Storytime Yoga Children
Practice Pages: English
Our bodies are powerful ways in which we experience the world. This is particularly the case for children, and when they are encouraged to experience somatically the heroic journey for themselves through reenacting a story, greater self-awareness occurs. It wakes them up from the inside.
Storytime Yoga encourages such mind/body connection for children through the use of stories with Yoga. Any story can be used to teach Yoga to children. Folk tales, fairy tales, fables, even dreams! Children can both listen to the story in its entirety and then reenact the story with Yoga asana (postures), or they can create their own story and add the practice of Yoga poses to the experience. They can also use a story to set a theme for the class, as well as listen to the story during relaxation and meditation. Poses named for and shaped like animals as well as other postures that mimic objects or people (such as cobblers or warriors) may be the easiest, however, any Yoga pose can become an object or person to illustrate the story. The important thing is emotional identification. The child becomes the hero, the villain, the animal or the journey. They are able to self-reflect and make connections of the story to their own life for better self-awareness, self-regulation and problem solving.
The Peddler’s Dream from England
Once there was a peddler who lived in a house way out in the country. His house was next to a large apple tree. This tree’s roots were so big that they were coming out of the ground and were pushing up one corner of the house.
One night, he had a dream. He dreamt that a voice said, “Go to London Bridge. Go to London Bridge!”
He woke up and said, “What a strange dream I had! A voice telling me to go to London Bridge! London is so far away! I can’t possibly make that journey.” And he went about his business. The next night, he had the same dream. “Go to London Bridge! Go to London Bridge!”
How strange he had the same dream again. And once again he ignored it. The next night he had the same dream. “Go to London Bridge! Go to London Bridge!”
He thought, “I can’t stand it anymore. I must be crazy, but I’m going to London Bridge!”
He set out down the road and finally reached London Bridge. What was he supposed to do now? He didn’t know. So he sat, and he sat and he sat. Nothing happened. He sat, and he sat and he sat. Nothing happened. It began to get dark, so he lay down and slept.
The next morning he waited again. He sat and he sat, and he sat. Finally, he said: “Oh, what a fool I’ve been! Following a dream! I’m wasting my time!” And he started to storm off.
Just then a man in a shop came running out, crying, “Wait!” The peddler stopped. The shopkeeper said, “Sir, I I’ve seen you sitting here for two days now. I’ve been wondering, what on earth were you doing?”
The peddler, somewhat embarrassed, said, “Well, to tell you the truth, I kept having this dream over and over again, night after night that said, ‘Go to London Bridge! Go to London Bridge!’ So I thought I’d do something about it. But this is all I got! Nothing!”
“Oh, yes! Dreams!” The shopkeeper laughed. “You know, many years ago I had a dream over and over again just like you. In the dream I dreamed that there was some house way out in the country with an apple tree whose roots were pushing up one side of the house! And beneath that apple tree was a treasure!
Can you imagine? Me, looking for some silly apple tree? Dreams! That’s all they are!” But the peddler was thinking. He immediately said, “Goodbye! Thank you!” And he ran off for home. He dug under that apple tree. What do you think he found? Treasure! In his own backyard – by following and honoring his dream.
For these portions of the story mentioned, try practicing the following poses:
Peddler – virabhadrasana I (warrior I)
Tree – vrksasana (tree pose)
Traveling – trikonasana (triangle pose)
He goes up a hill – parsvakonasana (side angle pose) – and down a hill, both sides.
London Bridge – setu bandha sarvangasana (bridge pose)
He sat, and he sat, and he sat – utkatasana (chair pose) – three times
Man comes out of the shop – virabhadrasana II (warrior II)
Runs home – running in place
Digs up treasure – digging, squats.
Treasure – baddha konasana (bound angle pose)
Try telling stories to children and add asana to the storytelling during your next Yoga class. Kids will be hungry for more as their mind-body connection improves and they awaken to their own imaginations.
Storytime Yoga founder Sydney Solis is the author of numerous books, DVDs and audio programs for children including The Treasure in Your Heart and The Peddler’s Dream. Yoga Con Cuentos: Cómo Enseñar Yoga a Los Niños Mediante el uso de Cuentos, will be published in November through the Mythic Yoga Studio, Boulder, Colorado: mythicyoga.com.
Thanks to Jaime Carlo-Casellas, PhD, founder and director of the Stress Management and Prevention Clinic in Rancho Mirage, California for his assistance with the Spanish version of this article: stressprevention.org.
By Sydney Solis
