Planting and Sowing Seeds
by Emily Gretz
Recently, I was teaching a private lesson to a seven-year-old girl and we were talking about energy and how our energy affects others. Her response to the conversation was, “sometimes my energy is so big I can’t hold it.” WOW! What awareness and insight at such a young age. I knew right then what my role was in working with this child. How do I teach her to strengthen her container to hold this energy when it’s needed and how do I teach her to let it go (as needed) without feeling a loss? Pranakriya Yoga has taught all of us to lean in, raise our awareness through breath and physical awareness, to strengthen our containers, and to dissolve our sense of self.
The beauty of learning to teach yoga to kids is that you are given permission to find your child-self and explore imagination, movement, meditation, breath, and play from that space. You get to see their growing minds and bodies in process. Children are intuitive, curious, and interested. They absorb information and put it into practice quickly. What a gift to be able to share in this growth!
Swami Kripalu, according to Richard Faulds in Sayings of Swami Kripalu, said that yoga is a fine art requiring sensitivity and the cultivation of tender qualities such as compassion, faith & love. Isn’t that what is happening here when my student says, “I like to be here. I like how I feel when I leave here. When I was frustrated at school I did my breathing and moved my body. I felt better. I strongly believe that we have a responsibility to plant the seed of yoga with children. To give them small tools in small doses that will grow to be big, essential tools in adulthood.
So what is PK Kids Yoga teaching?
For those who love anatomy, learn how the body develops from a movement perspective in Growing a Body: Anatomy & Development from Two to Teen. Adults will benefit from understanding how the infant body develops toward toddlerhood and beyond inorder to understand the movement patterns we create. If you’re primarily working with adults, the tools learned in this module will help you guide adult students needing to change their movement patterns for a healthier structure.
Have you wondered how the philosophy of yoga can be taught to children in a fun and friendly way? Making Philosophy Accessible to Kids is full of techniques and tools to make understanding the yamas and niyamas a {cinch} for all ages. This program offers a full toolbox of story, song, asana and breathwork to meet the theme you wish to share.
The PK Little Kids and Tween to Teen module will give the yoga teacher examples of asana, breathwork, meditation and much more that can be used to teach age-appropriate kids’ yoga classes. These two modules offer themes, sample lesson plans, practice-teach opportunities and a strong understanding of how to apply the principles of Pranakriya Yoga to the yoga teaching classroom.
For those with a 200-hour certification, the 95-hour certification is available by completing the the 4 PK Kids Modules and final 15 hour practicum. This makes you eligible for the RCYT certification through Yoga Alliance. For more information please click here.
Curious? Interested? Want to understand how your movements were developed? How to think like a child? Looking for Fun? Are you a parent or school teacher looking for new ways of teaching? Whatever draws you in, know that you and the children you affect will grow and learn together. Still have questions? Please reach out to me at noregretzyoga@gmail.com.
