What Teaching Kids Yoga Teaches Me
Last Thursday, I had a Zoom Kids Yoga class scheduled at 10am. When my 2 year old daughter woke me up at 5:30, I was not excited about that plan.
As adults, we all have mornings like this. And as a parent, I can tell you, kids have them too! Most of the time, we don’t get to decide to change the day’s plans if we woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Children especially don’t get to take days off unless they are truly sick. One of the bright spots of being out of school is that my children can follow their own rhythms a bit more often. Some adults have that spaciousness now too – there are less events, less schedules, sometimes less meetings.
It can feel unnerving, like we are unmoored from the clock, from our obligations, and our daily routine. But sometimes, to me, it is reminiscent of being on vacation. I have nowhere to go, no schedule to follow, only myself to check in with, and I really like it here! I am blessed to have a home, a yard, a garden, a nearby forest. This spring has been particularly warm and lush. As a parent, allowing myself and my children to feel our way through the day is luxurious. We skip the fight about shoes and coats and car seats. We let breakfast take longer than usual. When the girls are playing well together, the clock disappears, I relax, and I realize this is actually pretty ideal.
So when I woke up feeling grumpy last week, I considered the usual response. Cancel class. Find a sub. Reschedule. Buck up and do it anyway. Ignore how I felt. Drink more coffee. I had a class planned and the children had done a craft in preparation. I didn’t want to let them down, but I also wanted to honor how I really felt.
And then, it dawned on me. Yoga is about including. The word Yoga means “to yoke,” to harness, to bring together. And thankfully, I’ve been practicing this all inclusive style of yoga for long enough that I saw the path forward. I would share, with the children, my tiredness, my discomfort, and my lack of energy, and I would share the parts of yoga that help those feelings. I would remind them (and myself!) that yoga isn’t just sun salutations and handstands! Restorative poses, deep breaths, visualization, singing Om – all of these are yoga too!
I scrapped the original plan. I showed up in my cozy hoodie. I asked everyone to grab a pillow and a blanket. And I shared how I was feeling. We moved slowly, waking up our spines. We imagined doing the kinds of things that help us feel better on sad slow days. We “took a shower,” but with our magic we could shower in whatever we wanted: rainbows, jellybeans, marshmallows, you name it! We blew giant bubbles and floated to our favorite place to visit. We “made a pie” with our bodies, and ate it with ice cream! Then we rested in restorative poses – bridge, spinal twist, child’s pose, legs up the wall. I’ve never been so quiet while teaching a kids yoga class, or held poses so long. (Want to try this class at home? Find it here!)
I felt so much better after teaching that class. The children loved it. And their parents did too! The truth is, we spend most of our lives at high speed. I don’t think it’s optimal for us or our children. Yoga is such a wonderful practice, but it can be easy to miss the spectrum of the practice. Singing, resting, breathing, meditation – these are the practices that bring us home to ourselves. These are the places we find insight, nourishment, connection, purpose, and well being.
After giving birth to each of my daughters, I spent many weeks rebuilding the relationship with my body. The change at birth happens so fast, and the adjustment period is long and substantial. I couldn’t practice vinyasa yoga or go for walks without causing my body distress for months. But I could breathe. I could meditate. I could rest in child’s pose. These practices, these simple, “easy” practices, became my anchor and my path back to myself and my body. I couldn’t have healed and grown if I had written them off, if I believed yoga was all sun salutations and handstands.
Sometimes I think I shouldn’t bring up yoga philosophy with children. I assume it will go over their heads. But the truth is, the heart of yoga is so simple a child can understand it. It’s we adults who can miss that simplicity sometimes. We learn to listen to our bodies. We connect to our breath. We take care of ourselves and each other. We strive to be kind. What more do we need to live a brilliant, beautiful, meaningful life?
If you are having a sleepy sad day, I invite you to find a practice that fits. It doesn’t matter what or where or how long. The magic is in the shift. “I notice myself feeling tired/grumpy/blue. I will make space to feel that in an intentional way.” Lie on the floor, take one deep breath, rest your hand on your heart, step outside and listen to the sounds around you. All of this is yoga. Yoga is about staying. Stay with your experience, your breath, your body, your surroundings. Breathe from this moment to the next. It is magic. It is healing. It is a truth I am so grateful to remember, again and again. And when I forget, thank goodness the children will always remind me!
