om family
Giving the gift of creativity through yoga and mindfulness.
By Bryony Duckitt and Lili Rees
W
e’ve all heard a child
utter the dreaded words:
“I’m bored!” They say
that the greatest gift
you can give a child is
moments of boredom; a time for children
to dig deep into the treasure chest of their
own imaginations. These days children are
so often pacified with electronic devices and
television, stunting much of their natural
inner creativity.
Here, we explore how yoga can nurture
creativity during the early years, while
simultaneously stimulating other areas
of development such as personal, social
and emotional, physical, intellectual,
communication and language, mathematics
and understanding the world. In children’s
yoga classes we explore themes and
storytelling. We do this to blend exercise,
relaxation, mindfulness and education
whilst encouraging health and wellbeing
and supporting creative expression and
imagination. It is well known that the ancient
art of yoga promotes health and wellbeing,
but it can also help to unlock creativity –
an essential component of learning.‘’When I practice, I am a philosopher,
When I teach, I am a scientist, When
I demonstrate, I am an artist.”
B.K.S IyengarAs we move our bodies into interesting
shapes, our brains and sense of self-
awareness are influenced. Without
competition or judgement, we allow children
to explore poses in their own time. We
are not trying to attain perfect yoga but
are creatively finding fun ways to imitate
animals, birds, insects and man-made
objects with our bodies and our breath.
Here is an example of how we can start
to explore learning areas as we awaken our
creativity, exercise our bodies, notice our
feelings and learn about our world – through
a simple yoga sequence.Grow from a resting seed into a
beautiful tree
Roll yourself into a tiny ball, feeling your
belly on your thighs... this child’s pose
position is wonderfully calming and is also a
great massage for the digestive system. Be
still as we lay dormant through the winter.
As spring arrives we slowly start to unfurl,
stretching and breathing into our back
body. Wiggle your toes – these little toe
bones are called phalanges – as your roots
drink in some water. Now bring your hands
together and as we slowly stand up, imagine
your shoot pushing up through the soil ...
stretching your arms up high as your stem
looks for light. Then grow your branches out
wide, let your fingers pop out like leaves.
Eventually some flowers may form and even
some fruit. See if you can lift one leg now“In children’s yoga classes we explore themes and
storytelling. We do this to blend exercise, relaxation,
mindfulness and education whilst encouraging
health and wellbeing and supporting creative
expression and imagination. ”Tree PoseWorldmags.net