While in puppy pose, ask the child to pant like a puppy. This will look and sound like short quick breaths, much like fire breath. This helps them to refocus on their breath.
 Because I have been a pediatric Speech Pathologist for 37 years I meld language and yoga with every class I teach. Yesterday while teaching a group of four children I teased them by asking them to sit "criss-cross cranberry sauce." Thinking this was funny, we launched into a laughter filled activity of fill in the sauce. To enhance the activity we chanted and created a complimentary mudra. We slapped our hands to our knees while chanting "criss", crossed our arms and slapped the knees to "cross" and repeated this with "cranberry" and "sauce". This is what we created;
Spaghetti Sauce Chocolate Sauce Raspberry Sauce Alfredo Sauce Marinara Sauce Pesto Sauce Blueberry Sauce Mango Sauce Caramel Sauce Peanut Sauce Pineapple Sauce Pie Sauce ???? Cheese Sauce Zucchini Sauce  One of my favorite tracks for yoga music is "Drum Medicine" by David & Steve Gordon. This CD lends itself well to any form of vivid drum beat, such as first chakra work.
Add a flute for oral-motor/breath work and you have continued the theme. Another beautiful CD is Carlos Nakai's new work with William Eaton and Will Clipman titled "Dancing into Silence". This track is soft and flowing. How about teepee pose to finish the theme?  Everyone loves baby bunnies and animal poses are always a hit with children. And how do they sound? Try little kissing sounds or pucker your lower lip against your upper teeth to make a repetitive sucking sound. You can help your students decide what the rabbit is eating! Ofcourse, mommy bunny, pictured below, is never far behind.  |  Nancy WilliamsYOGA THERAPY FOR EVERY SPECIAL CHILD Yoga is an ancient practice meaning Union that uses movement, the breath and chanting to improve health. By joining mind and body, Yoga practice creates relaxation and greater mental clarity, while increasing circulation and enhancing respiration. Yoga also develops strength and muscle tone, greater flexibility, and can improve sequential memory skills and increase the ability to focus. All children, including those with compromised physical capabilities, can benefit from Yoga’s creative imagery, relaxation, stretching and strengthening techniques. ArchivesMay 2012 CategoriesAll |
