I had spent hours at my desk planning my very first yoga lesson. I wanted to incorporate simple moves that would stretch the body, but also be short enough for young kids to be able to focus on holding. I also had to make sure to include some breathing techniques that would improve their attention span, and so they would be able to recenter their minds. I ended up planning a 45 minute lesson with the theme of Spring. When I finished, I had a mix of emotions, I was both excited and nervous, because I didn’t know what to expect.
On April 18th, I walked into the gym where I would be teaching my first class. In the center were seven mats laid out in a circle with a spot open for one more. I rolled mine out into the empty spot, took off my shoes, and sat down, waiting for my participants to arrive.
At 4:00pm, seven kids, five girls and two boys, walked in with a supervisor. I could see the energy bouncing off of them, and I quickly realized that I would need to change up my lesson plan a little to accommodate everyone in the room.
We started off with a quick ice breaker so that everyone could share their name and something about themselves. Then we got into stretching. We started off in Downward Dog, and worked our way into the different types of Warrior positions: Warrior 1, Warrior 2, Warrior 3, and Peaceful Warrior. However, I could sense the kids’ eyes start to roam around the room and wanted to bring their attention back to the practice. So, I changed up our routine. Instead of doing a 45 minute lesson of yoga poses back to back, I decided to do a cycle of five minute yoga flows, followed by two minute breaks of quick questions about Spring.
Throughout the session, I made sure to constantly remind the kids of how amazing they were doing, and how strong they should feel for being able to conquer the poses that we went through. I didn’t try to make huge corrections because I didn’t want them to feel as if they couldn’t do the poses. Instead I made small suggestions that they were welcome to try if they felt comfortable doing so.
It felt so amazing being able to lead a group of young kids and watch as they became immersed in this amazing practice that had shaped my own life so much, and started the journey of building my confidence.
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