Explore the benefits of embodied mindfulness practices and learn how they help build resilience, support learning and cultivate healthy communities.
Learn more about the research in the field, and the work we’re doing with our school partners to evaluate our programming.
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Hear directly from students about what mindfulness and yoga mean to them in daily life.
Chair and mat-based yoga and mindfulness classes for youth ages 3-18 right in the classroom.
Professional Development workshops for school staff to help build yoga and mindfulness in-house culture and capacity.
Learn about programming and events that we offer to support caregivers and children.
Learn about ways we support mental health care providers individually and in school settings through education, resources, and with direct services to students.
Hear directly from schools we’ve worked with to better understand how yoga and mindfulness can support your students, teachers, and larger community.
Explore our comprehensive teacher certification program, and learn to support and grow the inner resources of kids 3-18.
Accessible webinars and online courses on topics such as managing anxiety, working with teens, building resilience, chair yoga, and much more.
Full day seminars offering 6 CE credits to Counselors, SWs, Psys, MFTs, OTs, SLPs, Educators, and Nurses
Educator focused online courses that offer graduate, CE and P credits.
Explore our comprehensive certification program, and learn to support and grow the inner resources of kids 3-18.
Join us for interactive online learning experiences with a wide variety of guest teachers.
Full day seminars offering 6 CE credits to Counselors, SWs, Psys, MFTs, OTs, SLPs, Educators, and Nurses.
COMING SOON
We’re working hard to create a great resource center for families here. In the meantime, please consider exploring LFY founder Jennifer Cohen Harper’s book, which was written for parents, and our card decks and workbook for children.
Looking for an LFY class in your area? Check our our Teacher Directory to reach out to training graduates around the world.
Easy to use resources for families, educators, clinicans and children + teens themselves.
An ongoing resource that allows teachers and schools to build capacity naturally, throughout a simple and sustainable implementation program that immediately benefits kids and adults.
Explore searchable content from our teaching and learning community, including activities and practices.
COMING SOON
It’s a wide and wonderful world out there, and we think you should get to know these folks doing allied work in the field.
As a former school counselor, LFY teacher Jess Belanger has a unique perspective to share with us. She will be contributing a monthly article to our conversation, offering information to help parents and teacher support their kids. Click Here to learn more about Jess and all of our LFY teachers. If you live anywhere in the… Read more »
Check out this fantastic book by LFY teacher Susan Verde! It is an amazing exploration of feelings experienced by a child visiting a museum. My daugther, Isabelle, loves it and she's only 15 months old. I think older children would appreciate it for entirely different reasons. The Museum, by Susan Verde
A couple of weeks ago I had the tremendous good fortune to spend my time with about 90 educators of educators. This inspiring community is made up of people who care deeply about our children, and also care deeply about our teachers. They came together at the Garrison Institute to share, explore, question, and create… Read more »
As a former school counselor, LFY teacher Jess Belanger has a unique perspective to share with us. She will be contributing a monthly article to our conversation, offering information to help parents and teacher support their kids. Click Here to learn more about Jess and all of our LFY teachers. Throughout the school year, kids… Read more »
Childhood today is filled with challenges, stressors and obstacles that can be overwhelming for parents and children alike. We want to support our kids and keep them safe and healthy, but without overprotecting, over-medicating or stigmatizing them. Yoga offers families an effective tool to address many of the most difficult concerns during the school age… Read more »
This gorgeous book is a wonderful holiday gift for the children in your life. I am considering buying an extra copy, so I can cut it apart and frame the pages in my daughters room! Author Lauren Rubenstein is an amazing part of the Yoga Service community, and is donating book proceeds to Go Give… Read more »
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Reading Recommendation: Learning to Breathe, Patricia C. Broderick I had the good fortune this weekend of spending some time with author and creator of the Learning to Breathe program, Patricia Broderick, at the Garrison Institute's Mindfulness in Education: Cultivating the Social and Emotional Competencies of Educators Symposium. Patricia's work is thoughtful and her mindulness program for adolescents… Read more »
As a former school counselor, LFY teacher Jess Belanger has a unique perspective to share with us. She will be contributing a monthly article to our conversation, offering information to help parents and teacher support their kids. Click Here to learn more about Jess and all of our LFY teachers. It's Monday night. You check… Read more »
Check out this amazing resource from our friends at Shanti Generation! Partner yoga for teens builds healthy relationship and communication skills, and fosters a strong sense of community in your classes. Abby Wills is a wonderful teachers, and we are thrilled that this dvd is out there in the world. It includes ten 5 minute… Read more »
This children’s meditation is a variation on a traditional kundalini yoga meditation. It is an active meditation that reinforces your child’s capacity for kindness. It is accessible and engaging for children who have trouble keeping their body still, and for many children this becomes one of their most relied-upon tools in everyday life. You can… Read more »
I just pre-ordered my copy of Dan Siegel's newest book, Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain. Pre-ordering the book gives you access to a brainstorm video, and of course insures that you get it asap! Dan's work has had a tremendous impact on the work of LFY, and I can't wait to… Read more »
We are so thrilled to introduce LFY Founder Jennifer Cohen Harper's new book: Little Flower Yoga for Kids: A Yoga and Mindfulness Program to Help Your Child Improve Attention and Emotional Balance Huge thanks to New Harbinger Publications, and to Dan Siegel, author of The Whole Brain Child (and several other fantastic books)… Read more »
As we all get back into the swing of the school year, it seems like a good time to brush up on the fundamentals. This year we have added a fantastic new resource to our required reading list of our Children's Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher Training course. 30 Essential Yoga Poses, by Judith Lasater, is… Read more »
A very simple but effective type of meditation is the practice of fixing your gaze on one steady object for a set period of time. You may have heard of an adult practice of fixing one’s gaze on a candle flame. With children we get more creative to find safer variations of the practice. 1.… Read more »
As we make our way into the hottest time of year, Seethali Breath is a great practice to try at home with your kids. This is a cooling breathing practice that children tend to love. It is useful to practice when the weather is hot, but also when the emotions are heated. Stick your tongue… Read more »
Welcome the first day of spring with Flower Pose! A seated balance that is very accessible. It is both grounding and uplifting, bringing balance to your physical body and to your emotions. This is one of many activities that will be included in our upcoming book: Little Flower Yoga for Kids, being released this summer… Read more »
Happy Valentines Day! We hope that you are enjoying a day filled with love for your family, your friends, your children, and yourself! Here is a child friendly version of a loving kindness meditation practice that you can share with your students or your own child today. This is one of many activities that will… Read more »
We are so happy to be a part of the Garrison Institute's newly launched, free, publically accessible database of contemplative teaching and learning programs. Users can search the database according to program characteristics such as location, contemplative approach, and target audience. For example, a teacher in New Jersey could use the database to search for… Read more »
This mindful listening practice asks your students to explore what they can hear around them in an intentional way. Our hearing is so sensitive. We don’t have any way to block out sound the way we can close our eyes to reduce what we see. All of the sounds around us are competing for our… Read more »
Teacher Reflections: Mary Gillen Blog posts from our Little Flower Family I’ve been teaching yoga to pregnant teens at a youth correctional facility in the NY since May. Each week I drive white-knuckled, fighting 18-wheelers for a lane, to what seems like the farthest corner of the city. I pass small houses and corporate compounds,… Read more »
This activity, inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh's pebble meditation, connects students to aspects of nature, and the different kinds of strength that make up the whole. In this Little Flower Yoga version of a pebble meditation practice, we incorporate movement, drawing and journaling, along with the a mindfulness practice, to create a complete experience for… Read more »
Teacher Reflections: Salvador Martinez Blog Posts from our Little Flower Family Oh, yes! It’s time to store the bathing suit, shorts, tank tops, and flip-flops, and bring forward the layers. Time to switch the summer beverage of lemonade to perhaps to maybe a hot chocolate. It’s fall and the kids are back in school! That… Read more »
This is a great relaxation exercise to try any time you feel tired, stressed, angry or frustrated. It is also very helpful if you can’t fall asleep. Begin with a gentle warm up, and then start your relaxation with tree pose. Stand tall, find a still point to focus on, and imagine your feet rooting… Read more »
This is a simple activity that many students (adults and kids alike!) get into and don’t want to get out of. It is a safe and comfortable way of offering loving contact and invites partners to expand their awareness outside of their own bodies. Children often say they feel calmer and more comfortable in this… Read more »
Often we are asked what our children's yoga classes actually look like. What are we teaching? Are we just practicing movement? Where does the mindfulness come in? Do kids actually calm down? Below is an overview of the five elements that we consider essential aspects of any child's yoga experience. Activities that explore these five elements… Read more »
Crossing the Line is a group activity that has a very strong impact on both children and adults. It is a quiet, meaningful experience of recognizing our similarities, and is a great way to reinforce a sense of community within your class. We use it most often with teens. Stress and anxiety are often caused… Read more »
Domestic violence knows no boundaries. It can happen to anyone – regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, orientation or socio-economic status. This week on Cityscape the subject is explored in a wide variety of communities. Little Flower Yoga Founder Jennifer Cohen Harper participates in the conversation, discussing the use of yoga in women and children survivors.… Read more »
Exchanging the breath is a beautiful meditative breathing practice that encourages people to mindfully consider their connection with each and every person and living thing on our earth. It is deeply calming and healing. 1. Find a comfortable seat or other position. Take a few moments to relax your body and make sure that nothing… Read more »
As we come to the end of Autism awareness month, I am very aware of all the information and advice that has been swirling around the children’s yoga world talking about how to support students on the spectrum. There has been some really wonderful sharing happening, but I want to take a moment to remind… Read more »