10 things I learned about teaching kids yoga

After teaching kids (aged 4-10) yoga for seven weeks, here are some things I learned:

1. Create a class plan a week ahead of time and then read it a whole bunch of times until you feel comfortable with the plan. Then tear the paper up into little tiny pieces and toss it right over your shoulder. Basically, have a loose plan and lots of back up ideas to keep the class moving.
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2. Yoga games that seem really, really awesome in your head don't always pan out that way when presented in a kid's class.
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3. Kids will tell you straight up if they don't like the game you chose, the pose you're leading, the story you're reading, the music you're playing...
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4. Balloons + kids yoga is a recipe for utter chaos.
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5. Even little kids love savasana (resting) pose. I was shocked the first time I led it and they all were so still and peaceful. Honestly, one of the sweetest things I've ever witnessed.
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6. Four year olds are adorable and have super short attention spans.
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7. Inhaling my arms up over head, clasping my hands with index fingers extended, and saying "Shhhh" as I bring my index fingers down to my mouth, works well to bring order and quiet to a crazy group of small yogis. Most of them stop what they're doing and follow along with the shhhh breathing game.
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8. Busting out Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off" for an impromptu dance party helps shake the sillies out. Sort of.
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9. Kids love to color my mandalas (reserved for the last 10 minutes of class) and start asking at the beginning of class, "Can we color now?"
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10. I prefer teaching adults how to relax way more than I do wrangling young yogis.

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A few weeks ago I made the decision to not teach kids yoga anymore. I had such mixed feelings because there were parts of kids yoga that I really loved, but ultimately the parts that did not appeal to me outnumbered the ones that did. I struggled with feeling like I'd let the studio owner down, I'd be disappointing the kids who have come to know and trust me, and what kind of failure does that make me as a yoga teacher? {Oh those pesky voices in my head...}

When I found out this week that a new teacher was hired to take over my Saturday morning kids class I felt a little sad - for about two minutes. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths - checking in to see what my body was feeling. There, bubbling up from deep inside was...wait...what was that? Ohhhh...relief! Relief.

Whenever I have the good fortune of having new (adult) students in my yoga classes, I always tell them this: "If you don't enjoy my class, the poses I lead, the tone of my voice, please keep searching for yoga! Please don't leave and say, 'I tried yoga once and hated it!' because there are so many different styles of yoga and teaching. Once you've looked for yoga, keep looking until you find a class that feels right for you! Keep searching for the right fit!"

I am sorry that teaching kids yoga didn't work out for me and was an inconvenience to the studio owner, but in the long run I do know that I did my best and it's ok to know when to throw in the towel. And for the record, I do not feel like a failure as a yoga teacher.

Like I tell my students, not every yoga class will be the right fit for the student. I learned that not every style of yoga will be a good fit for me to teach. How wonderful that there are so many other options that I absolutely love to lead!

Inhale and exhale.

Live and learn.

♥

When I loved summer...

I've lived in Arizona long enough that I had forgotten I actually used to LOVE summer! The stifling heat night and day, day after day has kind of jaded my feelings about summertime. So when I came across this idea - to write a list of favorite memories from my childhood summers - I was surprised at how many sweet summer memories came up for me. {The prompt was from a newsletter I subscribe to by Chookooloonks.}

Here, in no particular order, are 10 of my favorite summertime childhood memories.

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My nephews (Cris & Tyler) and niece (Britny) ~ photo by my brother Ron

☀ No school. It's not that I disliked school, I just loved summer a whole lot more. So the first thing on my list of favorite things about summer when I was a kid? It has to be the no school part!

☀ Being barefoot. We were country kids and we were barefoot all summer long! I remember walking on the hot blacktop road to Grandma's house - feet tough enough that the hot surface felt warm but didn't really make me dance. The way it felt to step onto the cool, lush green grass, and ending each day with super dirty feet that needed a good scrubbing in the tub before bed time.

☀ Water play. With sprinklers, garden hose, wading pools, water balloons and dangling our feet into the muddy water of nearby irrigation ditches.

☀ Crawdad fishing. Our great-uncle Homer would tie a piece of meat on a string for us and we'd pull dozens of crawdads out of the muddy irrigation ditch. {I wrote a story about our crawdad fishing days and you can read that here.}

☀ The ice cream truck. Running to the sidewalk with a fist full of change, waiting for the ice cream truck to stop for us. My favorite treat was always the creamsicle pop-ups. Yum...haven't had one of those in forever...

☀ Our cousins from Chicago came to visit. For a few summers in a row, our three cousins from Chicago came to spend several weeks in California. Our grandmas were sisters and lived on the same country road, and we spent hours building forts, crawdad fishing, riding our bikes, and just having fun. When the day would come for them to go back to Chicago, my siblings and I would sob like it was the end of the world. Ahhh. Those were such fun times!

☀ Iced tea. My mom made the best, fresh brewed iced tea, and she always had a pitcher made. I remember for a while she made ice by freezing water in an empty paper milk carton. Once frozen, she'd break it up with an ice pick - stabbing several times right through the paper carton. She'd pour the crushed ice into a glass and then cover it with fresh brewed tea. Ah - such a refreshing way to cool off! {My sis and I still make tea just like our mama, though we don't do that ice part.}

☀ Bike riding. We rode our bikes all over the place back then. We lived in a small town and friends were always a bike ride away. There was such a feeling of freedom and independence, riding off on my bike to go to a friend's house. As I write these words, I'm struck by the way I miss that simple pleasure.

☀ Being hot. It seems weird to remember a time when I actually enjoyed the heat. Our home had a small evaporative cooler in one window and that was enough "back then." We slept with our windows open and didn't really complain about being too hot. Heat meant that it was SUMMER and we loved that so much!

☀ Shopping for school supplies. As much as I loved summer and the whole no-school-gig, I always loved shopping for new school clothes and supplies. The anticipation of new teachers, seeing friends, a fresh notebook and a hint of fall in the air? Awesome! And although this memory signified the end of summer, it's still one of my favorites.

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What would your list of top ten summer memories include?