Body & Mind Spring Cleaning

This month I am featuring a Sun Salutation or otherwise known as the Sun Dance! The Sun Dance is our "Pose of the Month"!

The Sun Dance warms up the body and prepares it for more yoga. More yoga leads to a healthier, happier body & mind! Let's Spring Clean our bodies and mind with the Sun Dance! The first day of Spring is March 20th!
Read the poses below to learn how to recreate the Sun Dance at home for yourself and your child!

Pose of the Month: Sun Dance 'A'

We Practice the Sun Dance to warm up the body for more yoga and to show our appreciation for all the sun provides for us!

1.Mountain Pose & Reach for the Sun

How to: Stand in Mountain Pose with your feet together or hips distance apart. Hands down at your sides. Inhale & reach your arms above your head.
Benefits: Improves posture and stretches the side body. Helps build confidence.

2. Forward Fold

How to: From "Reach for the Sun" Pose, Exhale, Soften your knees and bend forward at the waist. Bring your hands to the floor. Bend your knees if you can't touch the ground or use a yoga block.
Benefits: Stretches the calves, hamstrings, & hips. Helps relieve stress and calm the brain.

3. Monkey Pose/Half-way Lift

How to: Inhale, Place your hands on your shins and reach your head forward and elongate your back. Relax your shoulders away from your ears. Kids can make monkey sounds!
Benefits: Stretches the front tors, strengthens the back, & improves posture. Helps reduce fatigue and anxiety.

4. Plank Pose

How to: From Monkey Pose, place your hands on the mat, fingers spread wide and hands strong. Walk or hop your feet back to lengthen your body. Your wrists should be directly under your shoulders. Keep your belly strong and push up through the middle of your shoulder blades.
Benefits: Strengthens arms, wrists, back, legs, and belly muscles. Builds endurance.

5. Chaturanga into Cobra Pose

How to: From Plank pose, exhale, and bring your front body to the floor by bringing the elbows into the side body and keeping your shoulders away from your ears, known as Chaturanga. Move into Cobra by placing the hands on the mat under the shoulders and press the upper body into a small back bend. Draw the shoulders down the back to create space between the shoulders and the ears. Kids can hiss to make snake noises!
Benefits: This stretches the spine, belly and lungs along with relieving stress and fatigue.

6. Downward Dog Pose

How to: Exhale, Come up to your hands and knees. Lift your hips in the air to make and upside down letter 'V' with your body. Kids can make dog barking noises!
Benefits: Stretches the shoulders and backs of legs. Strengthens hands, arms, and legs. Energizes the body.

7-10. From Downward Dog: Repeat Forward Fold, Monkey, Reach for the Sun, and Mountain to finish the Sun Dance

How to: From Downward dog, Exhale and hop or walk your feet to your hands. Inhale, do Monkey Pose. Exhale, do Forward Fold Pose. Inhale, Reach for the Sun Pose. Exhale stand in Mountain pose. Repeat the whole sequence from 1-10 in the image from beginning to end to continue warming up the body. Do the Sun Dance 2-3 times!
Benefits: Energizes the body and helps kids find their breath with movement.

Fun songs to play during the Sun Dance!

For 7 year olds & Under:
Casper Babypants-Take the Sun
Kira Willey- Let the Sun Shine In

For 8 year olds and up:
Beatles-Here comes the Sun
Xavier Rudd- Follow the Sun