Stories have always held a special place in our hearts, captivating audiences and taking them on imaginative journeys. Just like in the UK, where National Storytelling Week celebrates the power of sharing stories, the importance of storytelling in children's yoga cannot be overstated. From a young age, stories are used in Infant (KS1) and Junior Schools (KS2) to help children assimilate a number of skills, way beyond language, writing skills and grammar.

In children's yoga, stories can serve as a tool to encourage empathy, spark imagination, and offer paths into other worlds. By incorporating storytelling into yoga classes, children can be transported to new and exciting places while also learning valuable life lessons. In fact Story telling is invaluable in offering an additional layer of reflection in Children Yoga classes, as well as developing emotional maturity. Talking about the characters experience is a way to relate to our own experience and rehearse scenarios over feelings and emotions, and what techniques may be used when talking to ourselves and relating to others.

One way to incorporate storytelling into children's yoga is by playing the game “Fortunately, Unfortunately”. This activity encourages creativity, humor, and usually results in surprising endings. Standing in a circle, one child will start a story with one pose and the sentence Fortunately, then the person next to us will bring up another piece of the story, another pose starting with Unfortunately! Much fun.

Another way is by using stories to teach yoga postures, with each posture being part of a larger story that the children are acting out. Characters may be animals, or scenes, or actions and breathing is encourages throughout.

Just like the new Week Junior Book Awards, which celebrate books that inspire young people, children's yoga classes can also celebrate the magic of storytelling. By encouraging children to tell and listen to stories, they can develop their imagination and creativity, as well as improve their communication skills.

So, let's celebrate the power of storytelling in children's yoga, and continue to inspire young minds to explore new and exciting worlds through the magic of storytelling.