In 2006 I arrived on my first yoga mat during my pregnancy of my daughter. A year later I was teaching preschool and fitness classes to children as way to continue to be with her on a daily basis. Last January I showed up to my first Grounded Yoga experience with Level 1,
Last week President Obama visited College Heights Early Childhood Education Center where I teach yoga to 1 year olds and up since last year. When I asked my students several questions regarding the time they spent with President Obama, my passion for the importance of teaching yoga to preschoolers was completely validate.
I want to share some experiences and some trial and errors to encourage teachers to continue with their mission, even when it seems like you’ve hit the wall, or run out of ideas, or question if you are making a difference.
Yes, we all hit the wall. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t know what’s on the other side. The climb over can be tough, but anything that’s easy is just that, easy. Teaching children is a challenge. Teachers need to be able to tap into their own light, with conviction, to put forth their best effort, class after class, year after year. All teachers understand that, right? But, what if you are teaching pre-school children? What if you are introducing them to something brand new and want them to love it so they will continue? What if you were teaching them yoga?
It’s summer break for College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center in Decatur where I’ve been teaching Pre-Grounded Yoga classes to the entire school, ages 1 – 4. Being the official yoga teacher is an honor, very rewarding, and a whole lot of work. Stephany Fair (co-creator of Pre-Grounded) and I agree that being the very first person to introduce yoga to someone is a priveledge we hope more people willexperience. Here are some practical pointers based on my time teaching little ones to breathe, meditate and move their bodies in such a way that they are grounded, connected and peaceful. {“video”:”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NCqkJx3-SE&feature=youtu.be”,”width”:”400″,”height”:”300″}
Sedef Dion who teaches a Pre-Grounded class at Springs Yoga shared with me the story of a four year old girl who in the cutest way mistakenly called Savasana….Lasagna. This inspired me to write a Savasana visualization with a Lasagna theme that Amy and I recently used to connect with our Fernbank Elementary Yoga Club students. After we did our practice complete with the Lasagna Savasana, one of our students..the Principal’s seven year old daughter said…”that was so relaxing…this could help me fall asleep at night”. Since it was her birthday that day, we wanted to put together a recording that her parents could play for her as she lays her head down for a good night rest after a long day.
