I Want To See You Be Brave

Fear is a bad reason to do or not do anything. Fear causes people to respond in a defensive way rather than with trust, confidence and self-worth.

Think about all of those missed opportunities that pass us by just because we were not brave enough to go for them…

When faced with a choice, think “what would I do if I was not afraid?” That would be the right decision.

Of course, reasonable fear keeps us safe from day-to-day dangers, but we are also burdened by a lot of unnecessary fear and anxiety caused by upbringing, social structures, our own mental processes and more. Those fears prevent us from shining and from experiencing life to the fullest.

If we can figure out what is stopping us from being our best selves, pursuing our dreams, expressing ourselves etc. wouldn’t we be feeling so much freer and happier? 

And it doesn't stop there - the benefits of being brave are not just for oneself - Brave people also speak up for others and for the environment and stand up to make a difference in the world.

So I would like to see all of us be brave! For our own sake, for each other and for the future of the earth.

To Bring: Paper and colours, a dice, blindfolds, a bowl (not fragile ones) with water in them (maybe even ice water), and things for a Firefighters Rescue Relay Race (see below).

What Are You Afraid of?

Do you feel anxious sometimes?

Do you hesitate to make decisions?

Are you afraid to speak your mind? Brave people are also afraid, but they don’t let their fear stop them from doing the right thing or from pursuing their passions. They do it all despite their fear.

One of the most important things to do to be brave is to figure out exactly what is causing our fear or anxiety. 

Is it fear of the dark? Is it a worry about something in the closet? Is it monsters? Is it spiders? Is it fear of failure or embarrassment? Are you worried about what other people might think?

Figuring out the cause of the fear will help you come up with ways you can overcome it.

Give each child paper and colours and ask them to draw their fears.

After a few minutes when they have progressed in their creations, ask them to keep drawing but now make fun of their fear (add a clown nose or a funny dress or wig…). 

 

Do you remember that creature from Harry Potter, I think it is called a Boggart, where when it is observed it materialises into the observer’s worst fear and the only way to vanquish it is to make fun of it? 

Such a cool way to transform our fears, anxieties and worries!

5-10 Minutes

 

Clicking Wave

This is very similar to the Rainbow Yoga Wave where we pass the pose from one to another around the circle as you have seen in the previous exercise. The only difference here is that instead of only the teacher sending the poses to be passed around the circle, the role of deciding the next poses keeps passing around the circle too. 

So here is a chance to be a bit brave and be on stage for a second or two choosing the next pose, right?

The teacher passes the first pose and it goes in a wave all around back to him/her, but then they point their fingers at the next person on their right and make a clicking sound passing the leader role to them. After the new pose is passed around the circle the leader clicks to the next person to choose the next pose in the wave etc.

But don’t worry too much if you are next to choose the pose, you have the whole circle of poses to plan your cool move building on the previous one. No words.

5-10 Minutes

 

“Be a warrior!”

Use dice to have the kids each take a round playing the game “Be a warrior!”. Each child takes turns rolling the dice.

If they roll a

1 - The entire class must then get into Warrior 1 pose

2 - Warrior 2

3 - Warrior 3

4 - Peaceful Warrior

5 - Humble Warrior

6 - Pick a warrior pose and do it with a partner!

Every time you do a pose (any of the numbers) have everyone say together the affirmation “I am brave!”

Stage 2… Now ask each warrior to be even braver and have them repeat the game but using a blindfold (unless if you are the person rolling the dice)!

5 Minutes

 

Finger Lifting

We are going to test our bravery, and magic powers, here together!

Have one student lie down and the rest of the students (at least 6 to make it easy and as many as can fit. With big groups you can have more than one circle like this happening at a time) circle around them and put each of their index fingers under the lying student.

When everyone is ready, working together, we lift the lying student up… And because the weight is shared between all of us it feels easy and it looks like magic.

Try it!

Everyone should have a turn.

5 Minutes

 

Falling Flying

It is easier if we break it down into simpler components… So first, divide into pairs and with your partner simply practice falling into each other’s arms. You can try falling forward or falling backwards. And if you feel courageous and trusting, you can fall with your eyes closed.

Now as a group, we are all going to walk around the room and anyone at any time can say “falling forward” or “falling backward”. When they call and fall we need to rush to catch them.

If you actually fall, it is not from a big distance so there isn’t really any risk for injury here. It is just about trusting that someone will catch you.

If you find that the group is not calling “falling forward” and “falling backward” enough, challenge them to each say it for at least 5 times in the next minute.

When you got really good at that, you can also add calling “flying!”. When someone calls “flying!” 2-4 people rush to them, lift them up by their shoulders and legs and make them fly around the room with their arms spread to the sides like wings - FUN!

Keep also calling “falling forward” and “falling backward” with the now added “flying!”.

5 Minutes

 

Trust Circle

Standing up, gather in circles of 6-10 people. One person stands in the middle with arms crossed over their chest. The people in the circle take one leg back into a Warrior 1 Pose and have their hands ready to catch the person in the middle. You want the circle to be pretty tight to start with.

With children under the age of 10, I would recommend having an adult with each circle ready to catch the person in the middle at any time with their long grown-up arms.

Now, the person in the middle closes their eyes and falls while the circle catches them and even pushes them around - It is even more fun if everyone in the circle makes tribal and jungle animal noises while at it!

After a minute or so, help the person in the middle find their centre and switch roles.

Try also Zig Zag Circle: Everyone stands in the circle (it needs to be an even number of people) holding hands. Give everyone in the circle alternating names (like Mermaids and Dolphins) or numbers (like 1 and 2), and then guide all of the number Mermaids to fall forward while all of the Dolphins fall backwards. It the groups should counterbalance each other like this… But it doesn’t need to be perfect… Then call “switch” and the Mermaids will fall backward and the Dolphins forwards.

5 Minutes

 

Crowd Surfing

ONLY FOR WELL-BEHAVED AND TRUSTWORTHY GROUPS.

This is one of my favourites but it is a high-risk activity so please do it to your discretion and always make sure that you are there yourself to be able to catch the jumper even if no one else is.

Have students jump from a chair or a table or a stage into the group's raised hands and be passed along to the end of the crowd. Always be a part of the crowd so you can catch your very brave students in the rare case that their classmates get distracted. 

Try to jump into the crowd facing backward – It’s fun!

5 Minutes

The Yoga Bravery Award Challenge

Here are a series of challenges to test your yoga bravery!

Water - Have everyone lie down with their feet up the wall. It is one of the best poses to ground yourself and come back to your central nervous system… But it is going to be a bit more nerve-wracking this time because we will do it balancing a water bowl (maybe ice water) on our feet!

After everyone is in position, the teacher will go around placing the bowls with water on everyone’s feet. See who can hold it for the longest then slowly remove the bowls.

Earth - Stand still as a mountain in your favourite standing yoga pose while the teacher tries to make you laugh by doing funny things and tickling you.

If you fail to stand still as a mountain, you join the teacher in trying to make others move or laugh.

Air - Twirl around and get totally dizzy and right away do a yoga pose. Try it with many poses… Even balancing poses :-)

Fire - This is going to be a Rescue Relay Race being brave firefighters (it’s like a little yoga obstacle course)...

Brave firefighters must be able to dodge falling embers (dodge ball), walk on narrow ledges (a narrow board on the ground), carry water buckets (or bowls of water) without spiling the water and whatever other obstacles are age appropriate for your group and are available around you.

To play the firefighter rescue relay race, divide the kids into two teams and have them line up at the starting line. At the other end of the space, place two sets of figures that need to be rescued, such as dolls or stuffed animals. You will need one doll per player. 

If you feel super creative, you can even tape paper flames along the route between the starting line and the dolls. 

The first players in line have to race to their dolls, jumping over the flames and passing all of the obstacles as they go. When they reach the dolls, they pick one up, place it over their shoulders and return (again avoiding the flames and obstacles) to their teams.

When the first players return, the second players must do the same, racing to rescue another doll from their pile. The first team to transport all of their dolls from the pile back to the starting line wins The Yoga Bravery Award.

10-15 Minutes

Stepladder Creation

There is a  technique commonly used in therapy as a way to gently expose kids to the feared situation or object so they can become less sensitive to it and learn a different response, it is called The Stepladder.

With a phobia, the feared object feels overwhelming and completely unapproachable. 

Step by gentle step, gradual exposure helps to build familiarity and confidence, so the child can feel more empowered and less helpless in the face of their fear.  

Let’s say there was someone who was scared of heights. This would make playing on slides very tricky – All that fun that would be missed! 

What do you think they could do to make themselves more okay with climbing the slide’s ladder? How could they get used to being higher on a ladder little bit by little bit?’

You can ask the kids just that and see what they come up with. 

Hopefully, they will say something like, ‘Well first ask them to climb onto a little step, then when they get used to that, ask them to go higher and higher until they get used to it.’ If they come up with something like this, they understand the stepladder approach.

If they don’t get it, some prompting may be necessary.

Now we are going to play out this concept using drama and lots of yoga poses!

Divide into pairs partnering with someone that has a similar fear to yours and build together a short yoga sequence (about 10 poses or so) that will describe with no words how step by step, gradually and safely, you could overcome your fear and live and enjoy life to its full potential.

Give the pairs about 5 minutes to create their sequence and then each pair will perform their creation to the rest of the group.

Put nice music to match their fears and even encourage some discussion after each performance.

Hopefully, this process will help the kids create, in a fun way, a strategy for themselves to overcome their fears and anxieties.

10-15 Minutes

Bravery Meditation

You know that there’s more for you to live out there.

You know there is more that you want.

But the fear starts creeping in, and it may even make you feel frozen right now.

So the intention of today’s meditation is to help you step into your courage.

To help you see that you have more of it than you can possibly imagine.

And to help you sit in the knowing that you have everything it takes to create the life that you love.

Go ahead and get into a comfortable position.

You can be sitting or lying down. And just start by taking a deep breath in, filling your belly up with air, and exhaling it all out.

Relax your hands. Relax your fingers. Feel your chest and your stomach and your legs get heavy with relaxation. And feel your body drop deeper and deeper into calmness.

You know that there’s more for you to live out there.

You know there is more that you want.

But the fear starts creeping in, and you want more courage but it

may even make you feel frozen right now.

So, take a deep breath in, and as you do, I want you to imagine your body getting firmer and bigger and stronger as the fear swirls around you.

With this courageous meditation, just imagine.

As you breathe it out, watch as that fear drifts away.

Breathe in…

And see yourself stronger.

Breathe out…

And let go of the fear.

Breathe in…

Stronger, more connected you.

Breathe out…

The fear.

The fear is always going to live around us in some way.

So all we can do is recognize it, and choose to take courageous action in the face of it.

Now… Take a second to think about something that you really want in your life.

Something or situation or habit that you want to attract.

Something that you know is not anything that you have at this exact moment, but something you need to work towards.

Hold that vision of what it is you want.

And see that as you hold that vision, that fear swirls around.

Just recognize it. Without feeling any heaviness.

Without making it mean anything.

And as you hold that vision of what it is you want, we’re going to take five deep breaths in.

And for each breath, I invite you to envision breathing in courage.

Give your courage colour.

Imagine yourself breathing in that colour more and more with every deep breath in.

Breathe in…

And breathe out all the way.

Deep breath in, breathing in the colour of your courage, watching it fill your body.

And breathe out.

Another deep breath in, more and more of your colour filling your body and your life with courage.

And breathe it out.

Breathe in, all the way in.

And breathe it out.

Last deep breath in, filling your entire being with the colour of your courage, feeling it emanate from you and surrounding you.

And breathe it all out.

Returning your breath to its normal rhythm.

Now take another look at that vision of what it is you want.

And watch as all the colours of fear have escaped from around it, and instead, that vision is illuminated by your colour of courage.

Your life is yours to live, my dear.

And you have everything you need to make it happen.

Take courage, I want to see you be brave.

5 Minutes