Happy Valentine’s! Today we’re sharing some of our favorite Valentine’s Day themed yoga activities.
Try out some of these fun heart opening yoga poses with your kids. Encourage them to imagine opening their heart to spread kindness, love, and positivity while they practice these poses:
- cow
- cobra
- upward dog
- bow
- camel
- bridge
- wheel
Practice loving-kindness mediation. Encourage your kids to feel connected to themselves and others by sending well wishes. This can be done lying down, or even sitting in desks in the classroom. Tell them to close their eyes, and give them these instructions:
- Imagine someone in your mind that you care about. It could be a parent, a sibling, a friend, a teacher, etc.
- Send that person loving, kind, and positive thoughts.
- You might want to send them messages such as:
- May you feel happy
- May you feel safe
- May you feel peace
- You are enough
- You might want to imagine giving that person a hug.
- It’s just as important to be kind to ourselves as it is to be kind to others. Practice sending yourself messages of love, kindness, and positivity.
- You might want to send thoughts to yourself such as:
- May I feel happy
- May I feel safe
- May I feel peace
- I am enough
- You could even try sending well wishes to someone you don’t like. Picture someone in your mind who might bother you in some way, and send them loving, kind, and positive thoughts. Even though we don’t always have positive feelings about certain people, we can still wish them well.
- May you feel happy
- May you feel safe
- May you feel peace
- You are enough
Feel free to use your own variations of well wishes. Loving-kindness meditation can improve positive emotions and feelings of social connection, decrease mental and physical ailments, and increase empathy and compassion. We love this Psychology Today article by Emma M. Seppala where she breaks down the benefits of loving-kindness meditation and references various research studies supporting its effects.
Happy Valentine’s Day! We hope you enjoy these yoga activities. May you feel happy, may you feel safe, and may you feel peace. You are enough.
Namaste,
Alex & Christine