ABC: Bible Meditation for Me!: Y Is for Yoga!

ABC: Bible Meditation for Me!:  Y Is for Yoga!

ABC:  Bible Meditation for Me!:  Bible Meditation Vs. Eastern Meditation

Introduction:  This is one of  twenty-six ABC lessons for parents, grandparents, kids, and teachers.  There are now nineteen lessons posted; scroll back to read them. Besides this lesson still to come are:  I, J, K, M, N, and S.

Yoga Is a Practice

Yoga is a practice I mustn't do,
for it's Hindu through and through.
Its gesture is Namaste,
and that's not the Bible way;
Instead I'll meditate and pray-
to fix my mind on His words!
                                                LEP
Y Is for Yogi

Several years ago in a PreK classroom I was listening to an ABC book being read. When the teacher got to Y she read "Y is for yogi."  "Y for yogi" that was a first for me!  How far we've come since that day, for now its even quite common to refer to children as "little yogis."   Because yoga is done in so many venues, it is imperative to understand why children or adults shouldn't be joining up.

"From My Youth" Bible Meditation

Psalm 71:5 is a great meditation Bible verse to contemplate and remember.  It reads, "For thou art my hope, O LORD God: thou art my trust from my youth."  II Timothy 3:15 also mentions "from a child" one must be taught from the holy scriptures making them ready for salvation!

"Y for Youth" Bible Marker

Cut out an oversized "Y" large enough to write Ps.71:5 on it.  Find it your Bible.  Use a highlighter to make the verse stand out so it can be easily located.  Discuss what the "Y" stands for.

Yes, That's the Book for Me!

If you haven't sung "The B-I-B-L-E" lately do it, for therein lies the message we want little folks to hear!  Sing here:
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=Kids+song+youtube+The+B-I-B-L-E#id=2&vid=aff19218e5fb99a04d5d78a60e845149&action=view

Lots of Little Yogis

Lots of little yogis
here, there, everywhere
being taught they ought
      to do yoga!

Little Yogis Go to the Y,
Little Yogis Go to the Gym

Little yogis go to the Y,
Little yogis go to the gym,
Little yogis never hear of Him-
      for they do yoga!

Question:  Do you care?

Eastern Meditation

Y Is for Yoga

Y is for Yoga
where kids hear
eerie "Oms!"
in their ears!

Little Children Placed
  in the Resting Pose 

Two special needs teachers, in a school where I substituted, thought yoga was something that might help their restless PreK children. At the time in one classroom I noted a yoga CD on a desk and copied its title. After a bit of research, I began to see a little of what this yoga CD involved. Soon after, I happened to be in the classroom again as the children were laid in a resting pose,* masked on a mat, and expected to lie still for a short time.  Never having seen anything like that, it truly was strange! What to do? I vowed to know more, so I might be ready to explain what yoga really involved.

* I later learned this was a "corpse" pose or "relaxation pose" called "Savasana."  This pose ends a yoga session. An article "How to Do a Corpse Pose in Yoga" (Yogaoutlet.com) finishes with this Erich Schiffman (renowned American yoga master) quote:  "Savasana is where people are most likely to experience the meaning of yoga, which is their conscious unity with infinity... You lie there and look dead, but as you relax and sink into the feeling of the very alive energy that is being you, it literally feels like you come to life again."  Read the entire article here:                
https://www.yogaoutlet.com/blogs/guides/how-to-do-corpse-pose-in-yoga

A Meddy Teddy Yogi

Yes, there's a yogi "Meddy Teddy" teddy bear.  This cuddly "Meddy Teddy" comes with additional yoga outfits.  Meddy Teddy also has limbs that may be bent into any yoga pose.  This is a must-see video detailing persuasive reasons why this bear was invented, and why they want to put one in the hands of every child.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=meddy+teddy#id=1&vid=abb3c7160b090807bdc8323e7bcf73da&action=click

Yoga Bug For Babies

Both on-line and in bookstores there are board books for tykes under two years of age in yoga poses.  Always the books are cleverly illustrated and look so innocent.  But as many have pointed out, they are going after the little ones to early train them to be future yogis and meditators.  Here is but one sample of such a book.  View its one minute video here: 
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=Yoga+Bug+Sara+Hinder+video#id=1&vid=8569e2bca07ee5353c166ae45b5f83d6&action=click

The Cobra Embedded in Yoga

Often there's a child doing the snake pose in one of the board books for the little ones.  Of these snake poses there's an easier snake pose the Sarpasana, as well as the more difficult cobra pose the Bhujangasana.  These poses, by the way, are based on the Hindu snake god King Cobra.       
Read here:  http://thesop.org/story/religion/2008/06/04/king-cobra-is-snake-god-to-hindus.php

You Are a LION!
Taeeun Yoo's colorful picture book You Are a LION!, with its seemingly innocuous yoga poses and repetitive text, features the lion, the butterfly, the dog, yes the snake, the frog, and the cat.  It is just another early childhood picture book immersing mere babes into yogic teachings.  Hear it here:
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=you+are+a+lion+read+aloud+on+youtube#id=1&vid=6d57934e0c51af50a97f9a7c86a8babf&action=click

Parental Suggestion:

Good Night Yoga from "Sounds True"

Take a look at Mariam Gate's Good Night Yoga which is read aloud on-line.  Notice its pose by pose flow.  Hear its short description of each pose.  Especially note the repetitive mesmerizing voice of the reader as she reads the mantra-like breath lines: "As I breathe in, as I breathe out …."  Its reader  is Tami Simon founder of a spirituality company "Sounds True."  Authors published by Sounds True are New Agers as Eckhart Tolle, Carolyn Myss, Pema Chodron, or Buddhists as the Dali Lama, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Daniel Goleman and the list goes on..  Perhaps a more appropriate name for the company might be "Sounds False!"  It can't be emphasized enough one must always research the author's background and the author's publisher. Often mindfulness/yoga teachers will declare it's all secular, however nearly always when the authors are investigated, one will find they are not secular!
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=good+night+yoga+mariam+gates+youtube#id=1&vid=de3ba96f282ca877104afba4351d66f6&action=click
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounds_True