Little Flower Spotlight!

Jennifer Cohen Harper, founder of Little Flower Yoga, has been a huge influence in my life over the past 5 years since I've completed my Kid's Yoga Certification with her. It's a great time to sit and reflect on my path since then...what an honor to be featured on the Little Flower Yoga Blog!

Joyful Commitment to the Local and the Global: 

An Interview with Karen Gilmour

"And it was like a light went off...

this is what I could do with my life!"

We are so proud to spotlight Karen Gilmour, the inspirational director of Alluem Kids in NJ. Karen traded an office job in for full time kids yoga in 2010. This September, she will present at the First National Kids Yoga Conference. 

  READ FULL ARTICLE

Little Flower Yoga in New Jersey!

In 2008, I walked into a yoga studio in NYC to attend a kid's yoga teacher training with Jennifer Cohen Harper and Kate Reil. Little did I know when I walked out, my life would be changed. As a yoga practitioner, I never saw myself as a yoga teacher. After the Level One training with Little Flower Yoga, I was absolutely sure I was on the right path...the one that would not only shape my life, but the lives of all the children that would one day cross that path. 

Bringing yoga to children has been nothing but a joy in my life. Every child that rolls out his or her mat in our studio, every child who sits down on the linoleum floors of the schools I visit, every child that curls up on their mom's lap at storytime has filled my heart.

I am happy to announce that Little Flower is coming to New Jersey February 1-2!!! I wholeheartedly recommend this training for anyone looking to share the gift of yoga with the children in their lives - parents, school teachers, yoga teachers, coaches, therapists, PTs, OTs - anyone who has an influence on the life of a child in any way. Fulfill their physical, emotional and social needs. Learn to incorporate yoga and mindfulness activities into a child's every day life so they can connect to themselves and those around them. So they can build body awareness and breathe deeper. So they can grow stronger through focus, concentration, and balance. So they can begin to fill their tool box with ways to regulate their own emotions and find an unbelievable confidence in themselves. 

Check out the site for more information on this Level One Intensive at 

the Princeton Center for Yoga and Health:

http://littlefloweryoga.com/events/level-one-intensive-nj-2-1-2-2014

Mindfulness and Meditation Activities for Children

Looking forward to a great workshop this weekend with my teacher, Jennifer Cohen Harper!

Mindfulness and Meditation Activities for Children:
Every day children are told to pay attention, yet we never actually teach them how to do this! This course offers you ways to introduce children to a mindfulness practice that both engages them, and gives them space to listen to their own thoughts and feelings. Includes both still and moving meditations. Help children tune in, focus better, make sense of their emotions, make good decisions, and experience a richer and more fulfilling day to day experience of life.

If you're in the area, I highly recommend you attend! Register here!

New Year with Little Flower Yoga!

Great news for those looking to expand their knowledge of yoga for children!
Little Flower Yoga is offering some great workshops in the NY area!

Children's Yoga Basics: February 25, 2012, 1pm - 5pm
Jenn's Home Studio: 212 Colabaugh Pond Road, Croton on Hudson NY 10520
Tuition: $125
Come learn the fundamentals of the Little Flower approach to teaching children how to live their best possible life. We will discuss the core practices that should be a part of every class, expanding beyond movement to include breathwork, mindfulness activities, self exploration and community building. You will leave this workshop with a solid understanding of what the overall experience of a LFY class will be like for a child, as well as several activities that you can begin using right away with your children. Visit http://www.littlefloweryoga.com/workshops/little-flower-yoga-basics-0521for more information. Advanced registration is required. Croton is a 45 minute train ride from Grand Central Station.
Mindfulness and Meditation Practices for Children: March 24, 2012: 1pm - 5pm
Karma Kids Yoga Studio: 104 W. 14th St. NY NY
Tuition: $100
This course offers you ways to introduce children to a mindfulness practice that both engages them, and gives them space to listen to their own thoughts and feelings. Includes both still and moving meditations. Help children tune in, focus better, make sense of their emotions, make good decisions, and experience a richer and more fulfilling day to day experience of life. Visit http://www.littlefloweryoga.com/workshops/mindfulness-and-meditation-activities-for-children for more information. Advanced registration is required.
The Compassionate Classroom (and Living Room): April 14, 2012, 1pm-5pm
Jenn's Home Studio: 212 Colabaugh Pond Road, Croton on Hudson NY 10520
Tuition: $125
Are you ever frustrated by the behavior of your students or your own children? Ever frustrated by your reaction to their behavior? Feel like you don’t want to yell but don’t know what else to do? The Compassionate Classroom (and Living Room) workshop will give you tools and techniques to keep your students engaged through cooperation rather than control. You will learn to communicate in a way that shows compassion and respect for all children, and use powerful strategies to create an environment of mutual trust. Visit http://www.littlefloweryoga.com/workshops/the-compassionate-classroom-and-living-room-04142012 for more information. Advanced registration is required. Croton is a 45 minute train ride from Grand Central Station.

We All Have a Story

We all have a story...and believe it or not, so do our children. Our stories start from the moment we are born and are forever developing as we move down this path called life. The article below is from one of my teachers, Jennifer Cohen Harper - founder of Little Flower Yoga, who so eloquently reminds us to embrace the child you are teaching no matter what story the child comes with and how doing so can make a world of a difference to that child.

"As we come to the end of Autism awareness month, I am very aware of all the information and advice that has been swirling around the children’s yoga world talking about how to support students on the spectrum. There has been some really wonderful sharing happening, but I want to take a moment to remind us as a community of how important it is to embrace every child as an individual. See the soul and not the story, as Seane Corn often says.

In my work with many different children, I have seen how easy it can be to start thinking “this kid has such and such disorder so I’m going to do this with him” or “I can’t do that with this child since she has a developmental delay”. We do, of course, have to be aware of the challenges our students face, and adjust our plans and our expectations accordingly, but often I think we can fall into a trap of habitually teaching to the disorder. This limits our creativity and our ability to show the child all that is possible.

In my teaching I always try to remember that all children have special needs, not just the one’s whose needs are most visible. Children’s challenges, whether they are physical, mental or emotional, are part of what make them who they are, but they are not the only part..."

Click here to continue reading on Elephant Journal

Om Work

You're snowed in...again! What to do? Do your Om Work! Little Flower Yoga has taken some great yoga practices for kids and compiled them into one sweet link for your convenience! Themed poses, breathing exercises, and relaxation techniques perfect for your child and for you! Stay warm, be safe, and do your Om Work!

While you're there, take some time to check out the rest of Little Flower's recently updated site. They are working on some great projects and have some amazing workshops, conferences, and trainings coming up that you won't want to miss!

Live the questions...like the L M N O Peas.

"We are peas - alphabet peas! We work and play in ABCs.

We're acrobats, artists, and astronauts in space.

We're builders, bathers, and bikers in a race.

We're painters, poets, plumbers fixing leaks.

We're pilots, parachutists, we're peas and we're unique!

We're weavers, wishers, and x-ray doctors, too.

We're yogis in a pose, and zoologists - that's who!

We are peas from A to Z.

Now tell us, please...who are you?"

"Who are you?" When I came across Keith Baker's book L M N O Peas, I immediately used it in a lesson with my Alluem Little Kids, asking the children - "Who are you?" With adults, this question often brings on a pinch of anxiety, but with kids - they embrace it! They love this question as they are continuously exploring everything around them. What do I like to do? What do I like to play with? Where do I like to go? Who do I like to be with? What makes me happy? What makes me feel loved? What brings me peace? What brings me joy?

As I approach the 30th year of my life, I discover that I am still on my way to finding my answers to those questions, as I believe the questions never stop. That is the beauty of life. We live the questions. This Friday, September 10th, brings me closer to living that very question that I have been asking for quite sometime now. Who am I? Having graduated from college with a BFA in Illustration and spending much of that first year post college trying to self-promote as a freelance artist, I struggled. Finding a part time job with a major retailer and quickly moving up the ladder to the corporate ranks, I still struggled. Commuting in and out of New York City everyday for the past 5 years living the corporate life, I continued to struggle - constantly asking the who am I question and all the questions that follow.

On September 10th, I will be trading in my 6'x8' cubical with the 5th Ave window for a 2'x6' yoga mat with endless possibilities. As the students and teachers at Alluem Yoga celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the studio, I am more then honored to celebrate with the growth and expansion of the Alluem Kids program. In addition to the current Sunday classes, we will be adding 4 weekday opportunities for the Alluem Kids to grow their practice, along with welcome new and younger yogis to the studio! Here you will find fun and exciting workshops and events for kids, like the upcoming Soccer Yoga Workshop on 9/24 and free lessons at Cranford Musicfest on 9/18. You'll even run into Alluem Kids at your local Barnes & Noble for the upcoming Yoga for Students and Educators on 9/11-9/12. And you may even find me in your classroom for Yoga in my School lessons this school year. The list goes on and on!

I am unbelievably grateful to be so supported by the community, my friends, my family, and by Alluem as I make this transition in my life. Yoga is a practice in which we constantly grow, constantly change, constantly discover new things about ourselves and those around us. When I started practicing yoga 8 years ago under the loving instruction of Clarissa Alliano, I never would have believed it would have brought me to where I am today. I can not thank her and my classmates enough for planting the seed of possibilities of where this practice could take me. After going through my first year of teaching children's yoga, every time I'm greeted by a studio full of students, my heart goes out to the most amazing children's yoga organization, Little Flower Yoga, of whom I trained with. Founder, Jennifer Cohen, and director, Kate Reil, have been such a light to me and so many of the trainees that have crossed their paths. They will touch more lives than they will ever know. And given the opportunity to share the wealth of knowledge they have provided me with, would not have been possible without the dream of Gina Pachkowski, owner and founder of Alluem Yoga. I am very lucky for our paths to have crossed just as her dream was taking form in the beautiful Old Mill on the Rahway River that has become such a sacred space and sanctuary to so many adults and children alike.

I feel so blessed to come to this point of my life as I live the questions and learn to embrace them. My mother often reminds me that everything happens for a reason. With the love that she and my father have instilled in me and the strength that they both show everyday, I am encouraged and ready for each new day with all it has to offer. Everyday will bring a new outlook, a new challenge, a new opportunity. I believe I am at this point in my life for a reason and I welcome this opportunity to grow with open arms. And of course, I will continue to live the questions...just like the L M N O Peas!

All the sounds in the universe...even cheesecake.

During my teacher training with Little Flower Yoga, we were taught to describe the meaning of Om to children by telling them that Om is the sound that is made when all the sounds in the universe come together. I love it and the kids get it. Sometimes we name all the sounds we hear in that moment and then add our voices to those sounds bringing them all together to make one sound - OM. A Karma Kids Trainee who I met last weekend taught me a great little way to bring that definition to life. Ask the kids to each pick a 3 letter word (the, dog, cat, pie, bob). If we all sing our chosen word the same way we sing Om, the sound that is made from the mix of words will sound exactly like the sound of Om. We tried it and it worked! We then tried it with any one syllable word and that worked, too! Then I had a student who wanted to try it with a 10 letter word...but I didn't think "cheesecake" would quite fit. ;-)

I talked a bit with the kids about the power of sound and the power of speech. Speech is a very powerful thing. What we say to other people can have the potential to impact a person in a good way or a bad way. Our words can encourage...I asked for some examples. "You are beautiful.", "You are smart.", You have a lot of talent." Our words can hurt...I used one of my student's tee shirt as an example. Her tee shirt had a picture of a muffin and a cupcake and it said "Muffins are just ugly cupcakes." I asked them to think about how the muffin would feel after being called ugly. I mean, muffins have feelings, too. I reminded the students that we want the words that we chose

to influence the world, then we should strive to stay positive.

Word stay with us. The more we hear something, the more it sticks, the more we believe it. Mantras are sounds or words that can create change. The use of a mantra varies according to different cultures, but in yoga we mainly use a mantra privately during meditation or in a group to join together as a unit. A mantra can be something many use, such as Om, Peace, Love, Amen. Or a mantra can be something that is very private to you - a favorite quote, a poem, a prayer. I shared a mantra with my class that my teacher uses at the end of every class:

Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bahvantu

May all beings everywhere be filled with peace, joy, love, and light.

I broke it down with the children and we sung it together. A mini kirtan if you will. Being a first year teacher, I'm never sure how kids will respond to the new practices that I bring into their worlds. These kids have such open hearts, they never cease to amaze. Their voices were beautiful and filled the room! As we were leaving class, I even heard one of my students humming the tune...and my other student was still after cheesecake.

Earth Day is April 22nd!

The first class of the new session was great! With Earth Day right around the corner, the class focus was all about it! Thanks to a most wonderful collection of ideas from Little Flower Yoga and Shanti Generation, the Alluem Kids were showing nothing but gratitude and love for our Earth this weekend!

Our meditation focus today was nature...the kids were asked to make an "Earth Connection". What part of nature do you most connect with? Is it the beach, the forest, by the lake, riverside, or even just your local park? The kids were to envision themselves in this space during their meditation. They were to think about what it felt like to be there - what it looked like, what it smelt like, what sounds they heard. We talked about about those places in nature that they connected with and came up with yoga poses to represent them - Mountain Pose, Tree Pose, Lotus Pose, and more! When we had enough examples - it was time to make our Earthscapes! The kids put it together a nature scene and came up with a great picture - mountain range with a river running through it with a bridge going over it, surrounding trees, flowers, rocks, turtles and chipmunks! So cute!

Little Flower Yoga reminds us to focus on a yogic principle of Saucha (cleanliness). We questioned how this Earthscape would look covered with garbage. Keeping our environment clean is important for the earth, the animals, and our neighbors. Keeping the environment clean shows respect, loyalty, and love. Keeping the environment clean keeps the peace. To make this principle fun - we played a mock clean up game - Toe-Ga! Toe-Ga is a game that works on balance and fine motor skills, but for today we imagined this method of "cleaning up" would help us practice Saucha. The class is split into 2 groups and the middle of the room is filled with large colorful pom-poms. The goal is to get as many pom-poms onto your mat in 15 second intervals using only your toes. When those are cleared, the middle of the room is filled with medium sized pom-poms. Finally, when those are cleared, the middle of the room is filled with tiny pom-poms. The smaller the pom-poms the harder it gets. More focus is needed to achieve balance. Toe-ga is always a good time and celebrating Earth Day can be a blast! Remember to give back to the Earth this week!

The Compassionate Classroom

"Respect. Love. Compassion. What we need for ourselves we should give to our children." - Jennifer Cohen, Little Flower Yoga

Little Flower Yoga just posted an upcoming workshop for teachers of all subjects (including yoga), parents, or anyone else who work with children.

The Compassionate Classroom - March 16th 6:30pm-9:30pm

I've attended this workshop when I first started teaching and was able to walk away feeling well prepped for whatever classroom management issues may come my way. The workshop will be run by Jennifer Cohen of Little Flower Yoga and held at the most adorable children's yoga studio Karma Kids at 104 W 14th St. in NYC.

Here is a description of the workshop:

"Are you ever frustrated by the behavior of your students? Ever frustrated by your own reaction to their behavior? Feel like you don't want to yell but don't know what else to do? Wish you could spend more time on content and less on classroom management?
The Compassionate Classroom workshop will give you tools and techniques to keep your students engaged through cooperation rather than control. You will learn to teach classes in a way that shows compassion and respect for all children, and use powerful communication strategies to create an environment of mutual trust.
Our goal is to provide all children with a sense of internal discipline, and offer teachers alternatives to punishment methods that serve to re-orient students to activities rather than ostracize them. Avoid unnecessary conflict and power struggles with your students and you will be amazed at how much time you can dedicate to learning!"

I highly recommend it!

Bringing Mindfulness to Children

The Omega Institute in Rhineback, New York has to put together an amazing faculty of leaders in child development for this summer's upcoming Mindfulness and Education Conference - Grades K-12. This conference is open to teachers, administrators, childcare providers, family therapists, and parents who want to bring inner calm, awareness, balance, and a sense of well being to the children in their lives.

"The new field of teaching mindfulness in our nation’s schools is a profoundly beneficial development for the education of children from grades K through 12. Research shows that mindfulness decreases stress, attention deficit issues, depression, anxiety, and hostility in children, while benefiting their health, well-being, social relations, and academic performance. Children can easily learn these techniques, and when learned young, they become lifelong tools."

I'm proud to share that one of the presenters at the weekend conference will be Little Flower Yoga for Children founder and director, Jennifer Cohen. She has experience teaching students from pre-school to high school and working with children with physical handicaps, and developmental and learning disorders. Through the Little Flower Teacher Training, she has taught me everything I know in the field of children's yoga and for that I am forever grateful!

The Omega Conference on August 6-8 is going to be amazing!

Your old mat would make a nice gift.

This is the season of giving.

Working in the city, one sees MANY homeless people. It breaks my heart to have to walk by them everyday and not be able to constantly give. I usually say a prayer for each one of them as I pass. Today on my way out of East West Books on 5th Ave., I saw shopping cart by the street owned by a homeless man not too far away collecting bottles and cans from the garbage. His cart was securely covered with a yoga mat. Maybe he found the mat in the trash, or maybe a good-hearted yogi gave it to him. Either way, I think it's a great find. Something soft to sit or lie on, or a good protective covering.
I know for me, my yoga mat is sacred. I feel like no wrong can happen when I'm on it - whether I'm practicing asana, relaxing in savasana, or sitting in meditation. I have my mat, my space, and my yoga. I wish more people could find that.
So, what can you do? In the spirit of giving...DONATE! There are a plethora of places that will accept donatations of used yoga mats. One being your local Homeless Shelter. They will be more then happy to accept them. Click here to find a shelter local to you: homelessshelterdirectory.org
There are also organizations that bring yoga to people in need who can't afford it. Little Flower Yoga for one, currently brings yoga to battered women and children through the Sanctuary for Families. To donate your mat to someone in need or to make a monetary donation, email info@littlefloweryoga.com.
Off the Mat is another great organization bringing yoga to people in need in the US and abroad. Check out the forum to find the most up to date places in need - shelters, hospitals, prisons, schools.
For other ways on how to recycle your yoga mat, visit: http://www.recycleyourmat.com/
Think about what your yoga mat has done for you. Now think about what your yoga mat can do for others. Do what you can when you can. Namaste.

Benefits of Children's Yoga on Good Morning America

Good Morning America had a wonderful piece today about the benefits of yoga for children. Doctors are beginning to embrace the use of yoga to treat ailments from Cancer to ADHD.

Click here to view the link.

Some of the participants in the segment are just a few of the finest Little Flower Yogis . Having become a certified Children's Yoga Instructor with Little Flower Yoga, and trained with some of the most knowledgeable teachers in the practice of Children's Yoga, I am so proud to have found out that Good Morning America filmed part of their feature at the New York City school with a Little Flower teacher! Jennifer Cohen, founder of Little Flower Yoga, has put together such a wonderful group of teachers to help spread the gift of yoga to children. Part of their mission statement states that,

"Little Flower Yoga grew out of a desire to see all children embrace their potential, and to help children live their lives with joy, secure in the knowledge that the world holds great wonders for them and that they have great gifts to share with the world".

This is all we can really hope for our children - that they be given the chance to become all they can be. And if they can use yoga as a tool to get them to that point, then I and other Children's Yoga Instructors couldn't be happier to aid in that process and bring the practice of yoga to them. Whether they are children suffering from an ailments, like the ones in the segment, or if they are healthy children, ALL benefit from yoga each in their own ways.

Headstands

Headstands must be approached very slowly with children. As children are often fearless, showing a child a headstand and saying, okay, you're turn, can end in disaster! To avoid injuries, we started our headstand prep with Dolphin Pose, first on our knees and then with straight legs- kind of like a Downward Facing Dog with your forearms on the ground, hands clasped together. Why is this Dolphin Pose? Insert opportunity for what my teacher, Jennifer Cohen of Little Flower Yoga, calls "Teachable Moments". A "Teachable Moment" is using any opportunity to add educational information to the class. So while the children are holding Dolphin Pose developing upper arm and core strength, we discuss that the shape our bodies are in resemble the shape of a dolphin. As we rock forward bringing our chins to our hands or the floor and then back up, we resemble a swimming dolphin. Dolphins as we know, are not fish even though they live in the ocean. They are mammals with lungs like us, and therefore need to swim near the surface, allowing their blowholes to take in air to breathe. So we exhale coming forward, inhale pushing back - concentrating on our breath is important especially in strenuous poses.The students were welcome to stay in Dolphin to work on strength or move on. The next step is to place your head on the ground between your interlocked fingers, elbows under your shoulders. With your seat lifted high, slowly walk the feet in until they feel like they're going to lift off the ground. I personally love this part of a headstand - take off! Using the wall or my help, the kids were welcome to get to that take off point and then bend the knees and come up into a headstand. Of course many of them wanted to try! Who doesn't love being upside down?! I know I spent most of my childhood hanging upside down from the Monkey Bars! And not to mention, what a great opportunity to look at the world from a new angle!

Building Confidence with Friends

When you ask a group of children to sit back to back with each - it's interesting to see who will move and who will hesitate. Every child has his or her own story, but a yoga class is built on trust. Trusting the teacher - trusting each other. Simply getting to know each other is key. We played a game I learned in my teacher training with Little Flower Yoga in NYC. My amazing teacher, Jennifer Cohen, made sure we were equipped with a wealth of knowledge regarding child development as well as plenty of games and activities to stimulate the development of a child. We played many of the games in the training ourselves to gain the full experience. The one I used in this class was called "Cross the Line". Placing 2 pieces of masking tape on the ground in parallel lines, the children stood face to face behind the lines. I read a series of questions, some fun, and some designed to make the child think. When the statement rang true for the child, he or she would cross the line and make eye contact with the others that they now had something in common with.

For example, "Cross the Line if you...":

- have a pet.

- play an instrument.

- can swim under water.

- love to read.

- don't like the dark.

- have cried this week.

- have helped someone this week.

- feel beautiful/handsome today.

- have ever been afraid of someone.

- have ever felt embarrassed.

- enjoy feeling peaceful.

- have done something you're proud of.

Some of the children needed encouragement to actually look in the eyes of the others, some were very comfortable. We discussed how it made them feel afterwards - relaxed, proud, apprehensive...

After this activity, I introduced the Warrior Series. Warriors are strong and bold. Warriors stand up for what they believe in. And that's the confidence that we want to see in our children and the strength children want to feel. Warriors have to keep focus, so we worked with Warrior 1 in partners. Facing each other and maintaining eye contact, we gave our best Warrior stares! Warriors also have to stay in the present and be aware of what is happening around them right now! Not what already happened and not what is to come, and that's what Warrior 2 is about - balance. Keeping your torso centered, not leaning to far forward or too far back, but staying right in the mi

ddle, balanced.
Which brings us to the worksheet below! After practicing Warrior 2, we chatted a bit about staying balanced - about staying in the present. We looked at the past and staying with relationships, I had them list the people who have helped them in the past. We should be grateful and not forget those people. Keeping them just in reach is what makes them special and keeps them in our memory. We talked about the importance of staying present in all situations, especially when we need to help ourselves. We talked about the future. On the worksheet I had them list ways that they could help in the future. Unknown to me, this particular group of kids were already actively helping the future - participating in fundraisers for local and global causes, as well as raising money on their own by selling lemonade or hand made bracelets. My heart was filling up with love for these beautiful souls!We ended the class with Back to Back Breathing - staying aware of their partners breath and maybe even syncing their breath. I could see they were already starting to become more comfortable with each other and themselves.