Once the half pints are in the yoga room...

The last post covered getting from the studio front door into the yoga room...the next step in our morning is a little transition play time. This is pretty straight forward, as play times go...we talk about sharing, playing well together, walking instead of running, using our words instead of our hands (i.e. grabbing, pushing, etc.) to communicate what we want and need, and helping (putting everything away together). It's a nice time, and we also play catch with balloons or just look at books together.

After putting away the toys, books, and balloons, everyone chooses where they will sit that morning for yoga. I set up a big rectangle of mats every morning before the kids arrive, so after play time we migrate to the yoga mats. The kids choose their own spot, which often results in some photo-worthy clumps of tots with huge gaps in between. They rearrange themselves once we get to the poses that require more personal space. We all sit cross-legged (to the best of our ability) and tune in with an Om, with a daily reminder about using our yoga breath (breathing through the nose).

The next paragraph may just break your heart open, so take a breath yourself if you haven't seen this part of class before.

The bell ceremony:
We have a couple of types of bells at the studio - one Tibetan bell on a string, and one on a little post with a piece of wood to strike it. I start off, modeling how to handle the bell and how to ring it. The kids are enthralled by the bell - there is a hush in the room as they watch me ring it, wait until the sound dies away, and then ceremoniously pass it to the child to my left. They then recieve the enchanted attention of the whole group as they ring the bell and pass it along to the next child. One of these days I'm going to get this on video for the parents - seeing these little ones in hushed silence as they wait for a dozen of their friends to ring the bell is pretty stunning. Just yesterday, a little one who was too scared to ring it the first day took what seemed like an eternity and almost rang the bell at least 3 times before deciding to tap it ever so gently to produce a faint tone. The respectful, encouraging silence and subsequent elation on the part of the group as this tot meandered through this experience was very moving. This sort of thing happens all the time in toddler yoga, and is one of the big reasons for this blog : class is not chaotic most of the time - we actually get a lot done, and in fine style. Some of the more experienced half pints are so good with the bell that they have certain sound they can reproduce every time by striking it with their own personal technique. Death by cuteness is something I worry about sometimes, but I figure it'd be a pretty nice way to go if comes to that.

Thanks again for reading this installment about the half pints and their yoga practice with me and my great helpers (without them, we'd never get to this level of harmony and I appreciate them infinitely!).