The Mindful Being

by Zu Anjalika Kamis Gunnulfsen

“Mamma let’s do the flame-gazing exercise again” said my six-year-old.  He loves this ‘flame-gazing’ activity or Trataka, a technique I introduced to him two months ago.  In a nutshell, it involves staring into the flame of a candle, which in turn helps with concentration and memory.

When we think about boosting memory power for adults, eating the herb gingko biloba comes to mind.  Afterall, this herbal supplement has been around for many centuries.  For most, supplement is not an option for their children.

So while we work on ensuring our kids are equipped with good mental power, why is boosting memory ability all that important and how do we help our kids achieve this?

From birth, a child’s growing memory is the crucial part of his cognitive growth.  Parents will continue to find ways to help their kids boost their memory power.  The amazing role memory plays in our lives becomes apparent as we are who we are, mainly because of what we remember.

As a child gets older, his memory power will get stronger while the capacity increases.  If you can determine what children remember – why and when, you can certainly encourage that developmental growth.

What’s important to note is that while mind-training is good, mind relaxation is also needed for balance.  One without the other will not perform to it maximum ability.

Mind-training combined with mind relaxation has been ever present since the inception of yoga itself, couple of thousand years ago.

In this 21^st century our lives are pretty much being taken over by technology.  For most of us, every waking hour is spent amongst smart phones, computers and noise that over-stimulate the minds.  We hardly find time or opportunity to relax, unwind and quieten our minds.  What is worse is that we let that same lifestyle control our children.

For the young especially, stimulating their minds positively is imperative.   It is also necessary to provide variety in order to promote constant stimulation.  Another factor to consider when arranging mind-training activities is age appropriateness.

Super memory is not a myth; it’s definitely attainable.  With all that said, let us now look into the fundamentals of the following two variations of mind-training and relaxation practices, and how the practices can help attain the best possible mental calmness and wellness capacity in our children.

Trataka

Trataka or flame-gazing is one of the most popular mind training activities in yoga.  Trataka develops concentration and memory.  Directly translated, it means concentrated gazing and that is exactly what Trataka does.

During the Trataka practice, a candle is placed about a meter away, on the eye level.  Keep focus on the flame and continue gazing at it without blinking.  It is also important to breathe normally. Gaze onto the flame until tears start running down the cheeks.  Then slowly close the eyes and relax.  Then with a slight pressure, place palms over the eyes and hold for about 30 seconds.  This cycle may be repeated few times.

Trataka is certainly a very good exercise for the eyes; known to help considerably with many eye issues. Conjunctivitis happens lots with the young; Trataka is known to keep it at bay.  Ward off and reduce astigmatism wholesomely; try Trataka!

Without a doubt, Trataka calms and relaxes the mind.  Definitely a plus for children as it presents the ability to focus more and concentrate longer without getting distracted.  With all these perks, daily stress and fatigue, eliminated.  Better sleep and peaceful nervous system will be introduced.

Manas Dharana

What is Manas Dharana?  Simply put, Manas Dharana means concentrating the mind onto one place or object. This technique calms and promotes mind receptiveness, and has a positive impact on the brains.

This exercise can be held indoors or outdoors.  With eyes closed, children are led to listen to one external sound each time; birds chirp, the rustling of paper or even footsteps outside the window.  They will also be required to breathe normally and steadily.   Focus and concentration is needed.  They will follow the direction to where the sound is heading.  Then questions relating to the sounds will be asked; example will be where the sound comes from, where it is travelling to.

In Manas Dharana, the mind is trained to concentrate on just one thing each given time; meaning focus plays a big part in this exercise.  With focus, the mind quietens down and calmness is induced; helpful for everyone especially the young.

With Manas Dharana as part of their lifestyle, children will be able to automatically switch on to this mode whenever studying or memorizing work is needed.  Concentration and focus; two words synonymous with students, can be achieved with this simple exercise.

Do also note that breath and breathing plays a vital role in these two exercises.  Breath controls the mind; oxygen will be amply supplied with each breathing, making concentration and focus lots easier.

So there you go, the two mind-training techniques in yoga.  Such simple steps, with no costs, yet resulting in huge perks.

Emphasis should really be given to Trataka and Manas Dharana as support for developing minds.

Understanding how focus and concentration can be elevated; also ways in which memories are encoded in childhood and later retrieved and used has important relations in many areas during a child’s developing years.

Afterall, Thomas Edison did say, ‘the greatest invention in the world is the mind of a child’ and he cannot be more apt!

This article was featured in YogaMail Jul-Sep 2017 issue.

Whole Me Up, Super Yoga Kids!

by Zu Anjalika Kamis Gunnulfsen

 

When my boys dragged out the yoga mats, spread them out and mimicked my downward facing dog, I was elated.  So elated that I decided to look further into yoga for kids. I knew then I had read somewhere what yoga can do for growing minds.  That was 2013.

My boys were then two and three years old.  We were living in Oslo, Norway where authentic yoga is a pretty rare commodity, what more, yoga for kids.

Fast forward a year later, relocation to Kuala Lumpur and brief conversation with a friend led to many online researches to seek more information on kids’ yoga.  It was then that I found MAYI’s Super Yoga Kids Instructors certification course.

I have never looked back since.

You see, Super Yoga Kids is a total depiction of what adults’ yoga is, and more.

Let’s talk.

Super Yoga Kids (SYK) is the name given for MAYI’s yoga classes for children.

The term Super Yoga is coined from the fact that it is believed a child will emerge awe-inspiring in more aspects than one after picking up yoga at a young age.  The age we are talking about is four – yes a child can start taking up yoga at the tender age of four; even though there are remote cases of even younger kids practicing this beautiful ancient Indian art.

Now, what exactly is Super Yoga Kids?

Like (adults) yoga, children are guided through tailored asanas (poses) to safely develop balance, strength and suppleness.  At the same time, establish a better sense of physical, emotional and mental ability. Specialised teaching techniques are used to stimulate young minds while nurturing their physical and mental development. I cannot reiterate enough how positive yoga is to anyone; and for a child, it will definitely be the greatest gift ever.

The best part, in my opinion is that Super Yoga Kids helps to instill values in the young.  The current state of chaos in this world makes it an even better time to expose our young children to the right rules of conduct and standards of behaviour.

First and foremost, let’s take a look at the physical aspects of SYK; how the kids are guided in this art and what they can expect in terms of physical development.

To put it simply to a child, SYK is just a way of moving their tiny bodies gently and without much effort to improve and maintain their physicality and keep them in tip-top condition. Of course, as the young child gets older, he might be keen to know the deeper meaning of yoga and they are very much welcome to research more into this art.

With the heavy load school-going kids carry on their shoulders each day, the countless hours they spent hunched in the classroom; not to mention mental alertness that is required to follow through lessons, I can only think of one activity, a saving grace, if you will, that should be incorporated into their daily lives – YOGA.  SYK will see that their lopsided shoulders get eased-up, rectify their hunched back to a better posture and most definitely calm and sharpen their minds for better attention and absorption of what is taught in class.

To put things in perspective, let’s take a look at a typical SYK session.

In SYK, sessions usually start with awareness and energisation. It is SYK’s philosophy that children must be taught to be aware of their being and existence. This exercise reiterates the beautiful and miraculous part of themselves; their bodies.

Joint exercises or pawanmuktasana, as we call it in yoga, comes next.  In this session kids are guided through stretching, bending and rotating sequences of their joints in every part of their body; better still the places which are often neglected like the hip and toe joints.

After working and easing on the joints, they children will then go on to do Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation. Surya Namaskar is a chain of choreographed asanas or poses to help in the clarity of mind, regulation of breaths and total body well-being.

Asanas comes right after Surya Namaskar. Asanas or poses in SYK, most often than not, are conducted in fun and interactive manner. Most asanas are given animal names so kids can act-out and mimic the given animal for each of the asanas. This creates a lot of imaginative play and teamwork; not to mention the improvement of vocabulary and word-grasps.

Since we are dealing with young, active minds and bodies, creativity plays a huge part.  Thematic asanas is big with children of SYK.  They just love to wonder their minds in fantasy, depending on what theme that day holds, while their tiny bodies move fluidly, from each asana to the next.

Yoga Nidra is a very powerful form of relaxation. It is a combination of awareness of the physical body and creative visualisation through rotation of consciousness. Children are guided through simple and short visualizations.

Breathing plays a vital role in SYK. Deep and proper breathing ensures oxygen is taken to right places so that inner cells are well oxygenized and energized to function properly.  Oxygenized cells also mean improved nervous system, better mental alertness, improved digestive system, which also acts as an immunity booster.  So common coughs and colds will be at bay; good news for parents! With all these in mind, it’s not a wonder breathing takes the center stage in yoga.

SYK’s signature Mind Training is a definite boost for children.  It works on internal factors like left-right brain hemispheres which helps in creativity and being calm, amongst others.

So, with the physical aspects of SYK explained, let us take a look as to what constitutes instilling values in SYK.

There are two parts to this; Yama and Niyama.

Yama is regaining balance in life; while Niyama is the practices that lead to wisdom and self-knowledge.  Together, they have the power to help to implement and regain values that most certainly are depleting, unfortunately, with the rise of technology and use of gadgets.

With all these conveyed to a child at a very young age, it will be amazing to see him or her develop and function as a wholesome and well-rounded individual later on in life.

Super Yoga Kids, as we call it, will not turn a child into Superman but it will definitely make the child a super human; body, mind, soul.

 

This article was featured in YogaMail Apr-Jun 2017 issue.