Teaching Kids Equality Through Yoga & Compassion

We are not all the same, but we are all equally important.

Recently I was very inspired by the world response to the Corona Virus. I think that it is the first time in my life where I’ve seen the world take action as a global community.

 

This is human evolution!

If in the past we have taken actions as an individual and as a community, and even as a country or a few countries, now with all of us connected through technology we are able to act on pressing needs as a global entity!

And this was just the beginning! Even more important topic to care for than pandemics are ahead of us… Social justice, animal liberation, world hunger, world peace…

Look how we are taking action now as a global community about racism after the sad and unacceptable events with George Floyd in the USA. 

The ripples of that have even arrived here in Australia where we went last Saturday on a #blacklivedmatter rally with 5,000 people in our small town of Byron Bay. Here the focused was more on the aboriginal communities who are experiencing very similar unjust treatment as people of colour in the USA.

And you know what? I’m certain that this social global action is just the beginning of something even bigger!

Silence is consent with social justice issues. We must be a part of the voice for equality and justice or we are contributing to the problem!

A song from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, “South Pacific” can remind us that children are not born prejudiced: 

You've got to be taught to hate and fear

You've got to be taught from year to year

It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear

You've got to be carefully taught 

Reversing the tide of discrimination, whether it be because of age, gender, disability, skin colour, language or other factors, requires a conscious effort by parents and teachers to teach children to think in terms of respect for diversity and compassion for the individual 

Surrounding children from a young age with activities that teach them about equality instils the idea of living in harmony and mutual respect for their fellow human beings and all beings.

Children can quickly zero in on the differences between themselves and others, resulting in a sense of shame or overzealous pride, depending on how they view their own traits.

We share this earth with each other and with so many non-human animals too and it is our job to make it a safe haven for all. ALL.

Now it's time for black voices to be heard. And each step we take towards more kindness will revibrate in all directions and to all that need it.

There is so much hope!

Things will get better… We need to make sure they do.

Bring: Vegan Smarties or Pompoms, Balls or a Crumpled Pieces of Paper

 

We are All Related

In groups of two find four things you have in common and tell the group. 

Now in groups of four find two things in common and share with the group. 

Finally, in groups of eight find one thing you have in common and tell the group. 

Give just a minute or two to each group to find their commonalities and emphasize how maybe we have a lot more similarities than we have differences.

Can be done online as well with a variation of the exercise trying to find as many similarities between us as we can. Have the discussion as a group and list them for your students on a piece of paper or on the board if you have one. Again, emphasize the idea that we have a lot more similarities than we have differences.

5 Minutes

Commending Each Other

 

in pairs: Take a minute or two to loudly command a friend or a family member... It's fun! But let them have a go at it too switching after a few minutes! Yoga is poses are very welcome here...

Commend a Group: Take turns in commanding the whole group to do anything! 

The group needs to start and stop at the same time as you command them to do different things. Throw some yoga poses in there too!

The intention here is for the students to feel inequality while being commended what to do… All while having fun and doing yoga!

5 minutes

 

The Rainbow Yoga Wave

The wave is one of our signature Rainbow Yoga exercises. Here we do the poses not all at the same time, but one after the other just like in a Mexican Wave at a soccer match.

My favourite thing about this is that for once, you don’t focus on the teacher. Actually, if you focus on the teacher you will get totally confused. Here you have to focus on your friends. Only when the friend on your left changes their movement you change yours.

We are all equal here and we share the experience.

If you are still teaching only online, do a Follow My Body Sun Dance here instead.

5 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.

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.

When it is all done, have a little discussion about the evolution we had here from commending each other so sharing equally the leadership in the clicking wave.

5 Minutes

 

Rainbow Smarties

It’s easy to get them vegan here in Australia… But any other vegan lolly can be used or even the cotton pompoms we use will do here

Anyone with experience of working or living with children will know their ability to detect injustice is highly developed – “but it’s not fair” is a regular refrain. However, we rarely ask them to channel this natural flair for fairness into a productive and critical discussion about the nature of equality, what constitutes fair treatment, and who gets to define such standards.

There are a couple of stages to this exercise:

1. Start by sharing out some sweets… We chose Vegan Smarties. Some kids were given 15, others only one. I kept the majority for myself. 

Was this fair? The kids will yelp in horror. Asked them to note their feelings about their allotted quantity. 

Some may be “upset”, “sad” and “angry”. Others will be “pleased” and “happy”. A pious few may be “disappointed” that the distribution was unfair despite having done well themselves.

Now ask them how we might redistribute for it to be fair. 

They may agree we should each get an equal number. So far, so predictable: fairness means equality. 

This simple format can also be used to test other ways of interpreting fair treatment. In what situations might inequality be a better approximation for fairness?

 

2. Now divide the group down the middle: One side will be “children” and the other side “adults”. 

Who ought to get a greater share of the Smartie supply? 

Suggestions may vary, but most will agree that the children should get more because they wanted them more. Adults were interested in other things, like work and computers and their child’s progress in school. Fairness might actually mean equal happiness, not equal distribution.

So give the “adults” money (just cents) and set the high price of one Smartie for a cent. Cue outrage. If the children had no money, how could they be expected to pay?

You can move on to some more challenging scenarios. Make them all adults, but still only half had the money needed to purchase sweets. 

Was this fair? Some may suggest that those with money might have worked for it, and were therefore more deserving. Others may claim that you have given out the money arbitrarily and that we did not know whether they had worked hard, or just been handed an unfair advantage.

Some may suggest that the Smarties should still be shared out equally, irrespective of spending power. Or perhaps there should be a minimum that everyone receives, with the lucky few being able to supplement his or her supply by buying extra?

These various Smartie-scenarios have some unsubtle parallels to real-life issues, and it will only take little provocation for students to make the links. 

Talk about people’s differing needs and wants, and about poverty. Debate whether fairness was the most important aspect of society... Could we apply our small-group discussions to the wider world?

The point of this lesson is not to provide answers, but to provoke debate.

15 Minutes

 

Yoga Toss

 

Stand at one end of the room and organize the students to stand in 3 or 4 rows, each row farther from you. Give each student a ball or a crumpled piece of paper and ask them to throw it into the basketball basket that you’ll be making by circling your hands.

This is about privileges and social mobility.

The students represent the country population. Everyone in the country has a chance to become wealthy and move into the upper class by scoring a shot into the basket.

The students in the back may complain that they don’t have the same chances in scoring as the students in the front - This is how privilege looks like. We don’t all get the same opportunities.

The people in the front may be less aware of their privilege… But they should advocate for the people in the rows behind.

Again there is no one answer here to right and wrong or what should be done or what is more important or what brought us to be in a certain row. This is to provoke more thinking about how the world is and what we may be able to do to make it a bit better.

5 Minutes

 

Yoga Basketball

Divide the group into two. Each group chooses one person to be the basket and they assume Chair Pose with their hand circled in a hoop shape on their respective sides of the ‘court’.

The rule in this game is that you can only PASS OR RECEIVE the ball to another team member or shoot it into the hoop if you are in a yoga pose, any pose. If you pass or catch the ball not in a yoga pose, the ball will pass to the other team.

Every time the ball goes through a Human Hoop, the team must change the person who is the basket.

You can keep counting points or just play for fun!

Guide the kids to notice how much more fun the game is if everyone needs to play by the same rules, this is equality!

5 Minutes

 

Outside Different, Inside The Same

 

First we all breathe… So breathe deeply and do your favourite pose.

We all have 2 legs (unless if someone doesn’t)... So do a pose of your choice on 2 legs. The poses can all look different.

We can all stand on 1 leg (unless if someone doesn’t)... So do a pose of your choice on 1 leg. The poses can all look different.

We all have 2 hands and 2 legs (unless if someone doesn’t)... So do a pose of your choice with 2 hands and 2 legs on the floor. The poses can all look different.

We all have 2 hands (unless if someone doesn’t)... So do a pose of your choice with only hands, and nothing else, on the floor. The poses can all look different.

We all have 2 eyes, 2 ears, a nose and a mouth (unless if someone doesn’t)... So do a funny face of your choice.

We all need to rest sometimes… So lie down on your back and close your eyes.

We all have a heart… So send love to someone or to a group of people that really need it now.

We all have a mind… So let’s use it now to think about one thing that we can do to make the world a better place.

5-10 Minutes

Want to learn how to share yoga and mindfulness with your children at home or with your students at school?

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