8 Kid Tips to Practice Peace

Peace is a state of being calm and quiet.

Sometimes when we are busy with school, homework and after-school activities we forget to take time for ourselves. Practicing peace, even if it's for just a minute or two, allows us to be calm, centered and focused. When we make time to find peace within ourselves we will notice that more things seem to go our way. Finding time for peace allows us to think about things that are bothering us, before reacting in a way that could get us into trouble. Giving yourself time for peace can also make you feel good about yourself! When we take the time to find peace within ourselves, we will be able to bring peace to the world around us.

Here are a few ways you can practice peace:

♥ Use your words to solve conflicts.
♥ Practice patience. Try not to get upset when things aren't moving as quickly as you would like.
♥ Be helpful. Random acts of kindness create more peaceful communities.
♥ Help and encourage someone if they are having a hard time with a task or a sport.
♥ Sit and enjoy being quiet with someone you love.
♥ Give someone a hug.
♥ Lay in Savasana and practice long, deep breathing

♥ Or do our pose of the month!

5 Kid Tips for Practicing Trust

Trust means to place faith or confidence in yourself, another person, or a situation.

Trust is something that we share with important people in our lives. You trust your mom and dad because they are your parents and you know they want what is best for you. You trust that your teacher will help you learn everything you need to know before you go to the next grade in school. You trust that your doctor will make you feel better when you feel sick.

But perhaps the most important person to trust is you! If you have a test in school that you studied for, trust that you will do well. If you have to speak in front of your whole class, don't be nervous, trust yourself; you can do it! When you trust yourself, other people will trust you and you will trust them too!

5 Ways to practice and build trust:

♥ Be yourself! People will trust you more if you are true to yourself and not changing to fit in with others.

♥ Practice balancing poses, like Airplane or Tree to build trust and confidence in yourself.
♥ Be honest. Trust will build between you and others if you are honest to each other and do not lie.

♥ Stick to your word. If you say you are going to do something, do it.
♥ Treat others the way you want to be treated.

5 Kid Tips for Practicing Gratitude

Gratitude is being thankful and appreciative to someone or for something. When we practice gratitude and give thanks to the people we love or the things we have it makes us feel happy.

Here are a few ways you can practice gratitude?

☺ Write in a gratitude journal. Write down at least 3 things you are grateful for either at the beginning of the day or the end of the day.

☺ Share one or two things that you are grateful for at night (or in the morning) with a parent(s).

☺ Send thank you notes or pictures to grandparents or other relatives who live far away.

☺ Do something nice for someone.

☺ Give hugs!! And say thank you!!

The topic for this month Gratitude.

When we teach gratitude to our students some will comment the time we are to practice it is at Thanksgiving. This is certainly true, we tell them, however, practicing gratitude is not just for one day in November. It is a practice we can do everyday.

Did You Know? Gratitude helps to better manage stress. Grateful individuals report higher levels of life satisfaction, optimism, greater energy and connections with people. Growing evidence indicates that the expression of gratitude can also improve one's physical health and immune functioning.

During my Master's program I took on this nurturing practice of writing down at least five things I was grateful for in my journal before I went to sleep. Nine years later I am still writing what I'm grateful for at the end of every day, but my list has expanded beyond five things. More recently, I started to practice gratitude in my morning meditation and find this habit of gratitude serves me all the time. I've sometimes been called Pollyanna for having such a positive attitude. I'm okay with that, especially with the facts stated above. I figure gratitude keeps me healthy and it certainly makes me feel good!

What are you grateful for? To get you started, I'll share some of the things our students tell us they are grateful for: parents, friends, pets, having a roof over our head, yoga, our teachers, school, learning, love, being smart, and being a kind person.

I am grateful for you- my family, friends, clients, customers, instructors (past and present)! Thank you for being in my life, being a part of YogaBuddies, helping us grow and make a difference for kids worldwide!

Peace and love,
Danay

PS- I learned that September 21 is World Gratitude Day! Guess what word we'll be talking to our students about next week?!

Facts from two online articles: "Boost Your Health with a Dose of Gratitude" and "Gratitude at Work"

5 Kid Tips for Practicing Adoration

Adoration means to regard another with respect and love. You can practice adoring others or your Self.

How to practice Adoration:
1) Find one thing you like about another person and tell them.

2) Write or draw a picture with a compliment to someone you adore.

3) Spend time with the person you adore.

4) Find one positive thing you like about your Self and tell it to your Self over and over.

5) Find one positive thing you like about your Self, write it down and put it somewhere you can see it everyday.

The topic for this month Adoration.

Have you ever noticed the effect praise or adoration can make toward another person, whether a child or adult. Adoration is considered an act of homage (translation of homage: something done or given in acknowledgment or consideration of the worth of another). I like to think of it as a priceless gift.

We are great about speaking about things we like such as restaurant or a movie. Maybe it is our fear that if we were to express our adoration or acknowledgment that it would not be reciprocated or received. However, that is not why we would express our adoration of another. It is the feel good factor as to why we do it. When we practice adoring or acknowledging another, not only does it make the other person feel good, but it makes us feel good too. It releases Oxytocin, a feel good hormone often called the "cuddle hormone". Oxytocin is released when we feel love, trust and comfort.

Practicing adoration or acknowledgment of another can be as simple as saying, "I like your shirt" or "I like your hair". Or it can be towards a behavior such as, "I like when you speak quietly"; we use this in our classes. Or "I love when you bring me flowers". We can be specific with our praise or adoration by saying, "You are a really special person to me and I am so grateful you are in my life." And last, don't forget to adore yourself. For example, when you look in the mirror tell your Self, "I love you" or "You look fabulous"!

Our time here is short, share with the people you know and care about how grateful you are for them and why. It truly is a gift.

I adore you!

Peace and love,
Danay

Practicing Flexibility

The topic for this month is Flexibility.

When we ask kids to describe why we should do yoga, besides hearing it helps calm us, relax us and make our muscles strong, we hear it helps make you flexible. In our classes we discuss that is not just our bodies that yoga helps to become more flexible, but also our minds. Being flexible with our minds reminds me of the phrase "choose your battles wisely".

Our ability to be flexible can help us with how we deal with the situtation. Many times we have expectations for how we want something to go, it could be a meeting, a conversation with a friend or family member, a date, or a vacation and then something happens that we did not expect. We can practice being flexible by taking deep breaths, taking a moment alone, being okay with the situation not going our way, communicating our needs (vs. wants) and seeing a bigger picture.

I've mentioned before, being a breast cancer survivor, nothing "bad" compares to having had breast cancer. Things that may seem inconvenient or a bother aren't such a big deal when compared to having to face a diagnosis of cancer. In those moments I remember my yoga practice and I remind myself- life is here to be enjoyed, appreciated and lived to its fullest.

May you appreciate the fullness of each day!

peace and love,

Danay

5 Kid Tips for Practicing Flexibility

Flexibility means being able to bend, adapt or change.

Examples of when you could practice flexibility:
- things aren't going your way
- someone says something or does something you don't like
- your schedule changes

How to practice Flexibility?
* Take some deep breaths
* Be okay with having what you wanted be different
* Look for the good in what has happened
* Take a moment alone
* Remember a yoga pose that reminds you to be flexible and practice it

Extending Compassion

The topic for this month is Compassion.

Several years ago I learned a concept that has helped me see people with compassion, and I would like to share that with you when considering your interactions with people in your life - friends, children, parents, teachers, even strangers.

First, start by thinking back to a time when you were walking down the street or at a party and someone gave you a dirty look for what you felt was no reason at all. Many times, our first reaction is to make that look mean something about us or about the other person. But what is often really happening is that the person is not responding to you; they are responding to their personal insecurities, thoughts and opinions that are going through their head. We've all done it. We've all been quick to judge or jump to conclusions about other people.

It takes practice and conscious thought to consider what might be going on for the other person when they snap, get angry, give a dirty look, yell or cut us off in traffic. It could be the guy that cut us off is racing to be by his wife's side for the arrival of their first born. Or the woman who cut you off is late for her first doctor's appointment after finding out she has cancer. Or it could just be they are a reckless driver or on their phone. The grumpy woman checking us at the grocery store could be working her 2nd job or recently lost a loved one. The list goes on and on. The thing is we become so wrapped up in ourselves and our own lives that we do not think about others and what could be going on in their lives. Practicing compassion means stepping outside of our own world, our own thoughts to imagine with kindness what someone else is experiencing.

As a teacher for YogaBuddies, and I know my instructors all feel this way, we never know or assume to know what is going on with our students. We have an advantage using our Emo cards and allowing them to share with us how they are feeling, which is often when we learn they got into a fight with one of their friends, or their brother is having an operation, or their dog just died. It is our goal to practice what we teach, therefore we bring compassion to them. We allow them to feel how they feel without fixing or changing it. We provide them with breathing techniques and yoga poses that ground and calm them. We listen and we give them love.

There is a lot happening on our planet now and we can all bring a little peace to it by giving each other the gift of compassion for one another.

Have a wonder-full holiday!!

peace and love,

Danay

5 Kid Tips for Practicing Compassion

Compassion means having affectionate care or concern for another person. When we practice compassion we imagine with kindness what someone else is experiencing.

Examples of when you could practice compassion:
- if a friend's pet died
- a friend, sibling or parent has been in an argument
- someone is not as fortunate as you
- your mom or dad are in a bad mood
- a friend gets a bad grade on a test or project

5 Tips for How to Practice Compassion?
* by being quiet and listening to the person's upset
* giving a hug to a friend or family member when they are upset
* sending loving thoughts to the person
* writing or drawing a picture for the person
* telling them you love & care for them

Healthy Choices

The October Theme is Choice.

By now, everyone knows October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and the media reminds us to be aware of breast cancer. The irony for me is I celebrate the anniversary of my being cancer-free on October 4. This year I celebrated 4 years! I find the month of October a reason to celebrate and an opportunity to remind my family and friends not about awareness but prevention of breast cancer. While awareness is important from a community perspective, what really matters individually is prevention! It is prevention that has me here today! It is doing breast-self exams every month, eating healthy foods and exercising, steering clear of parabens in cosmetic and body products and avoiding bisphenol A that will help prevent breast cancer. I'll be the first to admit choosing to do breast-self exams can be scary, but the alternative of letting it go is worse. We have a choice in how we treat our bodies-- what we drink, what we eat, how often we exercise and what type of products we put on our bodies.

The root of why I started a kids yoga company was prevention. I felt it was important to instill and provide children with the healthy habits and benefits of yoga at an early age. It is my hope that in learning they have a choice in how they treat their bodies it may help them avoid dis-ease in their adult lives. I find over and over again when I share with people what I do their response is, "I wish I would have learned yoga at a young age". Those who say this seem to know the calm, peace, strength, openness and awareness that practicing yoga brings. It warms my heart when I have a parent share with me that they have found their child in their room taking deep breaths or doing yoga poses to calm themselves down (without being prompted). It's magical! So I feel, at YogaBuddies, we are teaching kids the earliest form of prevention. I join the YogaBuddies instructors and licensees who believe it is an honor and a privilege to be able to give to kids in this way. We thank you parents, school administrators, friends and family for believing in us to keep making that difference.

peace and love,

Danay

4 Kids Tips for Practicing Choice

Choice is considering all your options and then freely making a selection. Better said by one of our students, "you get to pick what you like best".

You can practice Choice with how you feel, how you act towards other people, what you say, and what you do.

If you practice choice in...
- how you feel, see if you can choose to change your mood or attitude from negative to positive.
- how you act, towards other people have your actions be kind, caring, and loving.
- what you say, have your words be kind.
- what you do, make good decisions like doing your homework before you play a video game, or choosing to eat a fruit or vegetable rather than chips or cookies.

"To err is human, but to forgive, well that's right on!"*

This month's theme is forgiveness. An act that we often forget about, but makes the biggest difference in our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. Practicing forgiveness means releasing unwanted hurts, grudges or judgments from the past, providing freedom, love and peace in the present. When we think forgiveness we often think of other people, but the practice of forgiveness is most important with ourselves. We often react and say things or do things we do not mean and later make ourselves wrong for it. We forget that we are doing the best that we know how each moment and we can only learn from those moments to better ourselves.

The same goes for those you may feel hurt you in the past. They were only doing the best they knew how with the resources and knowledge they had at that time. The reason we may not want to forgive is because we’re holding onto anger, resentment or personal pride. When we forgive another person for harm we feel they caused we are not accepting the behavior we are just no longer allowing the anger and resentment towards them rule our life. The person we may feel a grudge towards does not feel our anger, often they do not even know we are holding the grudge. The anger or grudge is something we hold inside our bodies and causes stress to our systems, so when we forgive it releases that tension and anger allowing greater health in our bodies. Practicing forgiveness with another does not necessarily mean that we need to speak with that person. Rather it is something we do on our own either silently or through journaling.

Practicing forgiveness is an act of self-love. Here's what it takes to practice forgiveness and open your self to greater love, peace, healthy and well-being:

1) open heart, 2) open mind, 3) willingness to let go, 4) desire for mental, emotional and spiritual freedom, 5) letting go of the judgments we hold towards ourselves or another.

*The quote is from Starsky & Hutch movie (2004)

Tips for Kids - Practicing Forgiveness

Forgiveness is letting go of pain or hurt we feel toward ourselves or other people.

You can practice forgiveness when...
* Your brother, sister, friend or cousin breaks or takes something of yours
* Someone says something mean to you
* Your mom or dad get angry and it hurts your feelings
* You have done something you weren't supposed to
* You get a bad grade

How you can practice forgiveness:
Say this to your self when you want to forgive your self for something: “I forgive myself for thinking ______.” Or “I forgive myself for saying ______.” Or “I forgive myself for doing ________.”

Say one of these to your self to forgive another person: “I forgive ______ (mom, dad, friend) for saying ______ or doing ________. “ Example- “I forgive my brother for taking my favorite game and breaking it.”Or "I forgive my mom for getting angry with me."

All we need is just a little patience...

It’s summer, and not only are temperatures rising but so can tempers. With summer comes family vacations, trips to theme parks and trips to visit other family. The saying “patience is a virtue” could never be truer.

Things requiring our patience include: waiting in a long line; traffic; visiting family; waiting for an important call or email; waiting for a late friend or business associate for a meeting; waiting for a delayed plane, train or bus; waiting for a child to express what they want or finish what they are saying; and managing a child that does not want to go to bed or take a bath or eat their food.

Research supports patience is not something we are born with, rather it is something we learn.

Yoga has been a tremendous vehicle for me to learn patience in my life. I still remember my first yoga class- my feet, hot and sweaty, were slipping on the mat in a yoga pose in which I was trying to look good. As I followed the instructor’s many verbal cues: “square your hips, turn your back foot at a 45 degree angle, make sure your front knee is not over your ankle, reach your arms up... and breathe”, I really wondered when I was going to experience the calm everyone talked about!! After ten years of practice, I feel I’ve come a long way and I still find patience is the key to my practice.

I find the patience I practice in yoga follows me off the mat and in the grocery line, in traffic, waiting for someone to get back to me or even teaching a yoga class with several chatty kids.

Here are some ways to practice Patience:

• Take deep breaths.
• Count to ten.
• Practice patience in small increments (either by time such as 5 minutes, the drive from home to office (one day), and/or standing in a line). As you reach those milestones you can gradually build on them.
• Practice empathy. Depending on the situation, imagine yourself in the other person’s shoes. This is a good one to practice with family.
• Notice how your body feels when you are not experiencing patience as well as when you are. Use this information as cues to practice patience.
• Resist the impulse to finish another’s sentence. By listening fully we show our respect and let the other person know they are worthy of our time.
• Give yourself plenty of time to get somewhere.
• Read a magazine instead of watching the clock when at a doctor’s appointment.
• Only do one thing at a time.

Patience is a change in attitude and without patience we experience frustration, become easily annoyed, bothered, irritated and angry. With patience, we become more accepting of what is and we experience ease and a sense of peace.

5 Tips for Kids to practice Patience

Patience means keeping peace when something is not moving as fast as we want it to. Practicing patience helps you to be calm and peaceful. Times and places you can practice patience: - With a younger brother or sister - Waiting in line at a theme park - Waiting to hear back from a friend - With a parent, grandparent, cousin, friend, pet, or teacher - Leaving to go somewhere - Driving or flying somewhere you are excited about.

Ways you can practice patience: (tips from students in YogaBuddies classes)
☺ Taking deep breaths
☺ Sing or hum a song
☺ Look at or read a book
☺ Find something else for your mind to think about
☺ Talk to someone else

The Practice of Non-Judgment

Each week we teach our students a character building word. When we do this we remind them that these ideas are to practice. They're ideas to try out and see what happens.

Non-judgment is definitely one of those character building words that requires practice. Practicing non-judgment means we no longer judge others OR ourselves.

A great concept and tall order to fill because judging is a part of being human. We can credit our egos for this instinct. We don't begin each morning say "I'm going to judge everyone I see today", but we instinctively do it none the less. Our egos look for what is wrong or different. We judge what other people wear, what they say, how they look, how they drive, how they spend their time or not spend their time. We judge strangers, new people we meet and our own family. The biggest victim of our judgments - ourselves. We often don't even recognize that we are doing it but for most of us it begins the moment we wake up and look in the mirror. We judge our bodies. We judge how we look, how we don't look. We judge what we say or don't say, what we do or don't do, how much money we spend or don't spend and what we have or don't have. We call ourselves names like dumb, lazy, fat and ugly. These harsh words are not healthy for our bodies.

The key for practicing non-judgment begins with becoming aware that we are doing it. This is the practice. Usually the awareness occurs after the judgment has happened. If I recognize I have been judging someone there are several things I might do: 1) try to think of one thing about them I like, 2) I'll send them a blessing in my mind, 3) think of them as a child or 4) (this one takes extra work) look at where the judgment comes from within me and practice forgiveness. By becoming aware of the judgments we can then begin to change how we treat ourselves and others. Remember judgments typically come from a belief that someone or something (a situation, a characteristic, parts of our body, etc) should be different than the way it is. When we are aware of the judgments as a belief we have made up and can practice acceptance, compassion and forgiveness we empower ourselves to live happy and peaceful lives.

Ways to pracice non-judgment:

• Practice acceptance with yourself, others and situations
  
• Practice compassion (you never know why someone could be in a bad mood)
• Practice forgiveness
• Look in the mirror and tell yourself you love your SELF, especially love the parts you're not as fond of
  

3 Tips for Kids - Practicing Non-Judgment

Non-judgment is the practice of not judging yourself and not judging others.

When we practice non-judgment it is similar to when your parents or a teacher have said don't judge a book by its cover. Another way of putting it, is get to know someone before you decide you don't like them or want to play with them. Remember that everyone is different. Not one yoga pose looks the same and neither does each snowflake that falls from the sky. We are all still learning about life and doing the best that we know how to do (even your parents!)

3 Ways to practice non-judgment:

• Try to find one thing you like about someone
• Look in the mirror and tell yourself you love your SELF
• Give someone a compliment

Practicing Ahimsa

I was taught growing up "to treat others the way you would like to be treated". That concept is sometimes how we explain what ahimsa means when we are teaching one of our character building words in class to our students. Ahimsa is a sanskrit word that means nonviolence or to do no harm. For our students we explain that when we are practicing ahimsa it means we are practicing kindness in our actions and our thoughts to ourselves and other living beings. It's a hard rule to grasp as a kid, at least it was when my sister made me mad or a friend said something that hurt my feelings. As I have gotten older and as I have studied yoga I have learned the depth of love and peace that exists when I can remember to be kind to myself and others. I am by no means perfect, compile a long day, traffic or stress and being kind to others is quickly forgotten. And it is unfortunately unleashed on those I am closest to.

I find it is equally opportunistic practicing on others as it is practicing on ourselves. I believe the gold in practicing ahimsa is when we practice it on ourselves first. Because doing so makes it easier to practice on others. When we do not feel good about ourselves, when we are mean to ourselves, we often take it out on others. How does it look when we are NOT practicing ahimsa with ourselves? We make ourselves wrong, we talk negatively thinking we are fat, stupid, lazy, ugly, no good, a bad _____(spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, friend, etc). When we think or internally talk to ourselves we are being violent to our mind and emotions. When we can remember to practice ahimsa, we practice kindness to ourselves, we are loving ourselves, encouraging ourselves. This practice allows and opens a deeper space of love and peace within. When we are loving and kind to ourselves it is much easier to love and be kind to others.

Ways to pracice ahimsa:

Look in the mirror and tell yourself you love your SELF
Forgive yourself for your negative thoughts and replace with positive ones
Give someone a compliment
When frustrated or angry take a few deep breaths before responding
Try to remember how you would like to be treated

5 Tips for Kids - Ways to Practice Ahimsa

Ahimsa means nonviolence. It means kindness in our actions and our thoughts to ourselves or to other living beings.

Sometimes our emotions can have a huge affect on how our day goes. If we get a good grade on a test or if we make a new friend, then we will be happy and cheerful. On the other hand, if we get a bad grade on a test or a friend doesn’t want to play with us at lunch, then we may get in a bad mood. No matter what situation arises, practicing ahimsa creates a more peaceful life. Although it may be easier to practice ahimsa when things have happened to make us happy and cheerful, but it is especially important to remember if we have had things happen to make us feel sad or angry.

Why should we practice ahimsa? Well, think about it this way, we can handle a negative situation in one of two ways: 1) Get angry and yell and scream and throw a tantrum, or 2) Try looking past what makes you angry by staying calm, peaceful, and loving. It takes a lot of work to practice ahimsa. It is important to stay strong so that we learn handle situations in a better manner.

Ways to practice ahimsa:
* Remember the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

* Do long, deep breathing when you feel angry or sad.

* Do your favorite yoga poses, or teach them to others.

* Do something nice for those around you.

* Practice ahimsa on small living creatures. When you see a bug in the house, help to take it outdoors instead of killing it.