Kids Yoga with Sheila Palmquist

hi my name is Sheila Palmquist and we're

gonna practice some yoga today and do

some fun playful activities that you can

do at home with your child if you have a

yoga mat that's great but one of the

beautiful beautiful things about yoga is

that you just need some space

so any place is just fine to practice

yoga so shall we get started

yes all right so let's start by checking

in with our breath first hi are we

taking nice deep breaths good okay take

your arms up over your head and breathe

in and breathe out good let's do that

again breathe in and now come down into

your chair pose like you're sitting on

the chair good job come back up and now

breathe out and come forward breathe in

and come back up

let's put that all together breathe out

sit on your chair Bri then come up

breathe out fold hard and breathe in

come up hands come to heart center good

all right so let's step our feet out

nice and wide all right so one of the

really cool things is that we believe

what we tell ourselves so we want to

tell ourselves really positive things

right so let's take our arms out like

this

this is called star pose so when we do

star pose we're gonna say I am bright go

ahead and say it good job let's turn

this way and let's bend our arms and

Bend our knee and say I am brave good

job let's see if we can balance coming

up and say I am balanced good job step

together chants come to our heart say I

am kind good job and then hands come

together and we jump out in volcano and

we say I am me nice let's do it one more

time okay ready

I am bright let's go this way I am brave

I am balanced

I am kind I am me good job and there's

only one of you so it's really important

to do healthy things and take care of

yourself right so let's bring our feet

together this is called Tadasana or

Mountain Pose

so we're tall and strong in our Mountain

Pose so what happens when we get

frustrated what does our body do what's

our breath do right are we gonna make a

good choice when we're holding our

breath in our bodies like this right so

the first thing we need to do is make

sure we're breathing so take your hands

out in front open your hands towards

your heart backs of your hands come

together and dive them down good bring

them back up and out so we're gonna

breathe with us ready breathe in breathe

out breathe in and breathe out good so

we're bringing in what we need towards

our heart right letting go of the things

we don't need and filling up our heart

so that we can give right all right so

the other thing we can do when we get

angry or upset is shake some of that

stuff off so we're gonna do happy

elephant so make sure you have enough

room so you don't hit each other and

these are gonna be our giant elephant

ears all right we're just gonna swing

arms back and forth so anything that's

frustrated you or made you upset today

let go of it here shake it off like it's

moving out your fingers back and forth

all right start to slow down ah

elephants getting tired step your feet

together and now close your eyes and

notice how your hands feel what's going

on in your fingers and your arms could

open your eyes did they feel tingly and

your arms feel like they wanted to float

up right yeah so we want to listen to

what our body's telling us so pay

attention when you're hungry when you're

tired those kinds of things so that we

take care of ourselves

all right so bring your arms up and

bring them down

are we ready to come up to table pose so

here's our table pose so cat and

cow so we Archer back like a cat and

then cow pose come forward like your

belly full bellies full milk moon cow

pose good ready meow and cat and then

Moo and cow one more time cat and cow

good job

alright so sunbird so with sundberg

we're doing opposites so same side is

really hard to balance so we're gonna

take one hand out and then I'm gonna

take my opposite leg out there you go

good job Henry and breathe good and this

one you can even do with the friends so

you can like hold each other's hands and

see if you can help each other to

balance better good okay other side

reaching out good and all right let's

come down on to our tummies so we're

gonna do cobra pose and Cobras the type

of snake right yep yep do Cobras Howard

snakes in general have arms no all right

so we want to keep our big snake tail

down to our legs stay down and our

elbows hug in towards our bodies because

we're a snake and we don't have arms

alright so when you breathe in lift

yourself up with your muscles in your

back and now like a snake alright let's

do it again breathe in one more time big

nice job alright arms come out and lift

up superwoman man girl boy just plain

super right all right reach back and

grab your ankles oh bow pose that was

kind of hard huh yep so yoga should

never hurt so if you reach back and you

go oh this hurts my body then don't do

it okay so again we want to take care of

our bodies alright let's come back to

our table pose and we're gonna sit back

into Child's Pose or sometimes we call

it rock so if

calm down like this and rest your head

and just breathe here so imagining if

you were a rock that means all of the

rain the wind everything would just roll

right off of you right so sometimes when

you feel like you need to take a break

or take five you want to come down into

your rock pose for a little while

everybody needs time to rest slowly

coming up all right hands come out in

front tuck your toes down dog stretch

into your down dog and now come into

your up dog stretching like a dog does

okay down dog and up dog good job let's

do it one more time

down dog good okay put your knees down

and now this time instead of being rock

we're gonna be a seed so come down and

what do seeds need to grow water and

what else and what's their food the

sunlight yeah sunlight and water so

let's wiggle our seat into the dirt

wiggle wiggle wiggle

all right so imagine we're starting to

grow so start to pop your seed out of

the dirt

one arm up good and then the other

branch coming up

you ready other branch and we're in tree

pose nice job awesome I'm glad you're

practicing yoga it's fun all right so

what are the leaves doing off of the

trees right now falling okay

let's wiggle into the dirt and let's try

to do it again and lift our other leg so

here we go we're starting to grow coming

up popping one branch out and another

see if you can remember which leg to

lift lift tree pose sometimes it's windy

in our tree that's okay if we fall we

get back up again right all right what'd

I just say

good alright so from here let's go ahead

and come into our butterfly pose I used

to do this in gymnastics a lot so batter

fight good so butterfly wings and we

want to be gentle remember yoga should

never hurt alright so now we're gonna do

turtle bring your arms underneath good

and we're gonna round our head and put

our head in our turtle shell and then

start to think and look out of your

turtle shell like what's out there I

want to check this stuff out right Oh

and then sometimes turtles get scared

and they go back in their shell bring

your head back down good and then start

to lift up do you feel the stretch

across your shoulders when you lift up

yeah and come back down go ahead take

your arms out alright it is yeah and it

feels good for our bodies all right so

our next pose or exercise that we're

gonna do is called rock and roll and so

this is another thing you can do if you

feel like you're frustrated is to just

be playful and roll around cuz if you

start to get silly you kind of forget

why you're upset so our hands come here

yeah we're gonna rock back and come up

good rock back and come up good back and

come up can we stop in boat let's rock

back and let's come up and stop and boat

oh that's kind of hard right with to use

our tummy muscles good alright that's

good okay so let's come on to our knees

and our next breathing practice speaking

of being silly is called lyin so it's

fun isn't it so it's kind of silly we

stick our tongue out and we look up all

right these are our giant lion paws so

we're gonna breathe in and then we're

gonna go good let's do it again

good that's fun and that's silly one

more time

good and it feels good sometimes growl

right we need to do that at some times

as long as we're not growling at someone

all right so let's stand up and we're

gonna do our Sun Salutations so you

might know this one too

bring your arms up and come down and you

can hop or step your feet back right and

then we sit back so remember this one

here's kind of a rock pose and now we're

gonna slide forward and here's our Cobra

breathe in good job here's our down dog

and you can hop or step your feet up so

there's no competing in yoga do what

feels good for your body today all right

so we got that you think we can do it

again okay

breathe in breathing out and step or hop

your feet back up and come up to

standing Tadasana all right all right

how about triangle let make three

different triangles with our body do you

step your feet out and we want one foot

to turn out and we're gonna tip that way

whatever way that foots turning here we

are tipping good okay come back up and

turn this foot in this one out and go to

this side good you see all the triangles

yeah there's even one right here yep and

from your hand to your feet is another

big one come back up good okay let's

come down into frog pose all right so

we're gonna hop and rib it three times

in our frog pose as high as we can so

take a deep breath in you ready here we

go

all right so let's go ahead and bring it

back up to standing

alright so working with our breath again

making sure we're taking nice deep

breaths put one hand on your heart one

hand on your stomach

good and when you breathe in do you feel

your tummy moving did you feel your

heart beating that's good good and so

feeling your tummy move in and out when

we breathe okay good so let's go ahead

and work with another balancing pose so

it's called eagle

so sometimes we balance really well

sometimes we don't and we need to be

patient and kind with ourselves so our

Eagle wings come out we're gonna take

one foot out and we're gonna wrap this

foot around and now wrap opposites

so this legs on top this arm comes on

top good and we're sitting on our Eagle

perch good job sometimes it's easy

sometimes it's tough

all right so shall we fly again here we

go ready under your wings and flying and

step your feet together let's try the

other side alright so wings come out

wrap this leg around so we're back into

our chair right we're coming down and

now wrapping the arm opposite arm on top

breathe and now take your wings out good

let's reach up and lean to one side

stretch the side of your body reach back

up and lean to the other side and back

up and fold all the way down take a bow

for all of your good poses your yoga

practice hands come to our heart good

all right let's take it back down to

seated so see if you can put one leg on

top of the other like this so remember

it shouldn't hurt so you can always come

here do crisscross applesauce if that

doesn't work for you alright so take one

arm up and fold back and reach back some

of you may be able to set your fingers I

can I have short arms

okay lean forward a little bit do you

feel a stretch when you start to lean

forward yeah we want to move slowly and

gently so when we feel a stretch we stop

you got it

there's a lot happening good job all

right come back up take your arms down

all right so if you keep your feet down

on the floor and you stay low when I

spin around my other leg should come on

top it's called the spin out are you

ready for this good nice so it's fun to

experiment and see how does my body move

and what would that shape look like in

my body so bringing arms up again

reaching back leaning forward so what

you want to do one side and then the

other cuz Yoga is all about balance come

back up so we find balance in our bodies

right so what other areas can we try to

find balance yeah we can balance on our

hands

yep and also what we eat right and the

activities we do so sometimes when he

feel like I'm doing too much I need to

rest

so all of those different places in our

lives we can try to find balance right

good job good like in tree pose let's go

ahead and do bridge so we're gonna roll

down bridge pose that you do in

gymnastics is different than bridge pose

and yoga so we don't want to rest our

weight on our neck that's kind of

dangerous so our hands stay down so

watch me first and we're gonna lift up

like this so you're lifting your bridge

like you could drive car underneath your

back good come up and then come back

down

good one more time lift up and your

bridge pose and lower your bridge back

down good okay next one is happy baby so

we grab our feet and stretch back and

forth

happy baby

so again being playful right it's a good

stretch to all right now our arms and

legs are up towards the ceiling this is

called bug pose like a bug stuck on its

back yeah for that good job all right

so bring your feet down and your arms

out nice and wide good and now

windshield wipers let your knees go to

one side and bring him back up and to

the other side

windshield wipers back and forth back

and forth him that should feel good on

your back right does it feel good if it

doesn't feel good then we want to do it

differently or not do it at all if it

hurts good all right

so we're gonna roll it up from here so

let's see if we can come all the way up

to standing you think you can get enough

momentum and come up to standing

alright so here we go oh good we made it

all right so let's do a couple more

stretches standing and then we'll move

down to the floor and do our relaxation

so bring one leg forward one leg back

bend your knee and bring your arms up

warrior one good super strong powerful

warriors right

and now our hands come down this way and

we're gonna take it this into warrior

three so here we go lift your back leg

we did this one with I unbalanced right

but we had our hands different step your

feet together ah yep let's do the other

side step back bend your front knee take

your arms up over your head in warrior

one good hands come to heart center

and lift your back leg good job step

your feet down

all right yeah all right we need our

eyes and our muscles and our ears our

inner ears to help us balance all right

so let's do one more breathing practice

so coming down here we're gonna do

buzzing B yes buzzing B breath yep and

so it's a little bit deeper than a hum

so have you ever done this ah yeah we've

all done that so try to do with your

mouth closed

that kind of tickles your nose right mm

all right so it's buzzing B we're gonna

close our eyes and our ears so imagine

you're a bumblebee flying over a field

of flowers we're gonna do it one time

we're gonna buzz out as long as we can

when we breathe out and then wait for

everyone to finish so we actually use

our thumbs to press against this part of

our ear so we don't stick our thumbs in

our ear but you see this kind of hard

piece right here go ahead and touch it

that's cartilage of your ear you're

gonna press against that and then just

gently lay your fingers over your eyes

we don't to push too hard and then we're

gonna do one buzzing bee okay you ready

here we go

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and our hands come down good it does I

know and look at how that just calmed us

all down right yes yeah use we can use

our breath to wake us up to calm us down

to cool us all kinds of good things so

let's go ahead and come on to our

bellies for a moment in crocodile so

crocodiles feet and knees go out like

this right and here's our crocodile

mouth Chomp Chomp so bring your head

down and breathe and relax here like a

quiet crocodile I'd start to lift your

head like you're looking around checking

things out right alright we're gonna

take one big chomp ready jump and I'll

switch other jaw on top

alright so move your feet a little bit

so crocodiles had that big strong tail

too to take off we don't have that but

we have our legs and our feet so we can

wiggle around a little bit we don't have

to be like statues in our yoga poses we

want to move around all right

so now sweep the arms down tops of your

legs come back to your feet come back in

and let's go ahead and lift here's our

Cobra again yeah good breathe out nice

job

alright so now take the arms out in

front this is called Sphinx pose or in

Sphinx pose some of you I've done a lot

of yoga with kids can go here and bring

your head back towards your feet I can't

but you can try if you want

look how close you all are good job to

you so we're gonna roll onto our backs

now okay so we're gonna come down for

our relaxation so roll

onto your back good we're gonna keep our

feet bet for a moment

so our knees bent so our feet are on the

floor and no if we already did that one

arms stay down okay and so now we're

gonna tap our arms and our feet ready

here we go stomp

good and stop and do it one more time

ready like you're having a tantrum get

out all that frustration and then stop

okay now take your legs straight out and

turn your arms up towards the ceiling

good okay close your eyes and so imagine

you're melting into the earth so this is

called Earth Pose

so you're melting down notice your

breathing your tummy rises when you

breathe in and Falls when you breathe

out and so now tighten all the muscles

in your body squeeze your arms your legs

everything scrunch up your face and then

relax good one more time tighten all the

muscles make a fist scrunch up your toes

high relaxed so from here I'm gonna sit

up just so you can hear me better so

keep your eyes closed but now you get to

take your own little adventure like

you're riding on a cloud so closing your

eyes and imagine you're floating on a

cloud up over the building up over your

house thinking about what it might look

like to look down on everything so

seeing a different perspective and then

if you could go anywhere you wanted to

so make up your own story here where

would you float to would you go over

mountains and oceans maybe you'd go to

the pyramids to Egypt maybe you'd go all

the way up into space anyplace you

imagine

and so after you've had this really cool

adventure you start to make your way

with your cloud back towards Nebraska

floating back over the cornfields back

over the building and you start to float

down through the ceiling so you have to

take deep breaths out ah so your cloud

can lower down ah a little bit lower and

imagining you're rolling off of your

cloud and start to wiggle your fingers

and your toes and then slowly come back

up to seated so anytime you need to

anytime you need to you can imagine that

you're going on that little adventure

so it's a great way to take a little

break when you need to right all right

so we end our yoga classes with namaste

so your hands come to your heart right

and we say namaste good job and namaste

just means the lighted me see is the

light in you so it's a really kind way

of acknowledging each other for who we

are right because we want to be kind to

one another thank you so much you did a

great job do you have fun good

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