Five Fingered Family Yoga Story

Story by Shakta Kaur Khalsa/ Illustrated by Siri-Kartar KhalsaYoga Story developed by Radiant Child® Yoga Facilitators, 2008 and Shakta Kaur Khalsa

Tune in to begin:

To tune in, sit straight with legs crossed. Bring your palms together at the center of the chest. Close your eyes. Breathe in deeply, hold the breath for a second. Exhale. Repeat for a total of three times. Alternately, tune in with Ong Namo, Guru Dev Namo, three times; once for each deep breath.

Introduce book and concept of cooperation: When we work together to make something good happen we are powerful, just as when all five fingers work together, we can use our hand so much better.

Read page 4.1. Sheep Wag: Come onto your hands and knees. “Wag” your

bottom to one side and turn your head to look to that side. Breathe in as you do this. Then “wag” to the other side, turn your head and exhale at the same time. Move quickly for 1 minuteTo relax and bring flexibility to the spine and neck.

2. Shearing the Sheep: Sit back on your heels. Using your fingertips and starting at your head, make gentle downward strokes over your body in a smoothing, relaxing way. Breathe slowly with the movement. 20 secondsTo calm the mind and body.

3. Spinning the wool: Sitting on either the heels or with legs crossed, rotate one hand around the other at chest level. Go quickly! 30 secondsCoordinates the hemispheres of the brain. Watching the

hands helps coordination.

Read page 6.4. Fire: Group sitting on the floor in a circle. Interlace hands

and lift legs so everyone’s feet together in the center of the circle. “Wave” the arms gently so they resemble the movement of flames. Continue for 1 minute. End with fire dying down and forward fold.Cooperative exercise that works on the abdominal muscles and navel center for building focus and will power.

5. Strong Pose: This is called Archer pose. Stand with legs straddled. Bring front arm forward , lean into front leg. Back arm is bent at shoulder height. Hands are straight. Eyes look straight forward. Feel inner strength and breathe for 30 seconds.Then repeat the exercise on the other side.For inner strength and focus. Good for opening up the pelvis and heart center.

Read page 8.

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6. Walking through the forest: Standing up, raise one arm and the opposite leg as though you are climbing. Breathe in. Then switch arms and legs and breathe out. Continue to walk in place for 30 seconds.For brain coordination and focus.

7. People Tree: Everyone stand in a circle and hold each others arms. Lift one leg into either low branch tree pose (foot at ankle) or high branch tree pose (foot tucked inside thigh). Breathe and hold (you can sway a bit!) for 30 seconds, then switch legs for 30 seconds.Cooperative exercise for adjusting and strengthening the spine.

8. Dragging branches: Sit on the floor with a partner, legs spread wide and touching. Hold hands and gently pull one partner forward, while the other leans back. Exhale forward and stretch, inhale up. Exhale and the other partner stretches forward. Continue back and forth motion for 8-10 breaths.Good stretch for back, legs and arms.

9. Stirring the soup: Still with partners, take hands and make circles together, rolling at the hips and waist. Good for waist, hips and digestion.

Read page 10.10. Aroma Floating Up: Still sitting with partner,

cross your legs, hold your partner’s hands and stand up together. Sit back down and try it several times.Helps coordination, encourages cooperation.

Read page 12.11. Note: This is a partner exercise. One partner is

theTroll, the other is Papa Angulee. After trying the exercise once, switch roles.Troll: Squat down, open mouth and make eyes wide as in Lion Pose. Bend elbows and bring hands out to the sides at shoulder level with wide-spread fingers. Jump forward as you exhale and say “HAAA!” Do this 3 times. Do not touch your partner, but try to distract them.Good for lower spine(squat), and face. Increases energy and inner strength.Papa Angulee: Stand tall as a Mountain, straight but relaxed. Look straight ahead at the troll and focus on your breath coming in and out. Breathe in while mentally counting to 5 slowly, then breathe out to a count of 5. Repeat the slow breath. Do not be distracted from your place of strength and calm, no matter what!For focus and ability to stay centered under pressure.

Read page 14

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12. Stand Up Circle: Make a group circle with everyone sitting on heels. Hold hands and stand up together. Try it several times. To make it more challenging, sit crosslegged.A cooperative exercise that works on balance and strengthens legs and hips.

Read page 16.13. Dig for Treasure: Stand up and clasp hands together.

Breathe out and bend forward as though you are digging. Breathe in and swing the arms over one shoulder, giving a good stretch to the side. Repeat with the other shoulder. Continue for 30 seconds.For lower back, lateral muscles, and arms.

14. Happiness Runs: Skip, jump, gallop, or hop around the room in a circle. Smile and feel happy.Large motor activity for releasing tension and

expressing joy.

15. Diamonds: End the running exercise with creating a diamond shape with the hands. Lift the arms overhead with diamond hands, and tip toe around the room. Come back to your mat and “sparkle”, bringing your hands down around you in a sparkly movement as you breathe in, breathe out, and relax.Creating a feeling of beauty and softness within and all

around.

Read page 18.16. Grabbing pose: Sitting in crosslegged pose, bring the

hands in fists by the chest level, elbows bent. Breathe in, stretch out one arm with the hand open. With a grabbing motion, close the hand and pull back with force as you exhale. Continue alternating sides for 30 seconds.For releasing tension and building inner focus.

Read page 20.17. Tantrum pose: Lie on your back with knees

bent and feet on the floor. Begin to randomly hit the ground with your feet and arms. You can yell (or laugh) if you like! Continue for 30 seconds.Releases built up tension, anger, and

frustration.

Read page 22.18. Push hands: Sit in crosslegged pose, facing your

partner. Put the palms of your hands together. Try to push your partners hands in different directions as they do the same with you. Use your breath to stay focused! (30 seconds)

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This exercise is used in Martial Arts to build focus and assertiveness.

Read page 24.19. Troll: Repeat Troll pose from exercise 11. Jumping in place

with “HAA!” 3 times. Both 19 and 20 energize and develop inner strength.

Read page 26.20. Troll Chase: Troll jumps around the room from mat to

mat. Inhale and exhale with a big balloon breath or two to calm down at the end of the exercise.

Read page 28.21. Stay together: Everyone holds hands and forms a

circle, except for the spiral leader and the person beside him/her. The spiral is created by the leader walking around the inside of the circle tighter and tighter, until she/he reaches the center of the circle. The last person in line will “unwind” the spiral back out into a circle.A cooperative exercise that is fun to do. Suggest to sing one of the songs from Yoga In Motion DVD, for example, Happiness Runs in a Circular Motion.

Read page 30.22. Thankful Ball: After the spiral, stay in a circle and

bring a large ball to the center. One person holds the ball and says something they are thankful for, then bounces the ball to someone else until they all have a turn. Then everyone can have another turn and this time whoever has the ball laughs and tries to make everyone laugh.Appreciating and laughing are enlightening!

The End

www.childrensyoga.comCopyright 2008 Shakta Kaur Khalsa

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