Kids in Balance UK

Apologies we’ve been very quiet lately as we’re adjusting to life as a family of 6! Notice the recurrent theme in most of the pictures being that little Miss likes to be kept upright. Rosie is struggling with colic, which is something we’ve never experienced before with the boys. The tiredness is REAL 😴. I started getting into my head that I should be posting more content as I’d had all these grand plans of practising ‘mum and baby’ yoga but have only got as far as the second picture 🙃. Then I remind myself that today doesn’t have to impact tomorrow and it’s not a race to regain ‘normality’. If you happen to be having a tough hour, day, week, month, remember you’re not alone, the storm will pass and remember that small steps of progress are worth feeling proud of. Hopefully over the next few weeks/months, I’ll be able to get going with some more movement and even learn how to help colic symptoms through yoga 👍🏼.

Introducing our very own Easter bunny, Rosie Isabelle 🌹, who joined us a couple of weeks early on 8th April, weighing 5lb13. No doubt she’ll be a mini yogi in no time 😉 ❤️.

LOVE LANGUAGES 🗣🤝🎁⏰🫂
❤️ Words of affirmation, Acts of service, Receiving gifts, Quality time, Physical touch ❤️
Recently I’ve been spending a lot of time researching the concept of how we express and experience love, as outlined and labelled by Gary Chapman as ‘love languages’. Mostly, it is referred to in a romantic sense but can also be extended to friendships and within any general relationship such as that between a parent and child. This got me thinking about, not only my own preferred love language, but also that of my children. Perhaps if I could understand how my children most prefer to experience love, I could improve my communication with them and help diffuse behavioural issues that arise. Whilst Gary Chapman suggests that children benefit from experiencing all different kinds of love, the easiest way of identifying their natural preference is by paying attention to how they most often express their love….cont. in comments 👇

Monkey see, monkey do 🐒…
Have you ever heard the expression, ‘Do as I say, not as I do…’
In actual fact, children will do both through watching and imitating behaviours and habits they observe around them. My little man is one who absorbs everything that’s going on around him..and he likes to be very much involved in what he sees others do. Most mornings, Oscar will sit next to me as I apply my makeup. He’ll have a little rummage through all of my supplies and I allow him to pop a bit of lip balm on 💄. Everyone’s entitled to a bit of self-care right?!
Whether children choose to reenact ‘learned behaviours’ can depend on many factors but is mostly influenced by how much they are reinforced. This could be the regularity of how often they see it (such as me applying my makeup every day) or whether they witness the said behaviour receiving a reaction, whether that be positive or negative. How many times have you found yourself saying, ‘Don’t laugh at that bad behaviour,’ maybe to an older sibling or peer?’ It just gets me thinking about the types of positive habits I’m exposing my children to. How am I framing my vocabulary when sanctioning? Am I modelling kindness and empathy in the way I speak to the people around me? What am I teaching my children when I spend time looking at my phone for slightly longer than intended? Now this post is certainly not here to criticise or cast judgement..but just to help prompt some self exploration about the magnitude of power we hold in the actions we take. I, for one, am really going to increase the amount of cleaning I do in front of the boys and maybe it might start to rub off on them 😜. Have a wonderful week 🙏.

Happy New Year from all of us at Kids in Balance 🥳!
As we enter the new year, we have some slightly daunting, yet exciting, news to share that we’re expecting another little baby Bolton, due April 🐣. It’s been a very difficult decision to make but over the next coming months we will be taking a short hiatus from teaching to focus on our growing family. We feel so grateful to have established this business over the course of 2021 and privileged enough to have taught so many incredible little yogis. We will continue to post on our Instagram and pages and look forward to restarting in person teaching come summer ☀️. Thank you so much for all of the continued support 🙏.

🎅 Ho ho ho-ga time!
We had our final few sessions for the term playing lots of festive games 🤩. We all know how tricky it can be to exercise patience over the festive period, so the Christmas TREE-pose decorating game gave us a good chance to practice. The children showed excellent team work with their partners and fantastic balance 🎄. As ever, they created some beautiful postures as snowflakes, ice-skating dancers, reindeer and even Christmas puddings 👏. We finished each session in stillness, reflecting on the meaning of Christmas for us and expressing gratitude for the joy it brings. Well done little yogis, it was a pleasure. Happy Christmas to everyone from all of us at Kids in Balance. May the holidays bring you an abundance of love and laughter with your precious ones 🙏.

Hands up who loves snuggles? 🙋🏼‍♀️
Now that the weather is getting colder 🥶, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to write a post about the importance of loving connection for children. I took the first picture this morning. We have a whopping 6 seater sofa to spread out on, yet the boys very rarely sit any further apart than you can see in this picture 😍. Children so often crave closeness. Research has actually proven that cuddling our children for 15 seconds a day makes them more successful as adults. So how does that work exactly 🤔? When children (and adults!) feel loved and connected to others, it stimulates the release of oxytocin, helping to enhance empathy, boosts the immune system,increases capacity to learn, reduces stress and, most importantly of all, makes them all round happier individuals 😃. So what if your child is not a ‘hugger’? No problem at all..it’s more about the connection they feel; whether that be some hand holding, a massage or back tickle, a gentle hair tousle, a reassuring hand on the shoulder or sitting closely together. It all helps them to know they are safe and loved ❤️. There are plenty of times when I feel genuinely concerned at how much the boys bicker and fight, but photos like these help remind me that, despite the fact they may not always admit it, they do love each other really 💕. Happy snuggling everyone!

HANUKKAH - The Jewish Festival of Lights 🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯
This week we learnt all about the history and meaning behind Hanukkah. We discussed how, through courage and standing up for what they believed in, the much smaller Jewish army of Jerusalem, overcame their, seemingly, more mighty opponent to protect their religion and their temple. We used lots of poses to reenact the story, which you can see so beautifully in the pictures 👏. In true Hanukkah style, we spent the second half of the session playing games and enjoying the fellowship we have built together. So lovely to see how much trust and friendship has grown between the children, despite being of such varied ages and interests ❤️. We finished by visualising a Menorah candle 🕎 and thinking about all of the ways in which we can help those less fortunate than us, which is another key feature of Hanukkah. What a beautiful sentiment and festival to celebrate 🙏.

Remembrance Yoga 🌺.
Yesterday, we got super creative thinking about wartime modes of transport. Can you spot the horseback soldiers, fighter planes, train evacuees and tank variations? The children held some beautiful poppy postures in flower pose 🌸. The games focussed on lots of team work and working together; just like all service men and women do. We finished by reflecting on gratitude and pride for the bravery of all those whom have ever been to war, and for the privilege of living in a safe country where we are protected 🙏.

Welcome back after half term break! We’ve been very quiet on social media recently but rest assured we’ve been very busy planning a new and exciting term ahead. Over the next coming weeks, we will be enjoying a variety of lessons focusing on a new festival/celebration each week 🎆🪔🎄. This week was Halloween themed 🎃. Spot the zombie partner moulding 🧟‍♀️ and and amazing Día de los Mu***os mask decorating. Spaces still available if you would like to come and join us at Muscliff Primary School, every Tuesday after school 4.30-5.15. Send me a message for further details 😊.

Up dog, down dog 🐶
Amazing how sponge-like little minds are 🧠. Children are so influenced by what they see and pick up habits based on what they observe as normal behaviour. Case in point- 2 year old Oscar thinks it’s perfectly normal to have a good old stretch several times throughout the day and this is what that looks like for him. Just an interesting reflection on the sort of habits we’re exhibiting as a family and how these shape our children 🤔…