Shanti Generation Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers

WSR Creative

Yoga teacher and New Roads School faculty member Abby Wills has teamed with the filmmakers at WSR Creative to create a visually inventive Yoga DVD program that captures the visual aesthetic of young, hip, urban cool. Wills has drawn on her background and training in Yoga and childhood development to create provide engaging instruction for breathing and meditation practices and guide the shanti warriors – the students on screen.

The introductory screen combines images of youth with a background evocative of shanti (Sanskrit for peace). Available features include a library of poses to review technique, “Choose your Path” which provides a variety of practices, “Breathing Room” with breath instructions, the “Self-Connection Room” featuring meditation techniques and short interviews with the students.

Themes include: creating happiness, choosing peace and energy amplified. The practices are taught in a choice of English, Spanish or Japanese, making the same disc suitable for a wide range of students and situations.

Beyond asana (posture), Self-Connection offers Wills’ guided meditation instruction to help students “relax and connect to their source of power in any situation.”

The segment, Meet the Peacemakers, features interviews with the diverse group of students who practice on screen: Dante, Gyasi, Janely, Kaya, Kimberly, Kyoko and Starlight. They reveal the superpower they’d like to have, why they started Yoga and what it does for them and they all express their joy in sharing what they know with others. Clips like shots of Dante skateboarding can be a tool to convince young people of the cool factor or to showcase images of a relatable peer group.

Throughout, Wills emphasized safety and self-awareness as cornerstones of the practice, reinforcing the uplifting message of self-empowerment and community involvement. Join the Shanti Warriors for a DVD release party at Yogaglo September 12. shantigeneration.com

-FMT

Author: LA Yoga Magazine
Publisher:  LA Yoga Magazine
Source: http://www.layogamagazine.com

As a parent, yoga student, kids’ yoga instructor and contributor to The Kids Yoga Resource, I’ve seen and used many kids’ yoga products, including books, cards, DVDs and music. Of all the products I’ve sampled, The Shanti Generation DVD is the first one to demonstrate accurate yoga poses, breath control and relaxation techniques, without treating the audience like, well….kids!

Shanti Generation – Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers is smart, informative and cool, with five comprehensive asana sequences, a library of poses, and separate portions on breathing and meditation. Shanti Generation Co-founder and creator , Abby Wills leads the students in on-camera introductions and off-screen instruction. You won’t find bright colors, pop music or a bubbly tone here. Wills’ approach is calm but serious, and the camera’s focus on the student (not the instructor) connects the at-home viewer to the peacemaker’s experience.

The Shanti Generation DVD is as comprehensive as any yoga DVD I’ve seen. I really appreciate the introductory explanations to each chapter, as Abby respectfully speaks to her pre-teen and teen audience in a tone that could be heard in any adult studio class. The students on screen describe their individual connection to yoga in a special chapter called “Meet the Peacemakers,” a particularly important feature for teaching the benefits of yoga to this age group.

Although the asana sequences at times move fast, and perhaps don’t explain every pose in detail, any teen can follow this DVD and will easily learn the techniques with repetition or the help of a more experienced yogi, teacher or parent.

In a market saturated by younger kids’ yoga products, it’s a treat to find an enticing and valuable yoga resource for this age group. Ms. Wills calm yet present voice and her ability to connect with the audience provides the perfect opportunity to build healthy habits and life-long wellness among older kids.

Author: Amy Bevan
Publisher:  The Kids Yoga Resource
Source: http://www.thekidsyogaresource.com/2010/01/shanti-generation-takes-kids-yoga-seriously.html

James and I were at the recent Global Mala event in Los Angeles and we bumped into an old friend Abby Wills of the Shanti Generation.  It was a warm day, amplified by the heat coming off the tarmac but for a very enjoyable forty-five minutes, we hung out with Abby and watched a part of her new yoga DVD for kids, The Shanti Generation.  We loved it.   But it is much more than a DVD.   Here’s more on Abby and the inspiration behind it all:

What is the Shanti Generation? It is a movement to empower youth with peacemaking skills.  What we do is produce educational media that bring together ancient and modern practices to young people, with the help of young people.  We are a platform where their wisdom is heard.

How did you first become involved with yoga? I was in an Eastern Philosophy class at my freshman year at the University of South Alabama.  One of the assigned readings was from the Upanishads, which I found enthralling.  I found it matched my own innate sense of life.  From that point onward I immersed myself in Eastern thought and traditions.  I took my first yoga class in 1995 in Los Angeles and it is now part of my everyday existence.

When did you first want to teach yoga to kids and why? I first starting teaching dance to young children when I was 16 years old and continued to teach throughout my undergrad studies.   I did my first yoga teacher training at the Sivananda Yoga Vendanta Center in India in 1997 and transitioned over to teaching yoga.  In 1999, I was doing the Yoga Works teacher training and Maty Ezraty invited me to teach the children’s classes there.

I love working with children because they seem to have direct access to the spiritual aspects of yoga.  I’ve worked with many youth who have faced major troubles and trauma and seen how yoga helps them to develop their resilience.  It’s so inspiring.  My hope is that they take these skills to adulthood and allow the consciousness of yoga to permeate everywhere – in the environment, politics, finance and relationships.

What is your biggest challenge? I would have to say the sustainability and depth of programs that teach yoga to kids.  Some great programs have closed due to lack of funding or organizational structure.  Also its really hard for institutions to find qualified teachers of yoga for children.  Sometimes when a teacher leaves a program, it fades away until a replacement is found. Also many studios offer only one or two classes a week for kids and there’s a catch 22.  It’s hard for studios to add more classes when those classes are often not full.  Parents can place a higher priority on other things like soccer or dance.  It’s understandable as kids’ activities that offer opportunities for community interaction are important for families.  What’s good though is that there’s more all ages yoga events happening.  Commitment will grow as the programs grow.

What inspires you? My students.  I want to share yoga with as many young people as possible.  I decided I could reach more youth this way than driving around LA like a maniac!  With the DVD, we are offering yoga to kids who don’t have access to a yoga studio or in-school yoga programs.  I also want to share this DVD with other yoga teachers of children.  Ideally, this DVD is a ‘text-book’ so kids can practice at home.

What is your long term vision of the Shanti Generation? Ultimately, it is to contribute to social justice, equality and planetary healing by empowering youth to make choices steeped in consciousness.  We have a Youth Peacemakers Training program that teaches young people how to teach yoga to their peers.  We have an amazing list of guest teachers on board, including Dr Chris Chapple, Julie Kleinman, Felicia Tomasko, Hala Khouri with Yogaglo hosting.  We also offer facilitator’s trainings to guide teachers and parents to create Youth Peacemaker Circles in their own communities.  I jokingly say we want to be the Girl Scouts/Boy Scouts of the consciousness movement!

How can people get involved? There are a number of ways!  Buy our DVD and pass it on to young people.  If you don’t know any, buy it as a gift to a school or library.  Inspire and mentor youth to get involved in a Youth Peacemakers Training.  Be a participant in our Facilitator’s Training.  Join our team as a volunteer in admin, legal consultation, promotions or outreach.  And you can spread the word – our DVD is translated in Spanish and Japanese.  Tell your friends and ask your yoga studio to carry it.

Author: Yoga Tribe And Culture
Publisher:  Yoga Tribe And Culture
Source: http://www.yogatribeandculture.com/blog/index.php?p=197

A review and a giveaway to brighten your January. Leave a comment after this review to enter for a chance to win a copy of the Shanti Generation DVD. Draw date is Feb 1st.

I’ve spent the past week watching and exploring the Shanti Generation: Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers DVD. It is fabulous! Abby Wills has created a wonderful tool for teens to discover yoga and peace. With all poses, exercises and sequences demonstrated by teens, along with Abby’s calm narrative and guidance, and a grovin’ soundtrack, this DVD is a tool all teens can use to discover and practice yoga.

I especially liked Abby’s verbal cues while the teens do the poses. She provides gentle but specific instructions that guide and deepen the practice bringing awareness to the body and mind. There is plenty of variety here from active sequences to calming ones which is useful for teens to be able to choose their workout according to their personal needs on any given day. The teens themselves are wonderful and perform the poses properly, with intention and joy.

On the DVD you’ll find:

• Pathways -5 different 30 minute yoga routines
• Library of Poses – 18 mini sequences
• Breathing Room – 5 breathing exercises
• Self-Connection – 2 awareness practices
• Interviews with the teen yogis
• Spanish and Japanese translations

From packaging to the underlying message this DVD is designed to respect nature and promote peace. It’s wonderful to see a DVD made specifically for those aged 10-15. The vocabulary, set, teen models, and concepts are age appropriate but also can apply to adults, which makes it ideal for parents/teachers and pre-teens/teens to do together.

I will be recommending this DVD during my workshop Yoga for Teens as a tool parents, teachers, youth leaders, and counsellors can use to practice yoga with youth. Thank you Shanti Generation for creating such a wonderful resource. It is desperately needed and will be well used.

Author: Yoga in My School
Publisher: Yoga in My School
Source: http://yogainmyschool.com/2010/01/20/shanti-generation-dvd-a-winner-for-teens-teachers/

Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers, a DVD from Shanti Generation, teaches yoga as a path to inner calm, emotional mastery, self-esteem, and resilience. The teachers on the DVD are seven teenagers who use yoga for their own personal development and well being. The DVD is ideal for tweens and teens, ages seven to 16, and includes 18 yoga poses for focus, energy, and calmness; five techniques for stress management and self regulation; mindful awareness exercises and interviews with yoga teens. Abby Wills, a Los Angeles-based yoga instructor with more than 15 year’s experience teaching youth, is the project creator; her husband, Aaron Wills (a.k.a. P-Nut, the bassist for the popular rock band 311), supplied the DVD’s upbeat grooves. The DVD is available at shantigeneration.com

Author: Yoga Chicago
Publisher:  Yoga Chicago
Source: http://www.yogachicago.com

SHANTI GENERATION: Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers,

with Abby Wills. WSR Creative; shantigeneration.com

As far as I’m concerned, the younger kids are when they start doing yoga, the better. Shanti Generation is a great way to get preteens’ and early teens’ practices off the ground, and keep them rolling once they’ve started. The main body of the DVD consists of five moderately vigorous 30-minute practice sessions, each put together from a library of 18 shorter sequences. There’s also a “breathing room” section comprising five simple breathing exercises, and a “self-connection room” with two mindful awareness practices. The nice thing about this presentation is that it suggests how the physical practice can be applied to and improve the quality of daily life. Abby Wills will be greatly appealing to her target audience of children from 10 to 15 years old – that’s because she’s old enough to be authoritative but young enough to be accepted. While I don’t believe that Shanti Generation would play with older teenagers, much of it will be suitable for younger children. R. R.

Author: Yoga Journal
Publisher:  Yoga Journal
Source: http://www.yogajournal.com

Which group of Americans is most underserved when it comes to health and wellness? That would be America’s youth – tweens and teens. Everywhere we look in the media, we find support for adults’ and seniors’ health and wellness, but tweens and teens are experiencing their most difficult life transition to date … and where’s the support? Hard to find. Now, it’s on a remarkable new DVD, “Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers” by Shanti Generation. Creator and host of the program is Abby Wills, a prominent educator and yoga instructor in Los Angeles. Wills is committed to bringing the centering, healing, empowering benefits of yoga to the youth community. Demonstrating 18 yoga poses on the DVD are the Yoga Teens — multi-cultural, relatable-to, and charming. Production values are 21st Century sharp, targeted at youth culture. The positive grooves are by Aaron Wills (aka P-Nut), bassist of the rock band 311. Other features on the DVD include sections on choosing your path (Creating Happiness, Energy Amplified, Choosing Peace, Being Sound, Etc.), features on stress management and self-regulation, mindful awareness exercises, and interviews with the seven Yoga Teens. The DVD also includes Spanish and Japanese translations. Wills and Company – she’s partnering with a Los Angeles production company – are dedicated to creating a community of American youth, committed to peace – within themselves and, by extension – throughout the world. This DVD is their initial offering, and it is stellar. Every American tween and teen should be exposed to this material so they have the choice to accept it and participate with it. Those who do will garner enormous benefits that will serve them not only throughout their adolescence, but for their entire lives. Great gift for tween or teen!

Navigating the journey between childhood and teenager status can be both a fantastic and treacherous adventure. At the onset of puberty, everything seems to change. Youth experience dramatic, often sudden, transformations of physical systems, cognitive capacities and social relationships. It is natural for youth to experience some degree of confusion or disequilibrium about these major life alterations. The fluctuations in mood and opinion can be just as confusing for the people who live and work with youth.

Fortunately, ancient health systems, like Yoga, can contribute to finding balance and ease in the face of today’s mounting challenges. Here, I will share three practices that I have found helpful to the teens I have worked with over a decade’s time in the field. The following practices address three distinct needs that many early adolescents share: self- awareness, emotional regulation, and energy rejuvenation. The benefits of each exercise are included.

1) Breath Moves Energy

Sit in a comfortable cross-legged pose on the floor. Sitting on a cushion or folded blanket that lifts the hips higher than the knees can be helpful for achieving more lift in the spine. Root the tailbone into the Earth. Extend the spine tall, drawing the shoulder blades onto the upper back. Spread across the collarbones. Balance the ears just above the shoulders so the neck is lengthened, but not straining. Enjoy five deep breaths simply being aware of breath and body.

With a deep inhale, extend both arms out to the side and up, joining the palms overhead. Exhaling, draw the joined hands down the midline of the body, past the face, heart and center. Inhale, arms reach out and up overhead. Exhale, center the mind and body as the hands pull down the midline. Repeat 10 to 20 times being mindful of movements and breath the entire time.

Benefits

• Increase self awareness
• Build lung capacity
• Develop core strength

Why this works: When the body, mind and breath move together in concert, the whole system reaches a higher level of harmony. Explain to youth that yoga is about linking all of the different parts of ourselves together: physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and social. All of these parts can be compared to a band. When one part is out of tune, the whole song can sound unpleasant. Yoga is a practice of tuning our various parts to the same note.

2) Balance Through Challenges

Stand tall with feet hips width apart. Spread the toes and press evenly through all four corners of the feet. Firm leg muscles. Extend the tailbone towards the floor and activate the abdominal muscles. Lengthen the side body. Draw the shoulder blades onto the upper back, spreading across the collarbones. Gently lengthen the back of the neck, reaching up through the crown of the head. This is Mountain Pose. Once Mountain Pose is established and steady, find one spot on the floor about 4 feet in front of the feet to focus the eyes. Try to keep the eyes softly placed on the chosen spot for the entire exercise.

Now, extend both arms out to the side to help maintain balance. Press deliberately into the right foot, slowly lifting the left foot from the floor. Place the sole of the left foot onto the inner calf muscle or inner thigh of the right leg. (Note: Avoid placing the left foot on the right knee as the pressure on the joint can be unsafe.) The left knee points outward and the toes of the left foot face the floor. As balance is established, reach arms overhead into Tree Pose. Practice paying attention to the breath and keeping the eyes focused. Repeat on the other side.

Benefits

• Cultivate core strength and balance
• Develop emotional regulation
• Increase muscular strength and tone in legs, trunk and arms

Why this works: Learning to stay focused and calm during the challenge of balancing on one foot is a skill that transfers to many activities. In this exercise, the body, mind and breath work together to achieve balance for the whole system.

3) Let Go and Trust the Flow

Lie down face up on the floor. Use a blanket, mat or rug for comfort if desired. With legs straight, place feet wider than hips width. Extend arms out beside the body with hands below heart level and palms open to the sky. Close the eyes and find the breath. Starting from the toes and feet, relax each part of the body all the way up to the crown of the head. Let the bones and muscles release into the floor. Allow the organs to soften. Find the heartbeat. Stay in this position for 5 to 10 minutes rejuvenating the body’s energy and allowing the mind to be spacious.

Benefits:

• Strengthen body/mind connection
• Relieve mental stress
• Rejuvenate physical energy

Why this works: Adolescents need to rest! They often stay up until late hours of the night and need to wake up early for school. Lack of rest creates moodiness and lethargy. Five to 10 minutes of focused resting can save hours of wasted time.

These simple, practical practices can be offered to tweens at home or in a classroom environment. One does not need to be a certified Yoga teacher to help guide youth toward the practice. Remember: youth do not typically enjoy being pushed in any direction, so a subtle approach may be most successful. Letting tweens know that they have power in shaping their life can inspire them to give the tools a try. Offer the practices as a choice and allow them to enter the practice in their own time.

Yoga practice can contribute to wellness, happiness and balance in anyone’s life who is open to the experience, particularly youth. Be mindful to educate youth on the benefits of the practices and how their individual lives can be enhanced.

For demonstrations of these techniques and more, visit http://www.shantigeneration.com .

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