Teaching kids yoga is more than it seems, here is some life lessons from little yogis.

Joy as practice

When you sit down with a class full of toddlers to preschoolers. There is no room for anything but joy. From the moment they walk in, you can feel their excitement and enthusiasm for everything! Reminding us that there is so much magic that surrounds us, we as adults seem to forget.

From the bug they found in the playground, to their new sparkly shoes, the dinosaur on their t-shirt or the world of imaginative story telling. Little people are our greatest teachers. Joy being at the forefront of all of the lessons we will learn.

How can we turn joy into a practice?

It begins by noticing, instead of rushing through life, from one thing to the next. Stop and notice, the way the trees sway in the wind, the butterfly as it flutters past, the sound of the birds. Magic is found in the simplest of moments.

Return to hobbies you loved as a kid, pick up a paintbrush, jump on a trampoline, get the skateboard out, or anything that guides you from a busy mind, to a lightness in your heart.

Anything lets your mind rest completely in the present moment!

Say goodbye to your perfect plan dear Virgo!

We’ve all been there, excited to implement a new practice, it’s all been planned to a tee on paper and then you walk into class and it doesn’t go the way you planned. PIVOT! You can’t predict the energy of a classroom until you’re in it and experiencing it.

Teaching kids has always taught me to hold a plan loosely, to pivot gracefully and follow the interests of the room. Each room has their own little vibe, so what works for one class won’t work for the other. It’s important to lean into their interests, follow what lights them up, turn the ‘silly call out’ into a real practice that makes them laugh.

Sometimes the best aspects of class, are the ones created from following their lead!

Release perfection in your own practice, drop from the mind and into feeling…

If you find yourself struggling with perfection, the discipline of a structured practice may not be the most beneficial (of course, it still might be). When you are in a state of perfectionism - discipline, control and structure come easy.

But what if practice got a little messier, if you followed what you felt, instead of what you know you ‘should’ do? If you leaned into movements that were a little more fluid, let go of the rules and just allowed yourself to experience the joy of movement. With no expectation, no perfection and no desired outcome. Play with movement, you can always return to structure.

Be ultra present in everything that you do…

Kids have an innate ability to be ultra present. They haven’t fully grasped to concept of past and future just yet and my how beautiful it is. Everything is in the NOW, a big emotion rushes over them and the feel it in its full, they might cry for something that made them sad and then 30 seconds later something makes them laugh and they are laughing uncontrollably. It really is so beautiful to see the world through their eyes.

And because kids are so present, as a teacher it’s important to be ultra present when sharing yoga with the room. As soon as your mind slips elsewhere, or you are thinking of two things at once, the attention of our little yogis starts to drift. They can feel when you have drifted, and then so do they.

Infuse presence into your everyday!

The biggest distraction from presence in my opinion is social media. It teaches our brains to speed up, to consume and become addicted to entertainment. It becomes a filler, to all of the little moments in your day that used to be filled with presence. It splits your mind into multiple places when running errands, doing tasks or being creative. Your attention is always be captivated, outside of yourself.

So what if instead of reaching for your phone in those moments in between, you sat with yourself. Noticing the world around you. Or if you reached for an activity, without your phone as a companion.

Social media has a tendency to drain your energy, it tricks your brain into thinking you’re resting but in reality, it’s congesting your energetic system with more in-digested information.

So give your mind a rest, and notice the beauty that exists all around you.

Maybe start taking life a little less seriously,

Embrace play, dance in the rain, be a little silly!

And wear the sparky dress, just because you love it!

I hope you experience joy today!

Nicole x