In my Yoga classes we have a mix of energetic games and movement and some slowing down and quiet time. The children actually love the slow, relaxing activities and start to ask for them when practiced regularly. It takes starting small, making it accessible and making it enjoyable. In this blog I will share with you some of the methods I use to practice quiet and calm in my classes and at home.

It sounds so simple but there is so much fun that can be had with the breath with a huge range of benefits. When children are focused on their breath, they are taking time to be in stillness, to check in with themselves and to calm the nervous system, which is still developing in children. The breath can be used to help to relax the body and to increase oxygen supply. It is also a great tool for helping us to lift our mood, relieve anxiety and can help us in different yoga postures. 

For younger children, practicing breathwork is going to be more focused around smelling, using fun props (see next section) and visuals where as with older children you can dive deeper into proper techniques. Here are a few examples:

Younger Children: Flower Breath
See Video: Here

Join your pinky fingers, thumbs and the base of your palms together to form a flower. Bring the flower up to your nose to take a big smell. What colour is your flower? Do you have a favourite flower? What does it smell like? Repeat a few times. 

Older Children - Breath of Fire
See Video: Here 

This is a fun way to get children practicing breath of fire otherwise known as Kapalabhati.
The inhale is just a natural breath in and the exhale is rapid and focuses on those abdominal muscles contracting.
The breath in matches the length of the breath out.

This breathing practice is great for exercising the respiratory muscles, improving focus, digestion, letting go of stress and strengthening abdominal muscles.

Props are a great way to get in some quiet time and to set the scene ready for some calm. It could be that you have a calm corner, a calm basket or a special blanket you use for relaxation. You can use props to help with breathwork such as a breathing ball, pom poms and paper straws. 
You could use eye pillows, mindfulness cards, glitter jars, rain sticks, sound bowl, bell, rolling up in your yoga mat, magic stones or crystals etc. There are so many different ways you can utilize the use of props.

Here is one example: 

Pom Pom obstacle course

Create a little obstacle course that the child can then use a paper straw to blow a pom pom or cotton ball from the start line to finish line. You can make this easy and get more challenging as you go. You can also play this by just doing this from one end of the yoga mat (or table) to the other.

Who says quiet time can't be fun? Here are a few of my favourite quiet games for groups.

Telephone
Everyone sits in a line. Write down a sentence - this could be an affirmation, a quote or even a tongue twister. Then give this bit of paper to the person at the back OR just whisper it to them. They then lean forward and whisper it to the person in front of them. They can't repeat it so whatever the person in front thought they heard they pass on to the person in front of them. It keeps going and then the person at the front stands up and shares what they heard with the rest of the group. The person at the back can then let everyone know how much the original message changed (if it did at all). Everyone must be quiet in this game to allow for the message to be heard so it is a great way to practice patience, sitting in stillness and quiet.

Teddy Pass

Everyone sits in a circle, encourage them to sit up tall but comfortable. One soft toy is then passed to who ever is sitting the quietest. That child then takes a moment to hug the toy, take a few breaths and then must pass it to another child who is being nice and quiet. This game works really well for younger children. Be sure that everyone gets a turn, if someone is struggling to be quiet, don't punish them by not giving them a turn, help them instead. 

Story time is a great opportunity for quiet and relaxation. This could be a short fable or a story book, you could even read a guided relaxation. So many options with this one. Story time is great before bedtime for a reason, it can really help a child to relax, calm and focus.
We have included all kinds of stories in my Yoga classes such as Fox makes Friends by Adam Relf, A child's version of The Wizard of Oz, Listening with my Heart by Gabi Garcia and so much more. 

Maybe you're sick, maybe you're just tired but the kids don't get it, they want your attention, now! For those times when you want to play but haven't got the energy, here are three fun games you can play together!
​You may also like this previous blog post full of fun ideas for Screen Free Family nights >> Here.

You lay on the sofa, face down on a comfy cushion, maybe you even have a nice blanket on you. The child/children then place one of their toys on your back. You then have to try and guess what toy it is. So simple and yet can be so fun. You can start giving out to the toys saying 'what are you doing on my back 'name', I'm trying to go to sleep'. Then when there is no toy on your back you can start to snore until they find another toy to wake you up. 

This is where you get to be the very demanding patient. Asking the children for nonsense things to pass to you or real things like chocolate from the fridge. It is the children's job to make sure you are getting lots of rest and checking up on you.

This is where you get to hide under your blanket while the children build Lego or blocks around you or even stack cushions on you. They must do it really quietly as to not wake you - the giant. If they wake you, you give a big stretch knocking everything over and off of you, Put on a little bit of a show here before going back to sleep. 

All these games require a little effort but not too much and you still get a bit of a lay down. You could also play different talking games like I-spy, read or make up stories or just throw on a movie and cuddle up. Parenting is challenging anyway but on days when you don't feel like doing anything or are feeling run down, it can be soo hard. These games are so handy for times when you are feeling like that. 

Which one will you be playing? Have you any other ideas? Let's help each other out here ;P Comment below!

Also check out:
5 Ways to look after your Mental health this Winter
Three mindful family activities for your evening
​5 reasons children need confidence and 10 ways yoga can help

Winter is officially upon us. Today marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. From here, the light will start to return to us. The days start to once again grow longer and longer until we reach the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. This is a great time to reflect and set intentions. You may like to start visualizing the year ahead. It can be a great time for planning but slow down on acting on that right now. Conserve your energy where you can, take rest and really nurture yourself - mind, body and soul.

Winter can bring with it the winter blues, the light is slowly returning but we still have long periods of darkness and cold. Here are some ways your can nourish your mental health in this time.

You don't need much to start a Yoga or meditation practice from home. Nothing fancy at all in fact. A yoga mat can be very helpful and some comfortable clothing for moving in, and sign up for a class or follow along to some Youtube videos. 

Here is a Gentle Yoga Practice that is focused around Self-love - Click here.
I have Live online Classes starting in January which can be found here. 

For meditations I love the Insight timer App.

Don't underestimate the power of getting enough sleep! For some reason I always feel the sleep I get before 12am is the most valuable, like it is worth twice as much. For this reason I make an effort to have an early night at least once or twice a week but I always aim to get 7 to 8 hours sleep. And if you can take a nap - amazing, do it! Winter is definitely a time to rest so have movie nights and cosy evenings when you can and don't be afraid to say No to things you don't actually want to do. 

When light is limited, it can be great to get outside while it is light but it can also be quite magical to take a walk later on when all the Christmas lights are on. Wrap up warm and get outside each day, it makes coming home and getting cosy that little bit more sweet. 

It is okay to say No to spending time with people who drain you, or at least make an early escape plan right?! As I said Winter is all about conserving your energy, don't let energy vampires suck it all out of you. Take care of you, spend your time with people who light you up and make you feel good. Meet up for a cuppa or plan a Zoom chat if you have to! But keep those connections going. Winter can be very isolating even before 'all of this' so it is good to talk.

Bonus points for not trying to turn it into work! Keep the hobby just for you, keep it fun and playful. Maybe its an activity, a sport, something arty, something creative, puzzles - anything. I love a hobby that gets me into a real flow state - like how yoga does, I get into a real flow state when I get stuck into a puzzle. Time seems to disappear and I'm completely lost in what I am doing. Do you have something like that already or something you have been wanting to try? Comment below!

There are so many other ways that we can take care of ourselves this Winter. What would you add to the list? What helps you? 

Create your own winter Olympics! You could create little stations on yoga mats around the room or move together through one activity to the next. You could have a bobsleigh challenge where you could come into a boat pose or a group pose. You could do a hula hoop pass where everyone in the group holds hands with one hula hoop resting on someone's joined hands, then each person must step through the hoop to get it all the way around the circle. You could create an obstacle course with different poses on each station, maybe some themed posed such as Alpine Skiing (chair pose), Figure skating (dancer pose), Ice hockey (pyramid), snowboarding (warrior 2). You can get really creative here so just have fun with it! You could even include the next game as part of this which is 'Ice Skating'.

You will need two paper plates each person! standing on the plates, skate to the other side of the room, you could even use cones to create obstacles here! Another fun way to play is to have everyone skate in a circle but they must keep distance between them, if one person stops - they must all stop. This is fun because you don't know who is going to stop or when so they really need to be focusing. For younger children especially, this may be very challenging. So another way to play could be in partners, with one person 'with skates' and the other just helping them to keep balanced. 

For this game, I used balls from the kids Ball pit but you could get styrofoam balls. I then drew different poses on each ball. Place a yoga strap in the centre of the room to split it into two sides. Divide your group into two teams. Empty all the balls out (enough so that their would be two each easily in a small group or a one and half ratio for a large group) . Each team must stay on their own side. Everyone begins to throw snowballs at the other team. When you shout freeze, children must hold the pose that is on their snowball - if they are not holding one, they must pick up the one closest to them. 

Using a snowball from the previous game, practice balancing it on your head. Now try walking slowly while balancing it. Then work on different poses, balancing the snowball in different places. Tree pose with the snowball on your head, boat pose with snowball on knees or both hands at the side,  downward facing dog with the ball on your tailbone. 

In this game you are all elves apart from one person in the middle who is Santa. Santa must pretend to be asleep with a bell next to him (you could use keys or anything that rattles). The elves must try and get this bell without waking Santa! If Santa hears anyone, he can wake up and send them back to the start (on their mat). How quiet can everyone be? Can they get the bell? 

Feeling inspired by these games? Why not add them into these Yoga classes put together earlier.  

Class one: Winter
Class two: Christmas and Gratitude
Class three: Christmas Adventure!

Thank you so much for reading! I have also just posted up on my group an outline of the lesson I have planned for today. You can see this free on my Facebook group here.

​5 Mindful Practices you need to know before you plan your next class! I wanted to share with you my five favourite mindful activities, I think your class will love them as much as my little Yogis do! 

​Art is such a great way to express ourselves. Ask the class to sit for a moment and just bring an awareness to how they are feeling. With paper ready in front of them and pens or crayons of different colours ask them to use different colours to show how they are feeling. Allow them to express their thoughts however they feel called to do so. Letting everything come flowing out from their minds on to the page. There are no expectations for it to look like anything or be a certain way. There is no wrong way to do this. 

​Elephants have such big ears which allow them to hear well (as well as using their ears to keep cool). Let’s sit comfortably and listen like an elephant. You may even like to close your eyes for this activity. What can you hear that is far away? No need to answer out loud, you don’t even need to name the sound, just observe. Next, what can you hear that is closest to you? Are their any sounds coming from you? Can you hear your breath, your heartbeat? Bring an awareness to these sounds without trying to attach too much meaning to them, just allow them to be. There is no need to rush through this exercise, take it nice and slow before opening your eyes and coming back to the room. 

Check out my new lesson plan here on etsy. 
​

We all have some degree of stress in our lives but burnout is quite different. It is when stress has hit its max, or you're feeling so overwhelmed, irritable and maybe just feel like quitting. It can creep up on you or build slowly. When you're doing a job that you are so passionate about and you love, it may be hard to admit you are feeling burned out. It doesn't make you any less of a teacher or any less passionate, it just means that you are human, and maybe you've been so busy filling everyone else's cup, that you forgot to fill yours first.

1. Learn to Say No!
Are you taking on too much? Maybe saying yes because it sounds like a great opportunity even if it doesn't feel aligned for you. Maybe saying yes because you are flattered they asked you, even though it means cancelling that one evening you get to yourself. It is okay to say No. And guess what, You can even say no, without apologizing!

2. Self care, self care, self care!
Guaranteed you preach it, but are you listening to yourself? Just because you love what you do and maybe it doesn't always feel like 'work', but it is work and it does take its toll. You need to be looking after you. Getting enough sleep, eating, drinking, resting, the basics - right! I would argue this is not self-care but essential care. Looking at your daily routines and rituals may be handy.

3. Don't forget your own practice
Don't forget why you wanted to teach others, most likely you had your own practice before you went on to teacher trainings etc. Don't lose that. Get on the mat and practice. It really helps to attend classes, watch videos and switch off from planning mode. When you switch off from planning mode and just be present with the practice, you'll be more inspired than ever. Set a designated time after practice to write notes if you want to but try to avoid doing this during class and just let yourself have that time for you. 

4. Get outside help!
You know the benefits of using yoga blocks, they provide us with help to get into poses that may be very challenging otherwise, or just add an extra 'something'. It feels good to be able to use them.  Everything we practice on the mat can be taken off the mat, this includes this lesson. If the support is there, we  can absolutely use it. It can help to look at what areas of your business that you would love to delegate. What is it in your business that is causing you the most amount of stress right now? Who can you find to take this off your plate? What is your biggest excuse for not doing this? 
You can also outsource jobs at home. For me, I would love to get a cleaner! The way I look at it, cleaning takes me away from my business because ideally I like to tidy when the kids are not home, and this is also the time I like to work on my business and take time for me. So I am trying to fit all of those things into a small window of time so how could I solve that? Delegate! Delegating is such a practice of releasing control but I am really learning to love it!
If lesson planning is the thing that is time consuming for you or stressing you out, I have you covered! Check out these ready made lesson plans over on Etsy!

5. Get serious about your planning
Okay so adding more to your list to avoid burnout doesn't sounds like a good idea but hear me out. Get yourself a diary and plan out everything when it comes to your business. When you are running your own business it can be so easy to be 'on' all of the time. Trying to remember everything and do everything, can be so overwhelming. I like to get all that mind chatter out by writing it down. I have my work scheduled in, content planning time, blog post ideas etc all written down. Make sure your scheduling in time for you and for family and friends, just like you would an important meeting. Balance is not a 50 50 job like so many would have us believe. The truth is, balance shifts from week to week. Some weeks you are going to be more focused on your business, some weeks you're going to be more focused on seeing friends. Instead of striving for the perfect 50 50, just make sure you are doing what feels good that week. Setting intentions on the Sunday night in your diary can also be a nice way to go into a new week. 
I find having it all out on paper helps me feel a lot calmer and less stressed, if I look at it and it stresses me out, I've over committed and that can be looked at too and adjusted (It could be a case of point 4 - getting outside help or just seeing what I can shift the following week). 


That is my five top tips on avoiding burnout but I know there are so many more!
What advice would you give to a teacher to avoid burnout? 

​

Books are a big part of our day to day, we love them! We use them in our yoga practices, to help inspire activities, to cook with, to colour and as part of our bedtime ritual. We love mindfulness books and those that talk about emotions.
It is so important to learn about the range of emotions beyond just happy and sad. It can be very empowering to be able to check in with how we are doing and know what is going on for us especially when an emotion feels so big and intense. Here is a list of seven of our favourite books focused around emotions. If you have any that you love, please leave a comment and let us know!

In no particular order....

That is just a few of our favourites in this house! Always on the look out for more so drop your favourites in the comments! Let me know if you've already ready any of these and what you thought of them! 

When our days are busy, busy, busy it is more important than ever to take time to pause. Take a moment for some mindful movement. Here I have three practices you can do at home on any evening. Their is mindful walking which can be a fun way to slow down and be present, Yoga dance which is a great way of moving mindfully but can also be energetic if that is how you are feeling - great for getting the wiggles out and then you can slow it down, moving from fast to slow is a great way to get the children to focus and be ready for a calm activity after, which leads us to our meditation - The fairy's gift. This is inspired by a meditation I practiced in one of my teacher trainings, it is absolutely beautiful. I hope your yogis enjoy it! 

Mindful Walking - The evenings are dark and you may not want to go out for a walk but how about just around the room? You can practice mindfully walking by matching the movement to your breath and be going really slowly. The intention here is to be really present, to be aware of your surroundings and how each movement feels. 

Yoga Dance - This is a fun practice with yoga cards but can be done with out too. Put on some happy music and practice a few of your favourite yoga poses. You could even include some partner poses. Turn this into a dance, how can you join the poses together? How can they flow from one to the next? This is a great opportunity for play and creativity. 

The Fairy's Gift  Meditation Inspired by Rainbow Yoga 

 Lie down and relax on your mat, on your bed or on a blanket. Breathe slowly into your belly, filling it like a balloon and then release, letting all the air out. With every breath in, bring peace and joy into yourself and with every breath out let all the things that are not feeling good out. Listen to your body, listen to your heartbeat; feeling more and more relaxed.  Imagine, standing out in a field. Maybe somewhere you have visited before or somewhere made up. In this wonderful field there are millions of colourful flowers in full bloom. There are orange flowers, blue ones, yellow, pink, and even special rainbow coloured flowers here. Breathe deeply and smell the sweet fragrance of these flowers. There are also many birds flying around; listen to their sweet songs.
The sun is shining and you can feel the rays warming you. Beautiful butterflies in all sorts of colours are fluttering around you and you can feel their pleasant wings touching you. The sky has so many shades of blue, and those blues get mixed with the yellow of the sun… it’s stunning! All of a sudden, a fairy appears. She comes close to you and offers you a gift. It’s a spiritual gift; not a gift you can touch, but a gift that you really need, a gift you can feel in your heart. Maybe it’s a gift of love, or health, or success, or patience, or just a message… you know best what gift you need to receive now. Accept the fairy’s gift and thank her. Let the gift enter your heart now and become a part of you. (Allow the children to stay in silence for another moment here). Wiggle your fingers and toes, and remember that the gift the fairy gave you will stay with you forever. Slowly open your eyes and come back to sitting or stay relaxed and ready for bed.

For more yoga and mindfulness make sure you are signed up for the email list at www.amazingmeyoga.ie 
New membership program including online yoga classes coming soon! 

Confidence, are we born with it? It is easy to think that some people are born with confidence and some people, without. That is not the case though. Marissa Peer in her book Ultimate confidence says that we are born with confidence. A baby does not stop to think if they are worthy enough to receive attention and their needs being met, they scream and cry until they get it. Somewhere along the way, we lose that confidence or maybe we don't. Do we need to wait until we lose it to work on it? Should be wait until we are adults? Why not work on it from early on?

Five Reasons Children Need Confidence

- Easier to spark their own happiness which can be important in challenging social conflicts at school
- Feel good about themselves and seek less outside validation
- They are better able to self regulate their emotions 
- Can do better in school and different activities
- Naturally attract good friendships that are healthy 



Yoga is a great way to help build confidence in children. Not only do they make new friendships in classes, they have a safe space to explore emotions, to connect with themselves and be in a environment where they can just be themselves - no competitiveness, no judgement, no need to be 'more' or 'less' of anything. 

Here are ten ways Yoga can help build more confidence 

1. Foster their independence. In classes children are given little tasks such as rolling up their own mats, giving out cards, switching off the light etc as well as the space to make decisions and listen to themselves. 

2. Group work. One reason I love being in a circle is it really makes you feel like a group where everyone is equal, everyone is seen and no one is left out. 

3. We praise effort over achievement. Look how hard they are practicing to get to that crow pose! Whether they get there or not, is not important, its all about the journey and they need to know that a 'perfect pose' is not what is important. 

4. Interaction. Social interaction with each other is really important to help build their confidence. We use partner poses and activities to allow for more one on one time as well as the group interactions. Even in times of social distancing when this has been more challenging, the social aspect is really important.

5. We include a lot of praise and positive comments within the group, keeping it genuine. This is great for them to practice receiving that energy as well as giving it. 

6. We hold space for them to share their feelings, and really listen. All feelings are valid and welcome in the class. It is our job to 'fix' anything, just hold a safe space. This is not a counselling session so we avoid treating it as such, instead it is very much group led. It is amazing to see how supportive a group can be with each other. 

7. We play games. Games are a great way to have fun which makes for the best learning environment and a great way to interact with others and build strong connections.

8. We journal. They could write down things they like about themselves, a love letter to themselves, write affirmations, things they are proud off etc. We bring this into class from time to time as our 'quiet time' activity. 

9. We read stories about self esteem, self worth and confidence.

10. We practice some challenging poses. I am not one for show off yoga at all but their is some beauty in challenging ourselves and building confidence as we practice. Some of my favourite poses for this are crow, side plank, warrior three or even a fun partner pose. Something we can work towards with options to change the pose to suit us, so what variations can we take? Maybe crow lying down or side plank with the knee down. Everyone's challenging pose is different and we want to build confidence so allowing space for props, support and variations can help get us to get this pose. The most important thing is the journey and the breath! 

If you are local and would like to come to one of my classes please sign up via - Vstudio  if not you may be interested to know I am finally launching my online Family yoga club very soon! See more details about that by signing up to my email list or visiting me over on Instagram at www.instagram.com/amazing_me_yoga


What is something that makes you feel confident? Share with us in the comments.

Confidence, are we born with it? It is easy to think that some people are born with confidence and some people, without. That is not the case though. Marissa Peer in her book Ultimate confidence says that we are born with confidence. A baby does not stop to think if they are worthy enough to receive attention and their needs being met, they scream and cry until they get it. Somewhere along the way, we lose that confidence or maybe we don't. Do we need to wait until we lose it to work on it? Should be wait until we are adults? Why not work on it from early on?

Five Reasons Children Need Confidence

- Easier to spark their own happiness which can be important in challenging social conflicts at school
- Feel good about themselves and seek less outside validation
- They are better able to self regulate their emotions 
- Can do better in school and different activities
- Naturally attract good friendships that are healthy 



Yoga is a great way to help build confidence in children. Not only do they make new friendships in classes, they have a safe space to explore emotions, to connect with themselves and be in a environment where they can just be themselves - no competitiveness, no judgement, no need to be 'more' or 'less' of anything. 

Here are ten ways you can help build more confidence in your classes

1. Foster their independence. Give them small jobs to do like handing out cards or turning off the light, rolling up their own mats at the end etc.

2. Group work. One reason I love being in a circle is it really makes you feel like a group where everyone is equal, everyone is seen and no one is left out. 

3. Praise effort over achievement. Look how hard they are practicing to get to that crow pose! Whether they get there or not, is not important, its all about the journey and they need to know that a 'perfect pose' is not what is important. 

4. Interaction. Social interaction with each other is really important to help build their confidence. Use partner poses and activities to allow for more one on one time as well as the group interactions. 

5. Include a lot of praise and positive comments within the group, keeping it genuine. This will be great for them to practice receiving that as well as giving it. 

6. Hold space for them to share their feelings, listen. All feelings are valid and welcome in the class. It is not your job to 'fix' anything, just hold a safe space. This is not a counselling session so avoid treating it as such if you don't have those qualifications.  It is amazing to see how supportive a group can be with each other so let them lead.

7. Play games. Games are a great way to have fun which makes for the best learning environment and a great way to interact with others and build strong connections.

8. Introduce a journaling practice. They could write down things they like about themselves, a love letter to themselves, write affirmations, things they are proud off etc.

9. Read stories about self esteem, self worth and confidence.

10. Practice some challenging poses. I am not one for show off yoga at all but their is some beauty in challenging ourselves and building confidence as we practice. Some of my favourite poses for this are crow, side plank, warrior three or even a fun partner pose. Something we can work towards with options to change the pose to suit us, so what variations can we take? Maybe crow lying down or side plank with the knee down. Everyone's challenging pose is different and we want to build confidence so allowing space for props, support and variations can help get us to get this pose. The most important thing is the journey and the breath! 

I have written three lesson plans just for you so that you can bring in these elements into your classes.

You can check them out here : Etsy

Here is what is included:

Class one: Stress management and strengthening inner awareness

Class two: Love and Confidence

Class three: Loving Kindness

Classes include mindfulness activities, yoga pose suggestions and flows for each class, games and meditations. This is a pdf word document available digitally only. It will be sent via etsy on purchase.

Want to get a feel for my style? Grab your free 8 week lesson plan over at www.amazingmeyoga.ie/8weeklesson.html


What makes you feel confident? What would be one thing you would say to yourself as a child? Share with us in the comments.