Try these five heart-opening yoga valentine poses with children this Valentine holiday. These heart-opening exercises are especially beneficial for kids and adults who spend the majority of their day slouched in desks at school and work or with their heads bent over screens and books.
These exercises take only minutes and will help improve posture and release back and neck tension as well as create openness in your body and mind.
Cat to Cow Pose: Begin on your hands and knees. Next round your back and tuck your chin into your chest as if you are a cat. Then look up, arch your back and open your chest into Cow Pose. This is a great way to strengthen your spine and begin to feel your heart-opening.
Updog Pose: Lie on your tummy. Place the palms of your hands next to your shoulders and lookup. Slowly straighten your arms and open your chest. It is okay to keep arms bent as well.
Bridge or Wheel Pose: Kids love trying to get into Wheel Pose, but this huge heart opener is not easily accessible for all. For an easier but still effective heart opener, try Bridge Pose. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground. Rest your arms alongside your body, tuck your chin into your chest, and lift your back to create a bridge.
Camel Pose: Take this pose slowly and feel your heart open. Get on your knees, lean back slowly, and place your hands on your lower back or ankles. Tilt your head back, open your chest, and breathe.
Bow Pose: Lie on your tummy, bend your knees, and lift your chest. Reach your arms back toward your toes and hold onto your feet. Let your heart shine!
Bow Pose becomes easier to try after practicing with The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose
Once in a while I like to use mandalas in my kids yoga classes. Kids just love coloring these circular and symmetrical designs. They find them calming and relaxing.
I play quiet background music and have sit everyone in a circle when we get ready to work on our Mandalas. I also like to have the option to use markers or colored pencils. It is important to stress to the children that it is supposed to take a long time to color a heart Mandala and to not rush. I love how this also naturally opens up a conversation in my upper elementary, tweens, and teen kids yoga classes. They tend to be less self-conscious in a group while they are actively doing something with their hands such as coloring.
When I do this with children as part of a regular 45-minute class, I only allow about 10 minutes for it at the end of the class (before or after Savsana). I encourage the children to take it home and finish it or bring it back the next class. If I am leading a kids yoga camp or club where I seeing the children often, then I will hang on to the Mandalas and we will pull them out to work on as we have time. A great time is at the beginning of class while waiting for everyone to arrive.
There is something special about working thoughtfully, mindfully, and bringing the mandala to completion. It is a meditative process for many children and adults.
If the students are older, it is fun to try to create our own mandalas by using their bodies.
I love how they also naturally open up conversation in my upper elementary, tweens, and teen kids yoga classes. They tend to be less self-conscious in a group while they are actively doing something with their hands such as coloring.
