A Playful Approach to Building Essential Skills
Imagination Yoga uses imaginative adventures to inspire healthy movement while building foundational capacities like self-regulation, critical thinking, planning, and self-esteem.
Complimentary School Visit
Are you a child educator or care professional? Please accept our offer of a complimentary on-site session for your students and consultation with staff, if desired.
Click the button below to request a free session or start a conversation about supporting your kids’ needs.
The practice was great. Diane had a calm and vibrant energy with the children that made it easy for them to respond positively to the activity. All of the children were engaged in the story and the yoga poses, and the students’ level of energy was more relaxed afterwards. They asked if she could come back tomorrow.
—Fern Gomez, pre-K teacher, Oak Hill School
Educator Workshop—Inspiring Kids to Move
Inspiring Kids to Move is a workshop that’s ideal for teachers, parents, and others who work with children. This 2-hour interactive training shares ideas for using fun, age-appropriate yoga activities to help kids aged 2–12 gain greater self-mastery. Certificates of completion are available to document continuing education hours.
This training includes
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- Discussion of research-backed physical, social/emotional, and cognitive benefits of yoga for children
- Introduction and practice of developmentally appropriate yoga poses and discussion of how to use them throughout the day
- Presentation of an Imagination Yoga Adventure that teachers can use to increase daily structured physical activity
- Activities to practice kindness, calm, and concentration
- Handouts and a certificate of completion
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Click the button below to contact us and discuss an on-site workshop at your district, school, or childcare facility.
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What Is Yoga?
Yoga is more than poses. By inviting self-observation, yoga practice can help us influence our thoughts, feelings, and actions with greater intention.
While most people think first of poses when asked “what is yoga,” these are actually just a small part of what yoga is. Yoga is a way of getting to know ourselves. Often translated as “union” or “yoking,” yoga is, in essence, a practice of unifying body and mind to engage in self-observation, reflection, and self-regulation. Yoga poses, or asanas, are tools to aid this, but they are not the core of the practice, and perfectly executing them is not the main goal. As such, the idea that you have to be physically flexible, strong, or agile to practice yoga is misguided. If you can breathe and observe, you can practice yoga.
Yoga practice begins with the breath. Our breath is a simple but powerful tool that can help us understand our physical and emotional states. By paying attention to the breath, we bring our attention to the present moment. When our minds are firmly rooted in the present—not ruminating about the past or fretting about the future—we have the clearest view of our feelings, desires, and needs and, by extension, the greatest control over how we manage our circumstances.
Asanas can bring our inner states into sharper focus as we strive to embody each posture. They provide input about how different parts of our bodies are feeling on any given day and give us opportunities to observe our thoughts and emotions as we feel our bodies stretch, work, and find balance. Importantly, asanas also provide a healthy form of structured movement that supports physical health. By incorporating asanas into the practice, yoga becomes a holistic form of exercise for body and mind.
Why Teach Yoga to Kids?
Children need to learn more than reading, writing, math, and science; they need to learn how they can help their bodies and minds work their best. A yoga and mindfulness practice gives children time out of their busy days to notice their internal landscapes and learn skills to cultivate calm, focus, and self mastery.
Eugene Imagination Yoga provides private instruction as well as child-centered yoga programs for schools, child care facilities, special events, and more. Book classes for a special day, or ask about setting up a regular program at your site. Request a free demo class to see firsthand what we do.
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Eugene Imagination Yoga’s mission is to promote physical, emotional, and mental health in our community through children’s yoga programs. By combining imaginative play and storytelling with yoga practice, we provide opportunities for fun and engaging physical exercise while supporting a child’s developing sense of self awareness and capacity for self regulation.
