How to Use Yoga to Teach Children About Change and Transformation
/The end of the school year is a perfect time to discuss transformation and reflect on the many obvious and subtle ways we have changed since last September. Some changes we have sought out, others may have come as a surprise.
When we look to nature, we can see that transformation is happening around us all the time. From the shifts in seasons to the water cycle to life cycles of plants and animals, we need not look far to notice that to live is to change.
But change, while inevitable, is not always comfortable. True and lasting transformation occurs when we step out of our comfort zone to face challenges and difficulty.
“Transformation isn’t a future event, it’s a present day activity.”
How Yoga and Mindfulness Help Us Embrace Transformation
Yoga and mindfulness practices can help remind us to breathe through the momentary discomfort, to be flexible and go with the flow, and to connect to the deepest part of ourselves which is light, truth and unchanging.
Incorporating yoga activities that highlight things that change and transform is a great way to start the conversation. Invite children to observe things changing in nature first and then ask them to consider ways that they have changed.
Transformation Yoga Poses to Try with Kids
1. Volcano Pose Transformation
We can use Volcano Pose to not only illustrate the transformation of a calm mountain turning into an erupting volcano, but also to depict how our feelings build up and change. This pose can be used for brain breaks and as a self-regulation technique to release those big emotions.
Tips for Volcano Pose:
Stand tall like a mountain. Reach down and find your lava.
Sing "Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble...BOOM!" and explode into star pose stretching your arms and legs wide.
Jump back to mountain to become a dormant volcano. Repeat.
READ NEXT: Resources on Change and Transformation
2. Tadpole Pose to Frog Pose Transformation
Bring yoga and music into a discussion of how plants and animals transform. Sing and move along with our song "Grow" to observe the plant life cycle or make yoga tadpoles that turn into frogs or caterpillars into butterflies.
Try this: Tadpole Pose into Frog Yoga Pose
Start in lying on your belly in locust to make a tadpole. Invite the children to come up with ways a tadpole might swim (extending arms forward, wiggling around, swishing your tail).
Then press back into squat (malasana) to turn into a frog.
Frog yoga poses are fun and interactive for kids! Invite the children to hop around the room or from mat to mat, while sticking out their tongues to catch flies. Come back to tadpole and rest. Repeat.
3. Caterpillar Pose to Butterfly Pose Transformation
A mini yoga flow like our Caterpillar, Chrysalis, Butterfly musical yoga flow is a fun way to bring STEM to children while helping them visualize transformation.
Try this: Caterpillar into Butterfly Pose
Start with a caterpillar walk - From forward fold, walk your hands forward into plank and then your feet up to hands.
Walk feet back to plank and then your hands back to forward fold.
Hang and sway in forward fold to make a chrysalis.
Roll up to stand, stretch your wings and fly like a butterfly in warrior 3 pose.
4. Bicycle Pose and Bridge Pose Transformation
In many yoga traditions, practitioners flow from one pose into the next to the rhythm of their breathing. Many of our favorite Yo Re Mi songs incorporate this. Try moving between Bicycle and Bridge below as you explore the breath and speed changes along your yoga bicycle ride!
Change is inevitable.
Working with children, classrooms, and families to acknowledge change allows us to be mindful of transformation while still embracing individuality. If you would like to bring yoga and mindfulness to support child development and school lessons, consider our resources for online learning.
Save this article for later and don’t forget to download the Yo Re Mi app for children’s mindfulness and musical yoga videos.
