What is Yoga Storytelling All About?
In our previous blog, ‘How to Have a Fabulous National Storytelling Week on a Budget’. We suggested that settings could incorporate yoga storytelling to support children’s learning development and well-being as part of National Storytelling Week 2023. So, this blog is going to explore the following:
· What is yoga storytelling?
· What are the proven benefits of yoga to children?
· Suggestions of where to start your yoga storytelling journey.
What is Yoga Storytelling?
Yoga can be defined as much more than an exercise program, but it is a practice rooted in thousands of years of tradition that is about connecting your mind, body, spirit, and health together. As well as learning to tune into our bodies and minds in a busy world (Harper 2013). I have recently been reading the book by Harper (2013) little flower yoga for kids, this is a fantastic read for the overview of developing a yoga and mindfulness program in settings.
Therefore, it is also important to consider what the trending word mindfulness means, beyond our current cultural practises of mindful colouring and activities! Blissfulkids (2022) have a fantastic definition of mindfulness which can also be shared with children:
“Mindfulness is simply… noticing what is happening right now.
Mindfulness is taking notice of how your body feels and what you see, smell and taste. Maybe you even feel emotions in your body, perhaps through a tightness somewhere, or a good sensation.
Mindfulness is also noticing what your mind is doing.”
Harper (2013) in her book and outlined program talks about 5 key elements of yoga and this includes mindfulness as part of yoga:
· Connect
· Breath
· Move
· Focus
· Relax
These 5 key elements when developing a yoga program are vital and important to understand as we think about the holistic practise of yoga. When thinking about yoga storytelling then what does this mean, this is a practise of storytelling in a fun and engaging way for young children that promotes all of the 5 elements above, connection, breathing, movement, focus and time to relax. While engaging in telling small stories to young children, whether we are making up stories, passing stories down from one generation to the next, or telling a story via a story book.
What are the proven benefits of yoga to children?
There are many proven benefits to yoga and mindfulness practices to supporting children’s well-being, learning and development and below are some of them:
· Supports developing tools to help self-esteem,
· Helps to manage stress,
· Helps to develop resilience,
· Increases focus,
· Supports academic performance,
· Supports emotional regulation,
· Supports memory and brain development,
· Supports general emotional well-being and balance,
· Promotes relaxation,
· Is energising,
· Supports strength and flexibility,
· Supports balance, proprioception, and vestibular sense.
(Mindfulness Communication and Such, 2023; Harper 2013; Goldberg 2013)
Starting Your Yoga Storytelling Journey?
Introducing something new to your setting can often be exciting, but equally overwhelming with knowing where to start. Here we are going to outline an idea of how to begin your yoga storytelling practice, so that you can develop it overtime. First you will need to focus on developing some skills, before perhaps doing some of the more complex wonderful children yoga books on the market that require a little bit of practising first (spoken from experience!!).
Before starting your yoga journey think about environment. Remembering that one of the key elements is relaxation, think about where in your setting you carry out yoga so that it does not happen in a crowded over stimulating area of your provision. You want somewhere that is not cluttered or full of distraction for those busy minds. Also, make sure that you have individual yoga mats for the children, so that they have their own boundary for their own physical space whilst completing yoga.
The book by DK My First Yoga is a great book for introducing the yoga poses to young children and getting them familiar with them at the beginning of your journey. Remember, that yoga time does not have to be a rush it might be that you start by using this book and learning 3 or 4 poses a session to begin with. This book is also fantastic because it has really simple explanations of the different poses and photos! It also is good at promoting the breathing element of yoga and not just the physical movements. (P.s. you need to feel confident while doing yoga, so if you cannot do a movement don’t use that one until you are confident in doing it!).
Once children are confident with their yoga movements this is a time to start to combine a few simple movements together to tell a story. For example, you could tell the 3 little pigs using just a few movements as you tell the story. For example, doing a mountain pose for the beginning of the story, the downward dog pose for when the wolf is huffing and puffing, and a strong tree pose to represent the houses. As the children become more confident and experienced at yoga you can develop more movements into the storytelling sessions.
You can also then progress to some fantastic books such as:
· Yoga Animals in the Forest by Christiane Kerr
· Good morning yoga by Mariam Gates
· Yoga Adventures by Jamaica Stevens and Jamaroo Kids
I hope you have found this blog helpful and are all excited to start your very own yoga storytelling sessions in your settings!
References:
Blissfulkids (2022) Mindfulness: What is it and How to Explain it to Kids and Adults, [online] https://blissfulkids.com/what-is-mindfulness-and-how-to-explain-it-to-kids/ [accessed 3/02/2023]
Goldberg, L. (2013) Yoga Therapy for Children with Autism and Special Needs. New York: Nortan and Company Inc.
Harper, J.C. (2013) Little Flower Yoga for Kids: A Yoga and Mindfulness Program to Help Your Child Improve Attention and Emotional Balance. Raincoast Books: Canada.
Mindfulness Communication and Such (2023) Mindfulness for Kinds [online] https://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-for-kids/ [accessed 3/02/2023]