Annie Buckley

November kicks off a season of holidays, celebrations, and parties. It’s easy to forget about regular exercise and healthy eating during this busy time of year, but we can use this time to practice cultivating balance. This post offers an exercise routine for the whole family and a guide to creating your very own Gratitude Garden (scroll to the end of the post for this heartwarming activity). Enjoy!

Lying down twist is a simple and relaxing stretch for the back and sides of the body. It can be done lying down in bed before sleep or when you wake up in the morning. This pose can also be integrated into any workout routine to improve flexibility and help maintain a healthy back. Try lying down twist with your children as a calming movement at the end of active play. Start with a few rounds of sunrise/sunset to warm up. Follow this with the gorilla. Next take turns creating animal poses with movement and sound to teach one another. Wind down with the lying down twist to rest. (For variations, create your own yoga string.)

Let the abundance of Thanksgiving last all month long by making a Gratitude Garden. Use colored paper, scissors, glue, and whatever arts and crafts activities you have on hand to make fanciful flowers. Write what you are thankful for on the back of each flower. Young children can decorate the petals, or glue cut-out petals onto a circle, and leaves onto stems. Take your time in creating the garden; add a few flowers at a time, revisiting the garden throughout the month. Talk with your children about what it means to be grateful—thankful, happy, fortunate, appreciative—and share with them what you are grateful for as you write it on the back of a flower to guide the process. Let your children share what they are grateful for and help them add these words and ideas to the garden. Spending creative time together talking about the many things we are thankful for is a wonderful way to relax and renew during the holiday season.

For moms, dads, and caregivers: Don’t give up on healthy habits or holiday treats, but find the middle ground. Give yourself freedom indulge on special occasions, and in between, enjoy healthy treats—like seasonal fruit and a walk in the crisp fall air. You’ll enjoy the good times, feel better, and relieve the stress that can build up around the holidays by staying connected to health while celebrating.

For more information on Annie Buckley's Kids Yoga Deck or Once Upon a Time: Creative Writing Fun for Kids, please see Chronicle Books.com or anniebuckley.com.

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