You might have gathered that most of our yoga sequences are based on various habitats or places around the world. So, when a few of you recently asked for a Superhero Yoga sequence, I asked my dear friend and colleague, Lani Rosen-Gallagher of Full of Joy Yoga to help us out with ideas!
Let’s bring out our inner superheroes with a visit to Superhero School.
ASK the students: “What do you know about superheroes?”
- They save the day!
- They have super powers!
- They wear costumes!
- They fly!
- They are brave!
- They are strong!
SAY: “We’ll learn all of this as we venture off to Superhero School!”
SAY: “In order for us to learn to be a superhero, we also need to learn to breathe like one. Superheroes have a lot to accomplish. If they don’t know how to keep calm when they are saving the world, they’ll never be able to do it!”
Superhero Yoga Sequence for Kids
1. Superhero Breaths:
Ask: “What are some of your favorite superheroes?” (Let them share all their favorites.)
We do special breaths for Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Hulk. If we don’t have a special breath for a particular superhero, we can make it up!
- Batman: As you inhale, raise your arms out to the side as if they were your wings and lift one knee. As you exhale, bring your arms together in front of your body and lower your knee.
- Spiderman: Make Spiderman web fingers, inhale while bringing your arms and hands to your side. As you exhale, spin the web out in front of you.
- Superman: Inhale with your arms down at your sides, with your hands in fists. Exhale and bring them out in front of you as if you were flying.
- Hulk: Inhale, bringing your arms up to the sky. Exhale and bend your elbows, bringing your arms down as if you’re flexing your arm muscles, while bending your knees.
- Wonder Woman: With one hand up in the air, inhale as you spin your lasso. Exhale and throw that lasso out in front of you.
2. Plank Pose
Superheroes need to be strong. Let’s do a plank pose to build some strength.
How to practice Plank Pose: Come down to balance on your palms and on your bent toes in a plank
position. Keep your arms straight and your back long and flat. Hold steady for a few breaths, ensuring a straight line from your head to your toes.
SAY: “Let’s see how strong we are by trying to lift a car!” Begin in a squat, then bring both hands up overhead and pretend to lift a car with all of your might!
3. Donkey Kicks
Another strength-building pose is kicking our legs up three times! Bring your hands to the floor and in a downward-facing dog position, kick your legs up in the air three times.
How to practice Downward-Facing Dog Pose: From all fours, lift your knees to an upside-down V
shape, with your buttocks up in the air. Ensure that your palms are flat on the ground and that your spine and legs are straight. Press your heels toward the ground and look back through your legs.
SAY: “Let’s now see how strong we are and try to lift a house—or even the school!”
4. Half Moon Pose
Superheroes need to learn how to fly. We can practice with a pose called half moon.
How to practice Half Moon Pose: From a standing position, step your left foot back while opening
your hip out to the side. Tilt forward and place your right hand flat on the ground (or on a block) in front of your right foot while simultaneously lifting your left foot. Open your hips and extend your left arm up to the sky. Align your shoulders over each other and open your chest. If possible, try gazing out to the left. Pretend to be flying. Switch sides and repeat the steps.
5. Warrior 3 (Airplane) Pose
Let’s see if our practice of flying really helps us to fly! We lift one leg back and open our wings to the side. Tie on your cape. Let’s practice Warrior 3 pose and take off!
How to practice Warrior 3 Pose: Stand on one leg. Extend the other leg behind you, flexing your foot.
Bend your torso forward and take your arms back alongside your body. Pretend to be a flying superhero. Switch sides and repeat the steps
Let the kids fly like Superman around the room.
6. Flying (Locust Pose)
Land on your bellies on your mat. See if you can fly while lying on the floor.
How to practice Locust Pose: Lie on your tummy, lift your chest and shoulders, and look up. Pretend
to be flying.
This pose makes our backs super strong. Lift arms and legs with an inhale. Come down on an exhale. Take a rest!
7. Our Own Superhero Pose
Let’s make up our own superhero pose! First we think of our superhero name, and then we come up with our own pose and share it one at a time. Each of us gets to copy each other’s poses!
8. Superhero Affirmations
- I am brave – Warrior 1 Pose
How to practice Warrior 1 Pose: Step one foot back, placing it at an angle, with your toes pointing
toward the front. Bend your front knee. Reach both arms up overhead. Say: I am brave. Switch sides and repeat the steps.
- I am strong – Warrior 2 Pose
How to practice Warrior 2 Pose: Start in a standing position. Step one foot back, bend your front
knee, and open your hips to the side. Then reach both arms up, parallel to your legs, and look over your front fingertips. Make sure your front knee is bent forward so that your knee is over your ankle. Say: I am strong. Switch sides and repeat the steps.
- I am peaceful – Peaceful Warrior Pose
How to practice Peaceful Warrior Pose (or Reverse Warrior Pose): Come to a standing position and step your left foot back, angling your toes slightly outward. Raise your arms parallel to the floor, bringing your right hand forward and your left hand back. Bend your front knee and look forward. Flip your right palm up to the sky, tilt your torso backward, and rest your left hand on your left thigh. Look up at your extended hand, open your chest, and keep your spine long and straight. Say: I am peaceful. Come back to center and repeat on the other side.
- I am a superhero – Warrior 3 Pose
How to practice Warrior 3 Pose: Stand on one leg. Extend the other leg behind you, flexing your foot.
Bend your torso forward and take your arms back alongside your body. Say: I am a superhero. Switch sides and repeat the steps
9. Relaxation
Superheroes need lots of rest. We relax like superheroes on our back with our arms out at our sides.
10. Tense and Relax
In relaxation, we get our bodies super relaxed by tensing all our body parts at the same time, and then relaxing them all at once. We do this 3x.
While still in Resting Pose, tell students to tense up all of their muscles at one time, squeezing as tightly as they can for five seconds, and then let go. Some of their muscles squeeze like that without them even knowing it when they are feeling mad, sad, scared, or nervous.
This will help these superheroes become super relaxed.
Download your Superhero Yoga Poster
MAY WE SUGGEST…
About the Author
Lani Rosen-Gallagher is a former primary school teacher, the founder of Full of Joy Yoga, mom to a beautiful young boy, and author of Mindful Yoga Breaks Cards. Her goal is to improve the lives and futures of children by practicing yoga with them and playing healthy games that help them find joy, laugh, love, and grow. Find the Superhero Breaths in Lani’s awesome Mindful Yoga Breaks cards.
Superhero Meditation for Kids
Carolyn Clarke, from Bambino Yoga, author of Imaginations books for children has generously offered to share her Superhero meditation story. This relaxation story can be found in her book, Imaginations 3: Guided Meditations and Yoga for Kids (Amazon affiliate):
Imagine that you are a superhero.
Put on your costume.
Is it a cape?
A mask?
A full bodysuit?
Imagine your superpowers.
Can you become invisible?
Can you climb walls?
Do you have x-ray vision or super-human strength?
Imagine you have as many superpowers as you wish.
Now imagine how you travel.
Can you fly?
Can you run really fast?
Do you have a special car or plane?
Now imagine using your superpowers to help someone.
Your superpowers save the day!
Where would you go?
What would you do?
Now imagine you turn back into yourself.
You still have superpowers, and you can still save the day.
You are smart, strong, and kind.
Now think to yourself, “I am smart. I am strong. I am kind.”
Can you think of more superpowers you have?
Think of all the things that make you great.
Imagine you save the day again,
Just being yourself because you are a superhero.
Superhero meditation story in Imagination 3 book by Carolyn Clarke
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