January 2012

Here is the most recent list of Winter Kids Classes on Long Island with our Certified Teachers. Registration is required so call of email for more info.

We set up classes at schools, preschools, Boys and Girls Clubs, and learning centers as well so if you are interested in having us come to you, contact us today!

Girl Scouts of Nassau County, NY

We come to your location for a troop meeting.  Contact Jeannine at 516.417.1498 and email yogarocksnetwork@gmail.com with troop info.

Glen Cove YMCA, Glen Cove, NY

Teacher: Diana Vargas-Singh

Natural Beauty in You, Halesite, NY, 631.923.3200

Teacher: Amy LaCentra

Tuesdays, 5:30 – 6:30 pm, Ages 5-9

Fridays, 5:00 – 6:00 pm, Teen Yoga

Lifetime Fitness, Syosset, NY, 516.822.1777

Teacher: Amy LaCentra

Wednesdays, 5:30 – 6:30 pm,  Ages 5-11

Wednesdays, 7:00 – 8:00 pm, Special Abilities – coming soon. Call for info.

Westbury Friends School, Westbury NY, 516.333.3178 – www.wfs.org

Teacher: Jeannine Smolinsky

Tuesdays, 3:30 – 4:30 pm,  Ages 5-7

The Danc'in Place, Carle Place, NY, 516.333.5220

Teacher: Alie Klein

Classes forming now. Call for more info.

B.E.S.T Learning Center, Smithtown NY www.bestlearningcenter.com, 631-864-4084

Teacher: Danielle Bonfanti

Tuesdays 4:15 – 5:00 pm,  Ages 3-6

Tuesdays 5:15 – 6:15 pm,  Ages 7-12

Cold Spring Harbor Library, Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Teacher: Alie Klein

Thursdays, 5:00 – 6:00 pm, BEGINNING MARCH 8th. Call to register.

Mindful Turtle, Stonybrook – www.mindfulturtle.com, 631.721.1881

Teacher: Danielle Bonfanti

Once a month: Feb 12, March 11 and April 22nd

Time: 5:00 – 5:45 pm. Registration is required.



Soluna Studios, Hauppauge NY  www.solunastudiony.com

Teacher: Danielle Bonfanti

Saturdays 9:30 -10:15 am, Ages 5 to 18 – Special Needs Class begins January 14th for 12 weeks – for children and young adults with special abilities.

Check out all of the new items that I have personally chosen from Amazon!  I love every single product and I am obsessed with Republic of Tea, Red Velvet! It is perfect for this time of year!  I have also placed all of my favorite books and other kids yoga items in the store as well as the healthy snacks I eat!

Let me know what you think!

Click here: THE YR! AMAZON STORE

XO Jeannine

How to Stay Balanced and Peaceful During the Holidays

Jeannine K. Smolinsky, M.Ed., E-RYT, R-CYT

15 Yoga Practices for Peace, Joy, & Love

1.   Upon waking, practice Peace and Quiet Pose to set positive intentions for the day.

2.  Follow with 10 rounds of Belly Breathing for calming the mind.      

3.  Practice 3 Sun Breaths or 3 Sun Salutations for overall attunement.

4.  Stand in Mountain pose and breathe when you are standing in line waiting!

5   If you need strength, practice Warrior pose.

6.  When you feel out of balance or scattered, practice Tree pose (try it when you’re cutting veggies or baking!)

7.  Let everything go and practice Standing Forward Bend swinging arms & relaxing head.

8.  To relieve holiday bloating, practice Milkshake Pose.

9.  Practice Airplane Pose to rise above situations and gain a deeper perspective.

10. To increase joy and laughter, practice Happy Baby Pose or the Breath of Joy!

11. Practice Savasana (Relaxation pose) with legs up the wall for acceptance and surrender.

12. Listen to calming, joyful music with a soothing cup of mint or ginger tea.

13. Practice EFT, self massage, and/or partner massage (need I say more!)

14. Meditate or just lay peacefully in your bed before you go to sleep and simply be.

15. Smile and enjoy each precious moment!

Heart-Centered Meditation

Begin in a comfortable seated position.  Close your eyes and begin to inhale and exhale slowly and deeply.  Say to yourself, “Breathing in, I calm; breathing out, I smile.”  Gently place your hands on your heart and breathe deeply into your heart center feeling your heartbeat.  Allow whatever thoughts you may have to arise in your mind and then gently let them go.  Continue to breathe and relax the heart center allowing your heart to open to peace, joy, and love.  Now, envision the most beautiful color pink you can imagine and fill your heart with this loving and healing color.  Allow this color to move into every part of body until you are completely illuminated in this color pink.  Breathe here and relax even more for at least three minutes allowing this color to circulate and open your heart to peace, joy and love for all beings everywhere.  Then gently return to your breath and rest your hands on your lap or into Peace and Quiet Pose.  Slowly open your eyes and gaze downward. Continue to practice deep belly breathing for one minute before resuming any activity.  You will feel lighter and more joyful.  Namaste! Have a Peaceful Holiday Season! Love, Jeannine xxoo

http://www.cafepress.com/yogarocks

YOGA ROCKS! KIDS is a sponsor for Long Island's First Ever Baby and Toddler Bonanza!  It is an amazing event created by founder, Thalia Stamatelos, one of my former prenatal clients!!

It is going to be a blast but you MUST register to attend!  There will be so much to offer you including giveaways and demos.  We will be showcasing our Prenatal and Baby Yoga classes and privates!

The Bonanza will be held on Thursday evening, June 30th from 5-8 pm.  Read the attached flyer for more info and go to

www.nymomsworld.com to sign up today!

Peace, Love, and Namaste,

Jeannine

Stuff That Rocks!

On our website, www.YogaRocks.com, we have a tab at the top called the YR! STORE.  When you click this tab it lists all of the links and sites of Stuff We Think Really Rocks (aka….stuff that we have likes and/or tried and feel it is really good stuff that we had to share it with you!!!!)

I love to research and find new things so every now and then I will be adding new things to this page.

Recently, I discovered….

Yogamint is an amazing site that is a wealth of resources and information about yoga, health and well being. I just love this site and wanted to share it with you all.  Sign up for their "mints" at www.yogamint.com!

Check it out and let me know what you think!

And stay tuned for our upcoming news and updates!!!!

Peace and Namaste,

Jeannine

Click here to view our Yoga Rocks! Kids Growing Tree Pose

A Note From Jeannine
Spring has happily arrived and with it brings renewed energy and inspiration.  I am looking forward to breathing the fresh air and practicing yoga out on the lawn very soon!  So much is occurring right now for so many of us that it seems like now is the perfect time to practice more than ever.  Especially since the devastation in Japan, I have felt more compelled to make the extra effort to do my yoga each morning and evening.  I have been dedicating each practice to all those who have suffered in Japan sending light and love, "To all those affected I ask for their healing.  May they be surrounded in the light of peace and know that we love them.  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! And so it is."

Breathe, relax, feel, watch and allow….is what I learned and always remember my teacher saying in my training. And now in my training workshops I pass it on with many other yoga gems that I have learned over the past 12 years teaching and living the yoga pathway of health and well being. 

On March 28, the Wall Street Journal wrote a great article about the benefits of yoga for kids. Check it out here.  We encourage you to share this resource with teachers, parents, administrators, and counselors.  As Amy and I move forward with our new program, The Adaptive Yoga for Every Child Program, we will be holding workshops for schools and studios throughout Long Island at school fairs, conferences, and weekend workshops.   

In our new program, we are currently offering two weekend workshops.  The first workshop: The Basics of the Adaptive Yoga for Every Child Program – Level 1 consists of learning yoga poses, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques that you can use immediately for your child or for a group of children.  This workshop gives you the fundamental skills and confidence to teach yoga to children of all ages and abilities.

We will be holding The Basics – Level 1 at our home studio, "Take A Break Yoga" in Huntington Village, May 7-8, 12:30 – 7, Saturday and Sunday.  Email us to register.  Weekend fee is $400 and includes The Basics training manual, healthy refreshments, the opportunity to connect with like-minded people, and a certificate or completion.

The Basics – Level 1 Workshop is also available as an Online Course enabling you to take the workshop from your own home!  We are happy to announce that those who have taken this course have enjoyed it and want us to make the second workshop online now too! Visit our website to learn more now: www.YogaRocksKids.com

The second workshop: Adaptive Skills – Level 2 teaches you the four main elements of teaching kids yoga: Energy movements, Focus movements, Integrative movements and Soothing movements. We dive in to how to completely help children with special abilities as well as mainstreamed children to get the most out of life in a calm, relaxed way.  We incorporate movement, room setting, music, games, partner poses, breathing and relaxation techniques.   We will offer this workshop at Take A Break Yoga in June as well.

To learn more email us at YogaRocksNetwork@gmail.com

Spring Yoga
In our program we have four seasonal lesson plan books along with a few other books for classroom teachers.  (These will be available to all soon but for now only trained teachers can use them.) Here is an excerpt from our Spring Lesson Book.  You can try this at home but remember that it is always wise to take a training course before you teach it to others.

Sitting Under a Tree Belly Breathing – In this pose you will sit in easy pose and imagine that you are peacefully sitting under a tree.  Place your hands on your belly and take a deep breath in through your nose.  Hold the breath for three to five counts and then slowly exhale through the nose as slowly as possible.  Repeat several times.  Allow yourself to relax more and more with each breath as you visualize yourself beneath a beautiful tree in the springtime.  Embrace the moment and feel the peacefulness.

Frog Pose – Come into a squatting position, knees bent, on your toes and hands in the center with your fingertips touching the floor.  In this pose you will take frog jumps slowly and carefully.  Take a deep breath in and jump into the air; breathe out as you come back down being sure to land safely on your toes/feet.  Repeat 5-7 times.  Ribbit!

Girl Scout Programs, Classes, Parties and Privates
All of our trained teachers offer classes, yoga parties, and private sessions on Long Island.  We have baby yoga classes, prenatal, kids classes school programs. Visit our website to see where we are teaching! www.YogaRocksKids.com
For the past four years we have been a main sponsor for the Girl Scouts of Nassau County and teach our yoga program to hundreds of troops each year.  We create a class based on the badge you wish to receive. If you would like to schedule a Scout Program, email us or call to schedule your date.  We book up quickly so reserve your date as quickly as possible!

We'd love to hear from you!
Share your story with us!  We love hearing about your experiences! Post a comment on our FaceBook site and Follow us on Twitter and YouTUBE!

Peace & Namaste,
Jeannine

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

We LOVE Valentine's Day at Yoga Rocks! Kids because we get to practice our fun and healthy Valentine's Day Sequence and eat some yummy and good-for-you dark chocolate treats!

Here is a fun pose from our Sequence!

We hope you have fun practicing these poses! If you have any questions, feel free to email me!

HUGS & KISSES POSE

CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS POSE IN ACTION ON OUR YOU TUBE SITE!

This is such a wonderful feel good pose, hugging yourself and throwing kisses out to the world.   This pose helps kids (and families) to feel love and give love.

Sitting tall on your yoga mat, bend your legs so your knees are up and your feet are close to you.  Wrap your arms around your legs and give yourself a big squeeze for "Hug".  Then open your arms and legs up and out into a big “X” for "Kiss" making a kiss sound. 

Repeat this several times, feeling love spread around the room!

This pose is great to do as a PARTNER POSE too! Simply site together as shown in the photo above and practice HUG and KISS together giving each other a big squeeze!!!

After your family Valentine's Day yoga practice you are all ready for some healthy chocolate cake!!

GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE

gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, egg-free

Place 2 bars of dark chocolate in a bowl over simmering water to melt.

I like Green and Black's 85% or Dagoba  but you can use any kind you like. One bar is 3.2 oz.

Add to melting chocolate:

1/4 tsp liquid stevia

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup coconut oil, liquified

When the chocolate is melted turn off the heat.

Add to mixing bowl:

3 cups almond meal flour

1/4 cup arrowroot (tapioca flour would probably work also)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder (Grain-free Baking Powder Recipe)

1/3 cup coconut sugar, which is low glycemic index

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Pour chocolate mixture over flour mixture and beat with electric mixer.

Grease oven-proof mugs or ramekins.

Fill almost half way with the batter.

Add two squares of dark chocolate (not melted) to each.

Top with more batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then serve still warm. (The hotter it is, the more gooey it will be in the middle. The cooler it gets, the more cake-like it will become.)

Makes four to five lava cakes. Note: Lava cake is meant to be gooey in the middle!!!! YUMMY!

*Recipe courtesy of The Spunky Coconut website.

And check out our workshops page for ONLINE TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS BEING HELD ON LONG ISLAND TOO!

Jeannine is available for private sessions for adults, children and families at your location.

Enjoy your Valentine's Day together as a family!
And remember…YOGA ROCKS!

Peace and Namaste,

Jeannine