Kitten in Socks Yoga for Children

10/09/2021

Hello Kittens! I hope everyone is happy to be back to school with their friends again.
We're all getting to be dab hands at routine changes thanks to the last couple of years but it's still hard when you're a little one. They struggle to articulate what they feel and to understand it. We will often see their struggle manifest as difficult behaviour and I find that the end of the day, when they are tired as well, is when things can be the most trying. This of course means bedtime.
Your little ones need to be resting and you really need that important time to yourself or selves to unwind and recharge too.
The lovely Jessica over at Peaceful Babes has made this short video of a bedtime meditation for your little ones.
Enjoy your weekend after the first week back at school Kittens!

Kids will feel calm, peaceful and relaxed after this practice, great to do at bedtime to ease off into a peaceful nights sleep.Become a certified Peaceful Ba...

12/02/2021

Happy New Year Kittens! Today is Chinese New year. 2021 is the year of the Ox in the Chinese zodiac. Ox characteristics include being calm, practical and reliable. Sounds a lot like yoga and meditation to me as they are practical ways to reliably get calm.
Stay safe and enjoy whatever relief the half term week brings you. We will be enjoying no school work in the Kitten household! 🧘‍♀️

30/01/2021

Hello kittens! January is almost done, how are you all?
We're certainly finding lockdown the third hard in our house. Reminding ourselves of positives and things we enjoyed each day does help a bit.
Today it is raining and a lot of local footpaths are underwater where the rivers have broken their banks. We took the opportunity to indulge in some puddle wading, jumping and splashing. A favourite of many children and it got us moving in the fresh air.
Stay safe and remember it's only two weeks to half term and we at least get a break from homeschooling for a week!

04/01/2021

Good evening Kittens and Happy New Year.
How did you find Christmas this year? Normally we do a lot of travelling to see as much of the family as we can and then take a mini New Year holiday with friends before back to school in January.
An obviously much different plan this year! We had a quiet Christmas at home and no New Year plans. Although it wasn't what we wanted we still had a warm home, food on the table and presents under our tree, not things to be taken lightly these days.
It seems as if we are starting this year still under tight restrictions which makes things difficult for us all. Despite this I am excited to start work on putting together a syllabus of sorts. I wanted to put together sessions into an evolving course that will introduce poses and concepts throughout the series and then build on them in following series.
Anyway, enough of my excitement for now, take care out there, stay safe and be kind to everyone, especially yourselves.

24/12/2020

It's not Christmas how we usually do it. It's not the Christmas we had hoped for. It is still Christmas though so however you are doing it this year, a very happy Christmas from the Kitten in Socks household 🎄🎅❤️😸

22/12/2020

Short Yoga story suitable for ages 2 upwards

22/12/2020

Good evening kittens!
After much rearranging of the living room I have managed to record The Disappointed Donkey. 🎉
The final cut is currently rendering and exporting. Assuming my limited skills with video editing haven't messed it up, I expect to have it up for you to watch by tomorrow morning. The video is 20 minutes long and includes a short warm up to begin and bear breathing at the end.
Stay safe and watch out for the video!

21/12/2020

We are finally in Christmas week kittens! The kitten in socks household is unfortunately in a tier 4 area so while we're doing our best to stay positive and festive there are still disappointments. As an adult we can work through disappointment but to a small one something like a cancelled ice skating trip feels like the end of the world (my 6 year old's reality today).
With disappointment on my mind I've put together a short yoga story called The Disappointed Donkey. Much like our little ones right now, he faces a few disappointments but learns that he had fun doing other things all the same. I'm pulling out all the stops to try to get this story recorded to share with you all as a short session but if it doesn't work out I will share the story and related poses for you anyway.
Stay safe and watch this space!

07/12/2020

Hello Kittens! With more and more children home-schooling again as coronavirus cases crop up to close school bubbles, there is definitely more stress at home!
This little technique, known as "Bear Breathing", is a great way to calm younger ones down (it can even help the adults too!). Even if they're not having a day where they're struggling one way or another it can be great to do ahead of a task where they really need to focus.

1. Ask your little one to choose their favourite teddy and then lie down on their back cuddling it close - their legs can be out straight or bent like Rufus's in the photo.
2. Ask them to think about their breathing - can they feel it going in and out, can they hear themselves taking a breath?
3. Next ask them to place their teddy on their belly - ideally not holding it in place but if it won't stay by itself then they can hold it there.
4. Ask them to watch the teddy rise and fall as they breathe in and out - if they will, spend a few moments here letting them breathe and watch the teddy move. If they are enjoying this and are calm you can invite them to close their eyes and place their hands on top of the teddy to feel it moving now rather than watching.
5. After another couple of moments ask your little one to cuddle their teddy again and gently roll onto their side and to slowly sit up when they are ready.
6. Let them talk for a moment about what they felt as they did the exercise - even if they haven't managed to be quiet throughout the whole exercise, they will still likely have plenty to say even if it's not about the breathing!

Try it with your little one too. They'll love to share an activity with you and hopefully you'll gain some refocusing if you need it too.

Please do let me know how you and your little ones got on with this breathing exercise in the comments below.

04/12/2020

Happy Friday Kittens! I hope you are all well. We woke up Wednesday morning to the "stay home from school" message so it's all about homeschooling in the Kitten household right now.
This does mean a delay to any proper yoga content going live but I'm hoping to film a little something with my homeschool helper before the two weeks are up.
Stay safe and be kind to yourselves.

25/11/2020

Meet the real life cat who inspired the Kitten In Socks logo.
This is Freyja who has been a part of our family for 11 years now. You might notice the spelling of her name isn't usual. This is because we used the Nordic spelling as she is named after the Norse Goddess Freyja who, legend says, had a chariot drawn by cats.
Unlike the logo she doesn't like to wear socks but she does like to play with them! She is also very good at sneaking into photographs and I fully expect her to try to get into my yoga videos once I start filming so watch out for her!

24/11/2020

Good morning Kittens!
I hope you are all doing well as we approach the end of another lockdown here in the UK.
My son is requesting a yoga story involving dinosaurs and a volcano! What would your little ones choose for a yoga story? Maybe you have a princess mad little one that would like a royal tale, or perhaps they have been inspired by Christmas and would like a festive story?
Let me know in the comments below and I'll see what I can come up with!