Written by: shantigeneration on January 5, 2012.
“What a caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.” ~ Lao Tsu
The New Year always reminds me of new beginnings. I tell my students that it is like a blank piece of paper at the art table. The possibilities are endless for what you can create. As I plan my classes for the week I often turn to nature and in this time ofchange from one year to the next I think of the butterfly.
Butterfly Yoga Class
First, ask your students to tell you what they already know about the journey from egg to butterfly. Give them all an opportunity to share their thoughts on the subject and ask them questions to fill in the details and to spark their curiosity.Then ask them if they would like to feel what that journey is like in their bodies. You will be answered with a resounding, “Yes! I want to be a butterfly! Me too! I want to be a red one!”
Egg (child’s pose) -The egg sticks to a leaf and is covered with a coating of warm wax to keep it from drying out. This image and pose can feel really protective and calming. Ask them to breathe inside of their egg.
Caterpillar OM (cobra pose)- Have the children lie down on their bellies and share with them that caterpillars communicate with ants by sending out vibrations. The ants protect the caterpillars and the caterpillars give the ants honeydew. Create this vibration by taking a deep breathe in together and then humming with the lips closed as you lift into Cobra.
Caterpillar Crawl – Have the children move across the floor on their bellies like a caterpillar by pulling with their hands and pushing with their feet. Remind them that caterpillars move very slowly! Ask “What are you eating through? Strawberries? Leaves? Bananas?”
Chrysalis (child’s pose)- as the children rest inside of their chrysalis ask them to imagine what color their wings will be, to feel their butterfly legs forming and to listen inside to see if they can feel and hear their butterfly breath.You can walk around the room placing your hands on their backs to feel their breath in your hands.
Butterfly- Come into Malasana and “practice” flying! As you inhale stand and spread your wings as you exhale come back into Malasana. Ask them to remember a time they tried something for the first time. Some things take practice and patience. Next have one or a few at a time fly slowly in the room and ask each to tell you what color their wings are. Resting Butterfly (Butterfly Pose)- We finally end in butterfly pose. You might have them imagine they have landed on a flower and some may wish to fold forward and smell the flower and others may fall asleep resting all the way down.
A great song to use for this lesson is “Butterflies Day Out” by Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Mark O’Connor from the album Appalachia Waltz.
Always end class with Sea Star (Savasana) And don’t forget to remind them that they are no longer butterflies and to return to their bodies.
Amy Hori is a yoga kids teacher and educator and has been teaching children for over a decade. Amy taught preschool for 5 years in Chicago and currently teaches at The Walther School preschool in LA. After obtaining her 200 hour yoga certification in Chicago, she began teaching yoga to kids with Mindful Practices LLC where she taught yoga to ages 6-16 in Chicago’s under resourced schools and communities . Amy continued her yoga studies with Shiva Rea after moving to California and volunteers her time teaching yoga to teens at Village Glen School and with Free Arts For Abused Kids. She teaches yoga kids at The Walther Preschool, Rising Lotus Yoga and leads Teen Peacemaker Circles with Abby Wills of Shanti Generation.
Upcoming Training: Intro to Teaching Yoga to Kids, Rising Lotus Yoga, Sherman Oaks,
CA, February 18-19, 2012. To sign up and for more information visit
www.risinglotusyoga.com