The Spring

This week I started a new bloc at Blijberg School.
It was very nice to see the kids again and I was very happy to hear that many of them did practice Yoga at home during the holiday.
It was a lovely afternoon and the theme of our class was: the spring.
We talked about how nature changes in this period and how everybody gets the feeling that there is a new energy coming out everywhere.

The Garden

To warm up and to get into the ‘spring spirit’ the kids started by running through the fields. They said they even could smell the fresh air and the grass.
They were quickly tuned…
The first Yoga pose we did was the lotus flower.
They first did it alone and than all together.
It was beautiful to see.

After that they made a big park, with a lot of trees next to each other.

Breathing...

In the spring not only flowers and birds are back.
If you go for a walk outside you will also see and hear many insects again.
And because of that we did the bee breath.
Zzzzzzzzzzzz....

The animals

In our garden there was a worm and a caterpillar

There was even a dead beetle…

And at the relaxation we went to see a 'butterfly ballet' in a beautiful flower garden.

Have fun at home

This week is ‘spring holiday’ here in Holland and the kids are not going to school. That also means we are not doing our yoga class as well.
But you can still do yoga at home!
Here under I selected 2 videos for you to get inspired.
The first one gives ideas of poses that you can do together with one of your parents. The second teaches funny poses that you can do alone or with friends.
Have fun and see you next week.

The Winter

The winter was the subject of our 4th class.
First we tried to define the winter.
Everybody knew that at this time of the year some birds go to warmer lands and other animals go to sleep.
That the days are darker than in the summer and also that it can be very nice, especially if you can play with the snow or go ice skating in the open air…
But of course the main characteristic of the winter is that it’s cold!
And because of that the kids took their bikes and went to the forest to chop some wood.
They got very warm from doing it.


Breathing in and out.

A cotton ball became a snowball and with that and a piece of straw they did a funny breathing exercise.

The Yoga poses:

The yoga poses were all about the forest and the animals that lived there.
With everybody together in the tree pose, they did the forest.
Than it was time for the bear, the beaver, the squirrel and the deer.
The kids are getting very good in the yoga poses!


Relaxation...

In the relaxation the kids had to imagine how it was to be a tree.
A big, beautiful tree firmly and still in the forest.
Their bodies were the trunks and their roots had to grow deep into the earth.
They felt strong and powerful inside.

The Indian Adventure

In the third class at the Blijberg School we visited the Indians of North America. The Indians have a profound respect for Nature and sometimes they do rituals to celebrate it.
We discuss the meaning of rituals and we found a lot of example on our daily life.
Some kids found out that they also have their own rituals, like before going to bed or when they wake up.

The Indians believe that Nature is not only powerful but that she also has power to influence us, like when the Moon is full or when it rains. And because of that they do rituals to celebrate them.
Together the kids did ‘The Full Moon’ ritual around the campfire.
They danced and they throw on the fire everything that they didn’t wanted anymore and they renovated themselves.

They also painted each other’s faces and it was just like a ‘face massage’.

The yoga poses were all about warriors, arch and arrow and the animals that live in the desert together with the Indians.
In the end the kids did a beautiful relaxation where they had to imagine themselves in a real ‘indian camp fire’.
There, an old Indian came to say to each one of them:
You are good just as you are!

Learning about trust

This week our class was about ‘trust’.
I first asked the kids which was their favourite pet. Because a pet trusts us, he expects us to feed them for example. And we trust them, we don’t expect them to attack or hurt us.
After that I suggest a partner exercise called ‘Open Heart’ where they could experience both feelings. Trusting someone and being reliable.
In this exercise one kid was the holder, the other was the leaner.
One had to firmly hold the partner’s wrists. He had to be reliable for his friend.

The other had to lean forwards and open his heart. He had to trust his friend.
Everybody did it and it was a lot of fun.

Visiting a farm

Because we talked about animals I took them for a walk in a farm.
There they learned some yoga poses that imitate the animals.
Bird, dog, cat, butterfly, frog, swan, the kicking donkey and the cow were some of them.

Learning to relax

To finish we did the ‘Bunny Breathe’ and a Relaxation.
For some kids was a bit difficult to start doing the relaxation, they had to close their eyes and be quiet…
At the end they all did and the result afterwards was very beautiful to hear .
In the relaxation they had to imagine that they were outside.
There they met an animal. They needed to trust the animal and allowed him to get closer.
The animal wanted to be their friend and so they did.
Before he left, the animal said:
‘I like you just the way you are’.
Everybody was very happy with his new friend!