My Little Yogi

Z-man and I have started a new routine...YOGA! I'm so excited. I've been wanting to incorporate some morning or evening yoga into our daily routine. Maybe this will help us connect more, be a fun bonding activity, and will provide him with some coping skills that I can remind him (and myself) of during stressful, angry, sad, or grumpy times. I figure the more tools I can give my kid to handle life's stress, the better.
I came across a pin for a website that has a handful of easy yoga poses with kid-friendly names and clear descriptions. I wrote down the ones I wanted to introduce to Z-man. I have been to less than five yoga classes in my life, so I'm learning along side my guy.
We started on a Saturday morning when Z's dad was in town and he participated, too. First, I asked Z if he wanted to do yoga. To my surprise, he said yes and started showing me some moves of his own. He put his feet high in the air and balanced on his bottom-a valiant attempt at the boat pose.

Ignore the constipated look; I swear he was actually having fun!

Our first time doing yoga, I modeled the poses I had written down, encouraging Z and his dad to join in. He loves the Donkey. We "hee-haw" as we hold this pose, which makes it so much more fun.

Our pjs are pretty cute, huh?

Jumping Tree is my favorite. We hold hands and raise a leg, jumping slightly until he starts to fall. We yell out "TIMBER!" as he falls slowly to the ground.

 The Flying Heart is very calming, though I think we have only successfully held this pose for about five seconds together.

When Z switches poses or moves on to a nearby tractor or drum, I continue with the pose for a few seconds and dramatize what I'm doing to encourage him to join back in. If he doesn't buy in, I move to the next pose- asking him if he wants to do the "falling star!!!!" with lots of excitement.

The coolest thing we have done with our yoga--and I use the term yoga loosely-- is tell a story. We used the wolf pose, child pose (for the pigs),  and deep breaths (in through nose, out through mouth) to act out The Three Little Pigs. This was so much fun. Z-man brought it up several times later in the day, demonstrating his howling wolf and talking about his chin-y chin chin.

Namaste, friends!