Yoga for children: Shakta Khalsa shares yoga tips for radiant children.

Yoga helps children (and teachers!) focus, relax and be mentally alert. Brighten up your day by taking five or ten minutes to share these fun and easy exercises with the children in your life. Breathing is done through the nose unless noted otherwise.

1. Windmills: Crossing the midline of the body has been known to help activate the communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Stand up with legs straddled comfortably. Bring the arms out to the sides. Exhale and touch the opposite hand to the foot (or leg). Inhale and return to the original position. Exhale and do the same on the other side of the body. Continue for a minute or so.

2. Balloon Breath: Imagine your lungs filling up with air like a balloon, taking in vital life force. Inhale and bring their arms up overhead in the shape of a balloon, then exhale (can be through the mouth with a sound), and make the balloons get smaller until the hands return down to the sides.

3. Feel your heart: Simply sit with the hands over the heart (or at the center of the chest) with closed eyes. Feel your heart beating and appreciate the work your heart does for you every moment. Thank your heart, and feel it thank you back!

4. Crow Squats: Good for relaxing the back and hips after sitting for a long time. Talking with a partner gives the children permission to talk in an organized way. Stand up with feet shoulder-width apart. Bring your arms straight out in front of you. As you exhale, squat down as far as you can go. Inhale and come back up. Keep your eyes open if you need to, for balance. Try it holding hands with a partner, face to face. Talk to your partner as you go up and down.

4. Tree pose: For good posture, balance, and mental focus. Stand up and bring one foot onto the other leg. For "low branch" tree (easier for six and under), bring the foot to rest near the ankle of the other leg. For "high branch tree," the foot is placed close to the upper inside of the leg. The palms are pressed together and resting at the center of the chest. The eyes look straight ahead and focus at a point on the wall. When steady, stretch the arms up overhead, palms still together. Take five deep breaths and then switch sides.

5. Dog stretch: Good for stretching out after a long time of sitting. Holding onto the back of a chair or desktop, bend forward, keeping the legs straight but not locked. Let your head stretch down between your arms and inhale. Concentrate on lengthening the spine by pushing your hips away from your hands. Then exhale as you straighten your spine and lean your weight into your hands so that you feel the leg muscles lengthen and stretch. Repeat several times.

6. Ocean Breath: This is a relaxation technique, good to do sitting or lying down. It also brings awareness of the breath. Close your eyes, and let the body relax. Inhale and imagine that the waves of the ocean are coming up to the shore. Exhale and the ocean waves go back out to the sea. Five to ten times.

7. Drinking Water: Have children drink water often during the day. Water rebalances the electrical system in the body, and helps to balance the brain and emotions. All academic skills are improved by adequate hydration, which is best provided in small amounts often during the day.

Well-Wishing Ending:

May the long time sun shine upon you. (Make a big sun with the arms up.)

All love surround you. (Bring arms down then forward, out from the chest.)

And the pure light within you. (Cross arms over chest at the heart center.)

Guide your way on. (Roll hands around each other in front of chest.)

Kundalini yoga teacher Shakta Kaur Khalsa will visit Asheville, NC in October as a "Healing Artist" at the Lake Eden Arts Festival and presenting "Radiant Child Yoga Teacher Training" for parents and instructors at Namaste Yoga & Healing Center in Downtown Asheville. For more information on Shakta's visit to Asheville, please call Namaste at 828-253-6985 or email Sierra Hollister at [e-mail]