Snake Pose or Cobra Pose

A child's breathing & relaxing technique. Also called the 'cobra pose' in yoga, though minus the silly snake sound!

1. Lie quietly on tummy.

2. Push up on arms.

3. Take a deep breath in.

4. Release hissssss of air like a snake and slowly settle back down.

This will flex the spine and neck. Flexible kids can also try bending their knees and bringing their feet to their head. Repeat several times for effect.

Ballooning

Start with your arms at your side. Breathe in deeply, and as you breathe in raise your arms over your head. Blow out the air while making exaggerated noises, like a balloon deflating, and wiggle your arms until they are back at your side. Repeat several times.

Breathing & Relaxing

Face it, we all have moments where we lose our cool. Sometimes with kids the fit becomes a bigger deal than whatever actually sparked the fit in the first place! You've probably all heard "Just take a deep breath!" at some point. Did that fire you up? Were you able to calm down and reassess the situation? Deep breathing refocuses us and calms our physiological response to a situation. Give this yoga pose a go.

Boat Pose

Let's start by finding our tails. Let's sit on our tails.
Let's bring our feet out in front of our bodies.
Let's hold on behind our legs and we can
Start to lift our feet up off the floor.
Try to stay up on your tail!
Lift just one foot if that's easier. Or we can lift both.

Let's try to sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat
While we hold our boat pose.
(Move arms in a circular rowing motion at sides.)

*Variation: Row with a Partner
1. Assign partners. (Similar sizes paired together helps.)
2. Sit opposite your partner.
3. Your feet should be on the floor.
4. Reach across and hold your partner's hands.
5. Row by leaning back and forth together.