A Yoga Circle

The perfect way to end a busy day of preschool is with some calming Yoga. Using the Planet Yoga deck of cards, the children tried many different yoga poses. Above, the children are trying a group circle stretch as they breathe in and out! Yoga is the perfect way to get moving and laughing together!

A second visit from Yogi Jane

On Friday, Yogi Jane (also know as Rachel's grandmother) came to visit us and teach us more yoga! We prepared for her visit on Thursday by carrying all the mats from the community room to our classroom! It took lots of team work to carry those large mats! When Jane arrived on Friday, we immediately began getting our bodies ready for yoga by taking our shoes off and inhaling and exhaling. Yogi Jane led us through many different animal yoga poses, such as, cow, cat, and downward and upward dog. To end our yoga, Jane had us all slowly breathe in and then out as we said, "Shalom!" What a beautiful and peaceful way to start Shabbat! Thank you to Rachel for sharing her grandmother with us. And thank you to Yogi Jane for teaching us more about Yog

Building Balance and Core strength

An impromptu yoga session broke out in the library this morning.  A group of children worked at being "trees".  They tried to keep their balance while they slid one foot along the length of the opposite leg to take the yoga "tree pose".   When they needed a break from "tree", the kids enjoyed the sensation of being upside down when they took "downward facing dog" pose.  The bookcase was a help when their trees were wobbly.  The children tried making trees on both sides of their bodies.  Sometimes balance is more difficult on one side than the other.  They stretched their "branches" and felt them sway in the wind. 

When someone refers to the core, they mean the muscles deep within the abdominals and back which attach to the spine or pelvis.  These muscles are where movement originates and are the source of our stability.  They support the children as they sit up in circle, sit at the table for snack, run, jump, and climb.  It takes balance and core strength to do yoga - and the Keshet children had fun today while developing both!

"Expert" Yogi Jane (aka Nana to Rachel)

The most important thing to remember about yoga is to "breathe". We have special socks so we don't slip on our mats, Our expert instructor, Jane, repositions our body hands and feet, we balance, we row row row our boats, we breathe,lay on our back, close our eyes, sit criss cross and say "namaste." Thank you Yogi Jane for sharing your time with us and teaching us some yoga poses. Thank you Rachel for sharing your grandmother with us. She came from Maine to visit with us!!

Tree Pose!

Today the Tel Aviv class started their day with morning stretches to “Modeh Ani” and some yoga! We have wonderful cards with different yoga positions on them and one by one we picked a card and tried to mirror the poses on the cards. I was so impressed with how carefully and thoughtfully the Tel Aviv children moved their bodies to imitate the pose. It was a very calm activity and all the children stayed in their own spaces and focused on themselves and their bodies, which was very impressive for our first yoga session! Yoga is a great way that our class takes cares of our bodies and teaches us about flexibility, concentration and awareness of our body in space.  Nice work Tel Aviv class! I can’t wait to do yoga again with you soon!

Tel Aviv went to Tel Aviv!!!!

Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.

Yoga in the Morning!

This morning our Haifas came to the playground with bunches of energy! We decided to have a short circle and start our inside time with some yoga. Special thanks to Rohan who helped us loosen up! Afterwards, some of the students shared their previous yoga experience and showed us their favorite poses!

-Alison

Yoga Fun with Nancy

What fun it is to do yoga with our teacher Nancy. The children hold on to the wall for added balance and support as they assume the tree position. Look at their faces and how much enjoyment they get from this activity along with the benefits of movement, stretching, exercise and balance.

Musical Yoga

What could be better than a singing session and a yoga lesson combined in one? It is the ideal setting for these Rainbow kids. Nancy led us through a series of yoga moves, including washing and hanging our laundry, and pretending to be all sorts of animals. Best of all was moving to the music. Look at these kids move.

Washing Machine

Washing Machine

More Yoga

Sometimes our bodies need to move quickly, running, jumping, and going fast.  At other times, our bodies benefit from slowing down.  The children used child's pose to stretch and build strength, filling their need to move in a calm and focused way.  Even the teachers got in on the act.  Breathe in and out, our little yogis will teach you how.

Yoga

Yoga promotes concentration, self discipline and develops inner strength and clarity. Children are always on the move, and yoga is a chance to slow down, take a deep breath, and practice being calm and inward focused. The ability to concentrate and focus is an important life skill. The Scientist class had a chance to do just that on Friday, beginning with the tree pose.  It was tricky to get your body into just the right pose without falling over.  As we do more yoga throughout the year, it will be interesting to watch their abilities develop.