Whenever I practice yoga at home I always encourage my daughter to practice with me. The answer I get is "no!" So yesterday when I wanted to watch Yoga Unveiled I was surprised that my daughter wanted to watch it with me. (Ok, if I am going to be honest, she wanted to stay up past her bedtime.)
Five minutes into the DVD she started asking me tons of questions. I was afraid it was over her head. Soon she ran out of the room. I thought she lost interest. Then she ran back into the room with a yoga mat. She set it up by the TV and imitated poses she was observing on the screen. "Look at me!" she kept yelling. "How does this look?" "Look at my flow."
Well, I did not get to see much of the DVD because my attention shifted to what was happening right in front of me.
My daughter is resistant to me teaching her specific dance or yoga movements. She doesn't want to be taught how to move; she wants to create the movements herself. I smiled and nodded as she showed me each pose. She asked me the Sanskrit names of the postures and was a serious yogi practicing her tree pose (Vriksasana.)
It dawned on me that I am teaching her by giving her exposure to dance and yoga. I am teaching her by example and by showing enthusiasm for something I love. This gives her permission to explore on her own terms, in her own time and in her own way.
And yesterday she taught me!
Share your enthusiasm for movement with the children in your life and watch how their curiosity will ulitmately lead them to movement explorations.
Sincerely,
Stacey
No comments:
Post a Comment