The Kids’ Yoga Book of Feelings by M. Humphrey starts off with a very utilitarian introduction – something I appreciate personally.  The philosophy is similar to that of Phoenix Rising Yoga – that moving through asanas can help release emotions or feelings – and be cathartic – though geared towards a much younger audience.

I must admit that when I first learned of The Kids’ Yoga Book of Feelings I though to myself "one more book on the market that will be indistinguishable from all the rest and pretty useless." I was completely wrong on all accounts.  This book is extremely colorful, not full of fluff and gets right to the point.  What I like best about it is the simple layout.  A posture is named, given an assigned feeling, a description that includes when to do the posture or how to do the posture, a brief one line affirmation and some cues for breathing or deeper work in the posture. 

The book is very uncluttered – another yogic and personal plus in my  mind. The outlined postures are very simple, easily understood from the photos, and all based on animals, keep in mind that this is geared towards children so many of the asana names are contrived to fit this theme which is actually another plus for yoga teachers.  I have taught children for almost 10 years now in various locations – public schools, daycares, gyms, etc. as both a school teacher and fitness instructor.  Although this book did not provide me personally with any new postures it did provide me with some alternative names for postures that could work in themed classes, and a new way of looking at teaching yoga to kids.  In my area I tend to stay away from discussing chakras, or associations of the asanas with anything other than "fun and imagination" and basic body parts – discussing feelings and affirmations may be something I will look into – it was covered in many of the kids’ trainings I attended, I just have not found the right venue yet or way into discussing these things.  For a yoga teacher starting out, or someone who would like to teach to children in their own classroom – this book is very informative, especially for individuals who are not used to writing lesson plans, or planning out classes – something kids’ classes need are structure or a theme – or they can deteriorate into chaos quickly.

You can purchase The Kids’ Yoga Book of Feelings, and other books I have reviewed on Amazon.com, links to all of these books are conveniently provided to the right, scroll down to Books to Buy.

I give this book 6 out of 7 stars, because I would prefer it to be a little longer page wise.

December 29th, 2008 | Tags: Book Review | Category: books, Fitness | Subscribe to comments | Both comments and pings are currently closed