We've joined Change4Life, here is how you can too...

Change4Life is a nationwide movement that aims to help us all, but especially our kids, eat better, move more and live longer.

These days it’s easy to eat too much unhealthy food and get too little exercise. As a result, we end up with too much fat in our bodies.

The link between this fat and preventable illnesses such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer has been proven. Children are particularly vulnerable because the habits they get into when they are young can turn into health problems when they’re adults. In fact, if we carry on as we are, 9 out of 10 of today’s kids will grow up with dangerous levels of fat in their bodies.

Anyone can join Change4Life and it is full of lots of great information for keeping you and your children healthy.

You can join by visiting http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/why-change-for-life.aspx

A Beaming Pancake Day

It's pancake day! We all love pancakes, with lemon, sugar, honey, chocolate....the list goes on. Why not set the theme of the day with a little yoga, a sun salutation to wake up the day and a little game of making the pancake. Sit with your legs straight in front of you, bring the soles of your feet together so your legs make a diamond shape. using one arm pretend you are holding the outside of a large bowl and with the other arm you are going to mix the pancake mixture. Your whole family can sit in a circle and go around the circle in turn saying "Today is pancake day and I am going to put on my pancake....." As you move around the circle you must remember the items your family have already placed on the pancake and then add another one of your own. This game is great for memory and concentration and lots of fun : )

HAPPY PANCAKE DAY FROM BEAMING BUDDHAS X

What is Family Yoga?

What exactly is family yoga?

Family yoga is a way for the child and carer to communicate, work together, enjoy each others company, bond, keep fit and active and have fun.

We start with some warm ups, simple exercises for children and carers to follow, to raise our heart beat and warm up our bodies. Yesterday we did giant yawns, shake wiggle and roll, jumping on our trampolines and skipping. Once we have warmed up our bodies we do some yoga postures. Yesterday we learnt 'Table', 'Cat', 'Cow', 'Twisted Cow', 'Child', 'Down dog' and 'lunge'. The carer gave the child a massage by pretending to make pizza on their back and the child then got the opportunity to do the same to their carer. Next we played a game to explore breath. I handed over to each person a straw and a cottonwool ball and got them to blow the cottonwool up the mats. It was lovely to see how the children progressed from sucking the straws to realising it was the out breath that blew the cottonwool, and eventually the 2 & 3 year olds learnt to direct the straws to blow the cottonwool in the right direction. It was funny to see some of the carers adding ramps by rippling the mats, it began to look like crazy golf! Next came the mind yoga, with a memory game, where carers and children were put into groups and parents took turns to take away an item and the children had to guess what was missing. The session was concluded by carers getting to lie in the 'corpse' position with a calming eye pillow and the children lying on the carers tummy cuddling up to teddies whilst listening to calming music and me reading a story about a girl who had lost her tummy button!

It is a fun and creative exercise session for child and carer and it enjoyed by all, even for the quietest of children, by the end of the class they are wanting to join in. The classes are run in a block of 6 spanning over 6 weeks, with the carer and child being awarded a certificate of attendance at the end of the course.

For more information or details of our current Family Yoga classes please contact us for more details.

t: 07950 277877 e: nikkola.woods1@gmail.com w: http://www.beamingbuddhas.co.uk

What is kids yoga?

Hear the word 'Yoga' and it is easy to think of a load of children in a hall doing sun salutations and standing poses and then thinking how on earth will they manage this!

Kids Yoga is taking elements of yoga and putting them to music, story and song. The result is a fun and great way to exercise whilst giving the children tools to increase their confidence.

The other day I took a well known children's story book - 'We are going on a Bear Hunt' and put simple yoga moves with the story. My two daughters, 5 and 3 loved it and we did the sequence 4 times that evening before I had to call it a day, much to the disappointment of my daughters!

Once you know some yoga poses yourself, with these in mind whilst reading simple stories you will be surprised at how easy it is to make a sequence and your children love it as they can really get involved with the story and without realising it are doing some exercise.

Yoga is great for teaching children how to relax. After a busy day this is really important and something that many adults struggle with. If you can teach your children how to do this at a young age just think of the great start you are giving them.

At the end of my classes I always incorporate a good 5-10 minute relaxation (time dependant upon age) and you can do this with your own children. How you do this is up to you. You can ask your children to lie on the floor, close their eyes, legs hip width apart and arms by their side or maybe get them to lie in their bed. (At this point I like to give them a lavendar pillow for their eyes). You can simply play them some relaxing music or a guided meditation from one of the CD's available try one of the online music stores for a good selection. If you have a child who finds it difficult to get to sleep on a night, you are likely to find this will improve it.

As you can see, kids yoga is easy to incorporate into every day life. Over the coming weeks I will be adding lots of photos and ideas for simple things you can use at home with your children.