ABC’s of Yoga

So my mom gave me this book last week because I am teaching a kid’s class this weekend. It has poses for each letter of the alphabet. I think it is fantastic and would recommend it to anyone who wants to teach kids yoga, does yoga with their little ones, or is just curious about exploring new yoga poses. You all know that the kids I nanny for love doing yoga with me! I think it is because yoga is fun and can be silly when you do it with kids but it also isn’t too challenging. So this book might be worth buying or checking out from the library and trying it with your kids!

Chocolate Nachos

Although this is a yoga blog I also have a large passion for cooking. I nanny four kids so I constantly have to come up with creative snack ideas. I figure that by posting delicious recipes every once and a while I am practicing Santosha (contentment) which is one of the Niyamas. So yesterday I made what I call chocolate nachos for the kids.

What you need is…

1 large bag of plain pita chips (I used Stacey’s Naked)

.5 C white chocolate chips

.5 C milk chocolate chips

1 Tbs chocolate syrup

All I did was place the pita chip on a large plate (in a thin layer) like I would for nachos. Then put the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and cooked it for 30-45 seconds or until melted. Then I did the same with the chocolate chips and add the chocolate syrup and stir together. Drizzle the white and chocolate melted sauces over the pita chip and place them into the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until the chocolate has hardened and created a coating. Then enjoy!

The kids went crazy for these and although they aren’t the healthiest snack they make a really fun dessert for the family or a group of kids.

Kids Yoga!

For all of you yogis that have kids or are nannies/babysitters like me and are with kids all day I have found out that doing yoga inside is a great idea for rainy days. Today the kids and I did some yoga before lunch because it has been stormy and they had so much fun with it! I did poses that have animal names because then we make the sounds that those animals make. (have your kids try fish pose and see what sound they make. I guarantee it will make you laugh!) It was a nice way for me to teach them a little bit about their bodies and the importance of movement and they learn an appreciation for yoga and exercise.

After we did some poses (see list below) we did a little bit of a meditation. I had them lay on their backs and feel their breathing. I had them notice the difference between chest breathing and the correct diaphragm breathing. Then I did a a short progressive relaxation where I tell them to relax their feet and then move their way up to legs, torso, arms, fingers, ect, until finally, they are relaxing their foreheads. I was a little worried that they would become restless but they loved it! I have never seen these kids so calm! They ended up laying there for twenty minutes and if you’re like me and you are in charge of 4 kids 20 minutes of peace and quiet almost NEVER happens! 

Try yoga with your kids on a rainy day or take them outside on a nice day and have them play around with yoga! I bet your kids will love it!

Yoga poses named after animals:

Monkey

Cat

Cow

Fish

Crocodile

Eagle

Downward Dog

Cobra

Frog

Tree (This isn’t an animal pose but the kids love this one! Once they are balancing ask them what kind of tree they are today!) Today one of my kids was a Crabapple tree:)

If you are unfamiliar with any of these poses a quick google search will give you pictures of what they look like. Although pose construction isn’t that important kids it is really great to teach them about taking care of their bodies when they are young!