Yoga Story-Telling Kids Yoga Ideas For World Book Day
On 5th March, children and book-lovers like myself across the world, will be celebrating World Book Day.
I am a complete book-lover. I am one of the few people that still goes to the library, my ideal Sunday afternoon is browsing a used book store and my favourite part of teaching is story-time.
Recently, I was tucking my Goddaughter, Marley into bed and I asked her to choose a book and suggested that she read the book to me.
She's just about to turn 4-years old, and she responded, "Auntie Laura, I can't read yet!"
ME: "If you know the story and you can read the pictures, then you can read"
MARLEY: "Okay, I'll read with my mouth then, not with my eyes"
TOO CUTE!
This is Marley (FYI, I do not condone cookies before bedtime - unless they're sugar free :) )
So, it's no surprise that I love to incorporate books into my children and family yoga sessions, they're so engaging, naturally soothing and of course, meaningful.
You can use books in your yoga classes, as part of a relaxation during bedtime or as a short 8-minute yoga story at home.
And there are so many different ways that you can combine books with children's yoga, here's just a few:
>> Take them on a journey through the story - using yoga poses and dynamic movements to imagine that they are in the book, moving through the journey alongside the characters. My favourite book for this is "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen
>> Theme your class around the main ethos or principle of the book - This makes the book more meaningful and makes your class more relatable.
If your class theme is 'Acceptance', choose a book that tells a story around acceptance and use the book and it's characters as a metaphor to explain the more abstract concepts in a child-friendly way.
One of my absolute favourite books to theme classes on is "Only One You" by Linda Kranz, there are so many lessons and beautiful metaphors about life, diversity and acceptance.
>> Relax to the soothing sound of poetry - Not all books are stories, and we celebrate books in all their forms! Reading a piece of poetry to children or teens as they lie in relaxation during class or as a calming technique before they go bed - try combining it with deep belly breathing to regulate their nervous system.
You can use classic poems, children's poems or something like this beautiful book "Poetree"
>> Breathe with a book - Use a story-book to introduce different ways to breathe. It doesn't have to be a book about breathing, in fact my favourite ones aren't.
Instead of using yoga poses and movement to tell the story, try introducing different types of breathing.
Books about the natural world are great for this! Think abut the many different sounds and rhythms that our breath can have (just like the many sounds and rhythms of the natural world).
You can breathe like a bee (brahmari breath), a snowstorm (breath of joy) or a snake (sikali breath) - there are so many different breathing techniques to represent the many things that we see in books.
My personal favourite for breathing with a book is "The Very Quiet Cricket" by Eric Carle
>> Just for fun - dressing up as your favourite book character and creating a yoga pose to represent them
I would love to see how you and your little yogis celebrate World Book week on Friday, make sure you tag me in your posts on instagram (I'm @divine_light_yoga) or Facebook, so that I can see your posts and photos.
