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We’ve long admired Donna Freeman’s work through her site Yoga In My School – an ever-growing compendium of information and resources on yoga for the classroom. So suffice it to say, we were honored by her review of the debut DVD in our Kids Teach Yoga series, Flying Eagle:
I absolutely love that the entire class is inspired and led by children. Young Haley leads the class with poise, confidence and clarity. She hands off the teacher’s mat to student leaders who take over during various activities and who receive compliments for their efforts and willingness to lead. Haley is matter of fact with her presentation using vocabulary, poses and visualizations appropriate for an elementary aged audience. The children modeling the class represent average children everywhere and help to encourage all to participate and adopt a “can-do attitude.”
The class itself is well thought out and includes breathing exercises with props (hoberman sphere & rock), floor work, standing poses, sun salutations with variations for ability & strength, partner and group poses, reclined twists and a final relaxation. There are 15 different activities in 20 minutes which may feel a little fast but which provides great opportunities to pause and explore at your leisure before pressing play to continue. Other kids will find the pace perfect to keep them engaged and active.
Thank you, Donna, for such a glowing recommendation – and for giving your readers the opportunity to win a copy of Flying Eagle of their own.
That’s the real news we wanted to draw attention to here.
The contest ends at 9 pm MDT on May 31, so you’ll need to act fast.
Visit Yoga In My School now to find out how to enter!
View the trailer for Flying Eagle or hear Haley talk about her experiences leading other kids in Yoga Calm activities.
P.S. – Thinking about attending this year’s Yoga Calm Summer Intensive in Carver, Oregon, June 23 – 29? We hope to see you there, but time’s running out to register. More info and online registration is available here.
Kids love to follow other kids. This was the inspiration for our first DVD for children, Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle, which earlier this month won the Mom’s Choice Award® Gold in Home and Mobile Viewing Category.
It’s an honor we’re extremely proud of, for the Mom’s Choice Awards are known for establishing the benchmark of excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. Parents, educators, librarians and retailers rely on them when selecting quality materials for children and families.
The honor is Yoga Calm’s second such recognition from Mom’s Choice. In 2008, Jim and I received their Silver Award for our book Yoga Calm for Children: Educating Heart, Mind and Body.
Designed for home and classroom use, Flying Eagle presents a very special Yoga Calm class in which 12 year old Haley, graceful and confident, leads a diverse group of boys and girls on a yoga adventure. The children learn how to calm themselves and use simple yoga poses to develop the strengths of the eagle: strength, focus and caring.
To build social skills and a sense of community, each child contributes by leading activities and giving each other compliments. Other team-building activities include Tree Circle, in which the kids help each other learn more advanced balance poses.
One of the most poignant scenes comes near the end of class when student Rylie invokes her Native American heritage’s love and respect for the eagle through a beautiful original song she performs during Haley’s relaxation storytelling.
Each time I watch this class, I’m touched by the poise and compassion of Haley and the students. And they all continue to practice Yoga Calm at home and school, which delights me.
Jim and I hope that as more children try yoga, they will learn how to direct their youthful energy and passion to helping others and making the world a better place.
- Lynea Gillen
Learning to lead and follow are important life skills. Learning to balance leading and following are essential in relationships. (Who hasn’t known a person who negatively affects relationships because of their need to always be in charge or someone so passive, they never take the lead?)
Thus, an essential part of our Yoga Calm classes is to encourage all students to take turns in leading the activities. After all, every student has a gift to share. One may be very good at storytelling; another has a song to share; others excel at drumming or leading the poses. So each student is given the opportunity to share it through leadership. As children find their place in the class, they begin to understand their own gifts and see how the gifts of others benefit the community.
Leading is also an excellent feedback mechanism for the students. When a student leads in a goofy way, the whole class reflects the silliness. For the leader to get the class under control, they must find their own strength and stillness. The class will mirror their inner state.
When leading, students learn to read the class and make decisions based on collective need rather than individual want. For instance, if a student says they want to hold Plank Pose for 100 beats of the drum and there are students in the class who can’t do this, the leader must adjust their needs and desires to those of the group – and make a responsible choice.
We sometimes allow students to make mistakes in leading – so long as they don’t put any students at risk – so they can see the outcome of their choices. For example, one day a boy who got up to lead the breathing exercise was acting very silly. The class got pretty wild, and he asked us how to get it back under control. We reminded him that he knew how to get it under control: he had to find his own strength and stillness, which he did, quickly pulling the class back together. It was a great lesson for him in seeing how the world responds to what we put out – a particularly important lesson for students with ADHD weaknesses!
As students learn to self-regulate and develop compassion for what it means to be a teacher, classroom management becomes easier. The students take more responsibility for “their” class, and they learn important life skills. Experience in leading and following also helps build strong community and promotes greater equality in class.
Our new DVD Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle demonstrates this beautifully. In it, you will see how the process of leading, compliments and sharing individual gifts all come together into a deep and meaningful experience.
