Blog Move to Be Yoga Be Love Website

I am officially moving this blog to my website at www.beyogabelove.com this week so that I will be able to make many more resources available to my readers and kids teachers everywhere.

If you are currently FOLLOWING my blog on WordPress.com and would like to continue receiving notifications of new blog posts and lots of other goodies, please subscribe via email (by entering your email address on the right).   The official move will happen on October 15th, so please take the time to subscribe now and receive your Free Guided Meditation to use in your children’s classes!

Reading Takes Children on Magical Adventures

Take your children on magical adventures…
open their minds and imaginations with books, princesses, pirates, fairies and all things make-believe!

Reading is the Greatest Gift

Remember your favorite bedtime story? and how you begged your parents to read you just one…more…book

Some of my greatest memories are of favorite book with dog eared pages that I would ask my parents to read me over and over again.

The Sesame Street Classic the Monster at the End of this Book, Cinderella, Bambi, Curious George, Frog and Toad,  anything Dr. Seuss.

And as I grew older and could read on my own, I discovered Judy Blume, the Nancy Drew series, the Witch of Blackbird Pond, the Outsiders.

I have always loved my books and still do.  My ever growing library is filled with classics and contemporary books of all genres.

As a yoga teacher, one of my favorite things is perusing through the library, bookstores or Amazon in search of fun books to use in my classes!

Reading is truly a gift that was given to me every time my mother took me to the library or read me a bedtime story.

What are some of YOUR favorite children’s books from childhood or the favorite book you love to read to your child?

Exciting Announcement about my Book Publication

I have been away for a few months busily at work on completing my children’s book and getting it ready for publication.  It has been a long time dream of mine to publish a book that can be enjoyed by children and families around the world and in less than 2 months, this dream will be a reality!

I have always been a book lover and am excited to share my love of both yoga and poetry!  As part of my book launch, for the next month, I will be posting inspirational quotes about the magic that reading and books create.

I will soon be taking pre-orders for my new children’s yoga book.  Stay tuned!

Yoga Games and an Update

It has been a while since I last posted about my kids’ yoga classes.  Lots of changes in my business and news to report.

I am excited to announce that I have found an illustrator for my children’s book, which will be due out this Fall 2014.  My dream of publishing a book that will touch the lives of children and families everywhere is becoming a reality and I can’t wait to step into this new role of published author/educator and share my book with children at schools, libraries, bookstores, etc!

Stay tuned…

I also want to announce that I have decided to officially move my blog to my website at www.beyogabelove.com so that I will be able to make many more resources available to my readers and kids teachers everywhere.

If you are currently FOLLOWING my blog on WordPress.com and would like to continue receiving notifications of new blog posts and lots of other goodies, please subscribe via email (by entering your email address on the right).   The official move will happen on July 15th, so please take the time to subscribe now and receive your Free Guided Meditation to use in your children’s classes!

I also took the Rainbow Kid’s Yoga Training a few weeks ago and it was such a fun, inspiring experience to PLAY yoga with a community of amazing teachers!  I learned LOTS of new yoga games and ideas to keep my little yogis engaged and focused. I told my students that I had taken a yoga class just for kids yoga teachers and was excited to share all the fun games I learned with them!

It’s amazing how using a simple prop can transform an activity into something special!  I passed my bendy flower, which I sprayed with some lavender oil, around the circle and asked each child to share what they looked forward to doing this summer. Then we all joined our friends in pretending to breathe in the scent of the flower.  All the children were breathing together, as they were waiting to get to smell the flower themselves and we got a lot of Breathing in.

We began with a game I called Follow the Yogi Leader.  I passed around my bendy flower again and let them know that this game required lots of focus and paying attention to the leader, as we followed every movement or pose they were doing.  The kids had lots of laughs…some children made faces or danced and twirled and we followed what they did!

One of the children’s favorite new activities is so simple to set up AND the children loved it.

All you need is a set of yoga cards (I used my Yoga Pretzel Deck) or photos of animals and some yoga mats!  Set up mats in a circle and place one card in front of each child’s yoga mat. Explain that they will each be doing the pose on their own mat and then they will count ONE-TWO-THREE-SWITCH! and they will move to the mat to the right of them. You may want to place a sticker or piece of colored tape to each child’s hand to remind them which direction they are going.

I love finding new ways to use some of my props and resources in my classes!

As you can see, the children really enjoyed this activity and it was great to see them so focused on holding each pose for a while and then moving on to the next pose.  All you need is a little creativity to keep finding new ways to teach yoga to kids!!

 

 

 

 

 

Soul Flying…a Muse Monday poem

It has been a while  since I last posted a Muse Monday poem…

I am evolving, my Soul‘s voice is becoming louder, clearer 

and I am listening to HER more and more….a poem from my journal…from my Soul to yours.

 

 

 

My caged soul wants to fly, soar, swirl

make circles in the sky

come out to play, see the wonder

from a child’s mind’s eye

 

Can you feel the Oneness we are all a part of?

Each of us a tiny thread woven into another thread, unbroken.

Yet, we forget

caught in the illusion of separation

it’s not real

 

Close your eyes 

Take a breath

Feel your inhale melt into your exhale

melt into mine, melt into the wind, melt into the sky,

expansive like Soul,

not your soul or my soul,

the collective Soul

pure soul, pure oneness, pure love

 

Can you feel the Love?

the ocean of Love we are all swimming in

the ebb and flow of each breath becoming One

 

When ink runs dry,

the Soul finds other ways to fly…

 

© Copyright Betty E Larrea 2014

 

 

Yoga Easter Egg Hunt

Easter was one of my favorite holidays as a child.  

I wanted to plan a special Easter lesson for my students this week.  A trip to the local dollar store and I had all I needed to have some Easter yoga fun in my classes this week!

We began by sharing what the children liked about Easter or something they did with their family on Easter.  I passed around my flower wand and each child got to share their favorite thing about Easter…dying and decorating eggs, Easter baskets, jelly beans, chocolate, Easter egg hunts and of course the EASTER BUNNY!

In honor of the Easter Bunny, we started with a BUNNY BREATH.  The children wriggled their noses, preparing to take quick, short breaths through their noses.  I love how creative they can be…some of them said they were sniffing around for some carrots.  

Next I announced that we were going on an Easter Egg Hunt…The kids were so excited!! I had hidden some plastic eggs around the room with a special surprise inside.  Each child got to find one egg and bring it back to their yoga mat.  Then one by one, each child opened their egg and found a sticker inside (animals, insects and objects associated with Easter or Spring) and got to lead the class in doing the yoga pose on the sticker.

 

Some of the Poses we did together were:

Easter Bunny (Rabbit)

Butterfly

Bee (Bumblebee Breath)

Bird

Frog

Bug

They even got to make up some poses like Snail, Chick and Egg Pose.

Hope this inspires you to have Easter fun with your students or kids at home.  It’s a great way to reuse those easter eggs for a rainy day activity too!

HAPPY EASTER to everyone!

Free Training Call to Grow your Kids Business Tomorrow!

There’s still time to register for tomorrow’s  online training and will be hosting 2 free training calls this month!

This is an invitation for all kids yoga, dance, movement teachers or anyone who has a unique program you are eager to share

with children.

 

Are your struggling to fill your classes and promote your kid’s yoga/dance/movement program?

 

Are you intimidated or by the idea of running a business and approaching potential clients?

 

Are you ready to increase enrollment and attract clients who appreciate what you are offering?

 

JOIN US FOR THIS FREE TRAINING CALL

 

WHEN:     TUESDAY APRIL 8^TH 2014 AT 7:30PM EST or

       TUESDAY APRIL 15^TH AT 1:30PM EST

 

ON THIS BRIEF CALL, YOU WILL DISCOVER HOW TO:

              

                CREATE YOUR OWN UNIQUE VISION FOR YOUR YOGA PROGRAM AND BUSINESS

 

                 IDENTIFY YOUR NICHE AUDIENCE WHO WILL BE DRAWN TO YOUR SERVICE

 

                CRAFT A MISSION STATEMENT THAT EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATES YOUR MESSAGE           

                         

You may have all the resources you need to teach your program to children, but the idea of running a business may scare you a little.  

 

I can help because I have been there. 

 

In all my years of growing two children’s yoga businesses from scratch, I have learned what works and what does not work.  I developed this training to guide you through an effective step by step program to grow a fruitful kids yoga business.    

 

You will learn to plant the seeds, nurture them and watch them grow naturally and organically into YOUR vision.  

 

This “playshop” will provide all the tools you need to develop and launch your kids yoga or service business while having fun!

 

If you are READY to share your vision with children and grow your business, come play with me!

 

SIGN UP by filling out the following form.

 

What People are Saying:

“Before participating in the Grow Your Fruitful Kids Yoga Business Playshop, I didn’t really know how to put myself out there in the right way to show my talent and passion for teaching yoga to children. Through this informative training, I figured out which path to take to build my yoga business.  Betty provided coaching in business development, setting my rates, defining my mission and approaching potential clients.  Since the workshop, I have attracted 3 new classes and more to come! I highly recommend Betty’s training to anyone who wants to grow and promote their children’s yoga business.”

~Natasha, Children’s Yoga Teacher and Personal Health Coach New York City

“Betty is an intuitive yoga mentor that gets down to the nuts and bolts of what you need in your business. Following our one-on-one coaching call, I was able to provide viable options regarding payment for classes and not sell myself short.  Working with Betty has been so inspiring and has allowed me to tap into the clarity I required to pursue my children’s yoga specialization in Italy this year.  I also created a vision board using her Visioning tutorial and thoroughly enjoyed manifesting my business desires on paper.  Betty is a powerful and heart-based coach to have on your side.”

~ Katie Louw, Owner/Director of Over the Rainbow Yoga  Christchurch, New Zealand

Sticker Yoga Fun

STICKERS ARE FUN!

I remember having a sticker collection when I was a kid and begging my mom for a pack of stickers whenever we went to the stationery store. To this day, I still love using stickers to make gift wrapping and card giving special.

That’s why one of my favorite (and most inexpensive) props for my yoga classes are stickers.  

They come in a variety of shapes and characters…and kids love ’em!!  You can use stickers to teach any yoga theme …

animals, insects, flowers, trees, transportation, dinosaurs, super heroes

the possibilities are endless…

Stickers are also great for special occasions like Valentine’s Day, Easter or Christmas and make an extra special treat for the kids to take something home from yoga class!  

The best part about stickers is that you find them at your local Dollar Store or Target in the seasonal or stationery aisle.  Here are some I found at Dollar Tree for Valentine’s Day!

Stickers make for a super easy lesson plan because each child gets to choose their favorite sticker and lead the class in the yoga pose. Sometimes they even get to make up their own poses for animals that are not a yoga pose and that is sure to bring lots of laughs!

Part of the fun of teaching yoga is remembering the simple things that put a smile on a child’s face.

 

Stay in Your Heart~ A Muse Monday Poem