What does "ISHA" stand for? Find out and join the club!

WELCOME TO THE ISHA ("ee-sha') GIRL CLUB - where you don't have to be a girl to join in the journey!

Simply incorporate the following principles into your everyday life and you're "IN"! So, come join the "ISHA GIRL CLUB" and join me in my journey to better overall health of mind, body and spirit!

I
INDIVIDUALITY/WARRIOR II Pose (Virabhadrasana II)
ISHA GIRLS are "bold, beautiful, confident and tuff"...their confidence lies in God and they are "SHINERS". They identify their strengths and unique talents and spend time developing both so they can enlighten and uplift others with their gifts.

S
SERVE others & SPREAD "Aloha"/HEART
ISHA GIRLS know "to find one's life, they must lose it". With "aloha" (LOVE) in their hearts they serve. This humbles them, broadens their perspective and increases their compassion while decreasing judgement, fear and selfishness.

H
HIPPYISH/PLANT
ISHA GIRLS have a "go green" mentality in how they live their lives. They respect their bodies (exercise, eat right and get rest) and their Earth (reduce, reuse and recycle).

A
ACQUIRE further light & knowledge/OWL
ISHA GIRLS never stop learning. They are invigorated by obtaining new knowledge, broadening their scope and improving their minds through both temporal and spiritual study.

Saturday, July 31, 2021

Tall Ones & Small Ones-Description


“Tall Ones & Small Ones” is designed for “Small Ones”, children ages three through eight and an accompanying “Tall One”, mother, father, grandparent or caregiver.  

This class is a one of a kind way for parents to bond and interact with their children while getting a work out too. 

Each yoga routine incorporates children’s literature, music, singing, games or rhymes, creating an atmosphere for imagination and learning while promoting a healthy body! 

Yoga helps children and adults alike calm their mind and stretch their bodies.  It also increases the ability to concentrate and focus, as well as deal with stress.  The younger we can teach our children this the better able they will be to handle the fast paced, high pressure society they are growing up in.  And what better place to teach them this, than in a safe environment with their “Tall One” by their side!

Every participant has their own mat, but because adults are right beside their small ones, they are able to support them in “tricky” balancing poses, give encouragement and confidence to otherwise shy participants and help keep the class manageable behavior wise.  Most of my routines incorporate partner poses to engender trust and love between tall ones and small ones.  (It is such a sweet sight to see a small one snuggle up to their tall one or hold their hand during shavasna at the end of class.)

Conversely, being with their small ones gives tall ones “permission” to be silly and child like again!  In this way, both benefit from the interaction during class.

Each one of my routines is designed to literally exercise both body and mind.  For example, one week, children develop phonemic awareness through memorizing nursery rhymes reinforced by coordinating asanas.  And another week we talk about symbiotic relationships between crocodiles and plover birds on our virtual tour of the African Savannah's.

Each routine is theme tailored and complete with an intention for the practice, appropriate asanas and shavasana ("be still" time in corpse pose at the end of class).  

See other "Tall Ones & Small Ones" post for a list of possible themes...and the list just keeps getting longer!  If you have a specific theme or book you would like to see done for your event or school-let me know and I'll see what I can create!!

Friday, July 30, 2021

Kids' Yoga Adventure Themes





                                                         (Giraffe in Prasarita Padottanasana)
African Safari
Take a trip to Africa and check out the local wildlife and learn about symbiotic relationships.

Giraffe in Prasarita Padottanasana)

  Yoga For Fun (with Sally)         
Learn lots of new poses like airplane, tree, bird poses and more!                                                                                

  Pizza Party
Learn about the importance of good food, good friends and good fun.

Surfin U.S.A.
Come ride the waves on the North Shore of Hawaii and explore the ocean floor.   
          
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle…Yoga!
We’ll learn how to incorporate the 3R’s into our practice both on AND off the mat!

Yoda Yoga                                                   
Who better to learn yoga wisdom from than the Jedi Master himself!      

Yoda in Baddha Konasana
                                                      
                                                                                                   
Hogwarts School of Hatha
Stressed bodies and sad faces “magically” disappear through this Harry Potter inspired routine.

Captain America Asanas
Poses inspired from Spiderman, Captain America, Superman, Catwoman, Storm, the Fantastic Four…                
and the list goes on-feel empowered and strong as we channel our inner heroes for the day! 

Hulk in Vriksasana

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Kids' Yoga Adventure-Description




2012-Eagle Creek PTY studio


Kids’ Yoga Adventure 

2013-Zionsville PTY studio
Yoga helps children calm their minds and stretch their bodies.  It also increases their ability to concentrate and focus, as well as deal with stress.  The younger we can give our children tools to handle their emotions and exercise their bodies the better able they will be in handling the fast paced, high pressure society they are growing up in! 

Yoga benefits the mind, body and spirit, 
but it is also a lot of FUN! 
Kids will discover all four of these aspects in our monthly routines tailored just for them. Each kid’s yoga class is based on a theme and incorporates children’s literature, music, singing, science, games or rhymes, creating an atmosphere for imagination and learning while promoting a healthy body!  

Being with kids is always an adventure!  In this journey they’ll learn a lot about themselves and the world around them.  So enjoy PTY's Eagle Creek Park Studio once a month & Zionsville every week while your kids enjoy this one of a kind yoga adventure!

*Adults: If you want to join the class, you are welcome to do so for only $8 more! 

Monday, July 26, 2021

Young Yoginis




I have taught Young Yoginis at preschools, daycares and library programs targeting beginners in every sense of the word!  This class is theme based like my other classes for children, but a lot more hands on to support developing gross and fine motor skills and help kids become comfortable with yoga poses in general.

Frequent use of imagination, stories, rhymes and songs coupled with a shorter time frame helps keep these young ones engaged and the experience enjoyable.

Below are a few themes I've done in the past-I am always creating new routines and incorporating new children's books.

Pizza Party: 
Learn about the importance of good friends and good healthy food.

Winter Fun: 
A winter sport inspired routine.  Kids get to enjoy skiing, iceskating and sledding in the warmth of the indoors.

The Best Gift Ever:
Children learn that LOVE is the best gift ever and doing acts of service is always a good present to give. 

A New Year:
A time to celebrate the old year and look forward to a new one.  2013, the four seasons and the calendar months will be reiterated through out the practice.

"Snowmen at Night":
Based off the instant classic by .... we pretend to be snowmen and have fun like they do!

African Safari:

Take a trip to Africa and check out the local wildlife, learn about symbiotic relationships and more!

Yoga "Rocks":
What moves rocks better than bulldozer, backhoes and dump trucks?! Kids will love this construction site inspired routine.

Sunrise Hike:

Take “a hike” with me up one of my favorite mountain ranges and learn about nocturnal animals, echolocation and more.