PLAY Yoga Teacher Training
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We asked Devananda a few questions about this teacher training course.
Is Children’s Yoga real yoga?
It certainly is, in the sense that children get the same benefits as an adult Yoga class – improved flexibility, increased attention, a sense of calm and inner connection. But they also get more! Due to the creative nature of PLAY Yoga the classes are much more interactive. So they get the social benefits of meeting and interacting with children of other ages, in a completely respectful and non competitive space. This is quite rare in this day and age. Some of the poses are the same, or very similar to those in adult Yoga. However there is a lot of creative use of movement to help facilitate the Yoga ‘adventure’ theme of PLAY classes.
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How do the children benefit?
The benefits are manifold, as I’ve just mentioned. I have seen how Yoga has instilled more confidence and openness in kids. As well as created an opportunity to share with their families. The most empowering benefit though is the fact that children are learning life skills to handle stress, emotions and keep their bodies nubile and flexible. Teaching children Yoga is really an opportunity to expose them, at an early age, to a tool that they can use throughout their lifetime. Even if they stop doing yoga, they can always return back to it with the benefit of muscle memory and the familiarity of the feel and effects of the practices.
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Why teach Yoga to children?
Having taught children’s Yoga in New Zealand for the past 6 years I can clearly see that there are so many opportunities to bring Yoga into children’s lives. For many years I easily could have done with a few clones of myself to help spread the joys & benefits of Yoga to wider parts of Auckland and beyond. This is what we are hoping to achieve in teaching teachers how to teach Yoga to children, to increase the amount of children having access to these valuable skills.
As a Yoga teacher it can be another tool in your belt to help relate to a different genre and expand your class repertoire. It can also be used within teachers own homes to help facilitate expanding one’s yoga practice to their families. Teaching children yoga is something that you can do WITH your kids, rather than separate from.
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What can people who attend this course expect to get?
They can expect to be able to put together a comprehensive Yoga adventure class that can be taught to children 5 – 11yrs old. This course is not a foundation course, meaning we are not teaching you Yoga postures. It is expected that you already have a firm knowledge and experience of Yoga poses, so we can focus on the more creative aspects of turning what we know into fun and frivolous activity!
This course focuses more on the creative aspect of accessing your inner child, being silly and FUN! How to relate to children through Yoga, rather than just presenting it to them.
This is an opportunity to come together as a creative collective and really explore the infinite boundaries of imagination. You will be provided with class formats to take away with you, but more so the inspiration to compile and design your own classes to teach. We will talk about how and where to start classes and create a network of support to do so!
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More About PLAY Yoga
This training course brings the FUN-damental skills of Yoga into life at an early stage!
From an early age children are encountering confronting circumstances. Yoga is a fun & creative way to provide creative expression & instill developmental & life skills.
This course will provide a platform for you to learn how to teach yoga to children 5-11 years old, in a creative, open & imaginative manner. We will look at ways to design a Yoga ‘adventure’ class as well as areas of development & understanding. Integrative yoga adventures promote imagination, expression and physicality. Combined with relaxation and games, you will be able to encourage a mind/body connection from an early age. Whilst simultaneously providing a fun and non competitive form of physical exercise.
Teaching Yoga to children provides an integrative and creative approach to learning. Giving you a tool to impart learning as well as fun!
Devananda is a 500hr YA Yoga teacher as well as body work practitioner. She proudly teaches classes, & facilitates on courses & Teacher trainings with Ashram Yoga. She designed & implemented the first Yoga Teacher Training for Early Education Development at the University of Auckland.
Her journey into teaching Yoga began with children and she has run classes, taught to school curriculums, and worked privately with various learning challenged children to bring Yoga into their lives and homes. PLAY (Physically, Learning, Active, Yoga) is the program that she has developed to teach children (and teachers!) how to enjoy Yoga.
This course will be run over an entire weekend and is designed for Yoga Teachers (Yoga Alliance accredit able hours). If you have a firm foundation in Yoga postures and would like to teach children please contact Devananda directly for consideration.
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Instructor:……….Devananda (Danielle Gleitman)
Date:……………..Saturday 9 – Sunday 10 June 2012
Time:…………….10am – 4pm both days
Cost:……………..$350
Registration:…….Bookings essential. Please fill in this registration form online.