Calming Stories for Kids

January 20, 2022  /  Andrea Creel

Even little kids can have big feelings! That’s why Shining Kids Yoga founder, Andrea Creel, created special calming relaxation stories just for kids ages 3-10! These guided visualizations engage children’s senses and imaginations while introducing evidence-based relaxation and emotional regulation techniques. Your child can listen to these stories at bedtime to help them fall asleep, after a difficult day or emotional outburst, or whenever you want to help your child feel more calm and peaceful inside!


Click the links below to listen to the stories:

Calming Tree Relaxation Story

Rainbow Affirmation Relaxation Story

Rocket Ship Relaxation Story

Magical Unicorn Relaxation Story

Snowy Day Magic Carpet Relaxation Story

Flower Butterfly Relaxation Story

Autumn Leaf Relaxation Story

I am Thankful Relaxation Story

Heart Cloud Relaxation Story (lovingkindness meditation for kids)

Would you child benefit from a relaxation story on a different topic (trucks, bugs, Disney, the beach…)? Send Andrea a message with your special request and she will create a short relaxation story just for your child! Email your request to info@shiningkidsyoga.com

Andrea Creel, MSW, LMSW, E-RYT 200, YACEP

Andrea is the founder of Shining Kids Yoga, which began as an after-school program at her son's elementary school in 2014. She has been teaching yoga to all ages since 2005.  Andrea completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Tranquil Space Yoga in Washington, D.C. In addition, she received specialized training in children’s yoga from the Radiant Child Yoga program, training in postnatal yoga from Baby OM,  and training in therapeutic yoga from  The Samarya Center.

Andrea is the author of Mystery Pose: A Yoga Guessing Game (affiliate link) and the creator of two yoga card games for kids: Double the Fun Yoga Cards and Yoga Pose or Dare. She is also the creator and facilitator of the Shining Kids Yoga Kids Yoga Teacher Training, a 17-hour certification program in teaching yoga to kids.

When not teaching or practicing yoga, Andrea enjoys playing board games with her son, Quinn, singing karaoke, and trying out new vegetarian recipes!




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Mindful Hanukkah Ideas for Children & Adults

December 01, 2021  /  Andrea Creel

Hanukkah, often called the festival of lights, is an annual Jewish celebration of the of the re-dedication of the temple in Jerusalem and the miraculous burning of sacred oil for eight days.

Andrea Creel of Shining Kids Yoga shares insight, tools, and resources to foster mindfulness in children and adults during this festival. Listen or watch below for tips on how to be nourished by love and light in your family, kids yoga classes, adult yoga classes, and personal devotion.

For more ideas on how to use yoga and music to celebrate Hanukkah with children, check out this blog post!

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Fall Class Schedule Coming Soon

August 09, 2021  /  Andrea Creel

Shining Kids Yoga will be offering after-school yoga classes in select MCPS schools this fall! We will also be offering online classes for children who would like to take class virtually. Class schedules will be posted the week of August 23rd. Please check our registration page starting 8/23 for registration details and early-bird discounts!

To bring a Shining Kids Yoga after-school class to your child’s school, please contact Andrea at info@shiningkidsyoga.com

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Peace Breath

June 15, 2021  /  Andrea Creel

Teaching children how to do deep breathing gives them the tools to feel calm and peaceful whenever they want. It is a powerful self-regulation skill. Look below for simple instructions and a graphic of “Peace Breath.”

Help your child feel peaceful with Peace Breath!

silently say these words as you breathe in and out:

(inhale) I am

(exhale) peaceful

Try this breath 5 times, then sit quietly and notice how you feel.

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categories / breathing, pranayama, how to
tags / pranayama, breathing

Meet the Illustrator: Deran Deegala

June 03, 2021  /  Andrea Creel

As an Amazon Associate, Shining Kids Yoga earns from qualifying purchases from the links in this blog

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Meet Deran Deegala

Deran Deegala is the illustrator of Mystery Pose: A Yoga Guessing Game. He is 13 years old and is an honor roll student at Julius West Middle School in Rockville, Maryland. Read below to learn more about this talented young artist!

When did you start drawing?

I started drawing at a young age when I was in preschool which escalated in first grade.
How/when did you get into digital art?

I got into digital at the beginning of the pandemic. I’d started looking at other artists on social media creating amazing things on a tablet, so I’d thought I’d try it out.
Who are your favorite artists/cartoons/shows/illustrators?

I love looking at art from small artists on social media and my art was influenced by the cartoons I liked, like Steven Universe, The Owl House, Amphibia, OK.KO Let’s Be Heroes and Carmen Sandiego
Where have you taken art classes?/how did you develop your style?

I’m actually a self taught artist. I drew based of the shows I watched and it helped develop my art style.

What was your favorite thing about making the illustrations for Mystery Pose?

My favorite thing about working on Mystery Pose was experimenting with all the yoga poses. It was incredibly fun to draw them because of how dynamic they were.
What is your favorite subject in school?

My favorite subjects in school are history, science and art

What is your favorite color?

It’s hard for me to choose a favorite color, but I’d say any shade of blue.
Do you want to be an artist when you grow up? If so, what kind of artist/what speciality? If not, what do you aspire to be?

It’s been a dream of mine to crate an animated show and I’m working on my animation ability too. 

I have a weird passion of interior design. Maybe because of my art knowledge, I’m interested in furnishing rooms with the right colors.

To see Deran’s illustrations, Purchase Mystery Pose on Amazon

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categories / Mystery Pose Book
tags / mystery pose

Mystery Pose: A Yoga Guessing Game - Now Available on Amazon!

April 29, 2021  /  Andrea Creel


"Mystery Pose: A Yoga Guessing Game" is now available on Amazon!

A book and game rolled into one, children will delight in following the clues to guess all of the yoga poses. Colorful illustrations and rhyming poems help children gleefully discover the yoga pose hiding on the next page. This adorable book includes 18 child-friendly yoga poses and ends with an inspiring relaxation. Mystery Pose is a playful introduction to yoga for young children.

Purchase your copy today!

(Shining Kids Yoga earns from qualified purchases using this link)

PLUS!

Join Andrea for a special Book Release Party on Saturday, May 15th at 11:30 a.m.!

More details here: Book Release Party RSVP


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How to Pronounce Sanskrit Yoga Pose Names

March 29, 2021  /  Andrea Creel


Sanskrit is the language of yoga! Sanskrit comes from the Indian sub-continent and is one of the oldest languages on record. Every yoga pose has a corresponding Sanskrit name. In the book, Mystery Pose: A Yoga Guessing Game the Sanskrit names of the yoga poses are listed underneath the English names.

Just like with any new skill or language, it can take time to feel comfortable pronouncing and remembering the pose names. If you want help learning how to correctly pronounce the Sanskrit names of the yoga poses in Mystery Pose, listen to the audio clips below.



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categories / Mystery Pose Book
tags / sanskrit, yoga poses, mystery pose

Yoga To Celebrate the Trees!

January 26, 2021  /  Andrea Creel

Celebrate the trees with these fun yoga activities for children ages 3-8.

The activities below are perfect for celebrating Arbor Day, Earth Day, the Jewish holiday of Tu B’shevat, or any other time you want to help your child connect with the beauty and majesty of nature. The full activity list takes approximately 30 minutes to complete.

  • Practice: Tree Pose, Seed Pose, Flower Pose, Sun Pose, Rain Pose

You can use the “Tree Yoga Story” Poster (below) to learn and practice these poses together!

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  • Watch and do the poses along with the Apple Tree song (video) by Bari Koral

  • Sing “Happy Birthday” to the trees.  After the song, take a deep breath in, make a wish, and blow out the birthday candles!  Try blowing out the candles 2 or 3 times. Notice how calm you feel after taking deep breaths.

  • Breathe for the trees!  Trees and people help each other by creating more air for us to breathe.  When we breathe out, the air we breathe out helps the trees, and when the trees “breathe” as part of a process called photosynthesis, they make oxygen for people to breathe in!  We are all interconnected!  Let’s send some air to the trees!  Stretch your arms out wide and take a deep breath in; slowly bring your hands together and breathe out - send love and air to the trees!  Try this 3 times!  (for older children, the terms oxygen and carbon dioxide can be used and the process of photosynthesis can be explained in more detail. Here is a video that explains photosynthesis to kids). 

  • Say “thank you” to the trees.  Trees do many things for us.  Bring your hands together at your heart, and send wishes of thanks to the trees.  Here are a few wishes you can say:

Thank you for giving us shade

Thank you for giving us delicious fruits

Thank you for giving us oxygen

Thank you for creating beautiful scenery for us to look at

Thank you for providing a home for animals

What other wishes of thanks can you give to the trees?

  • Lie down and close your eyes.  Relax your body as you listen to this Tree Meditation for Kids relaxation story (below).  Feel your body calm, peaceful, and relaxed.

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4 Hidden Supplies Every Kids Yoga Teacher Should Have

January 23, 2021  /  Andrea Creel

Note: As an Amazon Associate, Shining Kids Yoga earns from qualifying purchases from the links in this article.

When most people think about what supplies a yoga teacher might need, they usually think of mats, maybe blankets and blocks. For yoga teachers who teach classes to children, one can assume books, cards, and other assorted child-specific props might also be needed. In fact, you can read my recommendations for some of those props here. But many people may not realize that there are hidden supplies that are essential to a kids yoga teacher’s supply list.:

My number one recommendation for any kids yoga teacher is to invest in a color printer. A printer can be used to download printable yoga cards, activity sheets, photos, and even custom-created yoga bingo cards to liven up your yoga classes. There are lots of great printers on the market. The one I use and love is the HP Office Jet Pro 6978. Especially if you’re printing a lot, a home printer is much more cost effective than running out to FedEx or Office Depot for your copying needs.

Along with a printer, I also recommend a A laminating machine and laminating sleeves which will allow you to reuse printed materials.

I’ve gotten so much use out of these office supplies that they have more than paid for themselves with the amount of items I have created to use in my yoga classes.

One last recommendation is specifically if you are teaching yoga online. It is a set of camera lenses that you can clip over the camera on your phone, tablet, or laptop to make the camera view wider. This is a benefit if you are teaching yoga online and want your camera to capture a larger space so you don’t have to place your yoga mat so far away from the camera in order for the camera to capture your whole body. Being able to stay closer to the camera/computer also means less of a need for an external microphone!

Are there any “hidden” props or supplies YOU want other kids yoga teachers to know about? Share in the comments below!

Happy Teaching!

Wishing you peace, love, and yoga!

~ Andrea

Andrea Creel , MSW, LMSW, E-RYT 200, YACEP

Andrea is the founder of Shining Kids Yoga, which began as an after-school program at her son's elementary school in 2014. She has been teaching yoga to all ages since 2005.  Andrea completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training & prenatal yoga training at Tranquil Space Yoga in Washington, D.C. In addition, she received specialized training in children’s yoga from the Radiant Child Yoga program, training in postnatal yoga from Baby OM,  and training in therapeutic yoga from  The Samarya Center.

Andrea is also a Licensed Graduate Social Worker (LGSW) through the State of Maryland, having received her MSW degree from University of Maryland, Baltimore.

She has taught yoga for children at yoga studios throughout the DC area, including Tranquil Space, Budding Yogis, Rock Creek Yoga and Warrior One Yoga. She also teaches classes for adults at Yoga Bliss Studios and Extend Yoga, where she is on the yoga teacher training faculty.  

When not teaching or practicing yoga, Andrea enjoys playing board games with her son, Quinn, singing karaoke, and trying out new vegetarian recipes!

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categories / yoga teachers
tags / kids yoga, supplies, printer, office supplies, yoga cards

How To Play the "Yoga Runway" Game

January 14, 2021  /  Andrea Creel

Yoga Runway Game

Yoga games are a fun way for children to learn and practice yoga. This game was created by the yoga students at Ronald McNair Elementary in Winter 2017. It’s a great activity to do with a group of students who enjoy showing off their favorite yoga poses. It can be played as part of a yoga class or at home with friends or family.

Directions:

Line up all of the yoga mats like a long fashion runway with the short ends of the mats touching each other in a long line across the room. Put on a popular, upbeat song (our personal favorite is the Kidz Bop version of “Confident”) and have the kids line up behind the first yoga mat.  One at a time, each child struts down the “runway” like a fashion model (or in whatever dramatic way they want) and then strikes a yoga pose on the last mat - everyone else will clap and cheer as they hold their pose for 5 breaths.  The child will then turn around and walk to the first mat and strike another yoga pose while the other children clap and cheer. After getting off the runway, the student goes to the end of the line to wait for another turn.

If you want, you can add any of the following variations or challenges:

  • you must walk down the runway like a crab (or select another animal)

  • the yoga pose has to fit in one category (ex. balancing pose, backbending pose, seated pose, etc)

  • Walk down the runway in slow motion

  • you can’t repeat a yoga pose that someone else has already done

Heart-Centered Meditation for Challenging Times

January 09, 2021  /  Andrea Creel

During these troubling times in our nation, helping our children feel connected to love, kindness, and peace can be helpful and healing.

Lovingkindness (metta) is a time-tested meditation practice that opens the heart and helps us connect to feeling of love and kindness. Children can practice lovingkindness meditation at bedtime or anytime they want to feel more kind, loving, and peaceful. Click the link below for a guided lovingkindness meditation for children ages 3-8 from Shining Kids Yoga founder, Andrea Creel.