Namaste! I just returned from a wonderful trip to Philadephia for a Storytime Yoga teacher training I gave. I am always impressed with the wonderful talent and dedication of the teachers out there and was grateful to all who attended. In our discussion, participants told me how they tried out the stories and yoga in the book and how kids cried out, "MORE!"
Children are hungry for stories. They are hungry for the inner life that the symbols in stories point to. Our culture's mythology is the consumer marketplace and everything created points for children to experience things externally. It takes them outside their bodies, such as tv, videos or uninspired pop music. Stories and the images children create from hearing them keeps them in their bodies. These stories activate their imaginations from within and activate seeds of their being to have a rich inner life. Studies have shown that if children don't get an imaginative life before age six, they are damaged as adults and have difficulty learning. Stories are a symbolic language, as is math, reading, computers. So mastering the relationship between symbols is important. Stories also can heal. Storytime Yoga is a form of play therapy, where kids can feel safe to explore their feelings in a non-threatening way. The listener unconciously makes connections with the stories, characters and images to their own lives, creating new possibilities and new hope. With stories, we can teach yoga philosophy...non-harming, truthfullness, greedlessness and so on, in a more powerful way than just lecturing.
Indeed, the genesis of myth and stories is from the Self itself, calling us with symbolic clues back to its SELF. We are all on the heroic journey of our lives. As teachers on our own journey, we can guide children there too with yoga and stories.
Storytime Yoga is expanding nationally for more teacher trainings this year. If you are interested in hosting a workshop and learning the power of yoga and stories, feel free to contact me at www.StorytimeYoga.com.
love and peace,
sydney solis