Breath is life! We can live without food for about 40 days, without water for a week, without sunshine for a while, without sleep for a couple of days… But we cannot live without the breath for more than a few minutes.
Just breathing deeply is boring for kids and yogic breathing exercises are usually too complex. But if you decorate the breath with interesting movements and sounds, imagination and fun games, they will practice breathing for longer then you probably can!
When Children Think of Breath
For the smallest kids, the term “breath” just doesn’t mean anything, and if you use it, you won’t really get a response. Instead, try using words like smell or sniff, which kids understand and which requires them to breathe in deeply in order to do.
Exaggerate your breathing or smelling enough so that it will be heard—only then will you see some change in the kids’ breathing. Tell the kids you want to hear their breath!
With children under the age of six, your goal is simply to help them breathe more and breathe more deeply. Here are four ways to help them do just that.
1. Using Visualization
Butterfly smelling flowers: Make the kids do Butterfly pose, then ask them to bringing their nose to their toes!
Smelling flowers and blowing candles: Cup your hands to smell the imaginary flowers, and then make candles to blow with your two index fingers.
Bubble Breaths: Breathe deeply, and imagine that with each exhalation you are blowing bubbles of peace or happiness or love into the room.
2. Having the Breath Make a Sound
Using Props
- Flutes
- Trumpets
- Whistles
- Slide whistles
Using your Body
- Om-ing
- Humming
- Snoring
- Yawning
- Sighing
- Sneezing
- Whistling (or trying to)
- Darth Vader breath (like Ujjayi breath)
Waves Breath: Block your ears with your fingers or thumbs and listen to the sound of your breath. It sounds just like waves in the ocean.
When you breathe in, the waves come closer, and when you breathe out, the waves withdraw back into the ocean.
2. Having the Breath Move Something
Scarves, sheet of paper, or newspaper: Blow on either object as you hold it in front of you, blow it up in the air, or blow it to each other in pairs.
Ping pong balls breath pass: In front of each other or in a circle, pass the ball using your breath—use straws to help little kids create the right shape to blow with their mouth.
Cotton balls distance breath: How far can you blow the ball? Compete amongst yourselves, bettering the distance every round. You can also try competing to bring the ball across the room with fewer breaths every round.
Feathers: Make feathers move using your breath. Try blowing from your mouth, nose (easier with one nostril blocked), or blow them up in the air.
Fly, Little Bird, Fly: Organize the children into groups of three. Give each group a long piece of string and a button with feathers or paper glued onto it for wings.
Two of the students will be standing trees, holding the string across the classroom. The other is the wind. Thread the bird (the button with the feather) onto the string. It’s the wind’s job to blow the bird from one tree to the other.
4. Combining the Breath with Movement
Angel’s breath: Start with your arms by your sides. When you inhale, lift your angel wings (your arms) up, and when you exhale bring them back down.
Washing machine breath/Helicopter breath: Place your hands on your shoulders and start twisting your upper body from side to side. Breathe in as you twist to one side and breathe out as you twist to the other side.
Elephant Breath (can also be a Woodchopper breath): Standing with feet apart, inhale through your nose and lift your trunk (your arms and hands with interlocked fingers) up, and exhale through your mouth, dropping your trunk and body down.
Reach and Pull: Inhale and lift your arms to reach up, exhale and with a pulling motion (as if you are pulling something) bring your arms back down. Repeat a few times.
Stand and Squat: Inhale standing up and exhale coming into a squat.
Breathe and Pass Twists: Sit back-to-back with a friend and pass a ball or any other prop from one to the other by twisting from side to side. Give and receive with both hands. Inhale while receiving and exhale while giving.
Rainbow Breath: On a whiteboard or on paper, inhale and draw up and then exhale and draw down. Use different colors to make it more beautiful!
Breathing and Moving: Stretch your arms to the either side of you and start with small circular movements, moving only your fingers while breathing very gently. Slowly make the movements and the breath bigger and bigger until your whole body moves with the breath.
Personal Hug Breath: Inhale and spread your hands to the sides, exhale and hug yourself placing your hands on your opposite shoulders or even shoulder blades. Repeat as many times as you want.
Window Painting: This is one cool exercise for the winter, which makes the otherwise invisible breath real for children. Get the students to pair up and to breathe through their mouths onto a window. The glass will fog up. One student stands in a yoga pose against the window while the other traces their yoga shape in the condensation.
By teaching children to breathe more deeply, we can help them alleviate many problems like fatigue, depression, and anxiety. Sometimes all we need is more oxygen. Breathe deeply and see the results for yourself!
