There have been some stellar highlights for the ‘Super Stretch Yoga’ app. The app has been getting incredible reviews and feedback since it was launched in Sept. 21, 2011:

·     New and Noteworthy on iTunes the week of Oct. 8th, 2011
·     Star and Tribune article in front page of Variety Oct. 17th, 2011
·     Kare 11 Motivational Monday segment, Oct. 31, 2011
·     Reviews from many premier blog sites like: PadGadget, Appolicious and Best Apps for Kids , Tech.MN.TV news

Have you seen the new YouTube video of the app?

The article was just posted on their site and I am pleased to report that ‘Super Stretch Yoga HD for iPad and Super Stretch Yoga for iPhone Gets Kids Excited About Yoga’ by PadGadget gave Super Stretch Yoga 4.5 star rating review!

Hear is some of the article:

Kids interacting with the Super Stretch Yoga app

“The app includes poses that most children should find fun and not too difficult. The illustrations were distinctive and attractive. I liked that Super Stretch was not defined explicitly as a boy or girl, and that the developers chose both boys and girls to appear in the video clips. Take home message: yoga is for anyone.”

And did they think the app is worth it? The article concluded with, “To buy or not to buy: Yoga has benefits for young and old alike. For less than the price of an ice cream cone Super Stretch Yoga HD offers children (and maybe even parents) a stellar introduction to a discipline that could help them stay healthier for years to come.”

Have you gotten your app yet? Click here to download yours from iTunes today!

“Super Stretch is the perfect combination of fun and instruction, of movement and focus.  I definitely recommend it!”  Matthew Sanford, President-CEO, Mind Body Solutions, Yoga Instructor, author of WAKING

Using storytelling, animation and video examples, kids learn how to make NAMASTE a part of their day. NAMASTE is the secret code to help kids learn to find balance and strength in their lives. Practice poses, collect 12 stars and get a team photo. Move, play and breathe as Super Stretch introduces you to his friends and their yoga poses. Super Stretch is your guide who takes you on your journey to learn the healthy, beneficial basics of Yoga and breathing.

Features:

• 12 yoga poses for all skill levels and ages
• Animated flashcards of live action with real kids showing proper poses and form
• Breathing breaks
• Inspiring music with each pose
• Take a photo with Super Stretch

Variety of ways to learn and use:

• Teaching tool you can do with kids or, kids can do alone
• Follow along by pressing ‘Play All’ button and Super Stretch will introduce you to his friends and their yoga poses
• Pick 1 pose to do at a time and follow along with Super Stretch and his friends

Additional BONUS features:

• Go through 12 poses and take a photo. The more we progress and practice, the more photos we get to make.

The Adventures of Super Stretch app was developed by Jessica Rosenberg, an industrial designer and 500 E/RYT national yoga educator, plus an incredible team of creative app developers. Jessica’s love for yoga, inspiration from her students and desire to offer children accessible wellbeing tools helped bring Super Stretch to life.

“My 5-7 year old students love Super Stretch!  It immediately gets them up and moving as they imitate both the live action kids and the engaging animated characters!  Playful movement interspersed throughout the day is so important to young children’s brain development—Super Stretch leads kids on a yoga adventure that they can do independently or with their parents. The Super Stretch app will be first on my ‘best educational media’ list on my parent website page!”  Ann Griffin, Early Childhood Educator, St. Paul Public Schools and Emergent Literacy Professor, Hamline University

The app was created for everyone – young to old, layman and educators – to teach the immeasurable benefits of yoga. An estimated 17.5 million adults practice yoga. As of 2007, there were over 1.5 million children practicing yoga.

Yoga can be used to maintain health and wellness in children and has the potential to prevent:

• Obesity is the most widespread medical problems affecting children. 16 – 33% of children are obese. Of these diagnosed, 85% have type 2 diabetes.
• Anxiety disorders affect one in eight children.
• 8% to 10% of school-age children have ADHD.
• It is estimated that one in every 110 children is diagnosed with Autism.

The CDC states, “Yoga can help kids develop better body awareness, self-control, flexibility, and coordination.” The study also found a link between yoga and improved learning, better behavior, and greater confidence in children. A Mayo Clinic, Nov. 2010 article states that, “Yoga can be a gentle method for your child to get more physical activity and enhance their wellbeing.”

The scientific community is coming out with more and more research statistics on how yoga is helping children with issues like obesity, diabetes and asthma. And yoga has been proven beneficial in teaching positive cognitive skills for a variety of different special needs populations, from physical disabilities, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders. The physical practice of yoga provides a healthy outlet to calm the nervous system reducing stress and teaching kids how to relax. The mindfulness and breathing aspects of yoga offer children skills for dealing with emotions giving them an ability to understand their feelings and relate to others. The balancing and standing postures help kids with sensory integration issues, which help to provide structure and discipline in their development. Yoga helps cultivate good character traits like trusting and respecting themselves and others.

“The Adventures of Super Stretch is an engaging, fun, and effective means of introducing children to the myriad benefits of fitness through yoga. Kids find a captivating program illustrated by a colorful cast of characters.  But without knowing it, they’re gaining essential tools for their bodies and minds – stretching and strengthening their muscles, improving their balance and posture, relaxing with deep breathing, and learning self-awareness.  As we approach the challenges of childhood obesity, anxiety and depression, and the general trend toward sedentary lifestyles, we would do well to consider this program.  It is a tremendous guide and model of healthy ways to move our bodies and, just as importantly, calm our minds.” Christopher Foss, MD, Family physician

Are you ready for the Adventures? Stay tuned for upcoming app flash card series and digital download activity books.

Want to learn more? Let’s stay connected.

App Credits:

App design and development by PUNY

Original Illustrations by Teri Harriet

Music by The Elektrik Eye

Project SUCCESS, like The Adventures of Super Stretch, believes that all kids are powerful beyond measure! It is a wonderful youth-development organization that works with students over a seven-year period, from middle school through high school, to help them develop life-skills that can transform their lives. Through in-school goal-setting workshops, theater experiences, and special programming/services, students learn to make informed choices and plan for meaningful futures. They serve over 11,000 young people in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

The Adventures of Super Stretch was involved in the first day of events. I taught breathing, yoga and mindfulness techniques to 3 groups of about 30-45 students at a time. I discussed with the kids what makes us calm and how we react in stressful situations. A lot them talked about how they listen to music, watch TV, talk with friends or exercise to clam down. It made them realize that we all are not so different after all. And that teaching ourselves to calm down takes practice and patience.

In teaching the teens how a flexible body creates a flexible mind, I taught some conscious active breathing exercises. Some of them like Lion’s Breath made them roar with laughter [at me]. We tried out some fun yoga poses and games. Learned that yoga is harder then it looks. And in the end did a mini-visualization to help center and balance.

All in all it was a great day!

Thanks Project SUCCESS for all that you do. It is an honor and pleasure to work with you all.

If you want to know more about Project SUCCESS, click here.

If you want to see a fun video from the day, click here.

The kids breathed, stretched and played – a ton! I’ve never laughed so much with the kids in a yoga class.

What is your favorite yoga pose?! Here were some of theirs were. Check it out on Adventures of Super Stretch’s YouTube channel.

While doing research on wellness and yoga,  I have stumbled upon some interesting statistics on major health issues that are effecting children today.

Did you know that:

Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity
is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize but most difficult to treat. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. Obese children are most likely to grow up as obese youth and as a result more prone to joint problems, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, poor self esteem, and several other health, social, and psychological problems.

Obesity is now among the most widespread medical problems affecting children and adolescents living in the United States and other developed countries. About 15% of adolescents (aged 12-19 years) and children (aged 6-11 years) are obese.

• Of these diagnosed, 85% of all the children have type 2 Diabetes.
• Children treated for obesity are about 3x more expensive for the health care system than children with normal weight.

Stress can come in many forms for children and teens. Yoga helps children deal with stressors in their lives by giving them an outlet for their emotions through breath and movement.

Over programming with after school and school activities, stimulation from TV and technology, being bullied in school, friends and family are often reported as the “stressor points” for children today and can cause anxiety. Stress can be the cause of many other aliments to the body, mind and emotions. The body reacts to stressful situations by producing adrenaline, which is designed to help us with the fight or flight instinct. The problem is, when this chemical is released into the body long term, on a regular basis, it can cause long-term problems in people. Some of the effects of childhood stress are headaches, sleep disorder, eating too much of too little. Other possible sign of stress is jumpiness, nervousness and poor concentration.

Anxiety Disorders  affect one in eight children. Research shows that untreated children with anxiety disorders are at higher risk to perform poorly in school, miss out on important social experiences, and engage in substance abuse.

Anxiety disorders also often co-occur with other disorders such as depression, eating disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

It is estimated that one in every 110 children is diagnosed with some form of Autism Spectrum Disorder, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined. An estimated 1.5 million individuals in the U.S. and tens of millions worldwide are affected by autism. Government statistics suggest the prevalence rate of autism is increasing 10-17 percent annually.

ADHD:  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, In a classroom of 30 students there are 1 to 3 children with ADHD. And various studies show that between 3% and 7% of school aged children have ADHD. These days, ADHD is a common behavioral disorder that affects an estimated 8% to 10% of school-age children. Kids with ADHD act without thinking, are hyperactive, and have trouble focusing. They may understand what’s expected of them but have trouble following through because they can’t sit still, pay attention, or attend to details. Boys are about three times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with it. The number of children 3-17 years of age that have been diagnosed with ADHD is over  5.2 million.

Through the research I also found a glimmer of hope! And some great statistics. In Boston a group of adolescents in secondary school did a research program to study the mental health benefits of yoga. And the study showed that yoga has the potential of playing preventive role in maintaining health in children. {Here is the abstract.}

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Yoga can be a gentle method for your child to get more physical activity and enhance their wellbeing.

Yoga can calm children, reduce obesity, enhance concentration and help children manage certain health conditions, such as headaches and irritable bowel syndrome. Studies suggest that yoga may also benefit children who have various mental and physical disabilities. Yoga may even help children who have eating disorders lessen their preoccupation with food.”

Most children need at least an hour of physical activity every day because regular exercise can help children:

• Feel less stressed
• Feel better about themselves
• Feel better prepared and focused to learn in school
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Build and keep bones, muscles and joints healthy
• Sleep better at night

Yoga is a wonderful mind/body movement and breathing practice tool that offers children the discipline to create:

• Relaxation techniques
• Coping strategies
• Healthy responses to the unavoidable stresses in their lives
• Positive tools to find center
• Accept, and express their feelings appropriately

The kids and Super Stretch had a great time creating a better state of health.

Watch the entertaining and education video’s of kids practicing yoga for calm and balance during the school day. These video’s focusing on ‘WE CHOOSE TO MOVE!’
will be used  as tools in the school at recess, for homeroom and any time a student wants to play them in the library for a “work-in”.

Special thanks to Lori Druskin Ryan for the video editing. And Lisa Firth for all your hard work creating such a wonderful program at Brooklyn Center.

To watch some or all of  the video’s check out Super Stretch’s YouTube page.

Super Stretch goes to Hamline University

Incorporating yoga and fitness into a classroom is easier then you might think. Yoga is as much of a “work in” as it is a “work out”. It can become a natural part of your classroom using breath and yoga poses to bring children life-enhancing skills and give them the foundation to grow wings.  Just use one of your favorite stories like:

• Nine in One Grr! Grr! By Blia Xiong
• The Mitten retold by Jan Brett or Jim Aylesworth
• A Nice Walk in the Jungle by Nan Bodsworth
• Mama Panya’s Pancakes by Mary and Rich Chamberlin

and then add some yoga poses into the mix! Here is an example of storytelling with the book, Mushroom in the Rain by Mirra Ginsburg.

MUSHROOM IN THE RAIN

Yoga postures don’t just help children express certain feelings, they let the children mimic animals and objects which helps kids release excess energy and create balance in an erratic mind. Try to do at least 5 postures and a breathing exercise. Show some fun, simple and active postures to keep their interest.

As teachers, by using visualization and storytelling, you can offer children a peaceful place to go to get rid of their fears and challenges. Relaxation and visualization are wonderful tools to enhance all aspects of a child’s experience in the classroom.  They will use the skills that they learn for the rest of their lives!

NAMASTE mother and child

Do you NamasTe?
Do you really know what NamasTe means?

There are so many different definitions for this powerful Sanskrit word:
• I bow to you.
• I salute all that is divine within you.
• The spirit in me honors the spirit in you.

All day long we offer energy and time to other people and things, but we often don’t give that same respect, kindness and compassion to ourselves. The act of Ahimsa, non-harming, is the first limb of the 1st principle of the 8 fold path laid out by the yoga sage Patanjali thousands of years ago. It is something so simple yet, so hard for people to do. To stop doing and just be. As Jon Kabat-Zinn states, “We are called human beings not human doings.”

Ahimsa is often lost on ourselves in our hectic, scattered world. NamasTe is a word that gives us the chance to respect, acknowledge and honor the light within instead of dissipating our energies outwardly towards everything that attracts our eye.

We are able to say this simple word, “Namaste” and harness the true meaning of it for ourselves. Then our awareness of NamasTe is reflected out into the world and to the people we connect with.

Take a deep sigh of relief.

Begin to just relax and feel your breath. That simple rhythm in and out of your nostrils.

Let your mind flow and rest in the silence.

Feel every limb in your being just letting go. Savor the moment.

BREATHE

With all the power of my arms,
With all the intelligence of my mind,
With all the love of my heart,
I honor and respect
The soul, spirit, beauty, light, power — within me.

NAMASTE