A12 THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021 © 2021 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Jeff Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 37, No. 13 What is Yoga? In many parts of the country, team sports have been cancelled because of the pandemic. In some places it is hard to play outside because of COVID and/or the weather. But there is one sport you can do in your own home. It’s yoga! Can you pose like a dog? How about a cat? Maybe a cobra or a butterfly? Yoga is an ancient form of fitness with poses that help you stretch, relax and get stronger. The Benefits of Yoga Research shows yoga has many benefits. Use the code to find out what these are. These poses can be fun and silly. They are also yoga poses that are good for you! Sometimes we feel some really big emotions. Anger, sadness or even happiness make it hard to calm down. Here are some fun breathing games that help calm those big emotions. = A = F = O = T Smelling Flowers = C = L = R = U = E = M = S = Y Imagine you are smelling a flower, breathing in deeply through your nose and out through your mouth. Yoga can improve Downward Facing Dog Have you ever watched a dog when it gets up from resting? It might do this stretch which ancient yogis (people who do yoga) discovered was a good stretch for people, too. 1. Go to your hands and knees and breathe in deeply through your nose. 2. Exhale and stretch your legs and arms so that your bottom is up in the air. 3. Push the ground firmly with your hands. Stretch your legs, bending and straightening your knees very carefully. Stop if you feel any pain! 4. Return to your hands and knees. Relax and repeat. Cat Pose Move onto your hands and knees. Take a deep breath in through your nose. Round your back and lower your chin to your chest. Exhale and lower your back and raise your head. Rest and repeat. Yoga can improve Bunny Breath Just like a little bunny in the garden, take three quick sniffs in through your nose, and one long exhale out through the mouth. Yoga can reduce Pigeon Bring one leg in front of you so your shin is parallel to the top edge of a wall, draw the other leg behind so your knee is on the ground. Yoga began in India long ago. Ancient statues show figures in various yoga poses. Your back foot can be flat on the ground, or your toes can be tucked under. Snake Breath Pretend to be a snake and hiss. Inhale deeply through your nose and blow out through your mouth with a soft and low hissing sound. Bumblebee Breath No one knows exactly when yoga began. It’s been around for thousands of years. How yoga is practiced has changed over time as different people in different places started doing it. But one thing that people who practice different kinds of yoga agree on is that yoga can improve health and well-being for people of all ages. Sit comfortably and inhale through your nose, keeping your mouth closed. Next, with your mouth still closed, make a humming or buzzing noise (like a bumblebee) as you exhale. Cobra No reason to be afraid of this cobra! It is a great yoga pose and stretch. Hold That Pose! Lie down with your belly on the ground. Place your hands under your shoulders and your forehead on the ground. Breathe in through your nose and press your hands to the ground while raising your head and shoulders. Exhale through your mouth and teeth and hiss like a snake. Lower your body back to the ground. Relax and repeat. Concentrate! Yoga takes concentration. Look at the pictures below. Which ones come from somewhere on this page? Butterfly Sit on the floor and bring the soles of your feet together. Let your knees fall outward so your legs look like butterfly wings. BUTTERFLY SHOULDERS STRETCH IMPROVE BREATH EXHALE COBRA RELAX SNAKE KNEES YOGA POSE CHIN TOES DOG Look through the newspaper for a photograph or drawing of an animal or person. Copy the pose and see how long you can hold it. The sports pages have great challenging poses. Standards Link: Research: Use the newspaper to locate information. Dragon Fire Breath Place your fingers under your chin, and as you inhale, raise your elbows as high as you can around your neck and face. On the exhale, lower your elbows back down. Children are born curious. From their earliest days, sensory exploration brings delight and wonder. New discoveries expand their minds. When they unlock the joy of reading, their world widens further. Magic happens. Kid Scoop opens the doors of discovery for elementary school children by providing interactive, engaging and relevant age-appropriate materials designed to awaken the magic of reading at school, at home, and throughout their lives. For more information about our literacy non-profit, visit kidscoopnews.org I M S E L A H X E C E P R T O V A G O Y V E Y O R U R B H E This week’s word: O B U T T E R F L Y EXHALE R R N X E A T A C K The verb exhale means to breathe out. P E I A A K T C L N M A H G H L A O H E I T C P O S E N E E S H O U L D E R S S Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recognize identical words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns. Peter exhaled a long breath when he heard he had passed the test. Try to use the word exhale in a sentence today when talking with your friends and family members. Health News Look through the newspaper for an article about health. Read the article and then make a list of things that the article says keep people healthy. ANSWER: It’s a chance for them to paws and reflect. Standards Link: Research: Use the newspaper to locate information. What is your favorite sport or exercise? Write a paragraph describing why you like it.