Back to School with The Yoga Buggy
Written By Miri Gindin
Friends, this is an unprecedented back to school season in so many ways. Worries about Covid-19 abound. Fire season with its incumbent smoke is in full force on the West Coast, including British Columbia, where The Yoga Buggy is headquartered. Politics are bonkers both here, in Canada, and South of the border. Everything feels like too much, right?
How do we cope with our bodies, minds and spirits in these challenging times and support the kiddos too? As always, the Yoga tradition offers some good advice.
Body
Immunity, immunity, immunity! Let’s stay strong as the cold & flu season settles in!
Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga, offers great advice to boost immunity in this season. Check out these pro tips, including a couple you may not have heard of, like nose and ear oil and herbal honey.
There is a host of research that suggests regular yoga practice supports immunity. A couple poses that are great for immunity (and kids love!) are downward dog (woof woof!) and shoulderstand (when the child is ready to come out of this pose, blow out their “birthday candles” (feet) and they can gently “melt” out of the pose.
Mind
Staying present is so important to keep us feeling safe and grounded. One easy way of doing that is noticing/working with how you feel. Try this:
Upon waking, go into a quiet spot where you can stay for about 5 minutes. I just go back to bed and sit in an upright position. Notice the “tone” of how you’re feeling that day. After you notice, think of the quality that will help you to cultivate something positive out of that tone, whether the tone is negative or positive.
Say a little repetitive phrase (a.k.a mantra) to encourage the good thing you’re cultivating.
I’ve been doing this every day. Here are some real examples from my past week:
~September 13, 2020. Notice a strong need to take a complete break from work and be present with son. Repeat word “Fun” for remaining few minutes.
~September 14, 2020. Notice anxious feelings/tangled knot in stomach. Wish to cultivate spacious, peaceful relaxed feelings. Repeat phrase, “spacious belly breathing” for remaining few minutes.
~September 15, 2020. Notice grumbly feelings toward noisy neighbours. Wish to cultivate the opposite. Repeat classic loving-kindness meditation: “May all beings be peaceful, may all beings be happy, may all beings be free from suffering” for remaining few minutes.
I’ve been finding the effects of this technique stay with me throughout the day. Its essence: notice present-moment feelings, cultivate the positive ones and mitigate the negative ones.
And friends, it takes literally five minutes.
Have you heard this Zen proverb:
You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day – unless you’re too busy: then you should sit for an hour!
Well, I feel that way too but with a caveat: as a busy mom and entrepreneur, replace 20 minutes with 5 minutes.* Another bonus to this technique? It’s easy to teach many kids. If you’re a caregiver, give it a try with a child at any time of the day!
Spirit
We are so excited about this one. Drum roll please!!! ...The Yoga Buggy has just launched our own YouTube Channel, launched and managed by our fantastic Aditi Jasra! We think it will be a great support to kids’ and families’ spirits to be able to practice yoga classes with our teachers whenever you want, in the comfort of your own home. We are working on developing new content all the time. Please support our non-profit organization and our teachers by visiting, watching, subscribing and liking!
What about you friends? What are you doing to support mind, body and spirit this autumn? We would love to hear!
Check out these coping strategies from Emily!
The Yoga Buggy relies on the generosity of our community to bring Yoga to more Kids. Please click here to join our by donation online classes. Hope to see you there!