News — balance board

I've been thinking a lot about how balance boards are important and incorporated into yoga.  I teach a few yoga classes a week, and in all of my classes, I include balance boards.  I don't have enough for all of the children, but I always bring a few to share.  The kids love them and always race to the boards when they see them.  Sometimes they jump on and pretend to be surfing on the boards. Their imaginations go wild.  Other times, they take off their shoes, lie down on the board, and get comfy.  Overall, they love to move and rock from side to side on the board, like people do on a rocking chair.  It's soothing. It's therapeutic.  "It's fun!" they say.

I've noticed that all the yoga poses that we do can be done on the board. I thought at first that the kids wouldn't want to "jump like a frog" or wouldn't like sitting down on the board, as it's hard...but they do.  They love it.  And when I ask them if they prefer a yoga mat or balance board, they inevitably excitedly say: "balance board!"  At first I thought it was just because it was a novelty item and that the novelty would wear away.  But it hasn't, and if anything, the children are thrilled to show me a new pose that they can do on the board, or a pose that they couldn't do before and now they can.  They have the biggest grins on their faces and feel so proud of their accomplishments.  "Look at me and what I can do now!"

Balance boards help in a number of ways. For one, it's a great workout for the body.  Even when the children are rocking side to side, they are working out their core muscles. Secondly, it helps increase their balance and focus.  It's more challenging to do the yoga poses on the balance boards, because of the instability of the board.  Without realizing it, the children have to concentrate more on balancing.  It's a mind and body workout.  Lastly, and most importantly...the boards are entertaining and have a "cool" factor.  Isn't that what all kids want?

Sun Salutation or Surya Namaskar is a series of 8 poses which are usually performed in the morning or evening to greet or say thank you to the sun.  Without the sun, there would be no life.  It's something that we can count on every day.  Even if you don't have time to do a whole yoga class every day, Sun Salutations are a great way to start the day....or end the day.  I like to do them at the beach while I watch the sunset.  Or, sometimes it's nice to wake up when it's still dark outside and greet the sun.  Kids love the flow, especially when there's a chant or song to go along with it.  My daughter likes to listen to her favorite music while she does Sun Salutation, and teens especially love this series of poses to do along with many popular songs that are being played right now.

Sun Salutations can be done in the classroom to get the blood circulating, which delivers blood and nutrients to the brain.  It helps kids focus and is a great little "workout" to teach them, which they can share with their family or friends.

Here's a quick rundown of how the flow goes. 

1)    Start with Mountain Pose. Find your center and take a deep breath in and exhale slowly.

 2)    Second, inhale and bring your arms up over your head to the sky, reaching your heart and arms to greet the sun.

3)    Then, exhale slowly and bend over into a forward bend, touching your hands to the ground.

4)    Inhale and lengthen your spine forward….you should feel the stretch in your legs and arms.

5)    Exhale and step your feet back behind you into Plank Pose (feet apart, wrists flat on the floor and shoulder width apart like a push up). Take a full breath, making sure that you are not dragging your hips.

6)    Then exhale and lower down onto the ground, so that your belly and body are still.

7)    Inhale and lift your chest like a snake. Pull your shoulders back and open up your heart.

8)    Exhale and roll over your toes into Downward Dog. Remain here for a few breaths. Feel your spine lengthen and your legs stretch. This is a great inverted pose to get blood to your head and heart.

9)    Bend your knees and look between your hands. Inhale and hop or step your feet between your hands.

10)  Slowly come up into Mountain pose and then past Mountain pose-reaching up to the sky again to say thank you to the sun.

 Repeat Sun Salutation 5 times, remembering to breath and move slowly through each pose.

There are some great websites and Youtube videos on how to do Sun Salutation.  I like to use the balance board for this sequence because it keeps my body in line and adds for an extra bit of challenge. 

When all you want to do is 10 minutes, do it!  When I was living in Taiwan, it rained a lot.  Sometimes the rain never stopped, and though jumping in puddles is always fun, we didn't feel like it all the time. There weren't any gyms around either.  So, we had to come up with a plan b on getting in some exercise or getting those heebie-jeebies out of our bones.  My daughter and I came up with a fabulous idea.  We spent 10 minutes going through a circuit training or obstacle course.  Honestly, I was the one who did the obstacle course, while my 3 year old daughter jumped all over me during the process. Here's what I did:

60 jumping jacks

15-30 push ups (partly on my knees)

60 bicycles on my back

100 squats

15-30 dips (on a chair)

15-30 step ups

100 jump ropes (if you don't have a jump rope, just pretend)

I would do 2-3 sets of these and a little meditation or deep breathing.  Sometimes I would leave something out or add something in for variety (frog jumps or superman back stretches for example).  Lately, we've also been adding the balance board for more core-strengthening and improving our balance.  Whatever the case, this mini workout is great for the heart and for relieving stress. My daughter enjoyed creating her own little circuit simultaneously. It's a great way to start or end the day.

Yesterday we were at the beach park. We had brought one balance board for the heck of it.  Would you believe that we had boys and girls ages 4-73, and we finally found a game that everyone could participate in....yoga moves on the yoga balance board! 

Everyone that wanted to participate could show off their moves or make up a pose on the balance board.  You didn't even have to  know yoga...you could just make up a pose and give it a name, like "jellyfish."  It was great fun and so easy.  Everyone was a winner, too!  We didn't even have to make up any rules, which seemed to be the problem with all the other games the kids wanted to play.  Also, it was fair, because everyone could do something on the board, whereas when we tried playing Frisbee, the 4 and 5 year olds struggled with throwing the Frisbee.  When we played chase, the older kids could outrun the younger ones.  "Sharks and Minnows"  was requested, but too many kids didn't want rules.  So, thank goodness for the balance board.  I would like to say: "Milkshake board, you saved the day."

Hip, hip, hooray! Our Kickstarter project launched today.  Friends from all over the world are helping us out and it's awesome.  When I say friends, I mean everyone....people we don't know as well as people we know.  It's absolutely amazing and we are so thankful for all of the support.  I think the key was the hard work and dedication that my brother has put into this project to make it happen, and us cheerleaders on the side-all being a part of a fun, loving team.  And now, you are a part of it, too... Just by reading this to start.  What a great feeling. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

We are 50% funded on the first day, and have 34 days to go.  A lot of people found us through Kickstarter.  After that, I would have to say that Facebook really helped.  I have to admit that I don't use Facebook all that much.  However, the day that we launched our project and reached out to all of our friends, they all were willing to help out.  Thank you!

We're so excited to share this fun balance board with everyone and can't wait to hear how people use it and how it helps them in life.  Cheers!