Kid’s Yoga Lesson 2: Letting Go

Today at Creative Kid’s Yoga we discussed Evolution’s theme of the month: aparigrapha (letting go).

If you think 3-5 year olds do not understand yogic philosophy- give this fun lesson a whirl!

Rain fell outside the window as we began class so I decided to start with a rainy warm-up.

• 1st we made the sound of a rainstorm then let it pass by. We rubbed our hands together softly, next clapped, smacked, involved our feet for thunder, returned to a smack, a clap and a rub …shhh.
• Next we began to move around the room! We ran away from the rainstorm to get some heat into the body, lifted knees high to cut through imaginary tall grass, jumped over puddles (yoga mats), and paused under a tree pose for some dry cover.
• Then the sun came out (sun pose to sun dance (the children’s equivalent of surya namaskar) and we acknowledged that all things change.

I asked the kiddo’s: “Does anyone know what it feels like to let go?”

• I asked the students to begin clenching their fists, their faces, their elbows into their sides, to tighten up as much as possible!
• Then very quickly, we relaxed! We let everything go.
• Repeat the tightening and the letting go a few times isolated in the hands. “We close. We let go.”
• Begin to integrate this idea into forming and letting go of the various yoga poses.
• Also involve some props, like scarves, allowing the children to physically experience the sensation of release.

I asked the kid’s what happens when they feel mad or sad and we discovered feelings of tightness, of being stuck. I reminded them how good it feels to let go and asked that the next time they feel upset because something is not going their way, if they can remember yoga, and let it go.

We also talked about expectations and that things are not always what they seem or how we want them to be.

• Wrap a beautiful gift or bring out a magical looking box
• Ask everyone to knock on the box so that it can rightfully open and ask the students what they believe is inside
• Once guesses are in, reveal that nothing is inside!
• Though this may seem disappointing at first, it does not have to be. An empty box is limitless and full of potential! I explained that when we are open and when we accept things as they truly are, we become free to do anything! Having complete freedom from being open, we made our way into our favorite yoga moves and songs.

At the end of class, use savasana as a letting go of the entire practice, of the need to talk or move, of the idea that we have to be doing. Narrate the young yogis through an imaginary tour of the sky- wide open.