Breathe

Smell one flower, Blow one candle.

Smell two flowers, Blow two candles.

Smell three flowers, Blow three candles.

Smell four flowers, Blow four candles.

Smell five flowers, Blow five candles.

Breathing in and Breathing out..... I'm gonna let it shine! 

Breathing in and Breathing out..... I'm gonna let it shine! 

Breathing in and Breathing out..... I'm gonna let it shine! 

Let it shine.

Let it shine. 

Let it shine!

Belly Breath. 

Put a hand on your belly and your heart. 

Your hand can witness the way your breath moves your inner body.

As you inhale, let your belly expand like a balloon.

As you exhale, let your belly muscles help you 

by moving toward your back, 

getting empty by pushing the air out. 

Repeat and repeat....

Laughter Yoga

A third grader describes:
"In yoga, we learned about different types of laughs.
One laugh is about the stomach and we have to touch our stomach and do HA!
The second type of laugh is about the heart.  First we touch our heart with our two hands that we have, then we start to say 'ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.'
    The last laugh is about our brain. The laugh of the brain is the regular laugh that we have.  All of this laughing we are doing with the class lying down in the shape of a flower."



Optional Homework was incredibly compelling to these 3rd graders who found they loved doing yoga homework and would come weekly with writings and drawings reflecting upon the yoga lesson of the previous week.  Experiencing yoga class as LAUGHTER was revolutionary.  From this experience, where they laughed from the sources of breath and sound,  they understood LAUGHTER as a practice of HEALTH and JOY.  They laughed WITH one another, not AT one another. This practice literally turns laughter on it's head.


 
Note:  I give a loving nod to the yoga leader that brought laughter into my own yoga life and encourage all who have not yet laughed WITH him, to pursue it.  Laraaji Venus NadaBrahmananda (LVN), who can be found virtually at:   http://laraaji.blogspot.com/

 

Yoga Poster