Sunday, July 15, 2018

2018 Summer YOGA Camp for Kids - Murray and Sandy

Kids' Yoga Camp is an opportunity for your young yogis to experience yoga, breath work, and art, and to see how they all work together. There is an emphasis on yoga not only as exercise, but as a way of developing self-confidence. Yoga will be experienced in a playful setting, incorporating animal/plant inspiration for poses, as well as doing poses with a partner. The breathing exercises will encourage personal awareness (how do we feel when we breathe in a certain way?), and will give children power over their own emotions.

Art will be used to give children an opportunity to incorporate some of the yoga skills they're learning, and to express themselves in a positive way. Art projects may include: making "calm down jars", making lavender-scented eye pillows, painting with the breath, making stress balls, creating mandalas, making dream catchers, "Warrior" puppets, and other projects that will reflect the focus for the yoga practice.

Mondays and Fridays, 1:30p-3p at The Park Center in Murray (no membership required)
$10 one-time registration fee
$10 per day, or $15 for both Monday and Friday (more discounts available; see registration)
10 kid limit per class, ages 4+
REGISTER HERE for MURRAY

(REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of June 11: Superhero Theme
(REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of June 18: Harry Potter Inspired Theme
(REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of July 9: Land Animals Theme
(REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of July 16: Air/Wind Theme
(REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of July 23: Summer Theme
(REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of July 30: Ocean Theme



Wednesdays and Thursdays 1:30p-3p at Yin Health & Wellness in Sandy
$25 drop-in (single class)
$80 4-class pass
$145 8-class pass
Ages 3+ (children MUST be toilet-trained to attend)


    (REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of June 11: Superhero Theme
    (REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of June 18: Harry Potter Inspired Theme
    (REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of June 25: Space Theme*
    (REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of July 2: Shapes Theme
    (REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of July 9: Land Animals Theme
    (REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of July 16: Air/Wind Theme
    (REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of July 23: Summer Theme
    (REGISTRATION CLOSED) Week of July 30: Ocean Theme

    You can access the registration form HERE. Please print, fill out, and return either to me or Yin Health and Wellness. To sign up online, use the Yin website and register via the schedule HERE. You can manually enter in the dates that work for you and see what's available for camp on Wednesdays and Thursdays, beginning June 13.


    *There will be a sub for one week at Yin, as I'll be out of town. Murray camp dates also reflect my absence.

    A Glimpse into Salt Lake City Yoga Camp

    I'm halfway through the summer when it comes to my yoga camps! It's been exciting, exhausting, and extremely rewarding to host these classes for your little yogis. It stretches my skills to learn more about yoga for kids, and how to adapt what I'm used to (which is teaching traditional yoga classes to adults) for a younger set of students.

    I have a lot of fun coming up with games and poses to go along with the themes I've chosen for each week. And as a reminder, there are two camp days per theme, and each day has varying curriculum and a different art project. I want you to get the most for your money, and make the classes unique and engaging for the little yogis!

    Since my last update, we've had Wizard-themed camp, and animal-themed camp. Our art projects have included dragon eggs and mala bead pipe cleaner animals. My 4-year-old says he likes the art projects the best, but I usually end up doing most of the work for him ;)



    Some of my other campers have shared that their favorite part is being able to play and relax in yoga camp. One mother let me know that during an anxiety episode for her camper (while at home) she had him practice one of our breathing exercises and it helped him regain control of his emotions and feel better. THAT is a major reason why I do this! Kids need these skills, which I do my best to teach them through play.


    For the upcoming week, we'll focus on AIR. It's an important element, and breathwork is vital not only to yoga, but to just living life, right?! I'll be helping the kids make air-powered rockets, and we'll read the beautiful book "My Magic Breath". We'll also do some pom-pom play, and paint with our breath so the kids can actually see how important breathing is. It's so powerful, and I hope to teach them that through various methods. Many of our poses will also fall into the "air" category of yoga... meaning they're poses meant to balance the air element in our bodies. It'll be subtle for the kiddos, of course, but it's something we studied in depth in my yoga teacher training.

    This camp has been a huge success this year, because kids are having fun and learning life skills in the process. I'm currently in discussion with the Murray Rec Center to bring a preschool yoga class to their schedule throughout the next school year. I'd also like to see a class for school-aged kids perhaps once a month, so I'll keep you updated on that opportunity.



    I do still have some openings for camp this summer, so check out Murray registration HERE. For Sandy camp, head to the Yin website and register using the MindBody calendar (scroll down a little bit on that web page to see the calendar).

    Saturday, June 16, 2018

    Superhero Themed Kids' Yoga - Camp 2018

    Week one of Kids' Yoga Camp is in the books! Our superhero theme helped us focus on Warrior poses, and we did games inspired by superheroes working together.


    I taught the kids that breathing in a mindful way is like having our very own super power. It can change how you feel, and it can change how others feel. They loved the laughing breath exercise because they had a chance to be super silly while still actually, physically noticing how someone else's breathing/mood affected them.

    My 4 year old is just old enough to be involved in the games and sequences I'm teaching this year, but sometimes (pictured above) he just needed a break. And that's the wonderful thing about yoga! You can practice whatever you need to on your own mat.

    Yoga camp is never complete without partner poses, and the art project is often the kids' most favorite part. Each year I have a couple of yogis who ask, throughout the entire first hour, when we're doing the art project. I'm glad I didn't disappoint with this weeks' crafts- we made dream catchers and warrior puppets.



    I've worked on fine-tuning the curriculum to give the kids a good mix of physical activity, mindfulness activity, and creative space to do whatever they want. My 7 year old complained that camp on Friday wasn't long enough, which I'm going to take as a huge compliment!

    I got a few testimonials from yoga campers this week, in case you want to hear straight from the horses' mouths what the best part of Superhero Yoga Camp was:

    A, age 7: I love being with my friends and doing art projects.
    L, age 4: My favorite part is superhero games. I like being a helper.
    L, age 6: I like the art.
    R, age 8: My favorite part is how you can relax.

    Harry Potter-inspired week is now closed for registration, but I have more spots available in July! Get all the info HERE.

    Wednesday, February 7, 2018

    Kids' Yoga Camp

    Can you believe it's already time to start planning summer yoga camp?! I'm so excited to be working with a couple of locations to host camp again this year for your young yogis, ages 4+.

    Take a peek at some photos from last year's camp, and consider signing your little ones up for camp with me this year! I may have locations in both Murray and Sandy for summer 2018, so hopefully one will work for you!





    Painting with the breath

    Gratitude rocks




    Yoga camp will offer kids a chance to learn more about yoga as exercise, how to calm themselves with art and breathing techniques, and can also help them develop body/self-confidence, strength, and flexibility. I look forward to having your kids learn and grow with me! I'll let you know when and where registration is available.