professional
development

This hands-on training explores the benefits of breathing, meditation, and mindfulness and provides the tools to teach these vital skills to kids and teens:

• Learn engaging and fun methods to help kids explore the breath
• Identify a core set of tools to help children self-regulate responses, reactions and emotions
• Identify adaptable practices to engage children of all ages and abilities in meditation and mindfulness practices
• Develop age-appropriate meditation experiences for children
• Integrate creative storytelling, guided imagery, and progressive relaxation
• Games, crafts and techniques to support active kids

An introductory training for professionals who work with children, exploring how to effectively adapt yoga-based stretches and activities to benefit and appeal to kids of all ages. Learn basic stretches and postures, developmentally supportive adaptations, and sequencing to confidently create age-appropriate movement experiences for all children:

Yoga-Based Postures and Stretches:

• Identify the benefits of yoga-based postures and stretches
• Correct and safe alignment
• Modifications to support developmental differences
• Identify practices that support healthy development
• Creative and imaginative approach to mindful movement

Planning Movement, Meditation and Mindfulness Sessions for Kids:

• Sequencing safe, beneficial and developmentally supportive MMM sessions
• Warm-up sequences for kids
• Creating movement adventures: Theme engaging, educational and fun sessions for kids
• Support kinesthetic learning: Educating children through movement
• Meditation and Mindfulness for kids
• Games

Kids’ Adaptive and Accessible Yoga (KAY) focuses on adapting yoga-based movement sessions for those children with differing abilities, special needs, illness, and physical or developmental limitations. *Yoga experience or completion of Yoga-Based Movement for Kids: The Basics (see above), is required.

• Identify simple adaptations of common yoga-based postures
• Plan sessions that flow flawlessly when working with kids with physical limitations or in unusual settings
• Identify contraindications and safe modifications to support children with ADD/ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Aspergers, and Down Syndrome diagnoses
• Identify practices that provide a balance of sensory input to support brain and sensory system development in children
• Understand sensory processing, sensory processing disorders and triggers when working with special needs children
• Identify yoga practices that support children with sensory processing disorders to find a balance of input to remain organized, calm and centered
• Gain the ability to assess and provide children with a set of tools to self-soothe, self-regulate, and shift from reflexive to reflective behavior patterns
• Deepen communication skills to support connecting with children authentically
• Create safe, supportive, and inclusive sessions for ALL children

• Plan well-balanced sessions that are engaging and supportive for children and adults
• Apply safe modifications for young children, challenging modifications for older kids and adults
• Create fun family experiences that foster strength, unity and support
• Provide families with helpful Movement, Meditation and Mindfulness tools that can be easily accessed beyond their sessions
• Games

Learn how to facilitate sessions for support groups:

• Assessing and identifying a support groups needs
• Designing beneficial experiences for all ages
• Develop sessions to incorporate Movement, Meditation, and Mindfulness for all ages
• Design sessions that can easily adapt to small or large settings
• Create ongoing programs

• Benefits of yoga-based restorative stretching and meditation for children
• Identify core methods to creatively adapt restorative stretches and meditation to engage and nurture children through each developmental stage
• Learn to adapt and safely use props to fully support children in restorative stretches
• Creative methods to teach restorative stretches to children
• Skillfully guide meditation experiences for children
• Create a safe, nurturing and relaxing environments for children