16 things to try on International Yoga DaY
International Yoga Day (IYD) is celebrated on the 21st of June every year . It is a day to create awareness about the beauty and holistic nature of yoga, highlight the benefits and encourage children and adults to incorporate it into their daily lives for greater wellbeing, balance and peace.
The benefits of a regular yoga practise include:
greater physical co-ordination, balance, strength, flexibility and mobility
stronger immune, digestive, respiratory and nervous systems
greater body awareness and fostering of a positive self image
better discipline, concentration and mental clarity
improved sleep and more energy
celebration of their individuality and greater self esteem and confidence
developing gratitude, kindness and patience
developing mindfulness, emotional intelligence and resilience
a sense of connectedness, belonging, becoming and being
Besides the obvious choice to DO yoga on IYD, here are 16 things you can explore and focus on to honour and celebrate IYD. Remember you can do these things on every other day too, not just IYD.
So, roll out your mat, take the deepest breath you have taken all day, and enjoy!
1) Partner Poses
Grab your bestie, mum or dad, sibling, anybody and have some fun with partner poses.
Try Twinkle Toes below. For more partner pose ideas, check out this post I shared on Instagram here.
Above image is from the Rainbow Chakra Yoga Card Deck. Copyright © My Yoga Playground, 2023. All rights reserved.
2) Balance Poses
They are great for improving body awareness, proprioception (the sense of where your body is in space), enhancing coordination, control and building muscle strength. They can help improve concentration and quieten the mind as you really need to focus when doing a balance pose. It is important for children to practise balance poses as it can help in preventing falls, injuries and make daily activities, like walking and dressing, easier to perform.
Try Tree pose and Dancer pose below.
Above images are from the Rainbow Chakra Yoga Card Deck. Copyright © My Yoga Playground, 2023. All rights reserved.
3) Grounding with your 5 senses
Connect to the present moment by exploring your 5 senses. Find a comfortable seated position to begin.
Take a breath and name 5 things you can see.
Take a breath and name 4 things you can feel.
Take a breath and name 3 things you can hear.
Take a breath and name 2 things you can smell.
Take a breath and name 1 thing you can taste.
Take a breath and enjoy this moment. Feel your body find its calm. Be here now.
4) Moon and Sun Breath (aka Alternate Nostril Breathing)
This nostril breathing exercise is a wonderful way to balance your energy and help you focus.
Close your right nostril with your right thumb and breathe in though your left nostril to calm and cool you like the moon, then close your left nostril with your right index and middle fingers and breathe out through your right nostril. Then breathe in through your right nostril to give you a burst of energy and wake you up like the sun, and breathe out through your left.
Continue in this way for a few rounds, breathing in one nostril at a time.
Did you notice maybe one nostril was more clear than the other?
Above image is from the Rainbow Chakra Yoga Card Deck. Copyright © My Yoga Playground, 2023. All rights reserved.
5) Captain’s Ship Game
This is a fun, high energy and interactive group game to play with kids and adults, to get them moving their body, listening attentively and thinking fast.
Download the FREE pdf with instructions on how to play from the RESOURCES page here.
Looking for more games, check out the Printable Kids Yoga Games here.
6) Spell YOGA with your body
Can you make the letters “Y - O - G - A” with your body?
Can you think of things starting with these letters and make up a pose for them? e.g. Yacht, Octopus, Goat, Aeroplane
7) Mudra and Mantra meditation
Try a classic meditation for all ages that is simple to remember and wonderfully soothing. It combines mudras with mantras to make it even more powerful.
SA TA NA MA is a favourite in my classes. Learn more here.
Did you know that our Rainbow Chakra Yoga Card deck includes 7 mudra cards for each chakra plus the corresponding mantra?
8) Finger Tracing and Mindful Breathing
Shapes are a wonderful visual for children to help them breathe mindfully. For example, box/square breathing. You could draw any shape or even a scribble and then trace your finger along the trail as you breathe in and out.
Check out our Printable Finger Tracing Calming Cards available here - 16 unique shapes/designs each with a distinctive trail. Manage big feelings via breath, mindfulness and relaxation Guiding children through these cards when they are calm so that when they are feeling overwhelmed or anxious, it is a natural response to pull out these cards. It can help them self-soothe and assist them in moving into their parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Each card also has a unique affirmation/mantra to encourage positive self-dialogue.
9) Set up a Yoga and Mindfulness corner in your studio, classroom or home
Make a cosy space where you can come to your mat daily, to breathe, move, meditate, or journal. For kids, yoga cards, yoga books, mindful breathing props and colouring pages are perfect additions to a mindful nook.
10) Incorporate Aromatherapy into your yoga practise
Use essentials when you practise yoga, use it before you start yoga and set an intention as you breathe in the aroma. Perhaps you want to feel more energised (peppermint and orange would be good), or more grounded (go for more a woody aroma - e.g. cedarwood, frankincense), or use it just before savasana to relax (lavender).
Essential oils can complement your yoga and mindfulness practise, shift energetic blockages, restore energy flow throughout the body, and support physical and emotional wellbeing.
Check out our range of Chakra Essential Oil Roller Blends for little yogis here.
11) Practise yoga poses and then do mindful colouring in
I am sure you are aware of how therapeutic mindful colouring in can be, for children and adults alike.
You can find a samples of yoga pose colouring pages here as well as in the shop. Also mandala colouring pages with affirmations here.
12) Practise a Water meditation
Pour yourself a glass of water and hold it in both hands.
Tell the water how much you love it and appreciate it.
Tell the water 3 positive affirmations (e.g. "You are loved, You are enough, You are abundant)
Close your eyes, take a deep breath and repeat it again.
Open your eyes, drink the water and repeat your chosen affirmations in your head, this time starting with "I am" (e.g. "I am loved, I am enough, I am abundant).
Imagine as you are drinking the water, you are being filled with all these positive things (e.g. love, abundance). The goodness you put into the water is now flowing
freely in your being, changing your frequency and raising your vibrations.
Use any affirmations you feel to use. Repeat this whenever you are drinking water throughout the day.
13) Practise a Gratitude mantra
This is one of my favourites and simple to remember.
All good things rain down on me (hands sprinkling down like rain drops).
All good things grow up through me (hands to heart and then reaching up like a tree growing up high above your head).
All good things surround me (big circle with your arms like breaststroke motion).
14) Make a Self Love jar
Find an empty jar. Fill it with activities to honour and nourish YOU! Write down your favourite activities for self love on a post-it note and put it in the jar. Whenever you’re feeling down or overwhelmed, pick out a note and then do that activity.
It is so important to devote time for yourself, even if it’s 30 mins, 10 mins or even just 5 mins in a day (it all counts). Find pockets of peace for yourself to be yourself, doing the things you love and help fill your cup. When your children, family, friends, colleagues see you take time for yourself, it reminds them and sets a good example.
Some Ideas:
- yoga, of course :)
- a nature walk
- running a bath
- cooking and eating your favourite food
- wearing an outfit that makes you feel good
- reading a good book
- your favourite hobby
- writing a love letter to yourself
- spending time with people who enrich your mind, nourish your heart and illuminate your soul
What things do you do for yourself to fill your cup ?
15) Do yoga with someone else
Share your love of yoga with someone else (perhaps someone who doesn’t do yoga). Get outside in the sunshine and do a park or beach yoga session together. Make up a yoga flow together.
16) Try a yoga class in your local area.
It is always a good idea to take classes with different teachers, every teacher has a different style and approach, and you will definitely learn something from each class.
♡
Try as many of these ideas as you like. Let me know how it goes! Yoga should make you feel good, so choose one that appeals to you and that you want to try.
No matter what you do on International Yoga Day, do it with intention, and immerse yourself fully in the moment.
I hope that yoga becomes part of your daily life, part of your lifestyle.