Check out this great video!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjXVhbcWOyM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBfWCLfu0To

I also love Yoga in My school.. featured in the videos

Click here.. to see the original post on babble with the videos.

Casey’s Comments

Being one of the first teachers to bring Toddler Yoga to the Denver area, I love seeing Toddler yoga get exposure like this. When they start young, they learn important skills that help them move and grow and learn. Plus it’s fun! Get moving with you toddler today!

Namaste & Play

Casey Feicht

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Not Just for Moms anymore!

Yoga seemed like the most popular trend a couple years ago, which quickly died down — but yoga for toddlers has to be one of the most interesting up and coming trends I have come across yet.

I didn’t even know it actually existed until two weeks ago when my two year old came home from school and told me all about yoga. Yup! He actually did yoga in class with his teachers and he was excited to go back to school two days later so he could do it again.

I was intrigued so I started doing some research so we could do it at home as well, because anything calm I can get him on board with is golden!

There are a ton of youtube videos out there for toddler yoga, and to actually do yoga with your kids!

I went through some of our personal favorites now and some that I found most interesting and put them together to help you guys get into the toddler yoga trend!

Granted — these videos look way more professional and safe than yoga does in our house! HAH

It certainly is so fun to do and I bet your kids will love it too!

Have you ever done yoga with your toddler?   Do you plan on trying it out?

How to Treat ADHD Effectively? Pills, Skills & Love

Joseph, a five year old boy diagnosed with ADHD, was making good progress in yoga class at school. He was coming to friendship group once a week, and his mom and dad were working with me [Lynea] on parenting skills.

For Joseph, change came slowly but consistently. He had learned how to catch himself when excited and ask for help. His breathing practice was more rhythmic and controlled. His parents were learning how to help him regulate his emotions.

Then he was put on medication for ADHD. The results were quick and impressive. He was instantly calmer and more capable of focusing in class. Parenting and teaching him were both a lot easier. But it also seemed like he’d lost some of his fire and passion.

Soon after, Joseph stopped attending yoga and friendship group. His mom and dad stopped coming for parenting classes.

Deciding whether to medicate a child is a big decision. It can give a child the chance to experience life with less anxiety and social conflict. Sometimes, medication is absolutely necessary. But often, there’s an unfortunate side effect: parents drop the skills-training and other support they were providing their child. And their child gets the message loud and clear: When you’re struggling, use medicine. No need to keep practicing your friendship skills or learning tools for attention and how to self-regulate. Put all your faith in the pills.

Yet, as L. Alan Sroufe, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development, noted in a recent op-ed in the New York Times, ADHD drugs offer a short-term solution at best.

Attention-deficit drugs increase concentration in the short term, which is why they work so well for college students cramming for exams. But when given to children over long periods of time, they neither improve school achievement nor reduce behavior problems. The drugs can also have serious side effects, including stunting growth.

* * *

To date, no study has found any long-term benefit of attention-deficit medication on academic performance, peer relationships or behavior problems, the very things we would most want to improve.

But in 2009, findings were published from a well-controlled study that had been going on for more than a decade, and the results were very clear. The study randomly assigned almost 600 children with attention problems to four treatment conditions. Some received medication alone, some cognitive-behavior therapy alone, some medication plus therapy, and some were in a community-care control group that received no systematic treatment. At first this study suggested that medication, or medication plus therapy, produced the best results. However, after three years, these effects had faded, and by eight years there was no evidence that medication produced any academic or behavioral benefits.

Indeed, all of the treatment successes faded over time, although the study is continuing. Clearly, these children need a broader base of support than was offered in this medication study, support that begins earlier and lasts longer.

The skills and strategies we teach in Yoga Calm, of course, aim to provide just this kind of support. Over time, the desired effect of drugs like Ritalin, Adderall and Strattera fade, while undesired effects – i.e., side effects – remain. But when we provide opportunities for kids to develop self-awareness, focus and social skills; when we safely address underlying issues of stress and trauma; when we instill and support healthy habits, we provide them with a body of skills, knowledge and experience they can draw on for the rest of their lives.

And we see this especially with children who have weaknesses in attention and impulse control – like Joseph.

Concurring with this need for a broader treatment approach, ADHD specialist Dr. Edward Hallowell, writes in Ritalin Redux, his response to Sroufe’s article, that what’s most important is

a loving, safe, and richly connected childhood. The long-term study that Dr. Sroufe cited in his opinion piece does indeed show that over time, medication becomes a less important force in a child’s improvement and that human connections become ever more powerful. It is good and heartening to know that human connection — love — works wonders over time. Love is our most powerful and under-prescribed “ medication.” It’s free and infinite in supply, and doctors most definitely ought to prescribe it more!

This doesn’t mean that, as Dr. Sroufe say[s], Ritalin has “gone wrong.” We may go wrong in how we use it, when we over-prescribe it, or when we use it as a substitute for love, guidance, and the human connection.

Indeed, continuing on the current path of biasing treatment approaches toward pills while ignoring proven and complementary behavioral interventions carries some serious risks, says Sroufe:

First, there will never be a single solution for all children with learning and behavior problems. While some smaller number may benefit from short-term drug treatment, large-scale, long-term treatment for millions of children is not the answer.

Second, the large-scale medication of children feeds into a societal view that all of life’s problems can be solved with a pill and gives millions of children the impression that there is something inherently defective in them.

Finally, the illusion that children’s behavior problems can be cured with drugs prevents us as a society from seeking the more complex solutions that will be necessary. Drugs get everyone — politicians, scientists, teachers and parents — off the hook. Everyone except the children, that is.

Consider Joseph, 10 years after first being given medication. He’s now 15. His relationship with his parents is tense. He wants more freedom. They want him to focus on school and get a part time job. As he’s grown, doctors increased his dosage. Since his latest growth spurt, he’s noticed that he feels anxious and is having a hard time paying attention in class. After an argument with his girlfriend, a friend offers him some drugs to help him mellow out.

What have we, as a culture, taught Joseph to do?

Originally found at Yoga Calm.

Casey’s Comments

This makes me so sad! We do live in a society that feels that pills/drugs can cure it all. At times they are necessary, but when do they become dependence. From my point of view, I can relate to a lot of this. Here is my brief story; as a child I was dependent of drugs for my severe asthma, without them I may not have survived, yet I grew up believing that if I take this drug, I will feel better.

This lead me to no longer actually needing the asthmatic drugs, but my pain was so deep that I turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with the side affect that these prescribed drugs had on me. Thank god, I got clean and sober ten years ago, but I can say it’s been a tough life and I don’t wish this drug dependency on anyone.

In conclusion, I recommend, yoga, meditation, playfulness, dance, music and healthy eating first before drugs and let the children find something they are passionate about that makes them happy before we popped them full of pills with adverse side affects..

What are you thoughts? Let’s get a conversation going…..

The INSANITY^® workout

might just be the hardest fitness program ever put on DVD. Your personal trainer Shaun T will push you past your limits with 10 INSANITY workout discs packed with plyometric drills on top of nonstop intervals of strength, power, resistance, and ab and core training moves. No equipment or weights needed. Just the will to get the hardest body you’ve ever had.

I am going to check out Dr. Oz and this trainer.. how about you?

Think about it, throughout history it’s been music, dance, and celebration that have brought about change in consciousness and societal progression.  When we get people together to have fun and be in their bodies it creates huge amounts of happiness, allowing co-creation of a spectacular, joyous reality.  Of course, children are already very good at this.

Dancing to the music or banging away on a drum comes easy to kids.  So during a kids yoga class, we allow that spontaneity to shine, and let kids co-create their own ecstatic and delightful world together.  Kids learn not only how to be silly around one another, but they literally weave their brainwaves to synchronize together.  No joke!  The rhythm and sound waves of music along with movement, draws each child’s brainwave to follow a specific pattern.

Music, Dance, and Yoga:  A Powerful Brainwave Technology

Yoga, music, and dance are all very stimulating to our brain and body.  When people practice together, listening to the same music or sound within a common space, something very special happens.  Their brainwaves all begin to synchronize.  This is called rhythmic entrainment.  Whether their brainwaves are flowing slow, calm and deep, or bouncing in an ecstatic dance of accented beats and staccato, each person’s brainwaves will be woven into a collective experience.  This is such an incredible phenomena!  Rhythmic entrainment in a yogic atmosphere is key to helping our children connect with one another and unite for their future.

Yogic Rhythmic Entrainment for a Brighter World

Music and dance will remain to be a two of the greatest methods of uniting people and transforming societies.  More so, when we bring a yogic attitude of compassion, acceptance, and appreciation for life, we’ll see more and more transformation both with-in and with-out.  Music, dance, and of course yoga, are some of the greatest tools we’ve been given to allow change.  Simply remember transformation is truly possible.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMNfgl5uApI

facilitated by Barry Ebert

• Six-week workshop
• Friday, February 17, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
• Mile Hi Church, Lakewood CO
• (Childcare available for $5 per child per evening)

To register for an upcoming Love and Logic workshop
please visit our web-site at www.barryebert.com.

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What All Kids Wish Their Parents Knew with Foster Cline, MD

Mile Hi Church, Lakewood CO

• Friday, February 10
• 7:00 PM
• Tickets $15 ~ Childcare $5 per child

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the Mile Hi Church website at www.milehichurch.org or call 303-232-4079.

Casey’s Comments

This workshop changed my life for the better! It taught me how to parent myself and my daughter in a way that has allowed us to have a healthy relationship, build our self esteems and support us both in being happy!

If you are struggling with your child, whether they are 2 or 14, this workshop will make your life so much better. Check it out today, let them know Casey sent you.

Namaste & Play

FREE kids’ yoga class Saturday and Sunday at Noon

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XT_DHepP1w

See the Facebook invite here!

Visit the Samadhi website with more details..

Yoga and Children’s Mental Health

In March of 2011, yoga programs in schools and hospitals were featured in a Wall Street Journal article that summarized the many benefits for children’s overall mental health. Clinical studies have shown that yoga not only improves physical fitness in children but also contributes to better academic performance and emotional balance.

In children with special needs, yoga can be especially beneficial (Glazer, 2011). Michelle Fury, LPC, RCYT, a yoga therapist at Children’s Hospital Colorado who also has a master’s degree in psychotherapy, contributed to the article. She says, “At Children’s Hospital Colorado, we are using yoga as a psychotherapeutic intervention to help the child’s state of mind.” Yoga is part of an integrated arts therapy program that also includes music, art, and dance. She works closely with social workers to communicate patient progress in group and individual therapy.

Children attend yoga classes that are generally organized according to similar diagnoses. Fury works with children with anxiety and other mood disorders, eating disorders, autism, and thought disorders. She also works with teens in the hospital’s day treatment and inpatient adolescent psychiatric unit who are at risk of harming themselves or others. Their diagnoses may include psychosis, severe mood disorder, eating disorders, and/or schizophrenia.

Success Stories
Among Fury’s successes in using yoga to achieve therapeutic breakthroughs are Hayley*, a young teenage girl with an eating disorder, and Carla*, a young girl with impulse control and aggression issues.

Fury describes Hayley as “a very quiet girl who was emotionally shut down and did not want to give up her eating disorder.” In a multifamily class for teens with eating disorders and their parents, Fury used yoga postures to teach body awareness and the yoga philosophy of letting go. Later, during a group therapy exercise, Hayley was able to share her thoughts with her peers for the first time.

“Yoga helped her feel empowered enough to speak up, be listened to, and receive support, which eventually she was able to apply to her eating disorder,” Fury explains.

Carla was a very smart, athletic child whose impulse control and aggression were expressed by punching other children. “She had clear leadership skills but was headed toward gang leadership,” Fury says.

Carla began taking Ashtanga yoga with Fury, where she was able to channel her energy and rage into powerful poses. She also began playing basketball and then focused more on yoga breathing, relaxation, and meditation. After a year of one-on-one yoga therapy with Fury, Carla was discharged from therapy.

Fury says, “Yoga changed who she was and resolved her aggression issues. She is now a leader in school in math and a team leader on the basketball court.”

Yoga classes that go beyond focusing on children’s physical fitness are increasingly being offered in yoga studios, too. Kelly Wood, ERYT, a certified children’s yoga teacher, estimates she has taught yoga to more than 75,000 children of diverse cultural backgrounds. Specializing in children aged 2 1/2 to 11, Wood simplifies the ways in which yoga helps children navigate the stresses of daily life and learn why practicing helps their bodies, brains, and hearts feel calm.

Scientifically, the mental benefits of children’s yoga result from calming heart rate, which signals the brain to activate the parasympathetic nervous system response. Body systems such as circulation, glandular balance, digestion, and immunity are also enhanced, Wood explains.

“Balancing the body’s systems has a great impact on mental perspective. Our perception opens when we feel at ease and safe,” says Wood.

Because children are subject to sensory overload, just like adults, the sympathetic nervous system (“fight or flight”) is often engaged and creates stress. By activating the parasympathetic nervous system, yoga can reduce stress and increase the ability to focus and learn.

“Focus, concentration, creative thinking, and emotional skills are enhanced with mindful breathing practiced in children’s yoga,” Wood notes.

She has witnessed older children develop patience and help younger children with yoga poses, heard her class members talk about how using yoga breathing before tests helped them focus, and watched less confident children become more active participants and even leaders in group interactions.

Wood says, “Self-direction, self-soothing, attention regulation, listening skills, and the value of being calm and healthy are all skills I nurture in my Kids Yoga classes.”

The Brain “on” Yoga
Candace Morano, LMSW, RYT, has combined her social work background with yoga to practice educational kinesiology, a science-based program that utilizes the brain combined with the healing power of yoga to heighten a child’s awareness, concentration, and ability to learn. She also leads programs for teachers and parents of children with special needs.

Morano has worked with children with ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, neurologic disorders, Down syndrome, and sensory delays as well as with children in foster care or homeless shelters who have a range of emotional issues. “I really believe that yoga can provide benefits for all health conditions. Yoga brings wholeness to the self, merging the physical, mental, psychological, and spiritual,” Morano explains.

As an example of how yoga can benefit special needs children, she cites a nonverbal teen who had difficulty with many physical tasks, both gross and fine motor, and with socialization. Morano combined yoga and educational kinesiology movements to enhance the integration of body and brain function, which reduces stress.

“After a full school year of yoga, which was part of the school curriculum, she engaged more appropriately outside of the home and socially enjoyed more time with friends. There was also improvement with spatial issues, which translated to reduced resistance in completing math homework. She began to use scissors, volunteered to wrap some Christmas presents—her mother noticed an improvement in overall body coordination,” Morano notes.

Morano says yoga is now welcomed in many schools as part of the curriculum. Fury notes that social workers at Children’s Hospital Colorado see the therapeutic value of yoga. The hospital’s chief of psychiatry, Marianne Wamboldt, MD, who also underwent training to become a registered yoga teacher, supports yoga as an important part of the team therapy approach.

Research on yoga’s mental health benefits for children and teens is being vigorously pursued by collaborations among medical professionals, social workers, and yoga instructors. For example, Wood has begun working with Jane Tavyev, MD, a pediatric neurology/neurodevelopmental disability specialist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and UCLA, to research the benefits of yoga in children with autism. Wood is teaching three yoga/meditation classes per week to children aged 4 to 6 with autism. A research review of yoga as therapy for children and adolescents was recently published and can serve as a guide for clinicians (Kaley-Isley, Peterson, Fischer, & Peterson, 2010). Street Yoga, a new organization that offers yoga classes to homeless and at-risk young people in Portland, OR, and Seattle, is beginning more formal research on yoga therapy for youths healing from trauma and abuse. Their teacher training program is endorsed by the National Association of Social Workers.

*Names changed to protect privacy.

— Jennifer Van Pelt, MA, is a Reading, PA-based freelance writer.

Casey’s Comments

I feel so compled to share amazing articles like this! It’s obvious that yoga in childrens lives is essential, yet it’s still such a slow process of getting it out there. If yoga has so many benefits for adults, doesn’t it make sense that it does the same or more for our kids!  I love that yoga is showing up in hospitals, medical centers, for children with autism and thought of as a new medical treatment for kids. Let’s raise our kids to be drug free and happy.. Join me on this movement by checking out our new membership site at http://childrenandyoga.com