The Prana Lab

Any Teens who want to do this!?

👏 would love to see yoga or qi gong or mindfulness whatever you’d like to call it embraced more and embedded within the school culture instead of just a yoga club. Come on schools ‘Find YOUR Brave’ make the change you wish to see!! 😉

According to official NHS figures, nearly 13% of children aged between 5 and 19 - at least one million at any time - have at least one diagnosable mental health disorder. Children’s Mental Health Week aims to throw a spotlight on the importance of these issues and how we can tackle them.

The theme this year is ‘Find your Brave’. Bravery comes in all shapes and sizes, whether it’s trying something new, opening up about your feelings or reaching out and asking for help.

Child pose, is a great comfort pose to offer - a time to go within and reflect. Then slowly we uncurl and if we would like to we can share how we are feeling. In our children’s yoga classes we always try and open up a space for feelings, reflection and connection.

Let’s get yoga into all schools - within the curriculum where ALL children have access to it. If you have a chance to make this possible in your child’s school, please do.

Awareness is key... I really recommend reading this article whether you have a teen or will have in the future! I think this is an issue we may all have to navigate at some point! What are your thoughts 💭??

Tether Yourself: The Enlightening Talk Parents Aren’t Having Can Keep Teens from a Damaging Drift “I'll take your hand when thunder roarsAnd I'll hold you close, I'll stay the courseI promise you from up aboveThat we'll take what comes, take what comes, love.”-Imagine Dragons, Walking the WireWe bought my daughter a smartphone when we moved to a large metropolitan area a couple years ago. Sh...

So grateful to be attending a special 2 day workshop in London (with my primary teacher turned yogi mum!) exploring the power of prana - the movement of energy through our nervous system response to our fascial network.

This workshop brings a sort of synergy to my current research about fascia and neuroscience... where fascia is stuck, energy gets stuck. But with the breath and working in the poses with this awareness we find ease within movement and even strength!

I wasn’t sure what my My New Years intentions should be... but today that sense of curiosity and individuality felt right... I kind of had that light switch moment today! For years I’ve been cultivating this sort of approach to education but my yoga classes weren’t quite matching this... there was definitely an element of play and exploration but I was still following a shape based practice (even though I’ve been moving away from this in my own practice)! But that’s all I’d known with my kids yoga! Hopefully I can bring this sense of play and freedom of movement into classes for kids and teens!

New Years Intention - stay CURIOUS! Always the student! 😃

Special one for all those Teen girls that love an adventure! 😉

Free Wilderness Science and Mountaineering Program for Adventurous Girls Applications are now open for this unique, tuition-free wilderness science program!

Email your local candidates to make young people's mental health a priority. This election, email your local parliamentary candidates calling on them to Act Early on young people's mental health if they're elected.

Last week in our Teen class we looked at FIRE (and in yogi terms our solar plexus chakra)! This week we address some of the self-doubt that arose and will look to explore our self-compassion and kindness to coincide with World Kindness Day.

Still a couple of places left if your Teen would like to join!

🌍 💗 WORLD KINDNESS DAY 💗 🌍

A day for us to reflect on times when we have been shown kindness and think about ways in which we can continue to treat others, ourselves and our planet kindly.

💫 BE KIND TO YOURSELF
I believe kindness starts with you... exercise self compassion today - take time to erase any negative thoughts of self-doubt and replace them with kind words of encouragement! You are WORTH it.

💫 BE KIND TO OTHERS
Now go and share your kindness with the world here a few ideas to get you going (and it may take you beyond today 😉 😃)

🌟 Compliment at least 5 people
🌟 Let the person in line behind you go ahead of you
🌟 Leave happy notes 📝 or kindness rocks
🌟 Send an uplifting text to a friend and/or family member
🌟 Reach out to a friend or family member you haven’t spoken to in a while.

🌍 💚 WORLD KINDNESS DAY 💚🌍

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” Lao Tzu
💚

The Kindness Elves (from the Imagination Tree) will be visiting our younger yogis in class and in fact they have been helping to spread some kindness all week during Anti-bullying week!

🌟 L I S T E N when people speak, truly hear what they’re saying before you answer or share your thoughts.

🌟 H E L P friends with anything that needs to be done e.g. carrying bags, doing homework, by standing up for them and being a good advocate.

🌟 I N C L U D E by inviting someone new to join your games, notice those who are lonely and bring them into your group

🌟 P L A Y games in groups and pairs, with siblings or parents. Share fairly and take turns.
💚
Will you take the Be A Good Friend challenge this week?!

This is a sad fact that we’ve seen coming for some time now! 😢

NHS cancellations of child mental health sessions have risen by 25%, according to figures obtained by Mind.

CAMHS in England cancelled 175,094 appointments with young people between Aug 2018 and July 2019 - 25% more than the 140,327 which were cancelled during the same period in 2017-18.

NHS cancellations of child mental health sessions jump 25% Staff shortages and growing demand reported to be behind annual rise in England

We enjoyed sharing Halloween last night with some spooky Teens (and tweens)! Get ‘dem bones 🦴 moving! 😉

Miss Bones had a wonderful time in our Chakras class! I used crystals as we have a lot at home as my eldest is so drawn to them and picked out a lot in India! AND from experience a lot of kids love to use their whole body and senses to learn and explore, so using crystals just seemed a fun, tactile way to explore the energy in our body! during our session each energy centre is surrounded by postures and positive affirmations before coming to finish with a 🌈 rainbow meditation! This has to be one of my favourite classes! 💗

Anyway, it fascinates me how drawn to crystals my eldest is and it’s made me want to learn more about the connection of crystals and chakras and yoga so I jumped at the chance to learn a bit more whilst nourishing myself! I had an amazing time at yogakind studio yesterday!



We are energy!

If you want to know a bit more about the exploration of the science behind chakras take a read of this blog post...


https://www.welltheresthis.com/single-post/2018/07/05/Week-27-Is-There-Scientific-Proof-for-the-Existence-of-Chakras-A-Brief-Introduction-to-Chakras-and-The-Compelling-Science-Behind-The-Energy-Found-Within-Us-All

Autumn finds are amazing for some ’mindfulness’! AND you don’t have to wait until you get to a class! Have you ever noticed the shapes and patterns on each shiny conker and how it feels in your hand!? Go on... take a look! Those shiny beauties are just calling out to be picked up and looked at and held in the hand!

Y O G A and A R T

🧘‍♀️ Yoga isn’t just about stretching the body (that would be more like gymnastics!)... it’s all the other ’stuff’ too, like mind, body and spirit uniting! Some people talk about the 8 limbs and the origins of yoga (which I am constantly learning all about and questioning even after living in India for 10 years! !) 🧘‍♂️
BUT how do I intertwine and weave the mind, body and spirit during sessions!?

Lately I’ve been using A R T to express our thoughts and feelings and to notice our breath! I’m not very outward at speaking about my thoughts and feelings and I guess it’s the same for some children, so to give them another possible outlet is important! In the Lab we like to experiment and explore...

I’ve found It’s been really opening and if you’ve seen me in action or we’ve chatted you’ll know I am a huge fan of teaching / introducing breathing techniques in fun and engaging ways! If I could only choose one skill through yoga (obviously I’d love it all!!!) to take away, it would be this:

P R A N A (pranayama)

Life Force . The Power of the Breath .

Do you know any Teens who would like to join in tonight?

M E N T A L . H E A L T H

According to research conducted through Young Minds 1 in 10 children and young people, aged 5-16, suffer from a diagnosable mental health problem.

Feeling good is WORTH investing in!

Look after yourself. There are some great tips on Young Minds site to help children (and you) believe in yourself!

https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/looking-after-yourself/believe-in-yourself/

Believe in Yourself It’s common to suffer from low self-esteem at some point in your life, but you can do things to make it better. Help boost your wellbeing by trying these 6 steps.

If you have really little ones! Check out these groups... they also hold regular meet ups and social events! Sareena is just lovely and you will get so much out of these sessions!

Availability in October❤️
Baby Massage 3 places
Baby Yoga FULL
Sensory, Stretch & Play 1 place
Music Stars 3 places

Come and join a relaxed, friendly and small class.
A great chance to meet new mummies, further develop the bond between you both, get support and connect with others over a cuppa and cake.

www.serene-baby.com
to read the fantastic benefits and to book the final places left.

🌳 N A T U R E 🌳

Do your kids LOVE collecting conkers as much as mine!? They are 5 and 8 and we spent hours the other day at the park aiming a stick at those conkers that were still in the tree but almost open! The joy when they would fall to the ground was just so infectious! Anyway who am I kidding I’m well into my 30’s and I LOVE collecting conkers and I think my nan at 92 still collects them to rid the house of spiders 😉!

Don’t know what to do with them!? I tried once to put them in all corners of the house to repel spiders 🕷 BUT we are still a haven for them!

Now here’s something you could use them for!!!! 😃
I’ve been using soap nuts and an eco egg for some time now... BUT this is free and fun to do with the kids!

Get collecting those CONKERS!

A good one to print out and put up on the board!

TODAY’S TIP


whatever the reasons coughs and colds have already joined us and the kids have had an awful cough... I try to look for natural alternatives as much as possible and would secretly LOVE to be a herbalist too! Here’s my tips...

🍍 PINEAPPLE 🍍

Drink it or eat it or make a syrup... it contains bromelain, an enzyme with anti-inflammatory properties. It fights infection and kills bacteria and it is said to suppress coughs five times more effectively than shop bought cough syrups! I encourage you to do your own research tho and be cautious if pregnant!

ELDERBERRIES

At the weekend we went foraging for elderberries to make our super vitamin C immune boosting syrup! Elderberries are abundant in and around Bedford (I always try to find ones away from main roads) and the syrup is pretty easy and fun to make with the kids! This should see us through the winter! If you’d like to know more, let me know!!

A little mid week message... YOU are awesome

A N X I E T Y

A topic that has come up in many a conversation I have had with parents over this past year.

Anxiety comes in many different shapes and forms. There’s anxiety that’s physical, anxiety that’s emotional, anxiety that’s mental, and anxiety that are all three at once. There is anxiety caused by traumatic events, and anxiety caused by seemingly nothing at all.

The idea is not to rid yourself of anxiety but to learn to manage it! I thought I would share some of these helpful tips for an anxious child.

There are many ways to control the panic and anxiety, including meditation, exercise, breathing exercises, mindfulness and diet. One of my favourite parts of our yoga classes is the BREATH

”Breathe… always remember to breathe. Take time to inhale. It’s the simplest thing, but is forgotten in times of panic.”

However, as mentioned anxiety comes in many different shapes and forms... I'd like to talk a little about SOCIAL ANXIETY. Social anxiety is self-consciousness that goes beyond common shyness. Kids with social anxiety disorder are so worried about being judged negatively by others that they are terrified of doing or saying anything that may cause humiliation. I would say most kids experience these types of feelings at some point... its when these issues are left or they mount and are persistant that they become a problem.

Interestingly The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – the organisation that produces guidelines on best-practice in healthcare – says mindfulness isn't actually helpful for social anxiety... I would say building self-worth and self-esteem perhaps is! And teaching our (adults as well as) kids kindness, empathy, self-esteem and building a community where they don't fear making mistakes. I would LOVE to see more importance put on social development and PHSE in Schools! That being said, the relationships and health aspects of PSHE education will be compulsory in all schools from 2020... fingers crossed it will be more than just 1 hour a week and will be embodied and embedded within the culture of daily life.

What to Do (and Not Do) When Children Are Anxious Instead of helping kids avoid what they’re afraid of, pointers for helping them learn to tolerate their anxiety and function as well as they can, even when they’re anxious.

💗 Love this concept and really hope it inspires and excites kids... music whether listening or playing can support so many other areas of development (for example there are plenty of studies to show the correlation between maths and music!)! We used to go to a fab music group when the kids were small but now they are a bit older they haven’t felt inspired to play about with any musical instruments (maybe because I don’t... although would love to learn to play the handpan and cajon) so I know I’d love for my boys to experience this!

I pretty much think Music IS mindful
But not only that... meditation (a form of being mindful) can help with learning and playing a musical instrument!

Let’s give this Bedford initiative our support! 💗

Gigs4Kids is now live across Bedford Borough 🎶 Join Bedford Creative Arts, Music for Bedford Borough, The Culture Challenge, Philharmonia Orchestra, The Pad Presents, Arts Council England & Bedford Music Cooperative in kick starting children’s love of live music by donating now! We want to raise a and make some noise in primary schools across Bedford 🙌 Visit https://www.spacehive.com/gigs4kids to find out more

Sorry for the silence in August... last minute plans took me away for most of it and without wifi my apps started to shut down due to the amount of photos I was taking ! But in all honesty I didn’t try all that hard to sort it out either as it felt quite good too!



I hope you have all been enjoying the weather and having your own adventures whatever they may be.
But don’t forget to take care of yourself too...

I’ve been connecting, grounding and adventuring with some of the most important people in my life and giving them 💯 of me! I feel refreshed, calm and ready to take on the next adventures.


Now the kids are back at school bear with me whilst I catch up 😬 in the Lab! 🙏

For those of you heading

As Dr. Seuss said “You’re off to great places, today is your day, your mountain is waiting so get on your way!”

We wish you all the best for this new year with new beginnings and new adventures.

Just remember...

YOU . ARE. E N O U G H.

Packing resources this morning for a fun adventure into the garden to find mini beasts... we even have a special guest joining us! My own real live Stick Insects!! What a fab week I’ve been spending at Putnoe Woods Pre- school ! Everyone has been amazing! Where will we go tomorrow...

🙌
I’ve been researching the gold standard and schools who have achieved this and I am blown away by some heads and school efforts! Placing well-being as a priority is crucial! Come on Bedfordshire! 😉

Junior school offers yoga and deep breathing to improve pupils' wellbeing It's the first in the region to receive a gold standard mental health award

In my experience, when a school embraces mindfulness including mindful movement (Yoga, Tai Chi, Or Capoeira) and meditation and actually create a holistic way of educating EVERYONE benefits! Teachers, students and parents! Yoga, mindfulness and meditation doesn’t just stop at the students... Working on teachers’ (and parents) wellbeing is just as important!

I love attending Peacethruyoga classes and Nadia's Therapy Shed sessions myself as it’s just as important for me to find the balance and self care!

Revealed: The experts tasked with improving teacher wellbeing Union representatives, education experts and school leaders have been appointed to an expert panel tasked with improving mental health and wellbeing of teachers

We’re all about empowering everyone, but this one’s close to home with a house full of boys!

Quote of the Day

PRIZE DRAW!

In celebration of the summer holiday break from school, we are inviting all children / teens of any school age to show us how yoga makes you feel!

For your chance to win, please draw, or create any type of art that you like that shows how yoga makes you feel.

Scan or photograph your artwork and send it to Yoga in schools by the end of August plus make a small donation of £1 (or more if you can) to Teen Yoga Foundation for your entry in to the prize draw.

Art is much like yoga - it is beautiful, unique and an expression of the individual, we love and celebrate it all so prize winners will be picked at random and revealed September 2019.

All pictures will be exhibited at the annual Kids Yoga Conference in London Nov 23-24th.

Prizes include:
1. Free yoga class for your school
2. OM vest top
3. Yoga mat

Along with other runner up prizes.

✨Good luck! We can't wait to see your creativity shine ✨

In our Pre-Teen class we were discovering our anatomy with Mrs Bones by fitting the puzzle together and looking at our energy centres otherwise known through yoga as our chakras. We went through a rainbow of poses with our crystals before having a Chakra shake and a rainbow guided meditation! Adding crystals really grasped their interest, I find kids are so drawn to them so if they chose they got to have a crystal to hold or rest on them during the guided meditation.

Thank you 9-12’s for choosing Harry Potter and the care of magical creatures! I have some Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts fans in the house so we were well equipped for today’s lesson about finding the magic within us and using the power of the breath! I’ve found that Harry Potter books (and movies) lend very well to having a growth mindset! Everything worth doing takes effort and “It is our CHOICES that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Having a growth mindset is an important aspect of success and a key indicator of how successful and happy a person will become. Luckily that is a skill that can be learned and mastered with practice!

S P A C E S

This Saturday my regular 3-8 year old yogi’s have picked the book ‘Never Tickle a Tiger’ if you’d like to join us this week at 9.30am let me know.