universal family

        I ♥ Yoga


    because

…it’s fun!

…it makes me feel good

…I feel calm

…I feel peaceful

A book on yoga for children from small until early teens is being prepared in English and Arabic and will be available in the near future. This book is a natural outcome of Yoga with Children activities in Egypt and Syria. It is a basic book for parents and of course kids like to look in it and imitate the children in the photos doing playful yoga poses. It contains brief benefits of yoga for kids, and there are over 80 poses, breathing exercises, warm-ups, creativity with yoga, massage, meditation and yogic tips. It is written for public use and inspiration. It is a nice joint project with children. The book is edited by Didi Anandarama and written mostly by Mahajyoti Glassman, with artwork by Didi Ananda Carushila.If anyone would like to use the text and translate it and make their own local edition by taking photos of children and do their own layout, please contact us. <didianandarama@gmail.com>

The following story is from the book.


The Achievement of Pink Elephant

Adapted after the story Pothvat slonice Ružice by Apolonija Lucic, winner of “My First Book” contest 2006, Croatia

Once the elephants had small ears and the monkeys had big ears. The monkeys used to tease the elephants about their small ears. This made the elephants really sad.

There was Pink Elephant and she thought ‘I must do something so the elephants will grow big ears.‘ She collected herbs in the fields and made a medicine brew. Then she called all elephants to drink her magic concoction. She was hoping their ears would grow by drinking her medicine. But …instead of growing big ears all elephants turned into birds - flamingos, owls, storks and eagles.

Pink Elephant again collected herbs and cooked and cooked, and called all elephants for a drink. And this time when they drank they turned into insects - grasshoppers, praying mantises, butterflies and bumble bees.

Pink Elephant tried again and cooked and cooked, and called all elephants for a drink. And this time when they drank they turned into sea animals - fishes, dolphins, seals and sharks.

Pink Elephant didn’t give up and found new herbs to cook. She called all elephants for a drink. And this time when they drank they turned into vehicles - cars, helicopters, bicycles and airplanes.

Pink Elephant tried again and cooked and cooked, and called all elephants for a drink. And this time when they drank they turned into reptiles - cobras, lizards, crocodiles and alligators.

Pink Elephant tried again and cooked and cooked, and called all elephants for a drink. And this time when they drank they turned into tables, chairs, and slides.

Pink Elephant tried again and cooked and cooked, and called all elephants for a drink. And this time when they drank they grew wonderful big ears. They danced and sang and invited the monkeys to see their big ears. They shared bananas with the monkeys but when the monkeys ate the bananas their ears became small. Nobody had noticed that some medicine fell on the bananas and when the monkeys ate those magic bananas they grew small ears.

And that’s how the elephants got big ears and monkeys got small ears and that lasted until today.

[The children act out the story and the middle part can be made shorter and longer depending on the children’s attention.]