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Walking is like breathing, we do it every day but we tend to take very little notice of what our bodies are actually doing!

Mindful walking is a great way to open up our senses to the wonderful world around us and to be more present. Sometimes, we are so focused on the destination that we miss everything else along the way. Mindful walking is a powerful exercise and is more relevant to us now more than ever.

Now that the destination has been removed, we can fully enjoy the journey.

Mindful walking doesn't have to necessarily be a walk outside, you can mindful walk in your garden or even around the house!

Below are some examples of mindful walking activities.

REMEMBER your social distancing rules when venturing outside for a mindful walk!

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Ref: ‘Yoga Games for Children’

By Danielle Bersma and Marjoke Visscher

This can be adapted for whatever space you have!

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https://www.yoremikids.com/news/april-planting-my-feet-mindful-walking

This video is great for how to walk mindfully.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P3Deuv8tbc

Scroll down this article to find a great 'How To...' and guided audio.
https://www.mindful.org/daily-mindful-walking-practice/

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Most children know the basic yoga poses but if not, these can be easily accessed using some of the websites and resources provided in the 'Online Resources' tab or by using some of these wonderful images from ‘Yoga Pretzels’ linked below.

That said, children have the most amazing imaginations and they are more than capable of making their own yoga poses with a little guidance!

Give them animal picture cards and ask them to make a pose for that animal.

Story dice – throw the dice and go on a magical journey making yoga poses as you go.

Yoga Charades – use your imagination to come up with your own poses or use the animal cards again to help you choose! Who can guess your pose the quickest?!

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It is very important to take a pose step by step so that we can listen to our bodies and how they feel.

Always come out of your poses in reverse, step by step so that you can take care of your body. Even though it is more fun to just fall to the ground sometimes!

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A short mindful story or a simple body scan is a simple way to engage in relaxation. There are many relaxation videos/audios online, see the 'Online Resources' tab for some useful websites. Below you will find some recorded mindful stories for you to relax and unwind.

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Simple homemade eye-masks are a great addition to any relaxation session. Put them on our eyes, forehead, chest or tummy; wherever feels most comfortable for you!

However, eye-masks are not essential for relaxation. You can just simply lie there with your eyes open or closed. The main thing is that you are RELAXED!!

How to Make Your Own Eye-Mask
What you need:

A clean sock

A mug of rice

A sprinkle of lavender oil

Optional:

Ribbon to tie a bow around the top

Markers, stickers, glitter glue etc. to decorate the sock with.

Instructions:

1. Simply pour the rice in to the sock

2. Tie a tight knot at the top of the sock

3. Decorate if you wish

4. Spray/sprinkle with lavender oil

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This is a lovely guided body scan. Good for kiddies and adults too!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=ihwcw_ofuME

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Ref: 'Relax Kids, Aladdin's Magic Carpet' by Marneta Viegas

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A Sun Salutation is a series of poses performed in a sequence to create a flow of movement. It is sometimes easier to break up the movements up at first then add them all together to create your beautiful Sun Salutation.

Attached is an audio recording of this guided Sun Salutation so that you can just focus entirely on your flow!

Ref: ‘Yoga Games for Children’

By Danielle Bersma and Marjoke Visscher

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Yoga games are a great way to get active and loosened up before you engage in poses!

Ref: 'Yoga Pretzels' by by Leah Kalish and Tara Guber.

‘Yoga Games for Children’

By Danielle Bersma and Marjoke Visscher

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◦Find a quiet-ish place in the house

◦Make sure that you have enough space

◦Grab a mat, towel, rug or just use the floor

◦Shoes off….socks off too if you can!

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FUN, FUN, FUN!!!
Yoga with children should always be fun, active and engaging. Below is a simple structure that you might like to follow:

1. Start with a breathing exercise.
2. Play a few yoga games to get the children warmed up and engaged.
3. Yoga Poses - introduce some yoga poses...real or imaginary! We always like to chat about how our bodies feel during and after these poses.
4. Relaxation - Time to bring the children back to their inner selves and to take a few minutes to relax and chill out!

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Cosmic Kids Yoga: https://www.cosmickids.com/category/watch/

This website is a treasure trove of guided yoga videos varying in time from 5 minutes to half an hour! There are some lovely guided mindfulness and relaxation videos here too!

Óga Yoga: https://rtejr.rte.ie/category/rtejr-blog/yoga/

This amazing resource provides short guided videos as Gaeilge for individual poses.

GoNoodle: https://www.gonoodle.com/for-families/

GoNoodle provides some slightly more energetic yoga videos for children.

Rainbow Yoga: https://online.rainbowyogatraining.com/courses/29/enroll?price_point=250&url_hash=ebd4a6752e8bf70739fa

This is a link to a free 30-day mindfulness challenge with Rainbow Yoga. You will be sent a daily email with a video link to child friendly guided mindfulness journeys and activities. I think there may even be a mindful chocolate eating activity in there too! :-)

Headspace:
https://www.headspace.com/covid-19

Headspace is an amazing resource for both adults and children alike. They have numerous meditation videos and audios from body scans to mindful walking. They have a specific section for kids. They are also providing numerous resources for free during this time

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Mandalas are a relaxing way to unwind and can be used as an alternative to relaxation for those of us who find it hard to lie still and switch off our minds.

Choose a Mandala of your liking, grab some colours, play some relaxing music and get colouring!

ONE RULE: You must colour from the outside in or the inside out!

There are tonnes of Mandala printables online (see links below), there are some lovely themed Mandalas on Twinkl or you may even have your own Mandala or mindful colouring book at home.

https://www.free-mandalas.net/difficulty-level/easy-children/

http://www.supercoloring.com/coloring-pages/arts-culture/mandala

https://www.bestcoloringpagesforkids.com/free-printable-mandalas-kids.html

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All you need is a chair and your lovely self!!

See what fun names you can come up with for these chair yoga poses as you create them.

Ref: http://newworker.co/mag/simple-desk-yoga-poses-that-wont-freak-out-your-coworkers/chair-yoga/

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There are lots of fun ways to make us aware of our breathing! Below are some creative breathing games and exercises.

Ref: 'Yoga Pretzels' by by Leah Kalish and Tara Guber.

‘Yoga Games for Children’

By Danielle Bersma and Marjoke Visscher

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After relaxation it is nice to come back to the present with a nice simple and cheerful chant:

'I want to be happy,

I want YOU to be happy,

I want EVERYBODY to be happy!!!’