Tag Archives: Yoga Poses

A Yoga Routine For Winter Warming

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During the winter, we may feel more like curling up but that actually makes us colder. When it’s chilly outside, yoga is a great way to get the body moving, warm up the muscles and get the blood circulating. You could start this routine with a song. “The Grand Old Duke of York” is great for pre-school children as you can march up and down the hill as you sing.

Cycling: Start off by lying on your back. Cycle up the hill – slowly at first and then faster. Slow down to a stop.

Rocking Horse: Roll up and down on your mat. As you do, try to touch the floor behind you with your feet. Do this 5-6 times. Come up to a sitting position with your feet together in butterfly pose.

Butterfly Pose: Sit up tall, bend your knees and bring the bottom of your feet to touch. Flap your butterfly wings to warm up your hips.

Cat Pose: Kneel on the floor on all fours. Arch your back like a cat and make some meowing noises!

Cow Pose: Kneel on the floor on all fours. Raise your head up and sink your back down into a deep curve.

Sun Salutations for YogaBugs

Hello Sun: Stand up tall and stretch your arms overhead. Shout “Hello Sun!”

Hello Earth: Bend down to touch the floor into Ragdoll. Shout “Hello Earth!”

Lunge: Step one foot backwards into a lunge, the way runners do when they’re starting a race. Shout “beep, beep!”

Dog Pose: Take both legs back so that your hands and feet are on the floor and your buttocks are in the air (the shape of an upside-down triangle).

Lunge: From dog pose, bring one foot forwards between your hands. Shout “beep, beep!”

Ragdoll: Bring both feet together. You will now be folded forward with your arms and shoulders completely relaxed. Come back to standing.

Repeat this sequence of moves three to four times. 

Monkey Jumps: Finish off by doing three to five big star jumps. Start from a squat. Jump up as high as you can whilst making monkey sounds.

To wind down, you can finish by singing a favourite song to keep the energy positive.

Creating a Calming Bedtime Routine (All Children)

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Yoga is a great way to wind down from the day’s activities as there are so many calming postures you can do as part of the bedtime routine. It will help to settle your child before they climb into bed and prepare them for a good night’s sleep. So here are a few ideas you can incorporate into your evening routine.

Start by sitting on the floor with your child. S/he can be seated on your lap, beside you or face to face. Inhale a few deep breaths, filling your belly with lots of air. Then place your hand on your belly. Count to four as you inhale, hold for one count and then breathe out smoothly as you count to four again. Repeat this three to four times.

Now you can introduce some yoga poses, always starting in a quiet pose such as child’s pose. Then move into more active poses to help the muscles to unwind. End in a child’s pose to quiet the body and the mind. Finish the routine with a relaxation pose; a guided visualisation will make this time extra special.

Child’s Pose: Sit on your heels, with your arms at your side. Lean forward, head to floor.

Cat Pose: Kneel on the floor on all fours. Arch your back like an angry cat!

Cow Pose: Kneel on the floor on all fours. Raise your head up and sink your back down into a deep curve.

Dog Pose: Hands and feet on the floor with buttocks in the air (the shape of an upside-down triangle).

Gentle Spinal Twist: Sitting with your legs out-stretched, twist to one side. You’re your back straight. Place your hands on the floor and look behind you. Rest in the twist for a few moments; then repeat the twist on the other side.

Kiss Your Knee Pose: Sit opposite your child. Stretch one leg out in front and bring the other foot against your thigh. Inhale to stretch your spine. As you exhale, bend forward to kiss your knee! Repeat on the other side.

Sing or listen to “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.”

Relaxation Pose: Lie flat on your back, arms at sides, feet slightly apart. Close your eyes and rest. End with a guided visualisation:

Imagine that you are lying outside and you can see a beautiful rainbow. The rainbow has lots of lovely, bright colours – reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues and purples. This makes you feel so happy. You can see the start of the rainbow so you start to climb up, one step at a time. You want to see what’s over the rainbow! Is it a magical land? Spend a few moments imagining what this magical land is like.

 I AM BEAUTIFUL & MANY COLOURED LIKE A RAINBOW!

Lion, Snake and Butterfly: Yoga Games You Can Do With The Kids

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Yoga and kids make a great fit because children naturally love to move their bodies and use their imagination to act like animals and other things in their world. Just keep in mind that younger tots will prefer hopping and ribbiting in Frog pose rather than holding still, so encourage them to move around and make lots of noise.

You can use these poses to play a game of ‘Simon Says’ where you do a pose like Lion or Snake and the kids copy you. A game of ‘Freeze Yoga’ is also fun — play some upbeat tunes, and when the music stops, call out a yoga pose (like Boat or Flamingo) and they have to hold the pose like a statue. Or have your kids make up their own yoga poses. When it comes to children and yoga, the most important thing is to be creative and have fun so as they grow up, their love of yoga will grow, too. Here’s a group of yoga poses your kids will love to try:

Lion Pose – Start by kneeling, stick your tongue out as far as it will go and roar like a lion. If you feel foolish doing this, remember that this pose gives a natural facelift as it is said to prevent and eliminate wrinkles!

Snake Pose – Lie on your tummy. With your hands next to your shoulders, push up and hiss like a snake.

Cat Pose – Kneel on your hands and knees. Line your hands right underneath your shoulders and your knees right under your hips. Round and arch your spine toward the ceiling and let your head float toward the floor. Hold for three breaths. Make the “meow” sound as you hold the pose to create an audible relation to Cat Pose.

Cow Pose – From Cat Pose, let your belly sink toward the floor as you raise your gaze upward which creates a curve in the spine. Make the cow sound “moo” and move back and forth between Cat and Cow Pose a few times.

Dog Pose – This poses gives kids’ brains a boost in circulation and improves breathing. From Cow Pose, curl your toes under, and lift your hips up as you straighten your arms. Your body will resemble an upside down V. Gaze straight back at your belly and relax your neck.

Butterfly Pose - Sitting on the floor with the bottoms of the feet together, let your knees drop open to the side so that they form a diamond shape. These are the wings, which you can gently flap up and down. Butterfly pose is intended to be fun and calming.

Tree Pose – Invite the children to imagine a giant tree and its roots holding it firmly, as if roots are growing out of the soles of their feet and into the ground. This pose is a invitation to develop balance while using the imagination. Draw one foot to the side of the calf and balance on the standing leg. Bring the hands first to prayer position at the heart, and then raise them in the air to form branches. Try closing your eyes and see how long you can remain balanced. Repeat on the other side.