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common hindrance to creative expression
is fear. “This thief of joy can stop us in
our tracks before we’ve even attempted
to express ourselves.” Yoga offers a great
platform to have conversations about
emotions and feelings and any issues that
may be occurring at home or in school.Just breathe, breathe, breathe
Teaching a child to be aware of their breath
can allow them to acknowledge and take
control of their emotions. Proper breathing
affects mental and physical wellbeing,
concentration, energy levels, memory and
sleep patterns. Through breathing exercises,
we learn to recognise our emotions –
breathing out stress, breathing in peace and
tranquillity, exhaling anger and inhaling joy.Let the volcano erupt
The volcano pose is a useful exercise
to reflect on our feelings. Talk to a childabout anger or fear – what colour do they
think it might be? Where do they feel it in
the body? When they are feeling this way
what are some of the reactions they might
have? Embrace what you are feeling, come
into mountain pose, bring your hands
together down in front of the pit of your
belly – imagine here lies burning hot angry
magma... breathe in as we lift this angry/
anxious feeling up through the body and
let it explode out of the top like an erupting
volcano. Now feel the lava start to cool...
think about something that makes you feel
peaceful, content, safe, happy... and breathe
this feeling through the body. Notice how
different you feel.Yoga is great for releasing stress =
yoga is great for creativity
Giving children tools to recognise their
breath and emotions, unwind and lower
stress levels can ultimately help them tap
more into their creative minds. We explore
the breath in many creative ways ... riding
beanie babies on our bellies as we fill
our lungs with fresh air, blowing feathers
and cotton wool balls as we explore long
exhalations, playing pretend trumpets which
empty our lungs completely. All this breath
play helps children to explore the differences
they feel after slow, deep breath or fast,
shallow breath. When we are stressed our
breathing speeds up - becoming short and
shallow ... activating the amygdala in the
limbic system of the brain and our fight,
fright, flight or freeze responses are evoked.
Strong emotions like anger, fear and anxiety
come out to play and abstract thinking and
creativity can be stunted. Sometimes just
stopping and taking a deep breath can bring
us back into the moment and shift the gears
of the brain and its responses.Breathe with the hand
Hand breath is a wonderful mindful breath
exercise that can instantly calm the heart
rate, deepening the breath and quietening
the mind. Hold one hand in front of you and
with the other trace the fingers – breathe in
as you trace up the outside of the finger and
breathe out as you trace down the inside of
the finger – repeat with all fingers. One hand
equals five deep, slow, even breaths – two
hands are even better.You can be confident
and independent
Encouraging children to do simple,
independent tasks like rolling up their own
mats, pouring their own water, choosing
which pose they would like to practice – will
positively affect self-confidence and self-in the tree pose... finding a focal point to
keep your attention and help you balance.
Feel steady and calm or try and gently sway
from side to side, on tip toes, root down. Do
what feels right for your body, don’t worry
about anyone else’s tree – see what happens
if we close our eyes, notice your emotions
and thoughts. Now connect branches with
the person next to you. Become a forest
together – notice if the balancing becomes
easier when we are connected. If you were a
tree - what kind of tree would you be?
As we come into these physical
postures we are starting to
become more mindful
The practice of mindfulness has been
shown to reduce stress, increase wellbeing
and promotes the innovative thinking that
encourages creative ideas. According to
Julia Cameron who wrote The Artist’s Way, a
wonderful book exploring creativity, the most
Star pose
for a star!