Animal Yoga for Kids (Grades 3–5): Session 1: Messy Expression & the Power of the Jaguar By Jasmine Beyhum

Animal Yoga for Kids (Grades 3–5): Session 1: Messy Expression & the Power of the Jaguar
By Jasmine Beyhum
Welcome to Animal Yoga for Kids! This unique yoga journey is all about giving kids permission to express themselves freely and reconnect with the wild wisdom inside their bodies. It’s not about perfect poses or strict rules—it’s about listening to ourselves and letting our imaginations guide us.
In our first session, we dove into messy expression and tapped into the powerful spirit of the Jaguar.

💫 What Is Animal Yoga?

When I teach yoga, I don’t focus on perfecting poses. For me, yoga means union, a deep connection to everything:
🌍 Earth, 🔥 Fire, 💧 Water, 🌬️ Air, and 🌌 Space.
It’s also about connection to the animals, the sounds, and the sensations inside us.
My style of yoga is energetic, imaginative, and somatic, which means it involves the whole body and all the feelings inside it. It encourages children to stay expressive, alive, and in tune with their own rhythms.
We don’t always sit still.
We don’t always follow directions exactly.
And that’s the point.
I invite children to trust their bodies.
✨ If I say, “move fast,” and their body wants to go slow, they move slowly.
✨ If I say, “be still,” and their body wants to wiggle, they wiggle.
That’s how they learn to listen and trust their instincts.

🐆 Session 1: The Jaguar and the Joy of Wildness

We began by sitting together and remembering the five elements:
Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and Space.
Then I asked:
Have you ever felt like you wanted to shout or move around, but someone told you to be quiet or sit still?
Or maybe you’ve been told to do something, like clean your room, but you just didn’t know how, and no one showed you?
Our bodies feel like that too. Sometimes they just want to be heard, moved, felt.
So today, we gave our bodies permission to speak!

🌱 Waking Up the Body

We started by pretending we were tiny seeds waking up underground or specks at the bottom of the sea.
The kids stretched, rolled, floated, and imagined what it felt like to grow and move through space.
They shouted joyfully:
“I’m here!”
“I’m alive!”
“I’m a bird!”
“I woke up today!”
They moved like reeds and birds, swirling like ocean creatures. It was magical.
Together we spoke our Body Mantra:
🗣️ I choose to be here
🗣️ I choose this body
🗣️ I love my body

🐆 Breathing Like Jaguars

Next, I introduced the Jaguar Breath.
Breathe in through the nose twice, pushing one paw out with each breath:
➝ In… In…
Exhale with a big sound through the mouth:
➝ HAAAA! (Stick your tongue out if you want!)
Move like the Jaguar, low to the ground, strong, graceful.
We repeated:
In… In… Haaaa!
In… In… Haaaa!
The kids were wild and engaged, eyes glowing, bodies moving, and fully in it.

🧘 Returning to Stillness

We sat down again and checked in with our bodies.
We said:
I choose to be here
I choose my body
I love my body
I feel the power of the Jaguar
I am the Jaguar
I am free to be me
Then, I invited them to go wild once more, running, screaming, dancing, expressing freely!
And finally, we came to lie down together in stillness. Feeling our bodies. Listening to our breath. Remembering the magic of who we are.
Our final words were:
I choose to be here
I choose my body
I love my body
I am my breath
I am my sound
I am my movement
I am connected to all animals and elements of nature

🌟 A Message for Parents and Teachers

This isn’t your typical yoga class. It’s a safe, imaginative space for kids to express who they are loud, messy, wild, and true.
In a world where children are often told to be quiet, sit still, and conform, Animal Yoga gives them the freedom to feel their emotions, move through their fears, and connect with their inner power.
And today? That power was the Jaguar.
Thank you for trusting me with your children. I can’t wait for next time and I know that many of the kids can't wait for the next lesson, where we explore the courage of the hummingbird.
🧘‍♀️🐾
With breath and wild love,
Jasmine

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