Be Kind To Your Mother

Mothers, without them we wouldn’t be here.

They give us love, yummy food, cuddles, they read stories to us, clothe us and teach us mostly everything we know.

Appreciation is due big time!

Probably each day should be Mother’s day, but we choose one to especially remember all of the impossibly hard work that mothers do and the 110% they give to us.

Sure, Mum will always appreciate a thoughtful present, but Mother's Day isn't about how much money you shell out. In fact, the greatest gift of all may be spending quality time with her. And especially for the yoga Mums out there, here is some Mother’s Day yoga!

First, let Mum sleep in, then breakfast in bed… Then YOGA - Yay!

Let’s celebrate this today by having fun together, stretching each other, massaging each other, laughing at each other, opening and healing and hugging each other, and simply loving without holding back!

This class is for families to do together and can easily be taught online even though it requires lots of contact on your student’s end of the line.

A Recipe for a Very Dear Mother:

Take a cup of thoughtfulness

And add a lot of love,

Blend with smiles as warming

As the sunshine from above,

Add a cheerful spirit

And, of course, a heart that sings

And also the ability

To laugh at little things,

Stir in lots of tenderness

And understanding, too

And there you have the recipe

For mothers dear as you.

5 Things… Go!

We will practice this now, after I explain it… But every time that I call out “Five Things ______, Go!” you’ll be ready to do it again.

So whenever I call out our unique codeword with a certain theme, you both go through “5 things” within that certain topic. 

Some common examples would be:

• 5 Things that you're grateful about in your life
• 5 Things you love about your Mum/son/daughter
• 5 Things that you would love to do with with each other in the next few weeks
• 5 Things that would go into your perfect day
• 5 Things that inspire you about your Mum/son/daughter 
• 5 Things that you love that your Mum/son/daughter has done for you lately
• 5 Things your Mum/son/daughter has ever said that had a huge impact on you

You can either take turns counting out your five (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), or you can take alternating turns each round (1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5)

The versatility and playfulness of this exercise make it a total winner! 

Get creative - The exercise and the numerous lists that you sound off are only limited by your imagination.

Call it out a few times anytime during the class.

1 Minute each time

Walking Yoga Warm-Ups

Guide your students to walk behind each other, in pairs, and copy the movements of the person at the front. 

When the person at the front turns around, the other person becomes the leader and leads the movements. You can switch roles in this way whenever you feel like it. 

If there is an uneven number of students, you can flock in groups of 3, create a triangle and always follow the movements of the person on the front. 

Each time the leader in the front changes direction of where they face in the room, who is in front changes and they become the new leader.

Start with just walking, then try walking in Yoga Poses or other warm-up movements, imitate and stretch following the lead of the person in front.

Try:

• Warrior poses
• Lunges
• Frog jumps
• Standing twists
• Down dog walk
• Crawling like a warm
• Rolling
• Sky jumps
• Walking leg lifts
• Walking airplane poses (warrior 3) 
• And so much more!
  

 It’s a fantastic warm-up!

5 Minutes

Revealing Walk

Take a moment to talk about the importance of laughing at yourself…

Yea, it’s Mother’s Day, but mothers are not perfect, and children aren’t perfect either… Duhhh! We are all just doing our best and our imperfection makes us unique and special and beautiful in a one of a kind amazing way!

Now walk next to Mum/daughter/son imitating and exaggerating all of their little gestures. The more reaction you get from them, the better. 

It is not allowed to get offended in this game. The person walks in a regular way, while the other exaggerates their moves.

Now we’ll evolve it into the next exercise… Walk and Stop:

Much more grotesquely than before… Walk behind your Mum/daughter/son and imitate them picking on all of their little nuances. If they look back, stop and behave as if nothing was happening and you are totally innocent. 

I play it with my kids in the supermarket sometimes following random strangers with their shopping carts and even just on the street behaving as if nothing is happening when they look back… It is very entertaining… Try it!

5 Minutes

Salutation To Something Your Mother Loves

Did you know that the Sun Salutation is actually a salutation to the sun that was practiced in ancient India?

Now each family gets to create a salutation to something your mother loves!

Talk to your Mother and finds something she absolutely loves doing, something that gives her lots of satisfaction and joy, and creates a salutation to that.

Make poses (mostly partner poses) that symbolizes your object of adoration and the joy and pleasure it gives your Mother, and then string them into a beautiful sequence.

Your theme is a secret though and you are not going to reveal it to me or to the other groups… After about 5 minutes of preparation, each family will perform their salutation in front of everyone, and we will need to guess what you are saluting. 

Put matching music if you are up for some Yoga DJing!

Supper fun, and we get to do lots of yoga while rehearsing and while performing!

10-15 Minutes

Partner Yoga

Mother’s Day is the perfect time to nurture each other with some feel so good partner yoga!

Try this sequence or make up your own as you go. Adjusting for different heights and sizes is easy… One partner may need to bend their legs a bit more or scotch down a bit lower, and some poses where we are on top of each other may only work one way and not the other (so we don’t switch roles in them).

 

10-15 Minutes

Steam-Roller Massage

Mum lies down on their tummy first while the others roll over her like a Steam-Roller. 

When you roll over your Mum give her your full weight, it feels great! 

Don’t roll over their knees or head though… But squash them flat all the way from their shoulders to their thighs. 

It is very relaxing! Switch roles after a few minutes, but only if Mum wants too!

5 Minutes

Healing Energy Work

There are unseen things in the world around us that have a major effect on our lives; Mother’s love is a big one, and there are also thoughts, and energy… By paying attention, we can become more aware of them.

Sitting one in front of each other, rub your hands really quickly until heat is generated. Take almost a minute to do this.

Then, one partner keeps their hands low and facing up, while the other partner starts just above his palms with his hands facing down and slowly bounces his hands up and down. 

You can play with the way you move your hands to feel the energy: you can slide your hands to the side a bit, move your fingers like you are playing a piano; see if your partner can feel that!

You can also stretch the energy by slowly lifting your hands up. You can do this with your eyes open or closed… it makes no difference. 

After a minute or two, put your hands somewhere on each other's body and use the energy to heal each other before you switch rolls.

You can also continue from here to do some more healing. One partner sits with her eyes closed while the other partner, the healer, sits behind her. The healer now rubs her hands quickly until some heat is generated, and then puts her hands on her partner’s shoulders. After a few moments, when you guide all the healers to do so, she moves her hands to her partner’s shoulder blades, middle back, lower back, and returning to the shoulder blades. 

In the next step of this game, the healer brings her hands a bit away from her partner and keeps them over the shoulder blades for a few moments before moving again to the lower back etc... 

After a few more moments the healer can remove her hands and rest for a few more breaths before asking her partner if she still feels her hands on her back. The answer will usually be yes, even though the hands aren’t there anymore. Switch roles when ready.

5 Minutes

Hugging Meditation

Sit tall, take a deep breath in and spread your arms to the sides. As you exhale, bring your arms back in and around your Mum/daughter/son for the biggest hug ever!

You can sigh or make any noise that makes you feel pleasant as you do this.

Now stay in this hug for a long long time… Maybe a minute or two or more. Let your bodies soften and melt into each other. Find the perfect fit with each other. Rest in each others’ arms.

You can end the hug by gazing into each others’ eyes for a minute or so.

 

2-3 Minutes

AND… practice “ 5 Things _____ - Go!” one more time!