At the Octopus group, yoga has been a theme for quite some time. Guided, body-oriented yoga sessions are offered regularly for the children. In recent months, our employee Laura D`Amico has deepened the theme on the group as part of a project and expanded it to all levels of yoga.
During this project, we dealt not only with our bodies, but also with our social interaction, our breath, our senses, as well as our thoughts and feelings. Together we went on a journey of discovery and were able to explore valuable treasures within ourselves and in our social interaction. The children visibly enjoyed this conscious time.
While the children had great fun exploring different new exercises and methods in the various sequences, their mindfulness, self-regulation, sensory perception, self-confidence, sense of community and much more were stimulated and promoted along the way. The children took the opportunity to get to know themselves, their bodies and their friends even better and to deepen their relationship with themselves, as well as with the others involved in the project, and to raise it to a new level. Now that the children already know quite a bit about the subject, they want to pass it on.
The children love to get involved and take responsibility for themselves. For this reason, we are currently experimenting with the approach of yoga by children for children. This means that the children, who are already familiar with the topic and structure of the yoga classes, are allowed to lead them partially or completely for other interested children in my presence. Since the children are used to participate, new and creative ideas are not long in coming. We are excited to see where this exciting path will lead us.