Term 4. Updated 2018 Fun-key Yoga

Transcription

1 Term 4 Updated 2018 Fun-key Yoga

2 Class Structure 1. Acknowledgement, Namaste and Opening (2-3 mins) 2. Mindfulness (4-5 mins) 3. Warm-up (3-5 mins) 4. Poses within story (10-15 mins) 5. Game (optional) (3-5 mins) 6. Relaxation (2-4 mins) 7. Namaste and Closing (2-3 mins) Contents Wk Theme Props Page 1 Tidying Up Breathing Ball/ Magic Stones P 7 2 The Butterfly Forest Breathing Ball / Magic Stones P 14 3 Cloud Shapes Magic Stones P 21 4 Diamond Quest Magic Stones P 29 5 A Daydream Kite tails or scarves/magic Stones P 37 6 Did you hear that? Kite tails or scarves/magic Stones P 45 7 I am Strong Balance Beam/Magic Stones P 53 8 Summer s Day Balance Beam/Magic Stones P 62 9 Hide an Seek Breathing Ball/Magic Stones P When I Grow Up Magic Stones P My Favourite Things Kite tails or scarves/magic Stones P Let s Get Fit Balance Beam/Magic Stones P 95 2 P a g e

3 Some important things to remember when doing Fun-key Yoga: Note that some poses are repeated but using a different name, for example Mouse pose and Child s pose. Focus on having fun with movement, not on practicing perfectly aligned poses. Cater to their energy levels and different learning styles. Be creative and enjoy yourselves, but please be safe. Wear comfortable clothing and practice barefoot. Room Set-up: Ideally lay out mats in a circle so that there is one for each child and one for you the Presenter, with nobody in front as everyone is equal. If this is not possible because of space limitations or large numbers, lay mats within area provided, so that mats are not touching, and that each child has enough room to move around on their mat without touching another child with you facing them. Everyone has their shoes off, with shoes placed out of the way to one side of the room. Have soft relaxing background music on for entire session except when you are playing specific songs for Opening/warm-up etc as per script. Important note for breathing exercises with children: Count along in a rhythm to achieve an even in and out breath ratio. Be mindful that children have a much lower lung capacity than adults. This means the duration of their in and out breath is much shorter, especially if they are a younger group. In general, aim for 2-3 seconds for each in breath and each out breath. Never strain the breath to achieve longer duration. Make the breathing exercise fun. Instead of focusing on breathing slowly thereby extending the length of the breath, which may cause strain to the nervous system of the younger children, concentrate on breathing and moving more mindfully or deliberately. To perform breathing exercises properly requires well-developed fine motor skills and high level of body awareness. Therefore if the children do not breathe as per instructions, especially the younger ones, just have them go through the arm and body movements as described. They will still receive benefits from it. Over time, they will be able to do more. 3 P a g e

4 This term we are expanding further on the Mindfulness component by focusing on the central nervous system. Mindfulness is when you are deliberately aware of something and is achieved by relaxed concentration. Teaching Mindfulness We teach mindfulness using elementary techniques using the 5 senses ; Sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. How does it work? Have children concentrate on one sense at a time and discover whatever they can (commonly called state of open awareness ). Over time, the state of mindfulness: Decreases emotions that originate in the amygdala part of the brain (fear, anxiety and other stress-related emotions). Increases the occurrence emotions that originate in pre-frontal cortex part of the brain (focus, empathy, emotional stability and other wellbeing related emotions). Yoga as a scientific system of bodywork works on the. Poses have a sequence or flow that works with the bodies endocrine system; starting at the base glands at the bottom of the body all the way through to the master glands in the brain, optimising the secretion of hormones and balancing the hormones in the body. 4 P a g e

5 Games Games are optional and only to be included if you feel the children need something a little bit extra or if you have time. Choose one of the following based on ages of children in the group. 1. Invent a Pose: Think of something that you might find on a farm for example (could be anywhere jungle, sea etc) - whether it be an animal, plant, person or machine. Let each child in the group make up a unique yoga pose of their very own, based on whatever farm related thing they can think of. Have everyone copy this new pose, then go to the next person who will make up their own. 2. Name that Pose: Bring the students into a familiar pose, then suggest they call out different names for it based on what they think it looks like. They can be as creative as they like calling it whatever comes to mind. 3. Once upon a time with a twist: A cool group activity where the children create a yoga choose-your-own-adventurestory. Start off the activity by telling the first few sentences of a story & doing a yoga pose or sequence of poses to represent the actions. For example, you might say Once upon a time there was a dog & a cobra in a boat & follow with Downward Dog, Cobra, & Boat poses. Everyone does the postures before moving on to the next storyteller. The child next to you then adds on a few sentences & presents his or her poses for everyone to do. Each child follows, adding on story & postures in succession. When you do this activity, you will have to moderate the ideas to a certain extent. First of all, make sure that the story remains decent/appropriate.sometimes kids can get carried away with their creativity. This is a really engaging game for kids, as it give them a fun, creative medium, & they love having a chance to be in charge. 5 P a g e

6 4. says (insert name): This game is played like the game Simon Says however this time the Presenter (or nominated child) is in charge. The person in charge (let s call them Samantha) calls out instructions such as Samantha says tree pose. Everyone performs the tree pose. If Samantha calls out instructions without Samantha says then everyone should disregard the instruction. Don t play that kids are out, instead simply remind them to listen carefully & reward their great auditory & yoga skills. Speeding up the poses Samantha calls out will make this much more difficult as will simply using the suggestion Samantha says do this whilst performing the pose desired. The latter also works really well with younger kids or those new to yoga who don t know the names of the poses yet but do know how to do them. Another tricky suggestion, once your class is good at this, is to say one pose but perform a different pose. 6 P a g e

7 Week one Tidying Up Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Breathing Ball (Hoberman Sphere one for Presenter) Mindfulness for children is the act of deliberately bringing the children s attention completely to the immediate experience as perceived through the sensory organs. This can be achieved through focusing in a relaxed way, on what is being perceived through one of the senses. Using both hands, gently hold the breathing ball in front of your belly. Take a deep breath in. As your belly expands, let the ball expand with it. Make your breath audible so the children catch on to the in-breath/out-breath pattern. As you breathe out, allow the sphere to contract to its smallest size. Repeat at least 2-3 times. 7 P a g e

8 For more advanced children or children that have done this in previous terms, you can also ask them to extend their arm upward to the sky as they expand the ball while breathing in, and retract the arms as they contract the ball as they breathe out. Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Perform every pose 3 times unless specified. Poses that have 2 sides (right and left) be repeated at least 1 more time on each side unless specified. Inversions are usually not repeated unless specified, but stay longer than other poses. Do at least to the count of Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section. Today I m going to help mum & dad around the house. We pick up our dirty clothes & put them in the clothes hamper. From there they go into the washing machine. I love to hold the measuring cup as the washing powder is poured into it, then pour it into the machine which is then switched on. Around & around the clothes go as they are washed clean by our washing machine! Washing Machine Sit comfortably with legs crossed. Hands on knees. Keep the sitting bones on the mat, draw a big circle with the top of your head in the sky by moving the chest forward, to the side, back and opposite side. Repeat for 4-5 rounds. 8 P a g e

9 Bring the spine back upright. Place the right hand on the left knee, left hand behind the spine, twist the whole torso to the left and then to the back, lining the nose over the left shoulder. Stay for 2-3 seconds. Unwind the torso to face the front. Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat both sides 1-2 times. Whilst our clothes are being washed, I get to help mix the ingredients up to make a yummy cake! I stir them all together with my very own wooden spoon in the mixing bowl until the batter is smooth & lump free! Mixing Bowl - Sit on the floor with your legs separated a comfortable distance apart. Straighten the spine upwards. Interlace your fingers. As if you are holding a large spoon, trace a circle on the floor by stretching your arm as far towards your feet as you can, then out to the side, bring them back in, passing the front of the chest and out again to the feet in a circular motion. Repeat the circle a few times and reverse the direction. Once the cake has been put into the oven for me, I help set the table for lunch. Table Sitting down with leg stretched out. Shake the legs from side to side for a few seconds to loosen any tensions. Place the hands slightly behind the torso, fingers pointing to the front. Lean into arms with palms down. Bend the knees and place the feet on the mat and kneecaps facing up. Breath in, lift the hips into a tabletop position with navel facing up. Drop the head back to look behind you. Hold for a few seconds and slowly lower the hips to sit back down. Repeat 2-3 times. Release hands and feet. Shake the arms and legs. After being so busy all morning it s nice to take a break & go outside for some fresh air. I play on my slide that s in our backyard. Weeeeeeeee, it s so much fun! 9 P a g e

10 Slide Sit with legs stretched out in front of you, with your palms pressing on the floor several inches behind your hips and your fingers pointing forward. Inhale, press the whole soles of the feet and toes against the floor. Lift your hips up towards the sky. Slowly drop your head back and relax the neck, allow it to dangle. Keep the chest and tummy reaching upwards to maintain the pose for a few seconds. Slowly relaxing the hips and sit the bottom down to the floor, and roll the head to look forward. Catch your breath and repeat 2-3 times. Modification: If the above is too challenging, try the following modification to build strength and ease into the pose. Follow step 1 above. Instead of pressing the feet to go straight into the pose, bend your knees and place your feet on the floor, heels at least a foot away from your buttocks. Inhale, press your feet and hands down against the floor, and lift your hips until you come into a reverse tabletop position, torso and thighs approximately parallel to the floor, shins and arms approximately perpendicular. Without losing the height of your hips, straighten your legs one at a time. Lift your hips still higher without hardening your buttocks. Keep the lift in your chest. As I m climbing up to the top of my slide for yet another fun ride down, I notice a little lizard sunning itself on a rock below me in the garden. It is so cute. Lizard Resting on your hands and knees (table top position). Slide your right leg away and straighten your right leg to rest on the ball of your right foot. Press your palms and ball of the right foot into the mat to gain balance as you slide your left foot away and straighten your left leg, resting on the ball of your both feet now. Pull your belly button in towards the spine to fortify the lower back. For older and more advanced children, you can challenge them by asking them to lift one arm off the mat and stretch it away, then swap sides. Also to lift one foot off the mat and stretch it away, then swap sides. 10 P a g e

11 After having fun on the slide it s time to help tidy up our backyard. It s my job to pick up all of my toys & put them away in my toybox. In the grass I find a rubber snake that I had left there with it s head reared up just like a striking cobra. Ssssssss Striking Cobra (This pose is similar to Bhujangasana (Cobra pose) but with some additional movements. Make this fun by creating suspense and making sounds.) Come into Balasana (Child s pose) by resting the torso over your bent legs, bottom resting on your heels if possible. Look to your hands, keeping the chest close to the floor and glide the chest between the hands and through the hands until you come up with your chest forward pass your arms. Your legs would be straight with thighs and knees on the floor at this point. Continue to glide forward and curl your body into Bhujangasana (Cobra pose). Make sure your elbows stay close to the side of the body at all times to prevent pressure on the elbow joints. Return to Balasana (Child s pose) by lifting your hips and bending your knees, as you retract your chest back through your arms until your bottom rest on the heels once again. Repeat 2-3 times. In the sandpit I find some little animal figurines that I had left there when I was playing. I pick up a little lion & make a roaring sound as I put it away. Lion Kneel on the floor and sit back onto the soles of the feet. Part the knees wider and place the palms down between the knees. Fan the palms and splay your fingers like the sharpened claws of a lion. Take a big breath in, breath out and make a big roaring sound of ha. The second time, take a big breath in and stretch the tongue out and open the eyes wide and make a big roaring sound of ha. Repeat 1-2 times more with the tongue stretched out as you roar. Close the eyes and rest for a few seconds Open the eyes and stretch the legs out in front. In the bushes I find some colourful feathers that I had been using to pretend to be a peacock strutting around with it s beautiful tail fluffed out behind it. 11 P a g e

12 Peacock To be a peacock kneel down & bend forward to glue your belly to your knees. Stretch your arms behind you & bring your hands together to make your peacock feathers. Breathe in & stretch your feathers up. Breathe out & bring your feathers down. After all of that hard work tidying up, it s time for a rest. Phew! Keeping things tidy & clean can be exhausting work, but fun too! Child Tell the children to curl up. Sitting on heels, place the forehead on the floor. Curled up in child s pose. Hold this pose for a count of 10 or even 20 depending on the age and attention span of the children. Game: (optional) Choose one from front of manual Relaxation: (Magic Stones or Small soft toy) Play your choice of either Wavedream or Creatures of the Rain & Sun throughout this section. Ensure the music is audible but soft enough so that the children can hear your voice. Hand each child a magic stone. Start by explaining to the children that the stone is a Magic Stone. When you firstly touch it, it is very cold. But if you put it on your body and stay really still, the stone will warm up and it can carry your wishes and love to anyone and anything in the world. Now repeat this guided meditation to them as they lay down ideally with the stone resting on their forehead. Close your eyes and take a very deep breath. Keep breathing deeply and feel the cool air come in through your nose and flow all the way down to your belly. Feel your belly extend as you breathe in. Now, listen carefully to all the quiet sounds outside and around you. You may hear outside noises, maybe cars, birds or something else just listen. Now, turn your focus within. Listen quietly to what you hear happening within your body. 12 P a g e

13 Can you hear your heart beating? Can you hear your breath as you breathe slowly in and out? Maybe your tummy is making noises, or you re listening to the sound of your breath, or your heartbeat. Whatever is going on inside. Just take time to listen. Imagine now inside of you, there a big beautiful bucket. Everyone has one though we can t see it with our eyes. When we feel good, our buckets are full. When we re feeling bad, our buckets are low or even empty. Did you know that when you fill someone else s bucket with kindness, helpfulness or even a smile, your own bucket gets filled up too? That s actually the way we fill our buckets. When we share goodness and think happy thoughts, our buckets are filled with so much goodness. When kind words are spoken, buckets get fuller. And when unkind words are spoken, buckets become a little emptier. We all want our buckets to be full of love, kindness, peacefulness, and happiness. Everyone does. So, we can make a choice each and every day to show loving kindness to others and help fill up their buckets. In doing so, our own bucket gets filled to the top and can even overflow with happiness! If your bucket ever feels low or empty you can take in a deep breath and remember how loved you are. You can choose to be grateful for the good things and people you have in your life and focus on that. Now when you re ready. take in a deep breath. Open your eyes and give you wonderful body a big wonderful stretch! You ve done a great job! Closing: Thank you for joining me today for Fun-key Yoga as we helped around the house to tidy up! Who can remember some of the yoga poses that we did? We were washing machines; mixing bowls to make a yummy cake; a table all set for lunch; a slide; a lizard; striking cobra; lion; peacock; & back to being children again. Goodbye for now and namaste. Play Namaste music track by Jenny Wilkinson, either singing song together with the children using backing track (lyrics below), or playing track with vocals and just bowing to each other for goodbye. Namaste, Namaste, the light in me sees the light in you, Namaste 13 P a g e

14 Week two The Butterfly Forest Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Breathing Ball (Hoberman Sphere one for Presenter) Using both hands, gently hold the breathing ball in front of your belly. Take a deep breath in. As your belly expands, let the ball expand with it. Make your breath audible so the children catch on to the in-breath/out-breath pattern. As you breathe out, allow the sphere to contract to its smallest size. Repeat at least 2-3 times. For more advanced children or children that have done this in previous terms, you can also ask them to extend their arm upward to the sky as they expand the ball while breathing in, and retract the arms as they contract the ball as they breathe out. 14 P a g e

15 Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section Today we are going somewhere really exciting. A butterfly forest! I ve been looking forward to this all week! We all hop into the car & set off Car Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out straight in front of you. Lift the heart and top of the head upwards to the sky. Imagine that there is a rope hanging from the ceiling down in front of you. Breathe in, look up as you reach up with the right hand as though to grasp the rope. Breath out, with straight arms, pull the imaginary rope down with your right hand slowly towards the thighs, following the right hand with your eyes. Once the right hand touches the right thigh, reach the left arm up to repeat on the opposite side. Repeat at least 3-4 times on each side. Apart from a physical yoga pose, this is also a Mindful Movement practice. So be sure to resist the temptation to move through the motions too quickly. Also remember to follow the movements with your eyes to enhance its calming effect. Once we get there we all get out of the car then follow the path into the forest. We look up & spot a huge spider web stretched between two trees with a spider on it busily spinning away. 15 P a g e

16 Spinning Web - Sit on the floor with your legs separated a comfortable distance apart. Straighten the spine upwards. Stretch the arms out to the side at shoulder height. Reach the right hand away from the body and folding at the hips, reach the right hand towards the left foot, as you twist the body to face the left. The right arm stretches back behind you. Unwind the body and bring the chest back to the centre. Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat both sides 2-3 times. As we stop to admire the spider s handiwork, we imagine what it would be like to be able to spin silvery silken threads like that, that we could then climb on so high up. Daydreamer Sitting upright. Stretch your legs out in front of you. Place your hands with palms down beside your hips for support. Move your right leg out to the side, lean into your left hand and then curl your right leg back so that your toes are pointed back behind your back. Check that your right ankle is not bended, all the toes are pointing back and the sole of the foot is facing up. Now bend your left leg and draw your left foot in with knee facing up until your left heel comes close to the back of your left thigh. Try to stabilise yourself and distribute the weight evenly on both sitting bones. You may find that wrapping your arms around the left leg gives you the leverage to stay upright more. As we are having a little daydream we spot something brightly coloured out of the corner of our eye. It s a butterfly, the first one we have spotted so far in the Butterfly Forest! Isn t it gorgeous?! Butterfly Sit with soles of the feet together and knees open to the side. Hold onto the toes and flap the wings (knees) up and down slowly and then faster. Once the thighs are warmed, hold the ankles and roll from knee to knee across the sitting bones. Pretend to fly from right to left a few times. Hold back onto the toes, open the chest and extend the spine from the crown. Holding the soles to the feet against 16 P a g e

17 each other, bend down towards the toes to drink nectar from flowers. Repeat 3 times. As we wander further down the path we spot more butterflies. This one here is resting on a leaf. Reclining Butterfly Come into Butterfly pose (baddha konasana). Place your hands behind your hips, leaning into your palms. Slowly recline the body to rest on the elbows. Finally, lay the whole back onto the mat, keeping the soles of the feet pressing against each other. Bring your arms slightly away from the torso to relax the shoulders. Stay here for at least 10 seconds. To release, bring your knees up and bring them together. Then curl your legs in to rest the thighs on the chest like a ball. Rock from side to side to release any tensions in the lower back. Roll up to a sitting position. Repeat at least one more time, if time permits. Look over there. That butterfly is just emerging from it s cocoon or chrysalis. It started off as a caterpillar, then had a sleep for a little while in it s special cocoon, then emerged as a beautiful butterfly. Amazing! Half Butterfly - Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out straight in front of you. Lift the heart and top of the head upwards to the sky. Bend your right knee to bring your right heel towards your perineum. Adjust your body to face your left foot by turning your chest towards the left. Lengthen your spine by lifting the waist away from the hips and heart up and away from the waist, and head away from the shoulder. Fold along the left leg, aiming the forehead on the shinbone. You can ask the children to try to kiss their left knee. But only go as far as it is comfortable for you. Please bend your left knee slightly as you fold to ease the strain on your hamstrings, if necessary. Keep the spine long to prevent straining the lower back. Stay for a few seconds. Bring the chest back up. Sitting upright before stretching the right leg out. Roll both legs from side to side to release any tensions. Repeat on the opposite side. 17 P a g e

18 As we go deeper in the forest & spot even more butterflies, we see what seems like hundreds of them all flying around together. The sun shining down on them is like a gentle spotlight with the butterflies just like dancers all dancing around on a natural stage. Dancer Start by standing upright. Lift through the heart and top of the head towards the sky. Plant your feet into the ground. Bring your weight to your right leg and lift your left foot back, draw the left heel towards your bottom. Hold your left ankle from the back. Balance your body over the right foot. Take a big breath and stretch the right arm over your head towards the sky, palms facing away from you. Breath out, tip your body forward and stretch your right arm out in front of you as you lift the back foot up towards the sky, creating a curve from head to the toes of your back foot. Stay here and breathe for a few seconds. To release, bring the body back upright, let down your right arm and then your left foot. Regain your balance and repeat 1-2 times. Then repeat on the second side As the sun starts to fade, the butterflies begin to disappear as they land on the leaves of the trees to settle down for the night & sleep. We watch as the moon begins to rise in the sky letting us know it is now night time & time to head home. Moon Start by standing upright. Lift through the heart and top of the head towards the sky. Plant your feet into the ground. Breathe in and bring your arms over your head, palms facing forward. Extend your tailbone down. Lift your heart towards the sky as you slowly drop your arms, head and shoulders back behind you. Go to as far as you are comfortable without wobble. To return, push forward with your chest as you ground your feet down, until your body comes back upright. To counter the position, and release any tensions, bend forward for a few seconds. Back at home our dog greets us at the gate. I can t wait to tell him all about our adventure and the amazing butterflies that we saw. 18 P a g e

19 Downward Dog Rest on hands (under the shoulder) and knees (under the hips) Lift the knees off the mat and straighten the legs Look to the toes Tucked up sleepily in bed I just know that tonight my dreams will be filled with butterflies! Child Tell the children to curl up. Sitting on heels, place the forehead on the floor. Curled up in child s pose. Hold this pose for a count of 10 or even 20 depending on the age and attention span of the children. Game: (optional) Choose one from front of manual Relaxation: (Magic Stones) Play your choice of either Wavedream or Creatures of the Rain & Sun throughout this section. Ensure the music is audible but soft enough so that the children can hear your voice. Hand each child a magic stone. Start by explaining to the children that the stone is a Magic Stone. When you firstly touch it, it is very cold. But if you put it on your body and stay really still, the stone will warm up and it can carry your wishes and love to anyone and anything in the world. Now repeat this guided meditation to them as they lay down either holding the stone in their hand or ideally lay with the stone resting on their forehead. Close your eyes and take in a nice deep breathe. Allow your tummy to fill up like a balloon, and then exhale slowly. Do this five times to really relax your whole body completely. (Pause for breathing.) Your body begins to feel deeply relaxed and sinks down further and further into your mat. Your legs begin to feel very heavy. Your arms begin to feel heavy and relaxed. You enjoy every moment as your body continues to relax with each word I say. 19 P a g e

20 Now as your body relaxes, imagine you re a beautiful butterfly fluttering high in the sky. You see the lovely green valley below you with lots of colourful flowers, just waiting for you to enjoy. You feel the wind blow against your delicate wings. As the wind touches you, it gently blows away any worries, any stress you feel. Feel how wonderful it feels to be so free. Your mind is clear and calm. You have left any worries far behind now. You are completely peaceful. You are beautiful as you allow your true happiness to shine through. The sun touches your body and warms you. The big, puffy clouds floating in the sky remind you how relaxed and calm you can be whenever you want, just by thinking about it. The earth is a patchwork of colour and you enjoy each moment here, gliding along feeling so joyful and peaceful. You spread your wings far and stretch. It feels so good. Your body is calm and your mind is peaceful. Take in a deep breath now and exhale slowly. When you are ready, give your body a big stretch. With a clear, calm mind, say these words to yourself: I am peaceful and I am calm, ready for a wonderful day. Closing: Thank you for joining me today for Fun-key Yoga as we visited the Butterfly Forest! Who can remember some of the yoga poses that we did? We were cars; spiders spinning webs; daydreamers; butterflies; reclining butterflies resting on leaves; half butterflies just emerging; dancers; the moon; downward dogs; & back to children again. Play Namaste music track by Jenny Wilkinson, either singing song together with the children using backing track (lyrics below), or playing track with vocals and just bowing to each other for goodbye. Namaste, Namaste, the light in me sees the light in you, Namaste 20 P a g e

21 Week three Cloud Shapes Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Roly Poly/Piggy in the Mud (no props required) Lay on your back and bend your knees to bring your legs to rest on your chest. Wrap your arms around your legs and roll from side to side, rocking from elbow to elbow, massaging across your lower back. After a few seconds, roll to your right side and rest there. Bring your right arm under your head, and rest your head on your arm. Uncurl the legs slightly. Stay in this position for at least 10 seconds and breathe slowly. Release your arm from under your head. Curl your legs towards your chest and wrap your arms around your legs once again. Roll back to rest on your back, facing the sky. Roll to your left. Resting on your left side, tuck your arm under your head. Uncurl your legs slightly and stay in this position for 10 seconds and breathe slowly. Repeat this again on both sides 21 P a g e

22 To make this activity easier you can either sing or play this song whilst you do it (to the tune of Beanbag Frog Song ) Lie down & hug your knees rock from side to side Roll to the right then count to 5 (pause singing & count slowly to 5 together) Rest your head on your arm breathing out & in Hug your knees to your chest again Roll onto your back look up at the sky Turn to the left count from one to 5 (pause singing & count slowly to 5) Rest your head on your arm and hold for ten (pause singing & count to ten) Then start all over again. Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section. Sometimes I love to go outside & just lay on my back looking up at the clouds. I imagine I am riding my bike through a far away kingdom & the clouds form the shapes of those that I come across on my travels. Bicycle Laying on your back, curl your legs in to rest your thighs on your chest. Using the hands cuddle your legs closer in to lengthen the lower back. Roll from side to side to massage across the lower back. 22 P a g e

23 Keeping your legs curled over your chest. Place the arms on the mat in-line with your shoulders. If space is limited, try curling the elbows, stack your hand one on top of the other, and lay your head on top palm. Breath out, roll your knees to the right side, as close to your right elbow as possible, while keeping both shoulder blades in contact with the mat. Look to the left hand (the opposite side to your knees). Breath in, roll your knees back to the centre. Breath out roll your knees to the left side, close to the elbow. Turn your head to look at the right hand. Breath in and roll the knees back to the centre, over the chest. Repeat 4-5 times. Slowly at first and a little faster as your back warms up. As the wind picks up the clouds rush across the sky, turning from big white fluffy clouds to long billowy ones. That one over there looks like it has lots of legs & is moving in such a way that looks like a stick insect. Stick Insect - Laying on your back, curl your legs in to rest your thighs on your chest. Using the hands and cuddle your legs closer in to lengthen the lower back. Roll from side to side to massage across the lower back. Bend your knees and place your feet on the mat. Curl the right leg in towards your head and hold on to the shin, ankle or big toe, wherever you feel most comfortable. Slowly, exhale and stretch the leg up towards the sky, and stretch the left leg straight out on the mat. Although we aim for both legs to be straight, bend at the knees if necessary and only go as far as your body allows you to for that day. To release, bend the left leg and place the left foot on the floor to anchor body down. Then bend the right knee and retract the foot back in, place it on the mat next to the left foot. Repeat 2-3 times and then repeat on the opposite side. Now I imagine that the blue sky is water. Some of the clouds look just like otters, swimming on their backs & having a wonderful time! Otter Laying on your back, curl your legs in to rest your thighs on your chest. Using the hands cuddle your legs closer in to lengthen the lower back. Roll from side to side to massage across the lower back. 23 P a g e

24 Keeping your legs curled over your chest, breath in, stretch your right leg out straight and let it rest on the mat. Breath out, lift your head and touch your forehead to your left knee, if possible. Breath in, lower your head back on to the mat. Breath out, curl the right leg back in to the starting position. Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat 4-5 times. Slowly at first and a little faster as your back warms up. Coming back to the starting position, with legs curled over your chest. Breath out, lift your head and touch your forehead to your both knees, if possible. Breath in relax your head back onto the mat. Stretch your body out and rest for a few seconds. I stand up now & have a bit of a stretch. When I look up again the clouds look like they are dancing. I imagine that I am playing the flute & the clouds are dancing along to my music. Playing the Flute Start by standing upright. Lift through the heart and top of the head towards the sky. Plant your feet into the ground. Bring your weight to your right leg. Lift your left foot to cross at the shin, bringing your left toes to rest on the floor at the outer side of your right foot. Balance over your right foot. Bending at the elbows, bring your arms up in front of the right shoulder so that both hands are in line with your mouth. Create a gesture to pretend that you are holding a flute. Look to your hands as you wriggle your fingers to play your imaginary flute. Lower your arms and come back to standing on both feet. Repeat on the opposite side. Sometimes when I look at the clouds I can see animals. Like a tiger creeping across the sky. Tiger Resting on the hands and knees, navel facing down. Hands under the shoulders and knees under the hips. Palms down and fingers splayed. Breath in looking up, arching the back to lift the chest upwards. Breathing out, round the back and push the ribs to the sky, looking to the navel. Repeat 4-5 times or more, slowly at first and quicker at the end. 24 P a g e

25 Pause with a neutral straight spine. Breath in, lift the right leg up and reach right foot to the sky. Look up, curling the head back towards the right foot. Breath out release the right knee to rest back onto the floor. Repeat 2-3 times. Swap side. Repeat on the left side. When finished, curl back to sit on the heels and rest in balasana (child s pose). Or a crocodile, crawling across the sky on it s belly. Crocodile (Physically, this is quite an easy pose. The purpose of this pose is to encourage deep diaphragmatic breathing.) Stretch out on the floor with tummy down. Extend your legs about shoulder-width apart with the toes turned out and heels turned in. Cross your arms, place your hands on the opposite elbows. Rest the forehead on the forearms. The abdomen rests fully on the floor, the upper chest is slightly elevated. Close your eyes, and relax the face, shoulders, abdomen, pelvis, legs, and feet. Take deep breaths and feel the back ribs rising up as you breathe in. Stay here for 10 breaths. As you count the breaths out loud, walk around the room and you may help to encourage deep diaphragmatic breathing by placing your hands on the children s back, around the floating ribs, on either side of the spine, just above the waist. When the sky is at it s bluest it is easy to daydream that it is the ocean, with the clouds the fish that swim in it. Flapping Fish (This is a very restful pose. So try to stay in it a little longer) Lie down on your belly. Curl at the elbows and rest your palms down, one on top of another. Turn your head to the right, resting on your left cheek. Bend the right knee and bring it up to the side of your torso, making a 90-degree angle between your right thigh and torso. Rest here for 10 to 20 seconds. Counting down with the children to encourage them to lay still for longer. Straighten the right leg and bring it back beside the left. Turn your head to the opposite side, resting on the right cheek this time. 25 P a g e

26 Bend the left knee and bring it up to the side of your torso, making a 90-degree angle between your right thigh and torso. Rest here for 10 to 20 seconds. Straighten the left leg and bring it back beside the right. Push with your arms and slowly come away from the floor. As I sit up once more, I look around & discover that I was not alone watching the clouds up in the sky. Beside me in the grass is a little beetle who appears to be doing the same. It is lying on it s back, rocking back & forth as I think he too is letting his imagination go wild watching the changing shapes of the clouds. Rockin Beetle Lay on your back. Curl the legs in to rest on the chest. Wrap the arms around the legs to cuddle your legs closer in to curl up like a ball. Roll from side to side for a few seconds. Cross the legs at the ankles, hold onto the toes. Roll along the length of the spine, from shoulders to tailbone, while keeping the spine curved for 3-4 times. The final time, roll up all the way to sit crossed legged. Game: (optional) Choose one from front of manual Relaxation: (Magic Stones) Play your choice of either Wavedream or Creatures of the Rain & Sun throughout this section. Ensure the music is audible but soft enough so that the children can hear your voice. Hand each child a magic stone. Start by explaining to the children that the stone is a Magic Stone. When you firstly touch it, it is very cold. But if you put it on your body and stay really still, the stone will warm up and it can carry your wishes and love to anyone and anything in the world. Now repeat this guided meditation to them as they lay down either holding the stone in their hand or ideally lay with the stone resting on their forehead. When you are ready, lie back and get comfortable. Gently close your eyes. Take in a deep breath and feel the air come in so comfortably, so smoothly, and then exhale it out. 26 P a g e

27 Whenever you want to calm yourself, all you have to do is close your eyes and focus on calm breathing. Let s relax deeper into that calm feeling with this countdown: 5 Relaxed and letting go. 4 More deeply relaxed 3 Letting go of any worries 2 Deeper and deeper you go into peace and calm 1 Fully relaxed now, and nothing is bothering you Pretend for a moment that you are the wind. You gently blow and you comfortably and peacefully glide along. Along your journey you pick up some leaves that ride with you for a distance. How wonderful to feel the connection to these unique, beautiful leaves. You surround the whole globe as the wind. Sometimes you are strong and others times you are very gentle. Feel your gentle strength now as you calmly blow across the trees and the rich earth. And now from the wind, imagine changing into a leaf that s floating on the wind. Feel yourself as a beautiful soft leaf bending back and forth with the wind, riding the wind very far and dancing in the wind. You do this so beautifully; gliding so gracefully. You are letting the wind carry you where it wants too. Now as the leaf, you turn over and look at the big sky. How large and wide open it is! Become the bright blue sky now the crystal, blue, beautiful sky. You cover the whole earth with your body. The birds are flying inside you and joyously singing their songs. Feel the clouds move within yourself, floating along as the wind blows them gently. Feel how large and protective you are. You cover everything, protecting the animals and the people. People gaze up at you in wonder to see how magnificent and beautiful you are. Within the sky now, become aware of one particular cloud among the others. Become that cloud now. Feel the puffiness, the beauty, the lightness of your cloud body. You re like a big fluffy pillow that everyone wants to rest on! How beautiful you are in all your states, you are part of everything and everything is part of you. Feel yourself as the cloud. Move and change as you want. You feel wonderfully light and happy just floating and dancing around. Start to slowly drift back down to earth, back down to your mat, becoming your beautiful self once again. 27 P a g e

28 What a beautiful journey we have taken today. Now you can open your eyes if you wish, & when you are ready, sit up. Closing: Thank you for joining me today for Fun-key Yoga as we watched the clouds. Who can remember some of the yoga poses that we did? We pretended to ride bikes; we became stick insects; otters; played the flute; we were tigers; crocodiles; fish & rocking beetles. Goodbye for now and namaste. Play Namaste music track by Jenny Wilkinson, either singing song together with the children using backing track (lyrics below), or playing track with vocals and just bowing to each other for goodbye. Namaste, Namaste, the light in me sees the light in you, Namaste 28 P a g e

29 Week four Diamond Quest Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Roly Poly/Piggy in the Mud 29 P a g e Lay on your back and bend your knees to bring your legs to rest on your chest. Wrap your arms around your legs and roll from side to side, rocking from elbow to elbow, massaging across your lower back. After a few seconds, roll to your right side and rest there. Bring your right arm under your head, and rest your head on your arm. Uncurl the legs slightly. Stay in this position for at least 10 seconds and breathe slowly. Release your arm from under your head. Curl your legs towards your chest and wrap your arms around your legs once again. Roll back to rest on your back, facing the sky. Roll to your left. Resting on your left side, tuck your arm under your head. Uncurl your legs slightly and stay in this position for 10 seconds and breathe slowly. Repeat this again on both sides

30 To make this activity easier you can either sing or play this song whilst you do it (to the tune of Beanbag Frog Song ) Lie down & hug your knees rock from side to side Roll to the right then count to 5 (pause singing & count slowly to 5 together) Rest your head on your arm breathing out & in Hug your knees to your chest again Roll onto your back look up at the sky Turn to the left count from one to 5 (pause singing & count slowly to 5) Rest your head on your arm and hold for ten (pause singing & count to ten) Then start all over again. Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section. Today we are going on a treasure hunt! I have my treasure map, we are on a quest to find diamonds! Will you join me? We might see monkeys on the way! 30 P a g e

31 Spider Monkey Laying on your back, curl your legs in to rest your thighs on your chest. Using the hands and cuddle your legs closer in to lengthen the lower back. Roll from side to side to massage across the lower back. Bend your knees and place your feet on the mat. Place the arms on the mat in-line with your shoulders. Keep both legs bent. Breath in lift your right leg up to the sky. Breath out, bring your right leg across the body and try to lay it down on the floor on the opposite side, creating a relaxing twist in the spine. Breath in, lift your right leg and roll back to the centre. Breath out, place both feet on the mat. Repeat 2-3 times on each side. The map says we need to go through the butterfly forest next. Look at the beautiful butterlies fluttering all around us. Butterfly - Sit with soles of the feet together and knees open to the side. Hold onto the toes and flap the wings (knees) up and down slowly and then faster. Once the thighs are warmed, hold the ankles and roll from knee to knee across the sitting bones. Pretend to fly from right to left a few times. Hold back onto the toes, open the chest and extend the spine from the crown. Holding the soles to the feet against each other, bend down towards the toes to drink nectar from flowers. Repeat 3 times. As we look closer we see that the butterflies aren t just flying all around us, they are also resting on the leaves & flowers that we pass. 31 P a g e

32 Reclining Butterfly Come into Butterfly pose (baddha konasana). Place your hands behind your hips, leaning into your palms. Slowly recline the body to rest on the elbows. Finally, lay the whole back onto the mat, keeping the soles of the feet pressing against each other. Bring your arms slightly away from the torso to relax the shoulders. Stay here for at least 10 seconds. To release, bring your knees up and bring them together. Then curl your legs in to rest the thighs on the chest like a ball. Rock from side to side to release any tensions in the lower back. Roll up to a sitting position. Repeat at least one more time, if time permits. Next we turn the corner where the big bushy tree is. I love looking up into the branches of the tree as I often can spot insects in the leaves. There on that leaf is a little beetle rocking around from side to side. Rockin Beetle Lay on your back. Curl the legs in to rest on the chest. Wrap the arms around the legs to cuddle your legs closer in to curl up like a ball. Roll from side to side for a few seconds. Cross the legs at the ankles, hold onto the toes. Roll along the length of the spine, from shoulders to tailbone, while keeping the spine curved for 3-4 times. The final time, roll up all the way to sit crossed legged. On another leaf I can see a butterfly emerging from it s cocoon. Half Butterfly Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out straight in front of you. Lift the heart and top of the head upwards to the sky. Bend your right knee to bring your right heel towards your perineum. Adjust your body to face your left foot by turning your chest towards the left. Lengthen your spine by lifting the waist away from the hips and heart up and away from the waist, and head away from the shoulder. 32 P a g e

33 Fold along the left leg, aiming the forehead on the shinbone. You can ask the children to try to kiss their left knee. But only go as far as it is comfortable for you. Please bend your left knee slightly as you fold to ease the strain on your hamstrings, if necessary. Keep the spine long to prevent straining the lower back. Stay for a few seconds. Bring the chest back up. Sitting upright before stretching the right leg out. Roll both legs from side to side to release any tensions. Repeat on the opposite side. As we continue around the corner the map tells me to keep an eye out for tigers. There s one now! (it s really just Tigger my pet cat but he loves it when I pretend he is a tiger!) Tiger Resting on the hands and knees, navel facing down. Hands under the shoulders and knees under the hips. Palms down and fingers splayed. Breath in looking up, arching the back to lift the chest upwards. Breathing out, round the back and push the ribs to the sky, looking to the navel. Repeat 4-5 times or more, slowly at first and quicker at the end. Pause with a neutral straight spine. Breath in, lift the right leg up and reach right foot to the sky. Look up, curling the head back towards the right foot. Breath out release the right knee to rest back onto the floor. Repeat 2-3 times. Swap side. Repeat on the left side. When finished, curl back to sit on the heels and rest in balasana (child s pose). The map tells me that we need to go around the birdbath. Let s tiptoe carefully though because there are some pigeons having a bath as we pass by & we don t want to disturb them! Pigeon (This is a very challenging pose for some because it requires deep hip rotation. Proceed slowly. If you are unable to perform any part of it, just show the photo supplied to the children and guide them into it while holding up the photo.) Begin with a table-top position, with your knees directly below your hips, and your hands slightly ahead of your shoulders. Slide your right knee forward to the back of your right wrist; at the same time angle your right shin to bring your right ankle behind your left wrist. The outside of your right shin will now rest on the floor. Slowly slide your left leg back, straightening the knee and descending the front of the thigh to the floor. 33 P a g e

34 Lower the outside of your right buttock to the floor. Position the right heel just in front of the left hip. The right knee can angle slightly to the right, outside the line of the hip. Look back at your left leg. It should extend straight out of the hip (and not be angled off to the left). Exhale and lay your torso down on the inner right thigh for a few breaths. Stretch your arms forward. Then slide your hands back toward the front of the right shin and push your fingertips firmly to the floor. Lift your torso away from the thigh and bring your torso upright. Lift the heart towards the sky and open your chest like a proud King of Pigeon. Stay in this position for a few breaths. To release, look to the floor. Press your palms into the floor for support. Then carefully curl your torso as you push your hips up, sliding the knees back together under the hips and come into Child s Pose (Balasana). Repeat on the other side. I think we are nearly there. Look under the clothesline, there is something sparkling, could it really be a diamond? Diamond Start from a kneeling position. Slowly lower your hips to sit on your heels. Remember that you are sitting on your heels rather than on the floor, between the heels. Gently lower your elbows on the floor behind your, get ready to recline. Once your elbow is on the floor, slowly slide your elbow further apart to lay your back and shoulder blades on the floor. Finally, lower the back of your head on the floor. Stretch your arms over your head and rest them on the floor. Rest in the position for a few seconds. To come out of the pose, dig your elbows into the floor next to your torso for support, and slowly prop yourself back up to sitting on your heels. Lift your hips to come back to kneeling position. Swing your heels to one side and sit comfortably back on the floor. Stretch your legs out in front of you and give them a good shake. We are so excited as we head over to see what is really sparkling on the ground that we do a flip just like an acrobat to celebrate! 34 P a g e

35 Acrobat Start with having the children lift their legs up to the sky. Then have them tilt the legs towards the head. If possible, go further by encouraging them to lift the hips off the floor, with the support of their hands on the hips. Bend the knees and rest them over the forehead. Place the toes on the floor over the head. Straighten the legs. Game: (optional) Choose one from front of manual Relaxation: (Magic Stones) Play your choice of either Wavedream or Creatures of the Rain & Sun throughout this section. Ensure the music is audible but soft enough so that the children can hear your voice. Hand each child a magic stone. Start by explaining to the children that the stone is a Magic Stone. When you firstly touch it, it is very cold. But if you put it on your body and stay really still, the stone will warm up and it can carry your wishes and love to anyone and anything in the world. Now repeat this guided meditation to them as they lay down ideally with the stone resting on their forehead. Gently close your eyes and softly repeat, I am still. Notice your body relax instantly and easily. Allow your body to sink onto your mat further and further, as your muscles become soft and limp. It feels so comfortable. Your body just seems to relax more and more with each and every word you hear. Imagine now a small sparkle somewhere deep inside your heart. This small sparkle begins to glow brighter now, and you feel it reaching up and expanding out. The glow becomes brighter and brighter filling up your chest. You feel the warmth spreading out touching your tummy, your shoulders. getting bigger and bigger. getting brighter and brighter, glowing all the way down to your toes. Now feel your whole body glowing like a radiant star shining out. This wonderful light is your light your shining light your personal brilliance. It is all the love in your heart. It is the sum of your possibilities and your possibilities are endless. 35 P a g e

36 Shine your light wherever you go. Sharing your light makes others happy, and it makes you happy as well. It s a wonderful feeling to share your light, and by doing so, you become a good example to them. When you shine your light brightly, it lets others know that it is okay for them to shine their light brightly too. When we all do this, it makes the world a more beautiful, peaceful place. Sharing your light can be as simple as sharing your smile, or doing a kind deed. Hold a happy thought about someone, or send a happy wish to someone who is feeling sad. It can mean helping someone who is younger than you, or not as strong as you. All of this is shining your light, and you will discover a wonderful warm, fuzzy feeling inside your heart when you do this. This wonderful feeling comes from doing what you were created to do feeling and spreading love and joy. Sharing your light means sharing the real you and being who you truly are. It means standing up for what is right and making the choices that feel right in your heart. Now, allow that bright light inside to become like a gentle shower of fireworks. See how beautiful and amazing you are? You light up the sky! As the fireworks sizzle and flare down, imagine your brilliant light touching the heart of every person you know and will meet. They feel happier just because they know you. How wonderful and blessed life is! Now take in a deep breath and bring back all the good feelings you have right now with you as you slowly stretch your body. Open your eyes when you re ready. You ve done an amazing job! Closing: Thank you for joining me today for Fun-key Yoga as we went on a Diamond Quest! Who can remember some of the yoga poses that we did? We were cute little spider monkeys; flying butterflies; resting butterflies; rocking beetles; emerging butterflies; tigers; pigeons; diamonds & acrobats. Goodbye for now and namaste. Play Namaste music track by Jenny Wilkinson, either singing song together with the children using backing track (lyrics below), or playing track with vocals and just bowing to each other for goodbye. Namaste, Namaste, the light in me sees the light in you, Namaste 36 P a g e

37 Week five A Daydream Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Jellyfish Breathing (Kite tails or scarf one per person) Standing on your feet. Hold your kite tail / scarf on your right hand. As you inhale lift your right arm slowly up and out to the right close to your right ear. Keep your movements graceful. Look up to the kite tail / scarf. When you exhale, bring your arm back down beside you. Swap the kite tail / scarf to your left hand. As you inhale lift your left arm slowly up and out to the left, close to your left ear. Look up to the kite tail / scarf. When you exhale, bring your arm back down beside you. The next time you inhale, lift your right arm slowly up and out to the right close to your right ear. Simultaneously, take a step to your right with your right foot, lifting your left foot out to the side, slightly away from the midline of your body. Resting your weight on your right leg. 37 P a g e

38 As you exhale, lower your left foot, step right foot back return to standing on both feet, and arms beside you. Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat the movements at least 4-5 times. Come back to standing and close your eyes to settle your body. To make this activity easier you can either sing or play this song as you do it (to the tune of Bend & Stretch ) Breathing in, lift one arm high, let your breath out as it comes down and then Changing arms, breathe in again stretching up high now float down past your chin Keep floating arms, one at a time, adding a step move one leg to the side, lift other foot as you breath off the ground, let that breathe out stand tall, arms to side (change sides for next verse) Keep floating arms, one at a time, adding a step move one leg to the side, lift other foot as you breath off the ground, let that breathe out stand tall, arms to side Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section. As I sat looking out the window one day, feeling very sleepy in the late morning sunshine, I suddenly noticed a little beetle on the window sill, rocking along in time to the music that was coming from my music player. He seemed to be having so much fun that I decided to join him! 38 P a g e

39 Rockin Beetle Lay on your back. Curl the legs in to rest on the chest. Wrap the arms around the legs to cuddle your legs closer in to curl up like a ball. Roll from side to side for a few seconds. Cross the legs at the ankles, hold onto the toes. Roll along the length of the spine, from shoulders to tailbone, while keeping the spine curved for 3-4 times. The final time, roll up all the way to sit crossed legged. As we danced away, I could hear a beat that was perfectly in time to our music, coming from somewhere else in the house. It was our washing machine that was in the process of washing some of our clothes, and keeping beat to our music all at the same time as it swished this way and that way! Washing Machine - Sit comfortably with legs crossed. Hands on knees. Keep the sitting bones on the mat, draw a big circle with the top of your head in the sky by moving the chest forward, to the side, back and opposite side. Repeat for 4-5 rounds. Bring the spine back upright. Place the right hand on the left knee, left hand behind the spine, twist the whole torso to the left and then to the back, lining the nose over the left shoulder. Stay for 2-3 seconds. Unwind the torso to face the front. Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat both sides 1-2 times. The music and dancing got my imagination going and I began to daydream. Daydreamer Sitting upright. Stretch your legs out in front of you. Place your hands with palms down beside your hips for support. Move your right leg out to the side, lean into your left hand and then curl your right leg back so that your toes are pointed back behind your back. Check that your right ankle is not bended, all the toes are pointing back and the sole of the foot is facing up. Now bend your left leg and draw your left foot in with knee facing up until your left heel comes close to the back of your left thigh. 39 P a g e

40 Try to stabilise yourself and distribute the weight evenly on both sitting bones. You may find that wrapping your arms around the left leg gives you the leverage to stay upright more. I was rowing a boat down a long and wide river, paddling my oars through the water in time to the music that I could still hear. Rowing Boat (In this pose, we are using the movements similar to rowing a boat.) Sitting upright. Stretch your legs out in front of you. Inhale lift the arms up in the air. Make fists to pretend to hold on the oars. Exhale bend at the hip joint, stretching the spine long as you reach your arms towards your feet, aim to get your hands pass your feet. Lifting your belly in as you fold will create more space and control, making it easier to fold deeper. Inhale again, this time draw your imaginary oars back towards the side of your hips, continue to your fists up to the sky, and exhale bend again. Children usually enjoy this pose and are happy to repeat many times. Aim for about times. Invite them to sing Row row row your boat with you as you repeat the movements. As my imaginary boat is gliding down the river I look towards the banks and I can see people dancing. They too can hear my music and are enjoying dancing in time to the beat just like my washing machine and the little beetle! Dancer Start by standing upright. Lift through the heart and top of the head towards the sky. Plant your feet into the ground. Bring your weight to your right leg and lift your left foot back, draw the left heel towards your bottom. Hold your left ankle from the back. Balance your body over the right foot. Take a big breath and stretch the right arm over your head towards the sky, palms facing away from you. 40 P a g e

41 Breath out, tip your body forward and stretch your right arm out in front of you as you lift the back foot up towards the sky, creating a curve from head to the toes of your back foot. Stay here and breathe for a few seconds. To release, bring the body back upright, let down your right arm and then your left foot. Regain your balance and repeat 1-2 times. Then repeat on the second side As my boat passes the happy dancers and continues downstream, I spot something striped through the trees. I think it s a tiger! Tiger Resting on the hands and knees, navel facing down. Hands under the shoulders and knees under the hips. Palms down and fingers splayed. Breath in looking up, arching the back to lift the chest upwards. Breathing out, round the back and push the ribs to the sky, looking to the navel. Repeat 4-5 times or more, slowly at first and quicker at the end. Pause with a neutral straight spine. Breath in, lift the right leg up and reach right foot to the sky. Look up, curling the head back towards the right foot. Breath out release the right knee to rest back onto the floor. Repeat 2-3 times. Swap side. Repeat on the left side. When finished, curl back to sit on the heels and rest in balasana (child s pose). As I peer into the forest to see if I can catch another glimpse of the tiger, something bumps the bottom of my boat. Could it be a crocodile? Crocodile (Physically, this is quite an easy pose. The purpose of this pose is to encourage deep diaphragmatic breathing.) Stretch out on the floor with tummy down. Extend your legs about shoulder-width apart with the toes turned out and heels turned in. Cross your arms, place your hands on the opposite elbows. Rest the forehead on the forearms. The abdomen rests fully on the floor, the upper chest is slightly elevated. Close your eyes, and relax the face, shoulders, abdomen, pelvis, legs, and feet. Take deep breaths and feel the back ribs rising up as you breathe in. Stay here for 10 breaths. 41 P a g e

42 As you count the breaths out loud, walk around the room and you may help to encourage deep diaphragmatic breathing by placing your hands on the children s back, around the floating ribs, on either side of the spine, just above the waist. As we paddle further down the river we pass trees that are filled with bats hanging upside down from the branches. They are sleeping in the cool shade of the trees. Bat Start by standing upright with hands on your hips. Breath in, lift through the heart and top of the head towards the sky. Plant your feet into the ground. Breath out, bending the knees slightly and folding at the hip joint, bring your head down to look between your knees. Maintain the position, relax your neck by turning and looking from side to side, eyes by blinking a few times and jaws by opening and closing your mouth a few times. Bring your arms behind your back and interlock the fingers. Lift your hands up towards the sky as high as possible, and allow its weight to pull it downwards towards the floor. Stay for a few seconds. To release, bring your arms back up and release the interlocked fingers. Place your hands back onto the hips for balance. Bend your knees more into a squat. Looking forward before coming back to standing. Proceed with these steps slowly to prevent feeling dizzy or nauseous. Repeat 2-3 times. Suddenly my face feels wet and I open my eyes from my daydream to find myself back in my house by the window. My dog is licking my face! I give him a great big pat and a scratch behind the ears which he loves. Downward Dog Rest on hands (under the shoulder) and knees (under the hips) Lift the knees off the mat and straighten the legs Look to the toes Game: (optional) Choose one from front of manual Relaxation: (Magic Stones or Small soft toy) 42 P a g e

43 Play your choice of either Wavedream or Creatures of the Rain & Sun throughout this section. Ensure the music is audible but soft enough so that the children can hear your voice. Hand each child a magic stone. Start by explaining to the children that the stone is a Magic Stone. When you firstly touch it, it is very cold. But if you put it on your body and stay really still, the stone will warm up and it can carry your wishes and love to anyone and anything in the world. Now repeat this guided meditation to them as they lay down ideally with the stone resting on their forehead. Close your eyes and take a very deep breath. Keep breathing deeply and feel the cool air come in through your nose and flow all the way down to your belly. Feel your belly extend as you breathe in. Now, listen carefully to all the quiet sounds outside and around you. You may hear outside noises, maybe cars, birds or something else just listen. Now, turn your focus within. Listen quietly to what you hear happening within your body. Can you hear your heart beating? Can you hear your breath as you breathe slowly in and out? Maybe your tummy is making noises, or you re listening to the sound of your breath, or your heartbeat. Whatever is going on inside. Just take time to listen. Imagine now inside of you, there a big beautiful bucket. Everyone has one though we can t see it with our eyes. When we feel good, our buckets are full. When we re feeling bad, our buckets are low or even empty. Did you know that when you fill someone else s bucket with kindness, helpfulness or even a smile, your own bucket gets filled up too? That s actually the way we fill our buckets. When we share goodness and think happy thoughts, our buckets are filled with so much goodness. When kind words are spoken, buckets get fuller. And when unkind words are spoken, buckets become a little emptier. We all want our buckets to be full of love, kindness, peacefulness, and happiness. Everyone does. So, we can make a choice each and every day to show loving kindness to others and help fill up their buckets. In doing so, our own bucket gets filled to the top and can even overflow with happiness! 43 P a g e

44 If your bucket ever feels low or empty you can take in a deep breath and remember how loved you are. You can choose to be grateful for the good things and people you have in your life and focus on that. Now when you re ready. take in a deep breath. Open your eyes and give you wonderful body a big wonderful stretch! You ve done a great job! Closing: Thank you for joining me today for Fun-key Yoga as we had a lovely daydream! Who can remember some of the yoga poses that we did? We were rocking beetles; washing machines; daydreamers; rowing boats; dancers; tigers; crocodiles; bats and downward dogs. Goodbye for now and namaste. Play Namaste music track by Jenny Wilkinson, either singing song together with the children using backing track (lyrics below), or playing track with vocals and just bowing to each other for goodbye. Namaste, Namaste, the light in me sees the light in you, Namaste 44 P a g e

45 Week six Did you hear that? Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Jellyfish Breathing (Kite tails or scarf one per person) Standing on your feet. Hold your kite tail / scarf on your right hand. As you inhale lift your right arm slowly up and out to the right close to your right ear. Keep your movements graceful. Look up to the kite tail / scarf. When you exhale, bring your arm back down beside you. Swap the kite tail / scarf to your left hand. As you inhale lift your left arm slowly up and out to the left, close to your left ear. Look up to the kite tail / scarf. When you exhale, bring your arm back down beside you. The next time you inhale, lift your right arm slowly up and out to the right close to your right ear. Simultaneously, take a step to your right with your right foot, lifting your left foot out to the side, slightly away from the midline of your body. Resting your weight on your right leg. 45 P a g e

46 As you exhale, lower your left foot, step right foot back return to standing on both feet, and arms beside you. Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat the movements at least 4-5 times. Come back to standing and close your eyes to settle your body. To make this activity easier you can either sing or play this song as you do it (to the tune of Bend & Stretch ) Breathing in, lift one arm high, let your breath out as it comes down and then Changing arms, breathe in again stretching up high now float down past your chin Keep floating arms, one at a time, adding a step move one leg to the side, lift other foot as you breath off the ground, let that breathe out stand tall, arms to side (change sides for next verse) Keep floating arms, one at a time, adding a step move one leg to the side, lift other foot as you breath off the ground, let that breathe out stand tall, arms to side Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section. Listen I can hear something. Broom broom brooooooom. Do you know what that sound is? I think it s a car! Let s all be cars together now. 46 P a g e

47 Car Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out straight in front of you. Lift the heart and top of the head upwards to the sky. Imagine that there is a rope hanging from the ceiling down in front of you. Breathe in, look up as you reach up with the right hand as though to grasp the rope. Breath out, with straight arms, pull the imaginary rope down with your right hand slowly towards the thighs, following the right hand with your eyes. Once the right hand touches the right thigh, reach the left arm up to repeat on the opposite side. Repeat at least 3-4 times on each side. Apart from a physical yoga pose, this is also a Mindful Movement practice. So be sure to resist the temptation to move through the motions too quickly. Also remember to follow the movements with your eyes to enhance its calming effect. Now I can hear a different sound. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. It s a buzzy fly, but where is it? Now I can see it, it is stuck in the spiders web that the spider has just spun. Can you spin a web like a spider? Spinning Web - Sit on the floor with your legs separated a comfortable distance apart. Straighten the spine upwards. Stretch the arms out to the side at shoulder height. Reach the right hand away from the body and folding at the hips, reach the right hand towards the left foot, as you twist the body to face the left. The right arm stretches back behind you. Unwind the body and bring the chest back to the centre. Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat both sides 2-3 times. Splash, splash, splash. Did you hear that? Sounds like oars splashing in water as they are rowed back and forth. Let s pretend to row our oars in a boat together now. Rowing Boat - (In this pose, we are using the movements similar to rowing a boat.) Sitting upright. Stretch your legs out in front of you. Inhale lift the arms up in the air. Make fists to pretend to hold on the oars. Exhale bend at the hip joint, stretching the spine long as you reach your arms towards your feet, aim to get your hands pass 47 P a g e

48 your feet. Lifting your belly in as you fold will create more space and control, making it easier to fold deeper. Inhale again, this time draw your imaginary oars back towards the side of your hips, continue to your fists up to the sky, and exhale bend again. Children usually enjoy this pose and are happy to repeat many times. Aim for about times. Invite them to sing Row row row your boat with you as you repeat the movements. Ring ring, ring ring. Did you hear that? It s the ringing of a phone. I wonder who is calling us? Hello? Talking on the phone (This is a fun pose that most children could handle quite well but adults would struggle. So please proceed with caution.) Sitting upright. Stretch your legs out in front of you. Inhale lift the arms up in the air. Exhale bend at the hip joint, stretching the spine long as you reach your arms towards your feet. If you do not get to the feet, just move to wherever you can without strain. Bend your knees slightly to release the tightness in the hamstrings if necessary. Lifting your belly in as you fold will create more space and control, making it easier to fold deeper. Bend your right leg and draw the right foot towards you, hold the right foot with both hands at the ankle as if you care cradling it. To warm up the hip joint, lift the foot as high as you can, then bring it towards your forehead and then nose, and then down the centre line of the body. Once you get to the hips level, push the foot back out and then slowly up again. Bending the left leg slightly will release strain from the lower back and hamstring of the left leg, if necessary Repeat this circular motion a few times. Apart from warming up the hip joints, this movement also allows you to test the boundary of your movements. Do not push further than what your body is comfortable with today. After a few circular motions, draw the foot towards you again. Gently tug the right knee slightly outward to the side and back, aiming to have your knees move pass your torso behind you. Bring the sole of the feet towards the ears. Slowly release by moving your foot down and stretch it out. Repeat on the opposite side. 48 P a g e

49 Now I can hear something else. It sounds like a type of musical instrument. Have you ever heard the sound of a flute being played? That s exactly what it sounds like! Let s pretend to play a flute together now. Playing the Flute Start by standing upright. Lift through the heart and top of the head towards the sky. Plant your feet into the ground. Bring your weight to your right leg. Lift your left foot to cross at the shin, bringing your left toes to rest on the floor at the outer side of your right foot. Balance over your right foot. Bending at the elbows, bring your arms up in front of the right shoulder so that both hands are in line with your mouth. Create a gesture to pretend that you are holding a flute. Look to your hands as you wriggle your fingers to play your imaginary flute. Lower your arms and come back to standing on both feet. Repeat on the opposite side. Did you hear that? Now I can hear splashing again but it s different from before. Sounds like someone is in the water and they are kicking with their legs plus moving their arms about. I think it s someone swimming! Can you swim? Show me how you can swim but the mat will be your water! Swimming - Start by laying on your tummy and arms stretched out in front of you with palms faced down. Inhale, looking forward and lift your right foot towards the sky, as high as you can. Exhale, bring your right foot back down. Inhale, bring your left foot up towards the sky, as high as possible. Exhale, rest the foot back onto the mat. Inhale, lift the right foot towards the sky, this time, try to lift the right arm up too and reach the hand towards the ceiling. Exhale lower both right hand and foot. Inhale, lift the left foot and follow by the left arm up towards the sky. Remember to keep breathing while you hold the pose. Encourage the children to stay a little longer and reach a little higher. Repeat lifting the one arm and one leg on both sides. For older children, try asking them to lift the opposite arm and leg. That is, lifting right foot and left hand, and then left foot and right hand, in this last round. 49 P a g e

50 Whilst we are pretending to swim through the water, I hear another sound. This time it sounds like someone singing, but I don t think it s a person. It sounds like whales! How beautiful! Whale (Note: This is a slightly easier version than Dhanurasana (Rocking boat). The focus is on allowing your chest to lift and expand passively by using the strength of your legs. Start by laying on your tummy and forehead on the mat. Part your legs and curl them back towards your body, hold onto your ankles, toes or wherever possible. But make sure you keep the grip firm. Lift head and chest off the mat. Keeping the hips firmly grounded on the mat, attempt to push your legs away from your hips. This creates a tug on your arms, allowing you to lift your chest further away from the mat. Lift your head up towards the sky. To make in more fun, make some whale sound with the children. To release, relax the tugging, lower your head back onto the mat, follow by the arms and legs. As we pretend to sing like majestic whales, I can hear another sound in the ocean. It s like a high pitched clicking sound. We must have attracted the dolphins with our whale singing, can you hear them? Dolphin (This pose is similar to Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog), except we are resting on the elbows instead of the palms.) Come into Balasana (Child s pose) by resting the torso over your bent legs, bottom resting on your heels if possible. Lift your head and look to your hands. Come to a table top position on the floor with hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Then bring your elbows to rest on the mat, where your hands were, under your shoulders. Interlace your fingers to form a tripod with the wrists and two elbows. Slowly straighten the legs as you lift the hips up towards the sky, forming an inverted V shape with your torso and legs. Walk a few inches back if the pose seems too tight for you, or your legs feel constricted. To release, bend the knees and lower them on the floor. Then sit back into Balasana (Child s pose). Repeat 2-3 times. When the children get stronger, you could try lifting one leg up to the sky and balance on the elbows and a single foot 50 P a g e

51 Wow the world sure can be a noisy place when you listen very carefully to the sounds around you (and use your imaginations!). What can you hear now? Child Tell the children to curl up. Sitting on heels, place the forehead on the floor. Curled up in child s pose. Hold this pose for a count of 10 or even 20 depending on the age and attention span of the children. Game: (optional) Choose one from front of manual Relaxation: (Magic Stones) Play your choice of either Wavedream or Creatures of the Rain & Sun throughout this section. Ensure the music is audible but soft enough so that the children can hear your voice. Hand each child a magic stone. Start by explaining to the children that the stone is a Magic Stone. When you firstly touch it, it is very cold. But if you put it on your body and stay really still, the stone will warm up and it can carry your wishes and love to anyone and anything in the world. Now repeat this guided meditation to them as they lay down either holding the stone in their hand or ideally lay with the stone resting on their forehead. Close your eyes and take in a nice deep breathe. Allow your tummy to fill up like a balloon, and then exhale slowly. Do this five times to really relax your whole body completely. (Pause for breathing.) Your body begins to feel deeply relaxed and sinks down further and further into your mat. Your legs begin to feel very heavy. Your arms begin to feel heavy and relaxed. You enjoy every moment as your body continues to relax with each word I say. Now as your body relaxes, imagine you re a beautiful butterfly fluttering high in the sky. You see the lovely green valley below you with lots of colourful flowers, just waiting for you to enjoy. You feel the wind blow against your delicate wings. As the wind touches you, it gently blows away any worries, any stress you feel. Feel how wonderful it feels to be so free. Your mind is clear and calm. You have left any worries far 51 P a g e

52 behind now. You are completely peaceful. You are beautiful as you allow your true happiness to shine through. The sun touches your body and warms you. The big, puffy clouds floating in the sky remind you how relaxed and calm you can be whenever you want, just by thinking about it. The earth is a patchwork of colour and you enjoy each moment here, gliding along feeling so joyful and peaceful. You spread your wings far and stretch. It feels so good. Your body is calm and your mind is peaceful. Take in a deep breath now and exhale slowly. When you are ready, give your body a big stretch. With a clear, calm mind, say these words to yourself: I am peaceful and I am calm, ready for a wonderful day. Closing: Thank you for joining me today for Fun-key Yoga as we visited the Butterfly Forest! Who can remember some of the yoga poses that we did? We were cars; spiders spinning webs; daydreamers; butterflies; reclining butterflies resting on leaves; half butterflies just emerging; dancers; the moon; downward dogs; & back to children again. Play Namaste music track by Jenny Wilkinson, either singing song together with the children using backing track (lyrics below), or playing track with vocals and just bowing to each other for goodbye. Namaste, Namaste, the light in me sees the light in you, Namaste 52 P a g e

53 Week seven I am strong Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Balance and Breathe (balance beam one for class) Put the balance beam on the floor with children lining up at one end. Have them walk across the beam one at a time counting out loud how many steps it takes them to get from one side to the other. See how many variations of number of steps it takes across the group. Second time across each child walks across the beam, this time with both hands on their head whilst counting steps out loud from one side of the beam to the other. See if the number that they reach to get from one side to the other is the same as the number they reached just walking normally. 53 P a g e

54 If you have enough time to do a third turn across, have each child walks across the beam slowly raising their arms up whilst counting until arms are raised up high, then slowly lowering as they count backwards from the number that they got up to, all the time whilst crossing the beam and balancing. Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section. Today I am feeling strong! I can flex my muscles and stand tall and be anything that I want to be. I feel strong as a lion with his fluffy mane and big strong jaws. Let s all be lions together now. Lion Kneel on the floor and sit back onto the soles of the feet. Part the knees wider and place the palms down between the knees. Fan the palms and splay your fingers like the sharpened claws of a lion. Take a big breath in, breath out and make a big roaring sound of ha. The second time, take a big breath in and stretch the tongue out and open the eyes wide and make a big roaring sound of ha. Repeat 1-2 times more with the tongue stretched out as you roar. Close the eyes and rest for a few seconds Open the eyes and stretch the legs out in front. That was fun stretching out our tongues wasn t it?! Lizards are good at poking out their tongues too. Let s now be blue tongue lizards. 54 P a g e

55 Lizard - Resting on your hands and knees (table top position). Slide your right leg away and straighten your right leg to rest on the ball of your right foot. Press your palms and ball of the right foot into the mat to gain balance as you slide your left foot away and straighten your left leg, resting on the ball of your both feet now. Pull your belly button in towards the spine to fortify the lower back. For older and more advanced children, you can challenge them by asking them to lift one arm off the mat and stretch it away, then swap sides. Also to lift one foot off the mat and stretch it away, then swap sides. I am feeling so strong today that I think I could run a race. I could run all day long if I wanted to. Runner Start from standing position, take a big step forward with the right leg. Bend the right leg and lean towards your right thigh, bringing your hands onto either side of your right foot. Let your fingers touch the floor. Now sink your hips down towards the floor, allow your back foot, your left foot in this case, to slide further away from you, until you feel a good stretch in your left hip crease. Lift your chest slightly to face forward. To release the pose, lower your chest back onto your right thigh. Use your hands as support to slow lift your hips away from the floor, at the same time, slide the back foot (left foot) forward to join the front (right) foot. Come back to standing position. Repeat on the other side. Today I feel invincible. Like a Ninja darting this way and that so fast you can barely see me. 55 P a g e

56 Ninja Start from standing position. Inhale take a deep breath and exhale step your feet as far apart as you can comfortably and without losing balance. Inhale, turn your right toes to the right, away from the midline of your body. Exhale, bend at your right knee and lower your right forearm to rest of your right thigh. Lift your left arm up to the sky and then angle it over your left ear. If this is easy and you can move deeper, by lowering your right hand on to the floor, on the outer side of your right foot. Whichever variation you have chosen, whether resting the forearm on your thigh or hand on the floor, turn chest towards the sky and expand your torso. Look towards your left fingertips. To come out, push into your right foot to lift your body upright. Place your hands on your hips for balance. Straighten your right leg. Pivot the right foot so that the toes are pointing straight ahead. Turn your left toes to the left, away from the midline of your body, bend the left leg and continue with the left side. Note: You may choose to perform Utthan Prishtansana (Runner) on both right and left side, and then move on to the next pose, Utthita parsvakonasana (Ninja) and perform it on both sides, as usual. For a more dynamic option, you may choose to link the three poses together in an unbroken flow on one side, and repeat all three poses again on the opposite side. Instructions to link the three poses are as follows. Dynamic option: Linking the Lizard, Runner & Ninja Phalakasana (Lizard): 1. Start from standing position. Inhale take a deep breath. 2. Exhaling, bend at the hip crease, lower your hands towards the floor. 3. Step one foot at a time back into plank position where the shoulders are stacked over the wrists, and the legs and torso form a straight line sloping down from shoulders to the feet. 56 P a g e

57 Utthan Prishtansana (Runner): 4. From Lizard (plank position), look forward and step your right foot forward, between your hands. 5. Now sink your hips down towards the floor until you feel a good stretch in your left hip crease. 6. Lift your chest slightly to face forward. Utthita parsvakonasana (Ninja): 7. Press the back (left) heel onto the mat and let the back (left) foot turn out slightly. 8. Turn your chest away from the floor and towards the sky, as you lift your left arm up to the sky and then angle it over your left ear. 9. Look to your left hand fingers. 10. Stay here for a few seconds. Unwind your body and bring your chest back to face the floor. 11. Slowly lift your hips away from the floor, at the same time, slide the back foot (left foot) forward to join the front (right) foot. 12. Come back to standing position. Repeat on the other side. Today I feel like I could do anything. Like even being able to fly like a bird. If you could fly what type of bird would you be? Pigeon (This is a very challenging pose for some because it requires deep hip rotation. Proceed slowly. If you are unable to perform any part of it, just show the photo supplied to the children and guide them into it while holding up the photo.) Begin with a table-top position, with your knees directly below your hips, and your hands slightly ahead of your shoulders. Slide your right knee forward to the back of your right wrist; at the same time angle your right shin to bring your right ankle behind your left wrist. The outside of your right shin will now rest on the floor. Slowly slide your left leg back, straightening the knee and descending the front of the thigh to the floor. Lower the outside of your right buttock to the floor. Position the right heel just in front of the left hip. 57 P a g e

58 The right knee can angle slightly to the right, outside the line of the hip. Look back at your left leg. It should extend straight out of the hip (and not be angled off to the left). Exhale and lay your torso down on the inner right thigh for a few breaths. Stretch your arms forward. Then slide your hands back toward the front of the right shin and push your fingertips firmly to the floor. Lift your torso away from the thigh and bring your torso upright. Lift the heart towards the sky and open your chest like a proud King of Pigeon. Stay in this position for a few breaths. To release, look to the floor. Press your palms into the floor for support. Then carefully curl your torso as you push your hips up, sliding the knees back together under the hips and come into Child s Pose (Balasana). Repeat on the other side. Even if we can t really fly, we can be powerful and strong just crawling along the ground. Like cobras, being able to rise up on our tails and strike with our sharp fangs bared as we let out a big hisssssss. Striking Cobra (This pose is similar to Bhujangasana (Cobra pose) but with some additional movements. Make this fun by creating suspense and making sounds.) Come into Balasana (Child s pose) by resting the torso over your bent legs, bottom resting on your heels if possible. Look to your hands, keeping the chest close to the floor and glide the chest between the hands and through the hands until you come up with your chest forward pass your arms. Your legs would be straight with thighs and knees on the floor at this point. Continue to glide forward and curl your body into Bhujangasana (Cobra pose). Make sure your elbows stay close to the side of the body at all times to prevent pressure on the elbow joints. Return to Balasana (Child s pose) by lifting your hips and bending your knees, as you retract your chest back through your arms until your bottom rest on the heels once again. Repeat 2-3 times. Sometimes if I stand up on tippy toes and flex my muscles, I feel really big and strong. There are some creatures that puff themselves out to make themselves look bigger and stronger too. Like peacocks. 58 P a g e

59 Peacock To be a peacock kneel down & bend forward to glue your belly to your knees. Stretch your arms behind you & bring your hands together to make your peacock feathers. Breathe in & stretch your feathers up. Breathe out & bring your feathers down. If I speak in a big voice I can sound big and strong. Like a dog can often sound bigger than they are from their bark. Downward Dog Rest on hands (under the shoulder) and knees (under the hips) Lift the knees off the mat and straighten the legs Look to the toes Game: (optional) Choose one from front of manual Relaxation: (Magic Stones) Play your choice of either Wavedream or Creatures of the Rain & Sun throughout this section. Ensure the music is audible but soft enough so that the children can hear your voice. Hand each child a magic stone. Start by explaining to the children that the stone is a Magic Stone. When you firstly touch it, it is very cold. But if you put it on your body and stay really still, the stone will warm up and it can carry your wishes and love to anyone and anything in the world. Now repeat this guided meditation to them as they lay down either holding the stone in their hand or ideally lay with the stone resting on their forehead. When you are ready, lie back and get comfortable. Gently close your eyes. Take in a deep breath and feel the air come in so comfortably, so smoothly, and then exhale it out. Whenever you want to calm yourself, all you have to do is close your eyes and focus on calm breathing. 59 P a g e

60 Let s relax deeper into that calm feeling with this countdown: 5 Relaxed and letting go. 4 More deeply relaxed 3 Letting go of any worries 2 Deeper and deeper you go into peace and calm 1 Fully relaxed now, and nothing is bothering you Pretend for a moment that you are the wind. You gently blow and you comfortably and peacefully glide along. Along your journey you pick up some leaves that ride with you for a distance. How wonderful to feel the connection to these unique, beautiful leaves. You surround the whole globe as the wind. Sometimes you are strong and others times you are very gentle. Feel your gentle strength now as you calmly blow across the trees and the rich earth. And now from the wind, imagine changing into a leaf that s floating on the wind. Feel yourself as a beautiful soft leaf bending back and forth with the wind, riding the wind very far and dancing in the wind. You do this so beautifully; gliding so gracefully. You are letting the wind carry you where it wants too. Now as the leaf, you turn over and look at the big sky. How large and wide open it is! Become the bright blue sky now the crystal, blue, beautiful sky. You cover the whole earth with your body. The birds are flying inside you and joyously singing their songs. Feel the clouds move within yourself, floating along as the wind blows them gently. Feel how large and protective you are. You cover everything, protecting the animals and the people. People gaze up at you in wonder to see how magnificent and beautiful you are. Within the sky now, become aware of one particular cloud among the others. Become that cloud now. Feel the puffiness, the beauty, the lightness of your cloud body. You re like a big fluffy pillow that everyone wants to rest on! How beautiful you are in all your states, you are part of everything and everything is part of you. Feel yourself as the cloud. Move and change as you want. You feel wonderfully light and happy just floating and dancing around. Start to slowly drift back down to earth, back down to your mat, becoming your beautiful self once again. What a beautiful journey we have taken today. Now you can open your eyes if you wish, & when you are ready, sit up. 60 P a g e

61 Closing: Thank you for joining me today for Fun-key Yoga as we watched the clouds. Who can remember some of the yoga poses that we did? We pretended to ride bikes; we became stick insects; otters; played the flute; we were tigers; crocodiles; fish & rocking beetles. Goodbye for now and namaste. Play Namaste music track by Jenny Wilkinson, either singing song together with the children using backing track (lyrics below), or playing track with vocals and just bowing to each other for goodbye. Namaste, Namaste, the light in me sees the light in you, Namaste 61 P a g e

62 Week eight Summer s Day Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Balance and Breathe (balance beam one for class) Put the balance beam on the floor with children lining up at one end. Have them walk across the beam one at a time counting out loud how many steps it takes them to get from one side to the other. See how many variations of number of steps it takes across the group. Second time across each child walks across the beam, this time with both hands on their head whilst counting steps out loud from one side of the beam to the other. See if the number that they reach to get from one side to the other is the same as the number they reached just walking normally. If you have time for a third turn across, have each child walks across the beam slowly raising their arms up whilst counting until arms are raised up high, then slowly lowering 62 P a g e

63 as they count backwards from the number that they got up to, all the time whilst crossing the beam and balancing. Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section. I love summer! It s such a lovely day today that we are going to go for a drive to the beach. I can t wait! Car Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out straight in front of you. Lift the heart and top of the head upwards to the sky. Imagine that there is a rope hanging from the ceiling down in front of you. Breathe in, look up as you reach up with the right hand as though to grasp the rope. Breath out, with straight arms, pull the imaginary rope down with your right hand slowly towards the thighs, following the right hand with your eyes. Once the right hand touches the right thigh, reach the left arm up to repeat on the opposite side. Repeat at least 3-4 times on each side. Apart from a physical yoga pose, this is also a Mindful Movement practice. So be sure to resist the temptation to move through the motions too quickly. Also remember to follow the movements with your eyes to enhance its calming effect. Before we leave we just have to wait for the washing machine to finish washing it s load of clothes so that we can hang them out in the sunshine to dry whilst we are out for the day. 63 P a g e

64 Washing Machine - Sit comfortably with legs crossed. Hands on knees. Keep the sitting bones on the mat, draw a big circle with the top of your head in the sky by moving the chest forward, to the side, back and opposite side. Repeat for 4-5 rounds. Bring the spine back upright. Place the right hand on the left knee, left hand behind the spine, twist the whole torso to the left and then to the back, lining the nose over the left shoulder. Stay for 2-3 seconds. Unwind the torso to face the front. Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat both sides 1-2 times. As we listen to the hum of the washing machine, we sit in the sunlight and daydream about what we are going to do at the beach on this lovely summers day. Daydreamer Sitting upright. Stretch your legs out in front of you. Place your hands with palms down beside your hips for support. Move your right leg out to the side, lean into your left hand and then curl your right leg back so that your toes are pointed back behind your back. Check that your right ankle is not bended, all the toes are pointing back and the sole of the foot is facing up. Now bend your left leg and draw your left foot in with knee facing up until your left heel comes close to the back of your left thigh. Try to stabilise yourself and distribute the weight evenly on both sitting bones. You may find that wrapping your arms around the left leg gives you the leverage to stay upright more. I wonder if we will see sea otters paddling on their backs in the water? Otter Laying on your back, curl your legs in to rest your thighs on your chest. Using the hands cuddle your legs closer in to lengthen the lower back. Roll from side to side to massage across the lower back. 64 P a g e

65 Keeping your legs curled over your chest, breath in, stretch your right leg out straight and let it rest on the mat. Breath out, lift your head and touch your forehead to your left knee, if possible. Breath in, lower your head back on to the mat. Breath out, curl the right leg back in to the starting position. Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat 4-5 times. Slowly at first and a little faster as your back warms up. Coming back to the starting position, with legs curled over your chest. Breath out, lift your head and touch your forehead to your both knees, if possible. Breath in relax your head back onto the mat. Stretch your body out and rest for a few seconds. I can t wait to go for a swim in the ocean, I have my bathers and goggles all ready. Swimming stretched out in front of you with palms faced down. Inhale, looking forward and lift your right foot towards the sky, as high as you can. Exhale, bring your right foot back down. Inhale, bring your left foot up towards the sky, as high as possible. Exhale, rest the foot back onto the mat. Inhale, lift the right foot towards the sky, this time, try to lift the right arm up too and reach the hand towards the ceiling. Exhale lower both right hand and foot. Inhale, lift the left foot and follow by the left arm up towards the sky. Remember to keep breathing while you hold the pose. Encourage the children to stay a little longer and reach a little higher. Repeat lifting the one arm and one leg on both sides. For older children, try asking them to lift the opposite arm and leg. That is, lifting right foot and left hand, and then left foot and right hand, in this last round. When I swim in the ocean I like to sometimes pretend that I am a creature that lives in the sea. Like a whale. 65 P a g e

66 Whale - (Note: This is a slightly easier version than Dhanurasana (Rocking boat). The focus is on allowing your chest to lift and expand passively by using the strength of your legs. Start by laying on your tummy and forehead on the mat. Part your legs and curl them back towards your body, hold onto your ankles, toes or wherever possible. But make sure you keep the grip firm. Lift head and chest off the mat. Keeping the hips firmly grounded on the mat, attempt to push your legs away from your hips. This creates a tug on your arms, allowing you to lift your chest further away from the mat. Lift your head up towards the sky. To make in more fun, make some whale sound with the children. To release, relax the tugging, lower your head back onto the mat, follow by the arms and legs. Or even a Tiger Shark! Tiger Resting on the hands and knees, navel facing down. Hands under the shoulders and knees under the hips. Palms down and fingers splayed. Breath in looking up, arching the back to lift the chest upwards. Breathing out, round the back and push the ribs to the sky, looking to the navel. Repeat 4-5 times or more, slowly at first and quicker at the end. Pause with a neutral straight spine. Breath in, lift the right leg up and reach right foot to the sky. Look up, curling the head back towards the right foot. Breath out release the right knee to rest back onto the floor. Repeat 2-3 times. Swap side. Repeat on the left side. When finished, curl back to sit on the heels and rest in balasana (child s pose). Perhaps besides swimming we will have time to go fishing whilst we are at the beach. I d better pack my fishing rod just in case! 66 P a g e

67 Flapping FIsh (This is a very restful pose. So try to stay in it a little longer) Lie down on your belly. Curl at the elbows and rest your palms down, one on top of another. Turn your head to the right, resting on your left cheek. Bend the right knee and bring it up to the side of your torso, making a 90-degree angle between your right thigh and torso. Rest here for 10 to 20 seconds. Counting down with the children to encourage them to lay still for longer. Straighten the right leg and bring it back beside the left. Turn your head to the opposite side, resting on the right cheek this time. Bend the left knee and bring it up to the side of your torso, making a 90-degree angle between your right thigh and torso. Rest here for 10 to 20 seconds. Straighten the left leg and bring it back beside the right. But it s not just the sea that makes the beach a cool place to visit. I love the sand as well! You can dig in it, lay on it, and even pretend to be an acrobat doing cartwheels on it! Acrobat Start with having the children lift their legs up to the sky. Then have them tilt the legs towards the head. If possible, go further by encouraging them to lift the hips off the floor, with the support of their hands on the hips. Bend the knees and rest them over the forehead. Place the toes on the floor over the head. Straighten the legs. Game: (optional) Choose one from front of manual Relaxation: (Magic Stones) Play your choice of either Wavedream or Creatures of the Rain & Sun throughout this section. Ensure the music is audible but soft enough so that the children can hear your voice. 67 P a g e

68 Hand each child a magic stone. Start by explaining to the children that the stone is a Magic Stone. When you firstly touch it, it is very cold. But if you put it on your body and stay really still, the stone will warm up and it can carry your wishes and love to anyone and anything in the world. Now repeat this guided meditation to them as they lay down ideally with the stone resting on their forehead. Gently close your eyes and softly repeat, I am still. Notice your body relax instantly and easily. Allow your body to sink onto your mat further and further, as your muscles become soft and limp. It feels so comfortable. Your body just seems to relax more and more with each and every word you hear. Imagine now a small sparkle somewhere deep inside your heart. This small sparkle begins to glow brighter now, and you feel it reaching up and expanding out. The glow becomes brighter and brighter filling up your chest. You feel the warmth spreading out touching your tummy, your shoulders. getting bigger and bigger. getting brighter and brighter, glowing all the way down to your toes. Now feel your whole body glowing like a radiant star shining out. This wonderful light is your light your shining light your personal brilliance. It is all the love in your heart. It is the sum of your possibilities and your possibilities are endless. Shine your light wherever you go. Sharing your light makes others happy, and it makes you happy as well. It s a wonderful feeling to share your light, and by doing so, you become a good example to them. When you shine your light brightly, it lets others know that it is okay for them to shine their light brightly too. When we all do this, it makes the world a more beautiful, peaceful place. Sharing your light can be as simple as sharing your smile, or doing a kind deed. Hold a happy thought about someone, or send a happy wish to someone who is feeling sad. It can mean helping someone who is younger than you, or not as strong as you. All of this is shining your light, and you will discover a wonderful warm, fuzzy feeling inside your heart when you do this. This wonderful feeling comes from doing what you were created to do feeling and spreading love and joy. Sharing your light means sharing the real you and being who you truly are. It means standing up for what is right and making the choices that feel right in your heart. Now, allow that bright light inside to become like a gentle shower of fireworks. See how beautiful and amazing you are? You light up the sky! 68 P a g e

69 As the fireworks sizzle and flare down, imagine your brilliant light touching the heart of every person you know and will meet. They feel happier just because they know you. How wonderful and blessed life is! Now take in a deep breath and bring back all the good feelings you have right now with you as you slowly stretch your body. Open your eyes when you re ready. You ve done an amazing job! Closing: Thank you for joining me today for Fun-key Yoga as we went on a Diamond Quest! Who can remember some of the yoga poses that we did? We were cute little spider monkeys; flying butterflies; resting butterflies; rocking beetles; emerging butterflies; tigers; pigeons; diamonds & acrobats. Goodbye for now and namaste. Play Namaste music track by Jenny Wilkinson, either singing song together with the children using backing track (lyrics below), or playing track with vocals and just bowing to each other for goodbye. Namaste, Namaste, the light in me sees the light in you, Namaste 69 P a g e

70 Week nine Hide and Seek Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Breathing Ball (Hoberman Sphere one for Presenter) Using both hands, gently hold the breathing ball in front of your belly. Take a deep breath in. As your belly expands, let the ball expand with it. Make your breath audible so the children catch on to the in-breath/out-breath pattern. As you breathe out, allow the sphere to contract to its smallest size. Repeat at least 2-3 times. For more advanced children or children that have done this in previous terms, you can also ask them to extend their arm upward to the sky as they expand the ball while breathing in, and retract the arms as they contract the ball as they breathe out. 70 P a g e

71 Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section. Do you love playing games with your friends? Today we are going to pretend to play hide and seek. One person closes their eyes and counts whilst the others hide. I m going to pretend to be a sleeping bat, with my eyes closed tight as I hang upside down trying not to peek as my friends hide. Can you be a bat too? Bat Start by standing upright with hands on your hips. Breath in, lift through the heart and top of the head towards the sky. Plant your feet into the ground. Breath out, bending the knees slightly and folding at the hip joint, bring your head down to look between your knees. Maintain the position, relax your neck by turning and looking from side to side, eyes by blinking a few times and jaws by opening and closing your mouth a few times. Bring your arms behind your back and interlock the fingers. Lift your hands up towards the sky as high as possible, and allow its weight to pull it downwards towards the floor. Stay for a few seconds. To release, bring your arms back up and release the interlocked fingers. Place your hands back onto the hips for balance. Bend your knees more into a squat. Looking forward before coming back to standing. Proceed with these steps slowly to prevent feeling dizzy or nauseous. Repeat 2-3 times. Where will our friends hide? Perhaps they will be like a lizard and crawl underneath something with their bodies flat out behind them? 71 P a g e

72 Lizard - Resting on your hands and knees (table top position). Slide your right leg away and straighten your right leg to rest on the ball of your right foot. Press your palms and ball of the right foot into the mat to gain balance as you slide your left foot away and straighten your left leg, resting on the ball of your both feet now. Pull your belly button in towards the spine to fortify the lower back. For older and more advanced children, you can challenge them by asking them to lift one arm off the mat and stretch it away, then swap sides. Also to lift one foot off the mat and stretch it away, then swap sides. Or perhaps they will run really fast to be the first to the best hiding place to make sure that they are the hardest for me to find! Runner Start from standing position, take a big step forward with the right leg. Bend the right leg and lean towards your right thigh, bringing your hands onto either side of your right foot. Let your fingers touch the floor. Now sink your hips down towards the floor, allow your back foot, your left foot in this case, to slide further away from you, until you feel a good stretch in your left hip crease. Lift your chest slightly to face forward. To release the pose, lower your chest back onto your right thigh. Use your hands as support to slow lift your hips away from the floor, at the same time, slide the back foot (left foot) forward to join the front (right) foot. Come back to standing position. Repeat on the other side. Maybe they will be able to slink into a tricky spot to hide, like a ninja. Ninja Start from standing position. Inhale take a deep breath and exhale step your feet as far apart as you can comfortably and without losing balance. 72 P a g e

73 Inhale, turn your right toes to the right, away from the midline of your body. Exhale, bend at your right knee and lower your right forearm to rest of your right thigh. Lift your left arm up to the sky and then angle it over your left ear. If this is easy and you can move deeper, by lowering your right hand on to the floor, on the outer side of your right foot. Whichever variation you have chosen, whether resting the forearm on your thigh or hand on the floor, turn chest towards the sky and expand your torso. Look towards your left fingertips. To come out, push into your right foot to lift your body upright. Place your hands on your hips for balance. Straighten your right leg. Pivot the right foot so that the toes are pointing straight ahead. Turn your left toes to the left, away from the midline of your body, bend the left leg and continue with the left side. My favourite spot to hide if we are playing indoors is usually under the table. Nobody ever thinks to look there! Table Sitting down with leg stretched out. Shake the legs from side to side for a few seconds to loosen any tensions. Place the hands slightly behind the torso, fingers pointing to the front. Lean into arms with palms down. Bend the knees and place the feet on the mat and kneecaps facing up. Breath in, lift the hips into a tabletop position with navel facing up. Drop the head back to look behind you. Hold for a few seconds and slowly lower the hips to sit back down. Repeat 2-3 times. Release hands and feet. Shake the arms and legs. If we are playing outdoors, I always head straight to the slide and hide under that. Slide Sit with legs stretched out in front of you, with your palms pressing on the floor several inches behind your hips and your fingers pointing forward. Inhale, press the whole soles of the feet and toes against the floor. Lift 73 P a g e

74 your hips up towards the sky. Slowly drop your head back and relax the neck, allow it to dangle. Keep the chest and tummy reaching upwards to maintain the pose for a few seconds. Slowly relaxing the hips and sit the bottom down to the floor, and roll the head to look forward. Catch your breath and repeat 2-3 times. Modification: If the above is too challenging, try the following modification to build strength and ease into the pose. Follow step 1 above. Instead of pressing the feet to go straight into the pose, bend your knees and place your feet on the floor, heels at least a foot away from your buttocks. Inhale, press your feet and hands down against the floor, and lift your hips until you come into a reverse tabletop position, torso and thighs approximately parallel to the floor, shins and arms approximately perpendicular. Without losing the height of your hips, straighten your legs one at a time. Lift your hips still higher without hardening your buttocks. Keep the lift in your chest. Sometimes to make our games of Hide and Seek even more exciting, we do a treasure hunt at the same time. I will hide something special, like a pretend diamond! Then whilst my friends are searching for a place to hide, they are also looking for buried treasure! Diamond Start from a kneeling position. Slowly lower your hips to sit on your heels. Remember that you are sitting on your heels rather than on the floor, between the heels. Gently lower your elbows on the floor behind your, get ready to recline. Once your elbow is on the floor, slowly slide your elbow further apart to lay your back and shoulder blades on the floor. Finally, lower the back of your head on the floor. Stretch your arms over your head and rest them on the floor. Rest in the position for a few seconds. To come out of the pose, dig your elbows into the floor next to your torso for support, and slowly prop yourself back up to sitting on your heels. Lift your hips to come back to kneeling position. Swing your heels to one side and sit comfortably back on the floor. Stretch your legs out in front of you and give them a good shake. 74 P a g e

75 Imagine playing Hide and Seek with a stick insect. They would win every time, they would just have to climb into a tree and immediately would look like they were part of the tree! That s called camouflage. When you look so much like your surroundings that you blend in so that you are almost invisible! Stick Insect Laying on your back, curl your legs in to rest your thighs on your chest. Using the hands and cuddle your legs closer in to lengthen the lower back. Roll from side to side to massage across the lower back. Bend your knees and place your feet on the mat. Curl the right leg in towards your head and hold on to the shin, ankle or big toe, wherever you feel most comfortable. Slowly, exhale and stretch the leg up towards the sky, and stretch the left leg straight out on the mat. Although we aim for both legs to be straight, bend at the knees if necessary and only go as far as your body allows you to for that day. To release, bend the left leg and place the left foot on the floor to anchor body down. Then bend the right knee and retract the foot back in, place it on the mat next to the left foot. Repeat 2-3 times and then repeat on the opposite side. When I finally find the last person that is hiding, I do a somersault with excitement, just like an acrobat! Now it s my turn to hide! Where is your favourite hiding spot? Acrobat Start with having the children lift their legs up to the sky. Then have them tilt the legs towards the head. If possible, go further by encouraging them to lift the hips off the floor, with the support of their hands on the hips. Bend the knees and rest them over the forehead. Place the toes on the floor over the head. Straighten the legs. Game: (optional) Choose one from front of manual Relaxation: (Magic Stones or Small soft toy) 75 P a g e

76 Play your choice of either Wavedream or Creatures of the Rain & Sun throughout this section. Ensure the music is audible but soft enough so that the children can hear your voice. Hand each child a magic stone. Start by explaining to the children that the stone is a Magic Stone. When you firstly touch it, it is very cold. But if you put it on your body and stay really still, the stone will warm up and it can carry your wishes and love to anyone and anything in the world. Now repeat this guided meditation to them as they lay down ideally with the stone resting on their forehead. Close your eyes and take a very deep breath. Keep breathing deeply and feel the cool air come in through your nose and flow all the way down to your belly. Feel your belly extend as you breathe in. Now, listen carefully to all the quiet sounds outside and around you. You may hear outside noises, maybe cars, birds or something else just listen. Now, turn your focus within. Listen quietly to what you hear happening within your body. Can you hear your heart beating? Can you hear your breath as you breathe slowly in and out? Maybe your tummy is making noises, or you re listening to the sound of your breath, or your heartbeat. Whatever is going on inside. Just take time to listen. Imagine now inside of you, there a big beautiful bucket. Everyone has one though we can t see it with our eyes. When we feel good, our buckets are full. When we re feeling bad, our buckets are low or even empty. Did you know that when you fill someone else s bucket with kindness, helpfulness or even a smile, your own bucket gets filled up too? That s actually the way we fill our buckets. When we share goodness and think happy thoughts, our buckets are filled with so much goodness. When kind words are spoken, buckets get fuller. And when unkind words are spoken, buckets become a little emptier. We all want our buckets to be full of love, kindness, peacefulness, and happiness. Everyone does. So, we can make a choice each and every day to show loving kindness to others and help fill up their buckets. In doing so, our own bucket gets filled to the top and can even overflow with happiness! If your bucket ever feels low or empty you can take in a deep breath and remember how loved you are. You can choose to be grateful for the good things and people you have in your life and focus on that. 76 P a g e

77 Now when you re ready. take in a deep breath. Open your eyes and give you wonderful body a big wonderful stretch! You ve done a great job! Closing: Thank you for joining me today for Fun-key Yoga as we played hide & seek! Who can remember some of the yoga poses that we did? We were bats; lizards; runners; ninjas; tables; slides; diamonds; stick insects and acrobats. Goodbye for now and namaste. Play Namaste music track by Jenny Wilkinson, either singing song together with the children using backing track (lyrics below), or playing track with vocals and just bowing to each other for goodbye. Namaste, Namaste, the light in me sees the light in you, Namaste 77 P a g e

78 Week ten When I grow up Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Roly Poly/Piggy in the Mud (no props required) Lay on your back and bend your knees to bring your legs to rest on your chest. Wrap your arms around your legs and roll from side to side, rocking from elbow to elbow, massaging across your lower back. After a few seconds, roll to your right side and rest there. Bring your right arm under your head, and rest your head on your arm. Uncurl the legs slightly. Stay in this position for at least 10 seconds and breathe slowly. Release your arm from under your head. Curl your legs towards your chest and wrap your arms around your legs once again. Roll back to rest on your back, facing the sky. Roll to your left. Resting on your left side, tuck your arm under your head. Uncurl your legs slightly and stay in this position for 10 seconds and breathe slowly. Repeat this again on both sides 78 P a g e

79 To make this activity easier you can either sing or play this song whilst you do it (to the tune of Beanbag Frog Song ) Lie down & hug your knees rock from side to side Roll to the right then count to 5 (pause singing & count slowly to 5 together) Rest your head on your arm breathing out & in Hug your knees to your chest again Roll onto your back look up at the sky Turn to the left count from one to 5 (pause singing & count slowly to 5) Rest your head on your arm and hold for ten (pause singing & count to ten) Then start all over again. Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section. What would you like to be when you grow up? I d love to be a zoologist. That s someone who knows all about animals. A zoologist would be able to tell you about all of the different types of monkeys. Like spider monkeys, my favourite! 79 P a g e

80 Spider Monkey Laying on your back, curl your legs in to rest your thighs on your chest. Using the hands and cuddle your legs closer in to lengthen the lower back. Roll from side to side to massage across the lower back. Bend your knees and place your feet on the mat. Place the arms on the mat in-line with your shoulders. Keep both legs bent. Breath in lift your right leg up to the sky. Breath out, bring your right leg across the body and try to lay it down on the floor on the opposite side, creating a relaxing twist in the spine. Breath in, lift your right leg and roll back to the centre. Breath out, place both feet on the mat. Repeat 2-3 times on each side. Or perhaps I could be an expert on insects? Then I d be an Entomologist. That s a big word isn t it! I would be able to tell you about all of the different types of beetles if I were. Rockin Beetle - Lay on your back. Curl the legs in to rest on the chest. Wrap the arms around the legs to cuddle your legs closer in to curl up like a ball. Roll from side to side for a few seconds. Cross the legs at the ankles, hold onto the toes. Roll along the length of the spine, from shoulders to tailbone, while keeping the spine curved for 3-4 times. The final time, roll up all the way to sit crossed legged. Imagine being able to make cakes all day long like a cake-maker does. Now that would be a fun job! I could just imagine mixing up the ingredients in a giant mixing bowl then stirring them all around until they were light and fluffy, ready to pour into the cake mould to be baked in the oven. Yum! 80 P a g e

81 Mixing Bowl - Sit on the floor with your legs separated a comfortable distance apart. Straighten the spine upwards. Interlace your fingers. As if you are holding a large spoon, trace a circle on the floor by stretching your arm as far towards your feet as you can, then out to the side, bring them back in, passing the front of the chest and out again to the feet in a circular motion. Repeat the circle a few times and reverse the direction. What s your favourite type of cake? Mine are butterfly cup cakes. Half Butterfly Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out straight in front of you. Lift the heart and top of the head upwards to the sky. Bend your right knee to bring your right heel towards your perineum. Adjust your body to face your left foot by turning your chest towards the left. Lengthen your spine by lifting the waist away from the hips and heart up and away from the waist, and head away from the shoulder. Fold along the left leg, aiming the forehead on the shinbone. You can ask the children to try to kiss their left knee. But only go as far as it is comfortable for you. Please bend your left knee slightly as you fold to ease the strain on your hamstrings, if necessary. Keep the spine long to prevent straining the lower back. Stay for a few seconds. Bring the chest back up. Sitting upright before stretching the right leg out. Roll both legs from side to side to release any tensions. Repeat on the opposite side. How about being a Dancer? Wearing amazing costumes and dancing all day long. That would be awesome wouldn t it? 81 P a g e

82 Dancer Start by standing upright. Lift through the heart and top of the head towards the sky. Plant your feet into the ground. Bring your weight to your right leg and lift your left foot back, draw the left heel towards your bottom. Hold your left ankle from the back. Balance your body over the right foot. Take a big breath and stretch the right arm over your head towards the sky, palms facing away from you. Breath out, tip your body forward and stretch your right arm out in front of you as you lift the back foot up towards the sky, creating a curve from head to the toes of your back foot. Stay here and breathe for a few seconds. To release, bring the body back upright, let down your right arm and then your left foot. Regain your balance and repeat 1-2 times. Then repeat on the second side Another cool job would be to be a Postie! A Postie is someone who delivers mail to your letterbox. Do you know that in the olden days, some people used to use pigeons to deliver special messages long distances? They would tie the message to one of the pigeon s legs, and the pigeon would fly to where the message needed to go to deliver it! Let s pretend to be clever pigeons together now. Pigeon -(This is a very challenging pose for some because it requires deep hip rotation. Proceed slowly. If you are unable to perform any part of it, just show the photo supplied to the children and guide them into it while holding up the photo.) Begin with a table-top position, with your knees directly below your hips, and your hands slightly ahead of your shoulders. Slide your right knee forward to the back of your right wrist; at the same time angle your right shin to bring your right ankle behind your left wrist. The outside of your right shin will now rest on the floor. Slowly slide your left leg back, straightening the knee and descending the front of the thigh to the floor. Lower the outside of your right buttock to the floor. Position the right heel just in front of the left hip. The right knee can angle slightly to the right, outside the line of the hip. 82 P a g e

83 Look back at your left leg. It should extend straight out of the hip (and not be angled off to the left). Exhale and lay your torso down on the inner right thigh for a few breaths. Stretch your arms forward. Then slide your hands back toward the front of the right shin and push your fingertips firmly to the floor. Lift your torso away from the thigh and bring your torso upright. Lift the heart towards the sky and open your chest like a proud King of Pigeon. Stay in this position for a few breaths. To release, look to the floor. Press your palms into the floor for support. Then carefully curl your torso as you push your hips up, sliding the knees back together under the hips and come into Child s Pose (Balasana). Repeat on the other side. An awesome thing to be when you grow up would be a marine biologist. You would get to study amazing sea creatures like whales. Whale (Note: This is a slightly easier version than Dhanurasana (Rocking boat). The focus is on allowing your chest to lift and expand passively by using the strength of your legs. Start by laying on your tummy and forehead on the mat. Part your legs and curl them back towards your body, hold onto your ankles, toes or wherever possible. But make sure you keep the grip firm. Lift head and chest off the mat. Keeping the hips firmly grounded on the mat, attempt to push your legs away from your hips. This creates a tug on your arms, allowing you to lift your chest further away from the mat. Lift your head up towards the sky. To make in more fun, make some whale sound with the children. To release, relax the tugging, lower your head back onto the mat, follow by the arms and legs. Whales are spectacular gentle giants. There are so many beautiful creatures of the sea that would be amazing to see up close. Like a school of manta rays. They look like they are flying as they swim by with their huge dark fins flapping gracefully through the water, like a colony of bats flying past. 83 P a g e

84 Bat Start by standing upright with hands on your hips. Breath in, lift through the heart and top of the head towards the sky. Plant your feet into the ground. Breath out, bending the knees slightly and folding at the hip joint, bring your head down to look between your knees. Maintain the position, relax your neck by turning and looking from side to side, eyes by blinking a few times and jaws by opening and closing your mouth a few times. Bring your arms behind your back and interlock the fingers. Lift your hands up towards the sky as high as possible, and allow its weight to pull it downwards towards the floor. Stay for a few seconds. To release, bring your arms back up and release the interlocked fingers. Place your hands back onto the hips for balance. Bend your knees more into a squat. Looking forward before coming back to standing. Proceed with these steps slowly to prevent feeling dizzy or nauseous. Repeat 2-3 times. But my favourite part about being a Marine Biologist would have to be learning all about dolphins. What a cool job to have. Dolphin (This pose is similar to Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog), except we are resting on the elbows instead of the palms.) Come into Balasana (Child s pose) by resting the torso over your bent legs, bottom resting on your heels if possible. Lift your head and look to your hands. Come to a table top position on the floor with hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Then bring your elbows to rest on the mat, where your hands were, under your shoulders. Interlace your fingers to form a tripod with the wrists and two elbows. Slowly straighten the legs as you lift the hips up towards the sky, forming an inverted V shape with your torso and legs. Walk a few inches back if the pose seems too tight for you, or your legs feel constricted. To release, bend the knees and lower them on the floor. Then sit back into Balasana (Child s pose). Repeat 2-3 times. When the children get stronger, you could try lifting one leg up to the sky and balance on the elbows and a single foot 84 P a g e

85 Game: (optional) Choose one from front of manual Relaxation: (Magic Stones) Play your choice of either Wavedream or Creatures of the Rain & Sun throughout this section. Ensure the music is audible but soft enough so that the children can hear your voice. Hand each child a magic stone. Start by explaining to the children that the stone is a Magic Stone. When you firstly touch it, it is very cold. But if you put it on your body and stay really still, the stone will warm up and it can carry your wishes and love to anyone and anything in the world. Now repeat this guided meditation to them as they lay down either holding the stone in their hand or ideally lay with the stone resting on their forehead. Close your eyes and take in a nice deep breathe. Allow your tummy to fill up like a balloon, and then exhale slowly. Do this five times to really relax your whole body completely. (Pause for breathing.) Your body begins to feel deeply relaxed and sinks down further and further into your mat. Your legs begin to feel very heavy. Your arms begin to feel heavy and relaxed. You enjoy every moment as your body continues to relax with each word I say. Now as your body relaxes, imagine you re a beautiful butterfly fluttering high in the sky. You see the lovely green valley below you with lots of colourful flowers, just waiting for you to enjoy. You feel the wind blow against your delicate wings. As the wind touches you, it gently blows away any worries, any stress you feel. Feel how wonderful it feels to be so free. Your mind is clear and calm. You have left any worries far behind now. You are completely peaceful. You are beautiful as you allow your true happiness to shine through. The sun touches your body and warms you. The big, puffy clouds floating in the sky remind you how relaxed and calm you can be whenever you want, just by thinking about it. The earth is a patchwork of colour and you enjoy each moment here, gliding along feeling so joyful and peaceful. You spread your wings far and stretch. It feels so good. Your body is calm and your mind is peaceful. 85 P a g e

86 Take in a deep breath now and exhale slowly. When you are ready, give your body a big stretch. With a clear, calm mind, say these words to yourself: I am peaceful and I am calm, ready for a wonderful day. Closing: Thank you for joining me today for Fun-key Yoga as we talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up! Who can remember some of the yoga poses that we did? We were spider monkeys; rockin beetles; cakemakers using big mixing bowls; butterfly cupcakes (half butterflies); dancers; pigeons; whales; bats; & dolphins. Play Namaste music track by Jenny Wilkinson, either singing song together with the children using backing track (lyrics below), or playing track with vocals and just bowing to each other for goodbye. Namaste, Namaste, the light in me sees the light in you, Namaste 86 P a g e

87 Week eleven My Favourite Things Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Jellyfish Breathing (Kite tails or scarf one per person) Standing on your feet. Hold your kite tail / scarf on your right hand. As you inhale lift your right arm slowly up and out to the right close to your right ear. Keep your movements graceful. Look up to the kite tail / scarf. When you exhale, bring your arm back down beside you. Swap the kite tail / scarf to your left hand. As you inhale lift your left arm slowly up and out to the left, close to your left ear. Look up to the kite tail / scarf. When you exhale, bring your arm back down beside you. The next time you inhale, lift your right arm slowly up and out to the right close to your right ear. Simultaneously, take a step to your right with your right foot, lifting your left foot out to the side, slightly away from the midline of your body. Resting your weight on your right leg. As you exhale, lower your left foot, step right foot back return to standing on both feet, and arms beside you. 87 P a g e

88 Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat the movements at least 4-5 times. Come back to standing and close your eyes to settle your body. To make this activity easier you can either sing or play this song as you do it (to the tune of Bend & Stretch ) Breathing in, lift one arm high, let your breath out as it comes down and then Changing arms, breathe in again stretching up high now float down past your chin Keep floating arms, one at a time, adding a step move one leg to the side, lift other foot as you breath off the ground, let that breathe out stand tall, arms to side (change sides for next verse) Keep floating arms, one at a time, adding a step move one leg to the side, lift other foot as you breath off the ground, let that breathe out stand tall, arms to side Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section. What are some of your favourite things to do? I love to ride my bike. Bicycle Laying on your back, curl your legs in to rest your thighs on your chest. Using the hands cuddle your legs closer in to lengthen the lower back. Roll from side to side to massage across the lower back. 88 P a g e

89 Keeping your legs curled over your chest. Place the arms on the mat in-line with your shoulders. If space is limited, try curling the elbows, stack your hand one on top of the other, and lay your head on top palm. Breath out, roll your knees to the right side, as close to your right elbow as possible, while keeping both shoulder blades in contact with the mat. Look to the left hand (the opposite side to your knees). Breath in, roll your knees back to the centre. Breath out roll your knees to the left side, close to the elbow. Turn your head to look at the right hand. Breath in and roll the knees back to the centre, over the chest. Repeat 4-5 times. Slowly at first and a little faster as your back warms up. I also love to help look after our classroom pets. Like the stick insects who need fresh leaves to eat and a gentle spray of water every now and then. Stick-Insect - Laying on your back, curl your legs in to rest your thighs on your chest. Using the hands and cuddle your legs closer in to lengthen the lower back. Roll from side to side to massage across the lower back. Bend your knees and place your feet on the mat. Curl the right leg in towards your head and hold on to the shin, ankle or big toe, wherever you feel most comfortable. Slowly, exhale and stretch the leg up towards the sky, and stretch the left leg straight out on the mat. Although we aim for both legs to be straight, bend at the knees if necessary and only go as far as your body allows you to for that day. To release, bend the left leg and place the left foot on the floor to anchor body down. Then bend the right knee and retract the foot back in, place it on the mat next to the left foot. Repeat 2-3 times and then repeat on the opposite side. Another of my favourite things to do is to go to the playground. There is this really cool bouncing beetle that I love to sit on at the park that not only bounces up and down but rocks from side to side, it is so much fun! Rockin Beetle Lay on your back. Curl the legs in to rest on the chest. Wrap the arms around the legs to cuddle your legs closer in to curl up like a ball. Roll from side to side for a few seconds. 89 P a g e

90 Cross the legs at the ankles, hold onto the toes. Roll along the length of the spine, from shoulders to tailbone, while keeping the spine curved for 3-4 times. The final time, roll up all the way to sit crossed legged. My grandparents live far away, so I love nothing more than to be able to call them up and talk to them on the phone. They tell me that talking to me on the phone is one of their favourite things to do too! Talking on the phone (This is a fun pose that most children could handle quite well but adults would struggle. So please proceed with caution.) Sitting upright. Stretch your legs out in front of you. Inhale lift the arms up in the air. Exhale bend at the hip joint, stretching the spine long as you reach your arms towards your feet. If you do not get to the feet, just move to wherever you can without strain. Bend your knees slightly to release the tightness in the hamstrings if necessary. Lifting your belly in as you fold will create more space and control, making it easier to fold deeper. Bend your right leg and draw the right foot towards you, hold the right foot with both hands at the ankle as if you care cradling it. To warm up the hip joint, lift the foot as high as you can, then bring it towards your forehead and then nose, and then down the centre line of the body. Once you get to the hips level, push the foot back out and then slowly up again. Bending the left leg slightly will release strain from the lower back and hamstring of the left leg, if necessary Repeat this circular motion a few times. Apart from warming up the hip joints, this movement also allows you to test the boundary of your movements. Do not push further than what your body is comfortable with today. After a few circular motions, draw the foot towards you again. Gently tug the right knee slightly outward to the side and back, aiming to have your knees move pass your torso behind you. Bring the sole of the feet towards the ears. Slowly release by moving your foot down and stretch it out. Repeat on the opposite side. I love to make music. My favourite instrument is the flute. I can blow into it and make all kinds of different notes and I make my very own music. 90 P a g e

91 Playing the Flute Start by standing upright. Lift through the heart and top of the head towards the sky. Plant your feet into the ground. Bring your weight to your right leg. Lift your left foot to cross at the shin, bringing your left toes to rest on the floor at the outer side of your right foot. Balance over your right foot. Bending at the elbows, bring your arms up in front of the right shoulder so that both hands are in line with your mouth. Create a gesture to pretend that you are holding a flute. Look to your hands as you wriggle your fingers to play your imaginary flute. Lower your arms and come back to standing on both feet. Repeat on the opposite side. Do you have a favourite food? There are so many different types of food that I love to eat, that I could fill a whole table with them all. Yummy! Table Sitting down with leg stretched out. Shake the legs from side to side for a few seconds to loosen any tensions. Place the hands slightly behind the torso, fingers pointing to the front. Lean into arms with palms down. Bend the knees and place the feet on the mat and kneecaps facing up. Breath in, lift the hips into a tabletop position with navel facing up. Drop the head back to look behind you. Hold for a few seconds and slowly lower the hips to sit back down. Repeat 2-3 times. Release hands and feet. Shake the arms and legs. Do you have a favourite toy? Mine is the slide in my backyard. I could play on it all day long if I could. I love it even more when I have a friend over to share it with. Slide Sit with legs stretched out in front of you, with your palms pressing on the floor several inches behind your hips and your fingers pointing forward. Inhale, press the whole soles of the feet and toes against the floor. Lift your hips up towards the sky. 91 P a g e

92 Slowly drop your head back and relax the neck, allow it to dangle. Keep the chest and tummy reaching upwards to maintain the pose for a few seconds. Slowly relaxing the hips and sit the bottom down to the floor, and roll the head to look forward. Catch your breath and repeat 2-3 times. Modification: If the above is too challenging, try the following modification to build strength and ease into the pose. Follow step 1 above. Instead of pressing the feet to go straight into the pose, bend your knees and place your feet on the floor, heels at least a foot away from your buttocks. Inhale, press your feet and hands down against the floor, and lift your hips until you come into a reverse tabletop position, torso and thighs approximately parallel to the floor, shins and arms approximately perpendicular. Without losing the height of your hips, straighten your legs one at a time. Lift your hips still higher without hardening your buttocks. Keep the lift in your chest. My favourite time of the day is night-time. When the moon is high in the sky and it s time for bed. I love to snuggle under the blankets to listen to a bed-time story. We then talk about our favourite moments of the day before saying goodnight. Moon Start by standing upright. Lift through the heart and top of the head towards the sky. Plant your feet into the ground. Breathe in and bring your arms over your head, palms facing forward. Extend your tailbone down. Lift your heart towards the sky as you slowly drop your arms, head and shoulders back behind you. Go to as far as you are comfortable without wobble. To return, push forward with your chest as you ground your feet down, until your body comes back upright. To counter the position, and release any tensions, bend forward for a few seconds. Can you curl up like this now and think about all of your favourite things? Child Tell the children to curl up. Sitting on heels, place the forehead on the floor. Curled up in child s pose. Hold this pose for a count of 10 or even 20 depending on the age and attention span of the children. 92 P a g e

93 Game: (optional) Choose one from front of manual Relaxation: (Magic Stones) Play your choice of either Wavedream or Creatures of the Rain & Sun throughout this section. Ensure the music is audible but soft enough so that the children can hear your voice. Hand each child a magic stone. Start by explaining to the children that the stone is a Magic Stone. When you firstly touch it, it is very cold. But if you put it on your body and stay really still, the stone will warm up and it can carry your wishes and love to anyone and anything in the world. Now repeat this guided meditation to them as they lay down either holding the stone in their hand or ideally lay with the stone resting on their forehead. When you are ready, lie back and get comfortable. Gently close your eyes. Take in a deep breath and feel the air come in so comfortably, so smoothly, and then exhale it out. Whenever you want to calm yourself, all you have to do is close your eyes and focus on calm breathing. Let s relax deeper into that calm feeling with this countdown: 5 Relaxed and letting go. 4 More deeply relaxed 3 Letting go of any worries 2 Deeper and deeper you go into peace and calm 1 Fully relaxed now, and nothing is bothering you Pretend for a moment that you are the wind. You gently blow and you comfortably and peacefully glide along. Along your journey you pick up some leaves that ride with you for a distance. How wonderful to feel the connection to these unique, beautiful leaves. You surround the whole globe as the wind. Sometimes you are strong and others times you are very gentle. Feel your gentle strength now as you calmly blow across the trees and the rich earth. 93 P a g e

94 And now from the wind, imagine changing into a leaf that s floating on the wind. Feel yourself as a beautiful soft leaf bending back and forth with the wind, riding the wind very far and dancing in the wind. You do this so beautifully; gliding so gracefully. You are letting the wind carry you where it wants too. Now as the leaf, you turn over and look at the big sky. How large and wide open it is! Become the bright blue sky now the crystal, blue, beautiful sky. You cover the whole earth with your body. The birds are flying inside you and joyously singing their songs. Feel the clouds move within yourself, floating along as the wind blows them gently. Feel how large and protective you are. You cover everything, protecting the animals and the people. People gaze up at you in wonder to see how magnificent and beautiful you are. Within the sky now, become aware of one particular cloud among the others. Become that cloud now. Feel the puffiness, the beauty, the lightness of your cloud body. You re like a big fluffy pillow that everyone wants to rest on! How beautiful you are in all your states, you are part of everything and everything is part of you. Feel yourself as the cloud. Move and change as you want. You feel wonderfully light and happy just floating and dancing around. Start to slowly drift back down to earth, back down to your mat, becoming your beautiful self once again. What a beautiful journey we have taken today. Now you can open your eyes if you wish, & when you are ready, sit up. Closing: Thank you for joining me today for Fun-key Yoga as we watched the clouds. Who can remember some of the yoga poses that we did? We pretended to ride bikes; we became stick insects; otters; played the flute; we were tigers; crocodiles; fish & rocking beetles. Goodbye for now and namaste. Play Namaste music track by Jenny Wilkinson, either singing song together with the children using backing track (lyrics below), or playing track with vocals and just bowing to each other for goodbye. Namaste, Namaste, the light in me sees the light in you, Namaste 94 P a g e

95 Week twelve Let s get fit Opening: "Namaste everyone. My name is, we're going to have a lot of fun today doing Funkey Yoga. Hello Earth, lets acknowledge this beautiful land we are on. Can you pat your hands on your knees? Acknowledgment Song (S. Hughes & A. Testro) If you are singing this song live it would be ideal to replace the word (traditional) with the name of your local Traditional Custodians/Owners. Your Franchise Manager can advise you of this, or you can find information through your local council. Let s sing a little song acknowledging the people The (traditional) people of this land Reach high and touch the sky Stretch low to touch the ground The ground that we play on Put our hands on our hearts and say thank you to our Elders Past, present & future. Play Namaste music track by Kira Willey. Point to yourselves as she sings me, point to each other as she sings you, and bow to one another for Namaste. Do deep breathing, raising and lowering arms during instrumental breaks in between verses. Mindfulness: Balance and Breathe (balance beam one for class) Put the balance beam on the floor with children lining up at one end. Have them walk across the beam one at a time counting out loud how many steps it takes them to get from one side to the other. See how many variations of number of steps it takes across the group. Second time across each child walks across the beam, this time with both hands on their head whilst counting steps out loud from one side of the beam to the other. See if the number that they reach to get from one side to the other is the same as the number they reached just walking normally. If you have time for a third turn across, have each child walk across the beam slowly raising their arms up whilst counting until arms are raised up high, then slowly lowering 95 P a g e

96 as they count backwards from the number that they got up to, all the time whilst crossing the beam and balancing. Warm-up: Let s have some fun and dance as we warm up to get ready for our Fun-key Yoga class. Move around on your mat and remember to smile and have fun! Play either Getting Strong or Twinkle Twist music track. Have the children (and yourself) dance to the tracks following instructions in them as indicated. Story with Poses: Play either Happy Ukulele ; Mozart ; or Pachelbel Forest Garden music track throughout this section. Today I have lots of energy. I feel like getting fit to help keep me strong and healthy. Let s do some stretching together, reaching up to touch our long legs, like a bendy stick insect. Stick Insect Laying on your back, curl your legs in to rest your thighs on your chest. Using the hands and cuddle your legs closer in to lengthen the lower back. Roll from side to side to massage across the lower back. Bend your knees and place your feet on the mat. Curl the right leg in towards your head and hold on to the shin, ankle or big toe, wherever you feel most comfortable. Slowly, exhale and stretch the leg up towards the sky, and stretch the left leg straight out on the mat. Although we aim for both legs to be straight, bend at the knees if necessary and only go as far as your body allows you to for that day. To release, bend the left leg and place the left foot on the floor to anchor body down. Then bend the right knee and retract the foot back in, place it on the mat next to the left foot. Repeat 2-3 times and then repeat on the opposite side. 96 P a g e

97 Now we ve stretched out our legs, let s pretend to do some running to get our hearts pumping. On your marks, get ready. Runner - Start from standing position, take a big step forward with the right leg. Bend the right leg and lean towards your right thigh, bringing your hands onto either side of your right foot. Let your fingers touch the floor. Now sink your hips down towards the floor, allow your back foot, your left foot in this case, to slide further away from you, until you feel a good stretch in your left hip crease. Lift your chest slightly to face forward. To release the pose, lower your chest back onto your right thigh. Use your hands as support to slow lift your hips away from the floor, at the same time, slide the back foot (left foot) forward to join the front (right) foot. Come back to standing position. Repeat on the other side. Some people do martial arts to help keep fit. They can move around really fast but hardly making a sound. Like a ninja! Ninja Start from standing position. Inhale take a deep breath and exhale step your feet as far apart as you can comfortably and without losing balance. Inhale, turn your right toes to the right, away from the midline of your body. Exhale, bend at your right knee and lower your right forearm to rest of your right thigh. Lift your left arm up to the sky and then angle it over your left ear. If this is easy and you can move deeper, by lowering your right hand on to the floor, on the outer side of your right foot. Whichever variation you have chosen, whether resting the forearm on your thigh or hand on the floor, turn chest towards the sky and expand your torso. Look towards your left fingertips. To come out, push into your right foot to lift your body upright. Place your hands on your hips for balance. Straighten your right leg. Pivot the right foot so that the toes are pointing straight ahead. 97 P a g e

98 Turn your left toes to the left, away from the midline of your body, bend the left leg and continue with the left side. I m feeling so fit and strong, like a tiger! Can you growl like a powerful tiger with me? Tiger Resting on the hands and knees, navel facing down. Hands under the shoulders and knees under the hips. Palms down and fingers splayed. Breath in looking up, arching the back to lift the chest upwards. Breathing out, round the back and push the ribs to the sky, looking to the navel. Repeat 4-5 times or more, slowly at first and quicker at the end. Pause with a neutral straight spine. Breath in, lift the right leg up and reach right foot to the sky. Look up, curling the head back towards the right foot. Breath out release the right knee to rest back onto the floor. Repeat 2-3 times. Swap side. Repeat on the left side. When finished, curl back to sit on the heels and rest in balasana (child s pose). There are so many fun ways to get fit. Like going for a swim! Swimming stretched out in front of you with palms faced down. Inhale, looking forward and lift your right foot towards the sky, as high as you can. Exhale, bring your right foot back down. Inhale, bring your left foot up towards the sky, as high as possible. Exhale, rest the foot back onto the mat. Inhale, lift the right foot towards the sky, this time, try to lift the right arm up too and reach the hand towards the ceiling. Exhale lower both right hand and foot. Inhale, lift the left foot and follow by the left arm up towards the sky. Remember to keep breathing while you hold the pose. Encourage the children to stay a little longer and reach a little higher. Repeat lifting the one arm and one leg on both sides. For older children, try asking them to lift the opposite arm and leg. That is, lifting right foot and left hand, and then left foot and right hand, in this last round. 98 P a g e

99 When I swim I love to pretend that I am a creature that lives in the water. Sometimes I am a snapping crocodile. Crocodile - (Physically, this is quite an easy pose. The purpose of this pose is to encourage deep diaphragmatic breathing.) Stretch out on the floor with tummy down. Extend your legs about shoulder-width apart with the toes turned out and heels turned in. Cross your arms, place your hands on the opposite elbows. Rest the forehead on the forearms. The abdomen rests fully on the floor, the upper chest is slightly elevated. Close your eyes, and relax the face, shoulders, abdomen, pelvis, legs, and feet. Take deep breaths and feel the back ribs rising up as you breathe in. Stay here for 10 breaths. As you count the breaths out loud, walk around the room and you may help to encourage deep diaphragmatic breathing by placing your hands on the children s back, around the floating ribs, on either side of the spine, just above the waist. Other times I am a leaping dolphin! Dolphin (This pose is similar to Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog), except we are resting on the elbows instead of the palms.) Come into Balasana (Child s pose) by resting the torso over your bent legs, bottom resting on your heels if possible. Lift your head and look to your hands. Come to a table top position on the floor with hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Then bring your elbows to rest on the mat, where your hands were, under your shoulders. Interlace your fingers to form a tripod with the wrists and two elbows. Slowly straighten the legs as you lift the hips up towards the sky, forming an inverted V shape with your torso and legs. Walk a few inches back if the pose seems too tight for you, or your legs feel constricted. To release, bend the knees and lower them on the floor. Then sit back into Balasana (Child s pose). Repeat 2-3 times. When the children get stronger, you could try lifting one leg up to the sky and balance on the elbows and a single foot 99 P a g e