Yogi Beans makes Yummy Mandalas

One of my favorite yogi bean groups to work with is on Friday, with Zane and Laura. These two kids have amazing energy, tremendous love for both yoga and all participants in the class, and they are both a joy to work with. While my every yogi bean class is special, this one is really really special. These two brilliant kids have special needs (down syndrome) and prove how beautiful yoga is to every child. I have watched as Zane has learned new words, and reacted to the music doing all the physical poses to the best of his ability. I have enjoyed watching Laura recount poses that she had done weeks prior. These two enjoy Toga so much! Laura will demonstrate how she can pick up more than three pom poms in her toes and Zane is grabbing the tiny ones every chance he gets. The lovely Laura is a teacher in training. This past week, she led us in a brilliant Sun Salutation and Zane decided we would create a mandala with food. His food of choice was "apple". While Zane is generally quiet, except to giggle at the songs he loves, and say a few choice words related to some of my yoga songs, it was so thrilling to hear him share "apple" for our mandala. So healthy and Yummy. This class is truly joyful! One the best things is to witness how involved the parents and baby sitters are with regard to encouraging the progress and even participating in the yoga! What a wonderful class to share in!

Toga Friday

One of my greatest joys is to do Yoga with Kids. I work with kids of various ages and abilities/disabilities. It goes without question that Yoga calms the mind, and heals the body, so to introduce kids to yoga is an amazing opportunity. In turn, kids have an amazing ability to remind you of the joys of life, and the hidden joys of a yoga practice. Kids have a brilliant way of approaching asana (yoga poses). When teaching adults Yoga asana (poses) is focused on alignment, while with kids, they find joy in wobbling in and out of alignment. This joy is just the enlightenment, and liberation from our own tendencies to judge ourselves, and our world around us, that many of us need in our lives.

The hands down game of choice for kids is "Toga". On Fridays I have the wonderful chance to work with a group of kids with Down Syndrome. Being apart of their yoga experience is life changing for me. These kids improve their speech with my songs, gain confidence with the poses and learn to calm their minds with meditation. Along with the benefits of yoga they continue to amaze me every week. One week, I introduced Toga to them, which is Yoga with your toes. This involves picking up pom poms using only your toes. Kids Love Toga! It improves flexibility in the arch and ankle, improves concentration and like I said before it is FUN! The part that amazed me, was when one of the kids picked up four pom poms with one foot! After refereeing dozens of Toga games, it was amazing to see this brilliant little girl pick up FOUR pom poms with her tiny toes. She is the record holding champ of Toga thus far.