I love teaching partner poses. Partner work builds trust and promotes healthy and safe touch. Kids these days spend so much time alone playing their video games with little interaction it’s no wonder social skills are so different from when we were kids. They just don’t know how to play anymore. (doesn’t everyone who grew up in the 70’s say that?)
Kids LOVE to do partner poses. I have kids who ask for it every time I teach them. It naturally builds communication and promotes a shared experience.
“How does that feel?”
or
“Are you ok?”
gets kids to feel empathetic and takes them out of their natural state of being egocentric. I usually start with the little ones and have them help each other do tree pose. With the older kids you can start playing with trust and poses that requires each partner to use each other like a wall. We build up to poses like double dog where communication is key and a spotter is important.
Choosing partners can get tricky- I usually have the kids pick someone new each time, that way kids don’t get left out and everyone gets to work with each other. When it’s all over, the kids feel naturally relaxed and happy.
And really, who wouldn’t want that?
Carly Marie says
December 1, 2010 at 3:37 amLani, I think you are amazing. I wish my girls could attend your class 🙂
xx