Children's Yoga Teacher Training

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INDIGO’s KIDS YOGA 18-HOUR TRAINING

Interested in teaching yoga to kids, tweens, and teens?  Take a weekend this summer to nuance your practice to fit the needs of our smallest yogis, learning all the tips & tricks you need to meet the growing needs of youth, create & deliver transformative practices,  and access the tools of yoga to hold a space of namaste anywhere you find yourself.  Divided into 10.8 sections and culminating with you delivering a practice that’s custom designed with your goals in mind, after our 18-Hour Indigo Kids Training you’ll hold very little doubt on the direction you’d like to take in designing classes for children of all ages - infant to teen.

(1) HOW TEACHING YOGA TO KIDS IS THE SAME, ONLY DIFFERENT - 2 HOURS

Using the ancient system of Ayurveda, the science founding our practice, we talk about what a prakriti is - or the unique composition of elements inside each individual - and how to use this understand to teach to people of all levels. We further learn about our own unique prakritis and how this fits into our perspective as an instructor.

(2) HONOR FOR WHERE WE WERE - 3 HOURS

Continuing to dive into elemental understanding, we break down our human experience from infancy to entrance into adult life and taking care of ourselves through cycle of the five elements - helping us understand how the smiling little kids looking to us for everything turn into the moody teens that readily ignore us. As we dive into the nuances of children, we learn how to incorporate their unique differences mindfully into our lesson plans.

(3) PICKING A THEME - 30 MINUTES

Connecting with children involves a lot more heart-based and a lot less logical interacting, so picking a theme for class we must make sure that we connect with the theme first before simplifying & adapting it to fit the needs of the children we teach. Here we meditate on what yoga means to us and how to carefully use this connection to found our classes.

(4) CHOOSING & SEQUENCING THE POSES - 2 HOURS

Once we know what message we want to deliver to the kids, we pick poses & exercises that coincide with this message in a way that flows seamlessly with the children we teach - no matter whether we must create a practice that appeals to the imagination, the emotional body, the rational mind, or a gentle mix of all three, we focus on creating a practice that flows with their unique spirits and needs in mind. Further learning how the poses physiologically affect our bodies, we start to control the way their energy flows by how we sequence the poses to limit the number of disturbances & surprises in class.

(5) ENERGY CONTROL & BREATHING - 3 HOURS

Even in figuring for energy in our postures, the unplanned has its way of sneaking its tricks into class! Knowing how to use our senses and our breath to create an energy we’re looking for (and to counteract energies that cause imbalance!) help us harness our seat in the controller’s position of class and deliver a wholesome, harmonious practice. From sense & moving meditations to pranayama, we learn how to deliver the most advanced tools of our practice to our tiniest of practitioners.

(6) ACTIVITIES & GAMES - 3 HOURS

Honoring the energy level of youth, we explore the faster paced, more playful side of yoga, talking about and exploring yoga activities and games. Smack in the middle of our training, this section’s more extraverted than our other sections to help us feel the playful energy we’re looking for in our kids yoga sessions. When we look to affect change on these children, we want to make sure we deliver a heart-based practice, and playing through and understanding how these games complement a traditional practice may just be illuminating!

(7) FIGURING FOR THE OUTDOORS - 30 MINUTES

When taking children outside the classroom, eliminating the confines of the studio space, mindful planning becomes more important than ever! By honoring our environment, we eliminate potential stressors by figuring for the bounty of the outdoors.

(8) RESOLVING CONFLICTS IN CLASS - 1.5 HOUR

No matter whether you deliver the perfect class or not - sometimes kids just don’t get along. In order to truly showcase the power of yoga, we must resolve these conflicts in a mindful manner that sets a precedence on the heart of us warriors of peace. Here we run through nonviolent communication exercise and discuss how to use Ayurveda & compromise to teach children the true heart of namaste in your actions.

(9) REFUELING WITH A HEART OF NAMASTE - 30 MINUTES

Finding ourselves amidst our kids yoga journey, embracing this amazing responsibility with a heart of namaste helps us keep calm and carry on, even when our environment isn’t making that easy. The elements of Ayurveda teach us of the journey in life - of all that goes into turning space into earth, turning potential into structure, and by honoring our journey as instructors, we learn to gracefully learn & embrace all class experiences.

(10.8) AIDS, BOOKS, & PROPS - 1 HOUR

To make your transition into teaching tots easy, we run through all of the amazing teaching aids out there and how they’re currently being used by a sea of other kids yoga instructors to deliver truly transformative practices.

(EPILOGUE) DELIVERING A KIDS YOGA SEQUENCE - 2.5 HOURS

We culminate our two days together, breaking up into groups to take turning acting like kids for one another to deliver each of our 20-30 minute themed class, complete with an energy control tune in, an activity or game warm-up, 3-5 posture exercises, and a guided relaxation cool down.