Our 4 year old trying a couple new postures :)
With yoga for kids keep it totally voluntary and lots of fun! Postures for kids needn’t be corrected, it’s more important they enjoy themselves.
You’ll find that just doing your practice with your child present will teach them and they will pick up details of the poses over time. Those young ones are quite perceptive ;)
Be willing to break your routine and get playful if they decide to join in. Have a mat set out for them!
Bond and enjoy this time by adding touch via 2 person postures and laughter with poses like lion and even made up ones like “peter pan pose” (surely I don’t have to explain that? haha) and jumping monkey pose (eee ee eee eee with flailing & pit scratching arms lol).
Enjoy!
Matsyasana, or Fish Pose is the counter-pose to the plough, so coming after it in your practice. It is lying on your back and arching your chest.
The beginners version of matsyasana has the legs straight while the advanced has the legs in full lotus position. The advanced pose is not shown here and should only be performed if one can maintain padmasana (full lotus position) for an extended period of time.
* Safeties *
- As always, listen to your body and don’t stretch further than you are able. Yoga should be comfortable, not painful though we will feel it when we are learning to gain flexibility.
- It is said that people who suffer from heart disease, hernia, back conditions, any serious illness or those who are pregnant should not practice this asana.
- Always consult a certified trainer if you have questions about the safety of your practice and these postures for you
STEP 1 - ON YOUR BACK
Assume the Corpse Pose for as long as you like and, when you are ready, begin to come into the fish. Stay flat on your back, and bring your feet together. With your arms straight by your sides, lay your palms on the floor, then tuck your hands in underneath your buttocks.
STEP 2 - HEAD & BACK UP
With your hands under your buttocks slowly use your elbows to help raise your head and chest off the ground and gaze at your toes.
Adjust your elbows to be as close together as they can be - not spread out beside you but close under your back.
STEP 3 - HEAD BACK
Arch your spine and tilt your head back so that your crown touches on the ground.
Press your elbows down on the floor, inhale, and arch your chest upward as far as you can.
Hold for 30 seconds as a beginner and extend to 1 to 3 minutes with experience.
COMING OUT
To come out of the Fish, slowly lift your head and straighten your spine so that you are again gazing at your toes (just as you went up). Slowly extend your elbows lowering your head and your chest back to the ground with control.
Release the hands and relax in savasana (corpse pose)
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thanks to Miranda for the great image!
Halasana or plough pose is the 3rd of the 12 basic asanas.
In the Plough, your body is bent forward; this stretches your entire spine, particularily your cervical vertebrae and shoulders.
* Safeties *
- As always, listen to your body and don’t stretch further than you are able. Yoga should be comfortable, not painful though we will feel it when we are learning to gain flexibility.
- It is said that Halasana should not be practiced by those who are old or infirm, suffering from hernia, sciatica or slipped disc.
- Always consult a certified trainer if you have questions about the safety of your practice and these postures for you
STEP 1 - LEGS OVER
Come up into a Shoulderstand, and inhale deeply. Exhale while lowering your feet to the floor behind your head.
STEP 2 - LEGS DOWN
Rest your toes on the floor, then lay your arms down flat. Hold for 30 seconds at first, but aim to build up to 2 minutes.
If you cannot lower your feet all the way, just do what you’re able and keep your knees straight.
Beginners may keep your hands on your back, as in the shoulderstand, for support. More advanced practitioners can clasp their hands together on the floor
To come out, keep your hands palms down on the floor at your (would be) sides, lift your feet off the floor, keep your knees straight, and slowly roll down “vertebrae by vertebrae”. Relax in Savasana (corpse pose).
PLOUGH VARIATION
You may try this variation if you are supple enough. Once in the Plough, lower your knees to the floor by your ears. Hook your arms over your legs. To come out, straighten your knees, then slowly roll down as described above.
Consciousness looks outward, through the intellect, through the mind, and then through the senses and body. It sees a reflection, like a mirror. It sees reality, a world, a self-identity, which it falsely thinks to be “me” or “mine.” Through the forgetting power of avidya (ignorance), pure consciousness says, “I am this or that!”
This is not all bad, for it gives the opportunity for the joy of awakening, through a journey called Yoga, returning to the wholeness that was never really divided in the first place.
“
~ Posture #2 of the 12 basic asanas ~
Sarvangasana is an inverted pose with the body resting on the shoulders.
“Sarvangasana, the Sanskrit name for the Shoulderstand, comes from the word “sarva”, meaning whole. This Asana strengthens your entire body; it gives many of the benefits of the Headstand, but here the circulation is directed to your thyroid gland instead of the head.” - from the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta site
* Safeties *
- It is suggested that this asana should not be practiced by people with enlarged thyroid, liver or spleen, any cervical or spinal issue, high blood pressure or other heart ailments, impure blood, thrombosis or weak blood vessels in the eyes.
- It is suggested this and all inverted asana’s not be practiced during menstruation or preganancy
STEP 1 - LEGS IN THE AIR
Before beginning the Shoulderstand, make sure that there is enough room behind you. You must be able to stretch your arms out behind your head and have at least 30 cm (1 ft) between your fingertips and any obstructions. Lie flat on your back, with your feet together. Inhale while bringing your legs up to a right angle.
STEP 2 - MOVING UP
When your legs are verticle, press the arms and hands down on the floor then slowly and smoothly roll the buttocks and spine off of the floor as you raise your trunk to a vertical position.
Turn the palms of your hands upward, bend the elbows and place the hands behind the ribcage on either side of your spine to support your back. The elbows should about shoulder width apart or closer together.
STEP 3 - IN BALANCE
Once you are up and resting on your shoulders, breathe normally or better, deeply from the abdomen, and keep your legs straight but relaxed. Hold for 30 seconds; as the pose becomes easier, increase the time to 3 minutes.
COMING OUT
To come down, drop your feet halfway to the floor behind your head. Put your hands on the floor. Unroll your body vertebra by vertebra to the floor.
