YOGA RESOURCES

Yoga Poses Image
Yoga Poses for Kids
Seasonal Image
Seasonal Yoga Lesson Plans
Monthly Yoga Image
Monthly Kids Yoga Themes
Holiday Yoga Image
Holiday Yoga Lesson Plans
Kids Yoga Class Ideas Image
Kids Yoga Class Ideas

QUICK LINKS

About Us
Contact Us
Store
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Refund Policy

SOCIAL

Link to Twitter Image
Link to Facebook Image
Link to Pinterest Image
Link to YouTube Image

GET FREE UPDATES

Yoga tips and kids yoga resources delivered weekly to your inbox from Kids Yoga Stories!

SIGN UP

Copyright © 2023 · Kids Yoga Stories LLC · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy