Dynamic postures maintain flexibility, strengthen muscles, improve co-ordination and balance, whilst relaxation and breathing techniques improve memory retention, concentration and energy levels.
Yoga helps children to understand the values of helping and respecting each other.
Classes are divided into two groups: 3-7 years and 8-12 years. Younger children can expect to be taken on an adventure: diving to the bottom of the ocean or saving a princess from a grumpy giant! Of course, the children are always the hero at the end of every adventure and an emphasis is placed on helping and respecting each other.
The older age group learn fun, flowing postures where yoga sequences, either energetic or calming can be accompanied by pop or chill-out music. All sessions end with relaxation and games.
Yoga Stars classes can be run as after-school clubs, lunchtime clubs, during PE sessions or perhaps during a 'themed' school week (Healthy Schools, Health & Fitness). Classes can also support school curriculum topic such as 'New Beginnings' and 'Life and Wellbeing'.
Teaching alone I can take 15 children per class or with teacher assistance (SLA or teacher) I can take up to 30 children. Classes end with each child receiving a sticker and at the end of a term they always go home with a little treat!
Charges are: £30.00 per 30 - 45 minute session. (Funding can also be given by the parent paying a part of the cost ie. £2.00 per child).
Should a school new to Yoga Stars wish to 'trial' a Yoga Stars class this would cost just £15.00.
Olympics SATS Maths Booster Programme - April 2010
Yoga Stars, Extended Schools and City Academy School Sports Partnership teamed up for the third year to provide exciting maths and sports-related activities to enable local 5 & 6 year pupils to feel 'boosted' with confidence in preparation for their SATs exams.
Healthy Schools and Wellbeing Conference, Leigh Court. 30th June 2009
This conference was held in order to support schools to meet their statutory duty on pupil and staff well-being.
Six students from my Hotwells School after school yoga club accompanied me and we had a great day! We demonstrated two workshops of Yoga Stars classes in front of head teachers, school teachers and school improvement officers. The children demonstrated perfect yoga postures, team work and relaxation techniques. They were the talk of the day and I felt very proud of them indeed.
Please visit www.bristolhealthyschools.nhs.uk for more information on the Bristol Healthy Schools Programme.
Yoga Stars now teaches at Special schools. We offer yoga therapy to infants and children with a variety of conditions including Down's Syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, ADD, ADHD, spina bifida, dyspraxia, and other physical and developmental difficulties.
Yoga poses are designed to improve cognitive and motor skills, improve muscle tone and balance, promote flexibility and correct postural misalignment. The specialised breathing exercises and relaxation techniques improve concentration, reduce hyperactivity and relieve respiratory ailments.
With regular practice, yoga increases emotional stability and self-esteem and promotes an overall sense of well-being.
Do something different this year - have a Yoga Stars birthday party!
Yoga Stars parties are creative, imaginative and fun! Your child can decide his/her favourite theme or characters on which we will base the yoga party.
A sample 2 hour party:
The Birthday Child takes home a Yoga Stars t-shirt.
Cost: £100.00.
* Parents provide party food. Party Bags can be supplied by Yoga Stars at a cost of £4.00 per child.
St Vigor & St John CE School, Radstock
St Vigor & St John Childrens Centre, Radstock
Hotwells School, Bristol
Wednesdays 3.45-4.45pm (8-11 year olds)
Thursdays 3.45-4.45pm (4-7 year olds)
Birdwell School. Long Ashton
Mondays, 3.45-4.45pm
If you would like your child to attend these classes, please contact Sarah Claridge on 07976 350564 or email hello@yoga-stars.co.uk
George has been doing Yoga Stars for over a year now and he really loves taking part. Yoga Stars is a gentle and energetic exercise that involves good concentration and George is thrilled when he can master a particular move, like the 'tree' or the 'lion'.
He also enjoys the mixture of movement and story-telling. It is such a great exercise to share with other friends in his class and as it's a really sociable and fun time as well.
It's good for children to learn many different ways of interacting with others and Yoga Stars is a gentle, relaxing and stimulating guided exercise for young children. George really loves it and Sarah is a wonderful and fun teacher.
Every child should have the chance to enjoy themselves and get fit through Yoga Stars.
My son loves Yoga Stars and is very keen to share what he has learnt with the rest of the family. The best thing for me as a parent is that my son is doing structured exercise and having great fun.
Sarah the teacher manages to keep a group of 5, 6 and 7 year olds captivated for an hour. The children are having fun, exercising and learning something that they can benefit from for their whole life. I thoroughly recommend Yoga Stars.
My daughter Amy has really enjoyed Yoga Stars. It has taught her a whole new way of moving her body. She loves practising the positions at home and telling me what they're called. It's great to see how flexible she has become in the year she has being going to Yoga Stars.
Doing the classes has also taught her how to think positively about her herself as well as breathing techniques to calm her down when she's feeling anxious.
I would really recommend Yoga Stars as it is such a positive way for children to exercise.
My daughter loves Yoga Stars. She enjoys the different activities and regularly shows us what she has been practising.
Sarah is always helpful and friendly, the fact that after a long day at school all the children are so enthusiastic speaks volumes! Thank you Sarah.
Zachary thoroughly enjoys Yoga Stars. The imaginative approach to postures engages him and he is always proud when he achieves a calm co-operative attitude. I am sure that it has a therapeutic value for both self control and his movement issues.
Yoga Stars has been set up by Sarah Claridge who has been teaching yoga classes to children since 2006. After 15 years experience of her own yoga practice and having her daughter, Sarah felt that teaching children would be a great way to introduce them to the fundamentals of yoga and help them achieve more balance in their lives learning invaluable life skills along the way!
Sarah qualified as a Yogabugs instructor in 2004 and since then has attended workshops of children's yoga in London with Christiane Kerr of Calm For Kids, amongst others.
Sarah chose to work with children as she was conscious of the rising level of children's stress and the need to get children more active. Sarah takes inspiration from the school curriculum enhancing children's interest in subjects they may be learning during their school day - healthy eating, animals, history projects, bugs, etc. Following Sarah's yoga and short visualisation exercises the children learn to listen to their bodies and develop an awareness of themselves becoming more calm and focussed.
Yoga Stars was among the many activities offered at the Bristol Primary Festival of Sports this May.
The Festival is aimed at giving youngsters, who do not usually represent their school in sport competitions, the chance to mix with pupils from other schools as well as receiving top coaching.
Sessions offered up to 15 sports and activities from which pupils could choose what they wanted to do and included Yoga, boxing, cheerleading, table tennis, ultimate frisbee, judo, tae kwon do, cycling, archery and climbing. The Festival involved more than 600 pupils from 35 primary schools over three days with a host of different activities.
Children at primary schools in east Bristol have been practising yoga to boost their brain power.
The 23 youngsters have also been using sports such as cricket, football and volleyball to help them gain better results in their SATs tests next month. The week long programme held at The City Academy in Russell Town Avenue, attracted Year 6 children from primary schools across east Bristol.
Staff believe that yoga and sport have a direct impact on attainment levels. They say many of the skills used in sport, such as leadership and teamwork help improve performance in the classroom.
Children attended SAT's booster sessions with energising yoga sessions in between to help focus their minds. Then in the afternoons, they took part in Escape Zone which involves coaching in a variety of sports and brain-challenging tasks.
The trial scheme is being run by the African Caribbean Heritage Attainment Project and the School Sport Partnership which are both based at the academy. The project has been supported with a £1,000 grant from the Youth Suppport Trust, which hopes to replicate the project in other academies across the country.
Shirelle Gayle, the African Caribbean Heritage Attainment Project's primary school co-ordinator said the programme also helped children prepare for life in the "big school".
She said: "We hope they realise that sport and keeping fit will help them do better at school."
Heather Beach, partnership development manager for the School Sport Partnership, said: "We're really excited to see the way in which sport can support SAT's revision courses and we're looking forward to using it as a tool to help pupils in local primary schools raise attainment."
On the first Saturday in September 1909 a few groups of determined girls 'gatecrashed' the first Boy Scout Rally at Crystal Palace in London and demanded 'something for the girls'. Just months later the Guide movement was formed. 100 years' on, 6,000 girls returned to Crystal Palace to celebrate the launch of Girlguiding UK's Centenary.
Yoga Stars was delighted to be invited to take part in this historical event, one of 640 being held across the UK this weekend involving over 326,000 Girlguiding UK members.
In addition to yoga, other events laid on for girls and adults to mark the centenary celebrations in Bristol included caribbean dance, cheerleading, theatre shows, street dance, samba drumming, story telling, climbing wall, simulator, Wii Station, an owl, and Eduzoo animal handling.
A further 240 celebrations will take place this month.
Colour:
Grey
Sizes:
XS - (3 - 5 years)
S - (6 - 8 years)
M - (9 - 12 years)
Cost:
£7.50 — *CLEARANCE OFFER*
(previously £9.50)
or buy a t-shirt and yoga mat together for £15.00
For details on how to order, please contact Sarah Claridge on 07976 350564 or by email at hello@yoga-stars.co.uk
Colour:
Pink
Sizes:
XS - (3 - 5 years)
S - (6 - 8 years)
M - (9 - 12 years)
Cost:
£7.50 — *CLEARANCE OFFER*
(previously £9.50)
or buy a t-shirt and yoga mat together for £15.00
For details on how to order, please contact Sarah Claridge on 07976 350564 or by email at hello@yoga-stars.co.uk
Colours:
Purple or Blue
Cost:
£9.50
or buy a t-shirt and yoga mat together for £16.00
For details on how to order, please contact Sarah Claridge on 07976 350564 or by email at hello@yoga-stars.co.uk
Cost:
£8.00
For details on how to order, please contact Sarah Claridge on 07976 350564 or by email at hello@yoga-stars.co.uk
An Indian man called Patanjali was the first person to write about and develop what is now known as YOGA.
Patanjali said that there are 8 aspects or 'limbs' of yoga. If we practice each 'limb' of yoga with energy, we will eventually reach a state of COMPLETE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. Then we will have achieved the GOAL of yoga, which is liberation and enlightenment – that’s when you feel 'at one' with everything around you!!
The 8 Limbs of Patanjali’s Yoga:
Yoga Stars takes you on exciting adventures, including the Olympics, the jungle, into outer space or to India. Or, use your imagination and make up your own! Games include 'Yoga Tag', 'Musical Mats' or 'Pass the Balloon'. Breathing techniques are taught using rubber ducks, feathers and straws. Sessions end with relaxation and drawing or stories.
Yoga Stars takes you through flowing yoga postures, sometimes energetic, sometimes calming, but always fun! Create your own routines to music! Yoga games promote memory retention and teamwork. Meditation and visualisation techniques encourage deep relaxation. Children end the session feeling refreshed, energised and relaxed.
