Just keep sharing, just keep sharing!!!

In the 2003 digital pic, Finding Nemo, Dory coaches Nemo to "just keep swimming". Nemo, lost and in search of returning to family, hesitates and then eventually gets the importance of moving forward.

You and I, me and you: let's move forward in 2019 and create ripple effects about the importance of mindfulness and yoga on and off the mat in homes, schools, museums, and beyond. In my own original research we discovered that 94% of preschool aged children think yoga is fun; consider what else they think is "fun" and unpack the significance of what it could mean when all youth have tools to feel aware, in control, connected to self and others, whole and complete.

Just keep sharing, just keep sharing.....

When I think about yoga, mindfulness, youth, teachers, parents, communities, I see and even feel in my own body, mind and gut the need for us to work together to create and share information—and especially research— about the benefits of learning and practicing awareness and self-regulation strategies.

Conscious intuitive astrologer Molly McCord recently shared that now (yes, like right now!) is the time to create Soul Contracts. What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life, asks poet Mary Oliver and I am, too! This new year brings a series of events (stay tuned to hear more!) that have me writing a Soul Contract to be a stand for supporting teachers and parents with integrating simple yet powerful intentional tools into lives of people of all ages so that we can be and know ourselves as empowered, extraordinary, peaceful, aware, insightful human-kinds.

How do we spread the word about what so many of us know intuitively about the benefits of yoga and mindfulness? Just keep sharing, just keep sharing.....

Check out the Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® Facebook page and share what you like, ask questions, be curious. Also, as you create and publish, and see information I can share with my 10k+ friends, please tag me either on the YYY page or my personal one, Beth Reese. 

I'm bbbaaaaacccckkkkkkkkkk! And look forward to what we can create and share.... together.

<3 <3 <3
Beth

Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT
Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®, Founder & Executive Director
yoginos.com :: elizabeth@yoginos.com 
361.563.7448

Family Time Friday: Back-to-School Bliss, Part I

As we prepare to kick off a new, OHMazing® school year, many of us—including parents and our kids!—may be feeling mixed emotions. Some of us may be feeling nervous, anxious, excited, ready, not ready, some or all of the above! Emotions are not good or bad: they just are! And when we do not feel "our best," there are tools and techniques all of us can integrate into our daily lives to help feel more grounded, focused, and peaceful.

Jordan and me (August, 2015)

One of my favorite activities for use on and off the mat that helps me balance whatever I am feeling is from our Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® curricula, Flor Fuerte/Flower Power Breath/Pranayama. This ool is perfect for ages 6 months+. This is balancing because when we breathe in deeply we gain energy, and when we breathe out slowly we cultivate calmness.

The universe gave me this activity when my oldest daughter, Jordan, now 15, was about 7 years old. Jordan struggled with her sensory processing and when she started keeping this "in her pocket" for use anywhere and anytime, she immediately noticed and shared a difference in how she felt. In fact, she began to "pay it forward" and taught many of her friends the gift of flower power breath. As Jordan has transitioned into a tween and now full-on teen, she shared that she used this tool during her high school interview. I also can hear her practice this breathing while learning to drive; I'm pretty sure I am exhaling slowly, too!


Flor Fuerte/Flower Power Breath/Pranayama

Breathe in deeply and pretend to smell a flower. Deep breathing calms your whole body down. Before you open up a new book to  read or before you try something new, take five Flower Power breaths. When your body
is calm, your focus and memory will be strong.
Pose Instructions:
• Sit with your legs crossed.
• Reach out in front of you and pretend to pick a flower.
• Bring the imaginary flower to your nose and smell your flower, breathing in through your nose.
• Breathe out slowly through your nose and open your hand like a blooming flower.
• Reach your other hand out to pick a new flower and repeat the pose. Try doing five Flower Power breaths.

We have had great success with Flower Power and other easily accessible activities that this year we opened an online studio and resource site, The OHMazing® Way. It is geared to empower parents and teachers to learn and share health and wellness techniques for all ages. The OHMazing® Way has several "rooms" including Mindful Fitness, Wellness Wonderland, Creative Cache and Treasures for Teachers. Join us for a first month FREE!


by Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, Founder & CEO, Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®. FMI on our programs including adult trainings, yoga in schools, award-winning and bilingual products, see our website. You can contact Beth here.

Me Gusta Yogiños!

Welcome to OHMusings: The Yogiños Blog! Here we play, laugh, pose, ponder and practice making OHMazing® choices for yourself, others and the environment!

Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® is a research-based, trilingual, mindfulness and yoga program designed to empower people of all ages to make OHMazing® choices for their bodies, minds and hearts on and off the yoga mat. Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® was founded in 2008 by Elizabeth B. Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, when she realized that integrating yoga and mindfulness into the lives of her children was benefitting not only her family, but also having an empowering ripple effect on her community.

Yogiños: Yoga for Youth programs include:

• Trainings: designed for parents, educators, instructors, therapists, counselors, and almost anyone who works with kids
• Schools: research-informed in-services and programs for schools preK-12
• Locations: classes for families and kids of all ages both in the U.S. and internationally
• Membership: access to online resources, classes, and activities designed to weave mindfulness into daily lives of families and classrooms
• Business: opportunities and support to establish and expand your own kids yoga program
• Products: educational, bilingual, and award-winning products including books, music, activity cards, DVDs, and more

 Since 1999 I have explored Iyengar, Hatha, Hot, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Anusara, power yoga, Jivamukti and Yin Yoga. I completed an Anusara Immersion and teacher training with Christina Sell in 2009 and currently am working toward Anusara Inspired Certification. I enjoy studying and practicing with many yogis; I have taken classes and workshops with "Richard from Texas," David Belz, Sharon Gannon, Paul Grilley, Jules Febre, John Friend, Manorama, Judith Hanson Lasater, David Life, Sarah Powers, Saul David Raye, Desiree Rumbaugh, Sianna Sherman and Doug Swenson. I am the mother of three OHMazing yogis under the age of 16.

I look forward to meeting you and introducing you to the incredible team with whom I play and work!

Create an OHMazing® Day,
Beth

Happy Independence Day!

Celebrate Independence Day with this OHMazing® class from Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® instructor, Emily Aven!

Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® + Wanderlust Wanderkind Kids Program = OHMazing Summer Fun!

 Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® will provide kids programs at Wanderlust Colorado July 5-8!

The Wanderlust Wanderkind Kids Program is the number one spot on-site for kids ages 4-10 to have a safe and exceptionally cool Wanderlust experience all of their own. Custom tailored to the interests of Wanderlust families, the Wanderkind kids program, is held on-site at each festival location and runs from 9:30 am to 4 pm Friday through Sunday. All activities, like kid's yoga, music, hula-hooping, and arts and crafts, are included in the program. Kids and parents will be responsible for their own lunches, but can enjoy samples from kid-friendly snack sponsors. Tickets are $50 per day. Want more info on the daily activities? Scroll down below!

Tree Toss is one of the many games
 we play to practice balance,
sharing and team-work.

 

 

CLASS INFO:

Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® is an OHMazing™ interdisciplinary kids yoga curriculum in English, Spanish, and Sanskrit. Our yoga for kids program weaves together wellness and the 8 Limbs of yoga with original art, music, games, stories, and other mindful, sensory-integrated activities to promote flexibility, strength, balance, collaboration, civic and social responsibility, mindfulness, and nutrition on and off the yoga mat. www.yoginos.com and info@yoginos.com

We look forward to meeting you and your kids and posing, playing and learning about ourselves, others and the Earth! Each day we will weave works of art and music with activities touching on all aspects of yoga including pranayama, individual and partner yoga poses, cardiovascular and relaxation exercises.

THURSDAY, JULY 5: The Story of Ganesha
How did Ganesha become known as the elephant-headed prince? Spend the day on an adventure of self-reflection and empowerment through the story of Ganesha, a beloved Hindi elephant prince.

FRIDAY, JULY 6: The Hero in Me
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no... it’s EACH OF US! Join us as we play and pose learning how each one of us is a hero and heroine.

Vishnu

Cambodia, Khmer culture
Sandstone

1999.30

Crow Collection of Asian Art


SATURDAY, JULY 7: Vishnu's OHMazing Journeys
Vishnu's OHMazing™ Journeys weaves together ancient narratives of the hero Vishnu and the heroine Lakshmi through yoga, art, music, and dance. We will celebrate our own journeys and the choices we make as we build relationships and extend love to ourselves, to others, and to the universe.

SUNDAY, JULY 8: Lean on Me
Learn to lean and be leaned on both on and off the mat! We will pose and play games that offer opportunities to practice communication skills in various ways. “Just call on me brother, when you need a hand, we all need somebody to lean on!” (Lean on Me lyrics by Bill Withers)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

originally posted:
5/4/12

Wanderkind Colorado: Class Info + Day By Day Activities

Tags: Colorado

Yamas, You's & Yoga for Youth

Photo credit: David Perrone

by Elizabeth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT

              

Sometimes, when I share with people that I weave Pantajali’s Eight Limbs or paths of yoga into Yogiños: Yoga for Youth classes, I get “the brow.”

You know “the brow.” And you know the variation accompanied with a strained ardha lipasana: the half-lip smirk.

My response is that while I may not read to kids excerpts from the Yoga Sutra’s, I do nurture opportunities for us to discuss ways to make mindful—or OHMazing—choices for the self, others and the earth. Here is one way I present Yamas to youth.

First, I reveal that Yamas are ways we can take care of the you’s and others in the world.

I purposefully selected this connection of Yama and you. Even for kids as young as three years old, I further explain that sometimes “even I” have a hard time remembering new information, and Yamas and “you” both begin with “Y”. This mnemonic tool assists learning acquisition. Moreover, for young readers it provides opportunities to play with language and alliteration.

There are numerous ways we can embrace the Yamas. One way is to to show compassion and kindness to all living things, including the “you’s” in our lives, ourselves and the earth. Pantajali calls this constant employment of empathy and care—or nonviolence—Ahimsa.

Elena Brower, Yoga Journal Conference,
New York, April 2012

In a recent class with Elena Brower, she invited us to bring the “you” in our lives who offers us the most contraction. She asked us to see that person, as well as ourselves, with compassion. Elena mindfully threaded this theme throughout the class occasionally highlighting—or knotting, if you will—that when we see all others with kindness, we allow ourselves to live and grow more fully into a place of constant grace.

For example, in an extended pose like utkatasana or chair, and of course while we felt that fantastic contraction in our whole bodies, Elena asked us to breathe through the sensation of tightness and strain. Here she skillfully connected this physical sensation to ones we feel when we are confronted with someone for whom we have ill feelings.

While Elena’s eloquent language may be high-level for a kindergartner, the message that we can have Ahimsa for the you’s or others in our lives—and simultaneously invite grace into our own lives—is worth attending to at every age.

To provide a physical embodiment of the Yama Ahimsa to kids and families, one of the many asanas I offer is what Yogiños: Yoga for Youth calls in its trilingual approach, Tierra/Dwi Apanasana/Earth.

Instructions:

1. Lie on back in Savasana (Zzzzzzz)
2. Pull knees into chest and wrap hands or arms around knees for a full squeeze.
3. Rock back and forth if it is comfortable.

Opportunities for Discussion:

• Invite your yogis to do this asana thinking about how much they love the earth for giving us so much.
• “As you hug and love yourself that is an important step to love and honor others and the earth.”
• Or “Remember that loving yourself is one of the best ways you can love others and the environment.”
• Next, ask your participants to think of someone with whom they struggle. Encourage them to hug, rock, and love this person as they want to be loved and held.
• If we can show compassion for others, it often enables us to treat ourselves with more kindness or Ahimsa. Afterwards, discuss how they felt in the pose showing kindness to the earth, others, and themselves.

Read more: Yoga in Schools Aligns Body, Mind & Heart

Photo credit: David Perrone

Elizabeth “Beth” Reese, Ph.D., E-RYT, RCYT, is the founder and executive director of Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®. A yoga practitioner for over 13 years, Beth is the mother of three OHMazing yogis under the age of 13. Her oldest daughter, Jordan, is part of the inspiration for Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® as she learned to navigate challenges associated with Sensory-Integration “Disorder” through practicing all 8 Limbs of yoga.Yogiños: Yoga for Youth offers classes for children and families as well as trainings for classroom teachers, yoga instructors, parents, and others interested in bringing yoga and healthy choices to all ages.elizabeth@yoginos.com

Via elephantjournal.com

on Apr 19, 2012

3 Breaths for the 3-Year-Old in Each of Us

By Elizabeth Reese

Learning how to mindfully breathe was tough for me as an adult. My mind tugged on the rest of me to knock-this-off and return to old habits of reacting rapidly rather than responding responsibly. The key that unlocked my paths to pranayama first and foremost was counting.

One, two, three.

Three, two, one.

One, two, three.

Three, two, one.

I admit it. It felt a bit silly for my adult mind—accompanied by its childlike or untrained response system—to count silently. Yet this simplicity is perhaps why counting was one of the best tools for me to step onto the paths of pranayama, or the art of how to breathe mindfully.

Uno, dos, tres.

Tres, dos, uno.

Uno, dos, tres.

Tres, dos, uno.

After years of experimenting, counting breath is a form of pranayama I teach to yogis of all ages, including kids, teens and adults. While evoking counting may seem overly-simple, in my experiences that is precisely why it works: a familiar, safe element is offered in tandem with something new. This is part of an educational theory known as constructivism and is one of the foundational educational philosophies we use in Yogiños: Yoga for Youth classes.

We also use different languages, specifically, Spanish, English and Sanskrit. While a book could be inserted here providing research and data as to why we weave different languages, one reason is based on constructivism. 

Many youth today join our classes with ranges of familiarity or full comprehension of another or various languages. Accordingly, we use a trilingual yoga approach to simultaneously provide opportunities for yogis of all ages to physically, mentally and emotionally draw from their core knowledge and they expand outward into new experiences and understandings. 

Uno, Dos, Tres/Eka, Dwi, Trik/One, Two, Three

Instructions and discussions: 

•  Inhale through your nose for count of 3
•  Exhale out of your mouth for count of 3
•  Repeat several times.
•  What feels easy? What feels more challenging?
•  Notice how it may be hard at first to exhale slowly, then how good it feels to develop control.
•  Where can we use this breath when we feel out of control?

Try counting in different languages: 

• English: one, two, three
• Spanish: uno, dos, tres
• Sanskrit: eka, dwi, trk
• French: un, deux, trois
• German: eins, zwei, drei
• Japanese: ichi, ni, san

What languages can you share to help us expand more fully into new experiences and understandings?

 

About Elizabeth Reese

Elizabeth "Beth" Reese, Ph.D., E-RYT, RCYT is the founder and CEO of  Yogiños: Yoga for Youth, an OHMazing interdisciplinary yoga for kids program in English, Spanish, and Sanskrit. Yogiños: Yoga for Youth weaves together the 8 Limbs of yoga and wellness with original art, music, games, stories, and other sensory-integrated activities to promote flexibility, strength, balance, collaboration, civic and social responsibility, mindfulness, and nutrition on and off the yoga mat. Yogiños: Yoga for Youth offers classes for children and families as well as trainings for classroom teachers, yoga instructors, parents, and others interested in bringing yoga and healthy choices to all ages. 

Website: yoginos.com

Facebook: facebook.com/yoginos

Twitter: @Yoginos

 

Originally Published on MindBodyGreen April 24, 2012 at 9:40 AM