🌿 Nature Yoga: Exploring the Outdoors with Kids

June is the perfect time to take yoga off the mat and into the fresh air. With longer days, warm sunshine, and nature in full bloom, outdoor yoga becomes a simple way for children to move, breathe, and connect with the world around them.

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🌳 Why Outdoor Yoga?

Practicing yoga outside helps children:

• Feel more connected to nature
• Engage their senses (what they see, hear, and feel)
• Release energy while also finding calm
• Build mindfulness in a natural, playful way

Even a small backyard, park, or patch of grass can become a meaningful space for movement and imagination.

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🧘‍♀️ Simple Nature Yoga Flow

This short sequence invites children to connect movement, breath, imagination, and sensory awareness.

Each pose follows a gentle rhythm:

Move → Sense → Imagine → Say

Encourage slow breathing between poses and allow children to move at their own pace.

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🌼 Why Add the Senses?

Sensory awareness helps children:

• Stay present in their bodies
• Calm their nervous system
• Focus attention without pressure
• Connect movement with real-world experience

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🌳 Tree Pose — “Strong and Steady”

How to do it:

• Stand tall on one foot
• Place the other foot on your ankle, calf, or inner thigh
• Bring hands together at your chest or reach them upward

Sense:

• Feel your standing foot pressing firmly into the ground
• Notice small adjustments as your body finds balance
• Feel your breath moving slowly and steadily

Imagine:
You are a tree with strong roots growing deep into the earth and branches gently moving in the breeze.

Say:
“I am strong and steady like a tree.”

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🦋 Butterfly Pose — “Light and Free”

How to do it:

• Sit on the floor
• Bring the soles of your feet together
• Let your knees open wide like wings

Sense:

• Feel your knees gently rising and falling
• Notice the stretch through your hips
• Feel your breath becoming soft and even

Imagine:
You are a butterfly resting in a warm garden, gently opening and closing your wings.

Say:
“I am light, free, and full of joy.”

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🌸 Flower Pose (Low Squat) — “Growing and Blooming”

How to do it:

• Squat low with feet flat or heels lifted if needed
• Keep your chest lifted
• Bring hands together or open them outward

Sense:

• Feel your legs supporting your body
• Notice warmth in your thighs and feet
• Feel the ground steady beneath you

Imagine:
You are a flower slowly opening toward the sunlight.

Say:
“I grow and bloom and reach for the sun.”

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☁️ Cloud Stretch — “Letting Go”

How to do it:

• Stand tall with arms reaching overhead
• Gently lean side to side

Sense:

• Feel the stretch along your side body
• Notice your arms moving through open space
• Feel your breath expanding through your chest

Imagine:
You are a soft cloud drifting slowly across the sky.

Say:
“I can float, dream, and let go.”

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🐞 Ladybug Rest — “Safe and Calm”

How to do it:

• Kneel and sit back on your heels
• Fold forward and rest your forehead on the ground
• Let your arms relax by your sides or in front

Sense:

• Feel your body fully supported by the ground
• Notice the weight of your body softening
• Feel your breath slow and steady

Imagine:
You are a tiny ladybug resting safely on a soft leaf.

Say:
“I am safe, calm, and peaceful.”

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💛 Closing Moment: Gratitude in Nature

End by sitting quietly together. Invite children to place a hand on their heart and silently or aloud say:

“Thank you, nature, for helping me feel calm, strong, and happy.”

Take a moment to notice the sounds, air, and feeling of being outdoors.

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🌍 A Final Note – FREE eBooks for International Yoga Day

As we move through June, it’s also a wonderful time to recognize International Yoga Day (June 21st)—a global reminder of the benefits of breath, movement, and mindfulness for people of all ages.

📚 Explore our collection of kids’ yoga stories, designed to support mindfulness, movement, and imagination in a simple and engaging way.

👉 Download your FREE eBooks on June 19, 20, and 21

Featured Titles:

• The Impossible Dream
• Forever Friends
• Peace and Quiet
• Kahuhu
• The Magic Peach Tree
• The Wish Fish

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These resources are ideal for:

• Parents looking for calm, screen-free activities
• Teachers and educators
• Therapists and group facilitators
• Anyone supporting children’s emotional wellbeing

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🌿 Wishing you a peaceful International Yoga Day filled with movement, breath, and moments of calm.

XOXO,

Kathe and Mel

Celebrate National Reading Month

March is National Reading Month, and it's the perfect time to reimagine story time as something a little more playful, calming, and connected. 

At A Yoga Storytelling Adventure, we believe reading can be more than just words on a page - it can be a moment to move, breathe, and connect with your child. 

Here are a few simple ways to bring mindfulness and movement into your reading routine this spring:

Make story time interactive 

Pause as you read and invite your child to share how they think a character feels, what might happen next, or how they'd move like the character. This keeps kids engaged and builds emotional awareness. 

Add gentle movement

Try reading a page, then acting it out with a simple yoga pose or stretch. Movement helps children focus, remember the story, and express themselves in a natural way. 

Create a calm reading moment 

Before you begin, take three slow breaths together and do one gentle stretch. A calm body helps create a calm mind - perfect for settling into a story. 

Take story time outside

Spring is a wonderful opportunity to read outdoors. A blanket, fresh air, and a few nature-inspired poses can spark creativity and joy. 

If you are looking for a story that gently supports calm, focus, and relaxation, you may enjoy Peace and Quiet, a mindful story designed to help children slow down and feel grounded. 

Grab the FREE ebook March 20, 21, and 22

👉Get it here >https://getbook.at/peaceandquiet

To support your reading routine, we've also created printable activities you can use along story time. 

👉 Download free printables here > https://www.ayogastorytellingadventure.com/freebies

However you choose to read this month, remember: there's no perfect way to do story time. The most important thing is sharing the moment together. 

Wishing you a calm and joyful spring!

XOXO,

Kathe and Mel 

Chumbala: A Halloween Yoga Storytelling Adventure

 

As the nights grow longer and the veil between seasons thins, Halloween invites us to pause and listen to the whispers of story and spirit. For children, this season often shines with playful costumes and sweet treats—but behind it lies something deeper: the magic of imagination, courage, and connection.

It’s that time of year again where I share the Latin-American folktale, Chumbala, at the Boys and Girls Club with kindergarten through second graders. Through story and yoga, we explore how light and shadow dance together, how breath can calm fear, and how the body can be a safe, strong home even when the world feels mysterious.

Each posture flows with the story—stretching tall like a spooky tree, folding forward and touching the floor, and breathing deep while reaching toward heaven. Together, we discover how yoga teaches us that every season, even the spooky ones, carries lessons of balance, trust, and joy.

Chumbala aka The Skeleton’s Ball is a lively folk-tale-in-song, where the skeletons gather as the clock strikes each number. It is so much fun!

With every chime, we move into a posture—matching each number to a yoga pose that rhymes with it. The nonsense chorus, Chumbala Ca, Chumbala Ca, Chum bum ba, repeats until the skeletons have danced their way through the hours.

This blend of rhyme, rhythm, and repetition offers children a way to celebrate Halloween in a way that is fun, mindful, and a little bit magical. Through story, song, and yoga, we discover how laughter and imagination can chase away fear, and how movement helps us feel grounded and free.

As the skeletons finish their dance and the clock rests at twelve, we are reminded of the passage of time and the way all things move in circles—day to night, seed to flower, beginning to end. Halloween helps us notice these changes with curiosity instead of fear.

Just like the seasons, our lives are always moving and transforming. By sharing story, song, and yoga, children learn that every moment is special, every breath is a gift, and that even endings are simply the start of something new. 

Happy Halloween!

xoxo

Kathe and Mel

p.s. If you'd like a copy of the story/song, contact us at movingtale@gmail.com

Breathe In, Breathe Out: Four Simple and Fun Pranayama Techniques for Kids

Breathing is one of the most powerful tools we have — and it's with us all the time. In yoga, the breath is known as the bridge between our mind and body, helping us feel more centered, calm, and connected. We call these breathing practices pranayama, a Sanskrit word where prana means “life force” or “breath” and yama means “control” or “expansion.” So, pranayama is all about learning to guide and expand our breath — and in turn, our energy.

By practicing pranayama regularly, we can strengthen our lungs, bring more oxygen into the body, and even shift our emotions. Some techniques help us feel calm and grounded, while others can boost our energy. And the best part? These powerful tools aren’t just for grownups — they’re amazing for kids too!

While formal pranayama (yogic breathing) practices often begin around ages 7 to 8, that doesn’t mean our littlest yogis have to miss out! Even younger children can benefit from playful, age-appropriate breathing techniques that help them feel calm, focused, and connected to their bodies. In this post, we’ll explore fun and simple pranayama activities designed especially for kids — perfect for home, school, or your next yoga class. Let’s breathe, play, and grow together! 

Mountain Breath

Hold out one hand and spread the fingers wide. The pointer finger of your other hand will be the tracer. Start at the base of your thumb, inhale and trace up the side of your thumb. Then exhale and trace down the other side. Continue going up and down the mountain, breathing in on the way up and breathing out on the way down. Go all the way across the hand — and back again for a set of 10 breaths. (Mountains are steady, stable, and secure.)

Smell the Flower

Make a lotus flower by placing your hands together. Keep the heels of the hands, the thumbs, and pinky fingers touching while spreading out the other fingers like a blooming flower. Close your eyes and imagine a color. Inhale and imagine a sweet smell, pause and then exhale slowly with a soft, ahhhh. Repeat 5 to 10 times. (A lovely blend of imagination and mindfulness.)

Infinity Breath

Draw or print out an infinity symbol (a sideways 8). Start at the center and trace the shape with your finger, inhale as you trace one loop, and exhale along the other. Returning to the center, repeat 8 times. (Reminds us the breath is ever flowing. Try different textures like sandpaper to make the experience more sensory.)

Mindful Mantra

Gently close your eyes, and take a slow deep breath in. As you inhale, say to yourself, “I am calm.” As you exhale, say to yourself, “I relax, and let go.” Repeat several times. (Mantras are a simple way to settle the mind and create inner peace.)

Breath is a powerful gift — simple, free, and always accessible. Whether you're a parent, teacher, or just someone who loves to share mindful moments, pranayama is a beautiful way to help kids (and yourself!) tap into a sense of calm and clarity. Try these playful techniques and see the magic of mindful breathing unfold.

In our book, Peace and Quiet, we have included three simple breathing exercises to use as a means of self-empowerment, kids of all ages will discover a simple way to stay calm, focused, and alert. Check it out here > https://www.ayogastorytellingadventure.com/books

Happy breathing!