Rise and Shine Yoga

We have been very busy the last few weeks with more partner yoga, the ABC's of Yoga and our first kriya. We have been working on different meditations and strategies for handling the daily challenges of school.  We began sitali breathing, breath of fire and learned how to do the ego eradicator. Next week will be our last week together until the spring.  Enjoy the pictures!

Lap Circle-WE DID IT!

Kriya for spine alignment

The ABC's of Yoga by Teresa Anne Power

Grace in Flower pose

Strong Warriors

Rise and Shine Yoga-week 4

Partner Yoga-fun!!! WE ended our morning with the "I am," meditation.  It was a great morning!  DOn't forget, we will meet next Tuesday, instead of Monday, in lieu of the Veteran's Day holiday.

Rise and Shine Yoga

Hurricane Sandy couldn't stop us from our morning yoga practice!  We had a great time with some spooky Halloween yoga.  We did a half moon on a scary night, a witch's broomstick (crescent moon), scary cats, frog pose (the main ingredient in a witch's brew), creaky gates, troll bridge (tickle table) and some of us even tried to be scary crows!  Check out the picture of Luke C-those swimming arms really help!  We even learned to breathe like dragons (breath of fire) and how to chop wood to break through anger and negative thought patterns.

Rise and Shine Yoga

Due to Hurricane Sandy, and the  closing of school, Rise and Shine Yoga will NOT meet on Monday morning, 10/29.  We will meet Tuesday morning instead.  For the "purpose of playing," (thanks Mr. Swinamer :)), Yoga will meet on the FIRST morning that school is in session.  Let's hope it's Tuesday.  See if you can come up with an asana or mudra while you wait out the storm.

Yoga for the Ladybug 5k

I was asked to lead a quick :10 minute yoga stretch for children and a 15 minute set for adults at theLadybug 5k today. I enlisted the help of two veteran RCY students, Nathan and Kate to help me.  They wrote the set and Nathan created a Power Point of the asanas that he and Kate wanted to showcase.  The children in the first set ranged in age from 1 1/2 to 10.  It was quite an interesting and exciting  experience.  I think we'll call it "Speed Yoga!"  Kate, Nathan and I made sure to tune in together before we started so that we would all be coming from the same place and would be combining our energy. This really made all the difference.  The adult set went well and then we did an impromptu set for teenagers!  We squeezed A LOT of yoga into 40 minutes.  I donated my time as a volunteer for this fund raiser and as a special bonus, Radiant Child Yoga was listed as a Corporate Sponsor of the event!  So many blessings :)
 Click here to see the video of some of the children's set! Pictures to follow!  Enjoy.

Rise and Shine Yoga

Rise and Shine Yoga

It was a great first class this morning!  Such a mellow group, but lots of laughing and having fun!  I am looking forward to our next few weeks together!  Here we are playing a yoga game using one of the poses we learned this morning.

Young Yogis

Signups for Rise and Shine Yoga are open!  Click here to sign up online!

Classroom Yoga

The students asked for yoga today!  We had a busy morning, LOTS of learning, and took a motion break around 10:30.  Everyone said "Can we PLEASE do some yoga?"  We did a quick set, got their bodies moving, in tune with their breathing,  and their minds refocused ,ready for the next task.  Children know what their bodies need, we just need to listen to them. Sat Nam.

Young Yogi

We celebrated Guruatma's birthday with a "cake." Fresh watermelon after a Wahe Guru kriya set was a great way to celebrate Guruatma's life and all that she has done for us and for making the world a better place.

Here is the NHS class of 2015 on a scavnenger hunt. They had to all do "Tree Pose," under a tree. Don't they look great! This was the first pose for many of them, and Liv taught them. I guess she is a yogi after all :)

Yogi Parents

Click here for a great article about Yoga and Autism by Shakta Khalsa, founder of Radiant Child Yoga.  Yoga can be so beneficial for all children, but especially for children with Autism or for those who are on the spectrum.  Enjoy!

Young Yogis

Here is an interview that I did with Shakta Khalsa at Kripalu on school yoga.  Enjoy!!

Young Yogis

A student in Mrs. Adams' class, who is also a yoga student, left this message on a card in a textbook before turning it in.  The yoga movement at JFK is spreading...I LOVE IT!!!

Young Yogis

Saw this quote today and thought it was perfect, especially for all of my young yogi friends,: "Be yourself, everyone else is taken." :)
It reminded me of what I say to you all everyday, "Be your own person."

Young Yogis

What's the best cure for losing a baseball game and getting REALLY angry about it?  Yoga with mom!  Luke pounded it out and rocked some very cool poses.  Bundle roll got him laughing and helped him ease into relaxation.  Meditation was Ra Ma Da Sa, Sa Se So Hung for getting right back to center.  The best part was the "thanks mom."  :)

Young Yogis

One of our classmates has had a really tough week and could use our positive energy, thoughts and prayers. Please take some time today, or this week, to think about Jasmin and send her all of your positive intentions. We love you Jasmin and are thinking of you!

Sat Nam,

Mrs. Williams

Rise and Shine

On Monday, we did our first Kundalini yoga Kriya! It was for Spine alignment. Kryia means "action," in Sanskrit. Priya thought I kept saying her name! :) We also did a meditation for a calm heart, this group LOVES to meditate! Next Monday is our last class for this school year.

Rise and Shine

This group of yogis really enjoys meditation, and they are good at it! We have been going longer and longer in meditation, and yesterday we learned the Sa Ta Na Ma meditation. We have been talking a great deal about when we use yoga outside of class, and many yogis could give great examples of how yoga helps them in the classroom, at home, before an athletic competition and many more. One yogi said that when he was in the waiting room at the hospital, waiting to see if his brother was alright after hitting his head in a hockey game, the noise, people and stress were a lot to handle. He knew he had to relax, so he found a quiet spot and starting doing "downward dog." It worked instantly! Way to go!

Rise and Shine

Here is the double cobra invented by Nolan.
















We have been doing partner yoga for the last two weeks and have been having great fun. Nolan even created a new pose called the "double cobra." It was great for flexibility and focus. The feather game had us using our intuition to find a feather in small groups, and everyone really got into the game. We have also increased our silent meditation time to three minutes! Check out some of these photos of young yogis in partner poses!