The Hare and The Mango Children's Yoga Series

The week I was looking for a story that would help the children stay calm and work through problems. We've been having a lot of over-reaction! 

I remembered this tale that we have always really enjoyed. The story is based upon a Jataka Tale, The Timid Hare . The Illustrated copy we have uses different animals, all who are endangered or threatened today. The story has many layers and can be used to emphasize different objectives. Here, I was hoping to highlight the problems created by the hare's quick reaction, and the wisdom in the lions more thoughtful approach. Now, after doing the series and reading the book I can ask the children " Do you want to be the Lion or the Hare?"

We start by lighting our candle and saying our opening verse. Then we sit on our knees, hands resting on our lap and close our eyes for a few breaths. 

I ask the children to start the story, what pose do we do first? They answer the Hare, and we move into that pose. Inhale and bring the top of the head on the floor, hands reaching towards the feet, lifting the hips and pushing the top of the back outwards. exhale. We take a few breaths here. 

When the Hare begins to run, all the other Hares follow and soon they are met by who?

The boars. Inhale. So place your hands on the floor near your ears, push into your hands and push the hips backwards, but don't let them rest on your heels. Exhale. Take two breaths. 

Then the hares and the boars are running together and they meet the deer. Come onto all fours, then push onto your feet, step one foot backwards. Bend the front knee, open the hips, arms and chest, keeping the hips and shoulders aligned with each other. Gaze over the front hand. repeat with the other leg in front. 

The hares and the boars and the deer then meet the tigers. Inhale bringing both hands over head, and both feet together. Exhale and fold forward reaching for the earth. Place your hands on the ground and step backward, placing your knees on the floor. Now on all fours inhale and press your hands and knees/shins into the earth, as you exhale extend your right leg behind you. Inhale and extend your left arm in front of you. Take a few breaths gazing past your fingertips. Then repeat with the other side. 

The hares, the boars, the deer, and the tigers then encounter the rhinoceros. Inhale and push both hands and knees, and shins into the earth. Exhale. Inhale letting your back and belly hang towards the earth, while your tailbone and top of the head reach upward. Stay here for 3 breaths. 

The hares, the boars, the deer, the tigers and the rhinos are now all running scared together when they are stopped by the Lion and his mighty roar. Sit back on your knees, bring your hands up and roar a deep loud roar that could stop a 5000 animal stampede. Now take a deep breath in silence. 

The lion goes to investigate the situation where the story started, in the mango grove.  Inhale and push your hands into the ground beside your knees, push up on the exhale and come to standing. Inhale and spread the toes wide on your right foot, exhale and bring the left foot to the inside of the standing leg. Bring your hands to your heart and inhale. Exhale and say "hmmmmmmmmm". The lion is looking to see what is going on, he says "hmmmmmmmm". Now, inhale, release the foot on the exhale and repeat with the other side. Now, the lion sees the fallen mango that started this commotion, so inhale and with the exhale say "ahhhhhhhhhhhh". The wise lion now sees the truth and says "ahhhhhhhhhh". Inhale, exhale and come to standing. 

The lion runs back to the plain and tells all the animals that everything is alright. They should all go home and relax. Inhale and reach your arms above your head. Exhale and fold forward as you bring your hands toward the earth. Now place your hands on the floor, bending your knees some, inhale and look up, flattening your back. Exhale and step your feet way back behind you, coming into a plank position. Inhale as you come to sit on your knees. Exhale. Inhale as you again come into the pose for Hare, who has come home to rest without any worries at all. 

Now we sit back on our knees and take a few breaths before we come together to close our practice and blow out our candle. 

ONE FINE DAY YOGA SERIES

This series is based on the story One Fine Day. I would recommend reading this story to the children from the actual picture book if possible because the illustrations are so lovely in telling the story. The children in our crew had me read them the tale many many times even when we were not doing yoga and rarely wanted to do the series without reading the book.

As usual we light our candle and say our verse. Then, in this instance, I read the story. When it was over I asked the children to help me tell the story again. 

First we sat with crossed legs and took a few deep breaths. 

Then we remembered how the fox came through the woods and drank the old woman's milk. She was mad and cut off his tail. ( so we inhaled, rolled over our knees placing our hands on the ground and came into down dog)

Next we remember how if the fox wanted his tail back, he needed to replace the milk. He asks the cow for milk ( we come down onto all fours, pushing our tailbones and crown of the head towards the sky, we let our belly hang towards the earth) 

The cow asks for grass in exchange for the milk ( we bring our legs between our hands and come to sitting with our legs extended. Then, reaching our hands above our heads, take a deep inhale- on the exhale we fold forward reaching towards the toes while keeping our backs nice and long and straight)  

Now the grass needs water. So the Fox goes and asks the river for water for the field. (We inhale, and bring our arms all the way up, exhale as we lie on the floor with our arms stretched over our heads)

The river cannot give water without a jug to hold it. (Inhale and try to come all the way up to sitting bring your hands up over your head, once sitting, place them beside your thighs and hop up into a squat, hands in prayer)

The maiden with the jug would like a little blue bead, so the fox finds a peddler with a cart. (Step your feet into down dog, inhale, then as you exhale lift one leg into the air behind you. Take three breaths through your nose and then repeat with the other leg) 

The peddler has asked for an egg in exchange for the bead, so fox finds a hen. (Come into child's pose, placing your chest on your knees, your forehead on the floor and your arms by your sides reaching toward your feet)  

The hen will need grain to give an egg, and Fox finds a miller. By this time Fox is frantic, and the miller is kind and gives him the grain he needs. (Rise up, hands in prayer and bring them over head like a stalk of grain, then inhale, bring hands to heart center on the exhale and bow the head) 

At this point in the story the fox then needs to take the items and exchange them with the other animals, so we go through the series again in reverse. Ending in down dog where the fox receives his tail back from the old woman. He is happy and goes to join his friends. 

The Little Red Hen

Little Red Hen

The Little Red Hen is a familiar children’s story about a mother hen who follows through with what needs to be done, even if no one else wants to assist. Feel free to change the storyline as best serves the children in your care. When I tell the story the hen’s little chicks always help her, and she shares the bread with them as they shared the workload. I try not to say too much about the unhelpful animals. 

Before we begin reading the story, the children enjoy lighting a candle together and saying a little verse to open our practice. After we have finished our practice, we meet together around the little candle on the floor. The children sit “ knee to knee” in a circle and we say a closing verse. Afterwards I ask all the children to close their eyes and make a wish for only them, then we all blow out the candle together on the count of three ( sometimes children need a little reassurance they did indeed blow the candle with their breath, all together).

Read or tell the children the story of The Little Red Hen. After the story askeveryone to help you retell the story and add the movements and breath.

Below is a link to the story if you need a little refresher. 

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18735/18735-h/18735-h.htm 

Yoga Practice:

The Little Red Hen finds a tiny golden wheat berry. 

    Standing tall, push your feet deeply into the earth. Let the rest of your body lift to the sky. Place your hands on your heart and take a long deep breath through your nose. Now, turn your palms up like you are cupping a tiny seed. Gaze into your hands and take another long deep breath through your nose. 

The Little Red Hen then plants the wheat in the soil beneath her feet. 

    Step your feet open to hip width apart. Take a deep breath through your nose and as you exhale come into a squat with your hands one on top of the other between your feet.

Little Red Hen tends the wheat and it grows tall. 

    Bring your palms together from the ground and let them rise towards the sky, following with your body, until you are standing with your hands together above your head. Gaze upward and take three long breaths. 

It is now time to harvest the wheat. 

    Step your feet really wide apart, bend your knees halfway and bring your arms up so they are parallel with the earth. Now, take a deep breath and lean to one side. Sweep that arm across your body, bending at the elbow and following with your body. Once your hand and body are reaching towards the opposite knee, sweep the other arm the same way across to the other side. Go back and forth, using an exhale for each sweep for a total of three sets. 

The Little Red Hen then takes the wheat to the mill. The mill stone grinds the wheat berries into flour. 

    Keeping your feet where they are, bring both your hands into prayer before your heart. Inhale, then exhale as your turn your palms towards the earth and keeping your arms together, reach in a big broad slow circle in the air before you, keeping your palms facing the earth. Make three circles in one direction, then three circles in the other direction. Inhale when your hands reach your chest and exhaling as they make the circle. 

Little Red Hen brings home the flour and kneads it into bread. 

    With feet still apart, straighten your knees and bring your arms to your sides. Inhale as your bend your knees and scoop your hands up from your sides. Come into a wide squat, with your hands side by side on the ground between your feet. Now, push into the hand and foot on one side while you inhale, then exhale to the other.  Move back and forth a few times. 

And now she bakes the bread.

    Bring hands together, palms facing up and rise to standing, bringing your feet together. Inhale, then exhale as you bend the knees and reach your palms far in front of you ( chair). Take three breaths. 

The aroma of freshly baked bread begins to fill the air. And The Little Red Hen brings the bread from the oven ready to share with all her little chicks. 

    Bring your hands to cover your heart, one over the other, while rising to full standing. Bow your head and take a breath.

Everyday Yogi

Every day we wake up. Most days are everyday kind of days. It is the poignant ordinary days which add together, one after another, to become our whole lives. For most of us, even our extraordinary moments are rather ordinary. But, each of these ordinary moments is the entire universe. 

When we come to yoga, it is not to change the tangible aspects of our days- but our perspective. During those first few practices, we notice something in ourselves we want to explore. We eventually find a sense of peace in asana, a sense of connection during savasana and a fuller heart as we step off our mats. The objective becomes to bring this practice into our everyday: to find a sense of peace while doing dishes, a sense of connection during traffic jams and a fuller heart as we navigate our personal paths towards enlightenment. 

Very few of our personal paths will call us to a life of solitude, or a mountain top vow of silence. Those paths sound romantic, and in some ways luxurious, to an over-worked and stressed student. But, we do not really want to experience such trials. And most of us do not want to leave our ordinary lives to find enlightenment. We want to find a way to bring the light into our everyday. Our days have more then enough trials built into them and the only vow we have to make is striving to live them in authenticity. 

When we approach a new asana, it is often uncomfortable. Those first few minutes in downward facing dog can be difficult, especially to a new student. Week after week the asana becomes more comfortable. Of course the student has gained strength and flexibility, but they have also stayed with the discomfort. The brain has warned them the arms are tired, and they made tiny adjustments to the shoulders or hands. The brain has warned again “ I cannot stay like this any longer”, and they have deepened the breath and remained still. The student is more comfortable and can find peace in the pose, because of the practice within the mind, not just within the body. This is the part of our yoga practice we can take away from the mat. We learn how we control our body, our brains and emotions. We begin to find a comfortable place within the discomforts of life, a place where we can be at peace (mostly). The deeper we can immerse ourselves in finding peace in the everyday, the deeper we can fold into the mental and emotions practices of yoga. 

Since yoga is a practice, we are in a constant process of growth. Always stretching until we can go a little deeper, in asana as well as our hearts. Sometimes, we disappoint ourselves. We are unsettled by our own anger, we are aggravated when our peace is disturbed. Sometimes, we think we are being broadminded, only to note something we missed. We continue practice, and we try again. Taking moments to contemplate our values before engaging with our crying child or entering a staff meeting may help us stay true to our values when confronted with discomfort or confusion. Staying in our authentic self is not easy, even when we are alone with our own thoughts. Little comfort objects, tokens and reminders make it easier to keep the true self on the surface of our minds. When we operate from the authenticity of the true self, we are often less scared or uncomfortable about what is happening around us. It is easier to be accepting of the emotions, be them happiness or pain, that we feel within ourselves and others. As our minds and bodies stop struggling against that discomfort, our path becomes easier to distinguish. 

We are each walking our own special path towards enlightenment. Like a custom designed workshop or training, our lives provide all the necessary study we need. Every moment holds pain and pleasure and a balance of both. We have the ability to connect to ourselves, each other and the universe in each moment and every breath. When we can bring our practice off the mat, we can note the divine nature in any given moment. We can accept the poignancy that exists in our joy and our tragedy. We can celebrate the ordinary extraordinary in the everyday. We can accept the honor of our lives. 

Like a child who brings something from home as comfort in a strange situation, we too can bring something of comfort from the peace we find on the mat into the everyday. 

Many yogis develop a sankalpa or intention, which expresses their true self or values. Bringing this intention into as many parts of the day as possible, can gently guard our purpose from distraction. 

• Wear a piece of jewelry we associate with our sankalpa can help connect us to the true self we know on our mat, the one we want to bring out into the world to share. 
• Imbue our current daily rituals with an expression of our true self. If we make a cup of tea or coffee every morning, place a small stone or photo near the pot to trigger deeper thoughts as we start the day. 
• Replacing computer passwords with a word from our intention.
• Braid a piece of string, ribbon or twine and tie it to the rearview mirror as reminder of the person we want reflected out into the big wide world. 
• Light a candle or incense while transitioning from the work to rest part of our day. 
• Keep a journal by the bed and write a word of gratitude or note an important experience in your day just before going to bed. 

Namaste.