Who Will I Be Today? Poses for Big Dreamers

Who Will I Be Today? Poses for Big Dreamers

My Name is Not Isabella: A Mindful Movement Lesson

Get ready to blast off into a world of imagination! In this week’s DharmaKids session, we are trading our everyday identities for the bold spirits of history’s greatest trailblazers as we dive into "My Name Is Not Isabella" by Jennifer Fosberry. We’ll read through Isabella’s transformative day one page at a time, pausing to embody the courage of scientists, activists, and explorers through corresponding yoga poses. This interactive journey encourages the kids to connect their physical strength with the power of their dreams. To wrap up our adventure, we’ll settle into a peaceful Savasana to reflect on our own unique magic, finishing with a heartfelt yoga hug and a "Namaste."

Download your printable pose guide (PDF) featuring a few highlighted poses from this sequence!

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1. Opening with Namaste

We begin by greeting each other with Namaste, which means:

“The light in me sees the light in you.”

For young children, I explain this as:
We each have something special about us—something we’re really good at, something we enjoy doing, or something we’re learning to do. Examples of this are, jumping high, running fast, drawing, cooking or learning to read.  I hold out one hand and say,

“This hand reminds me of something that makes me special.”

Then I talk about how we all do kind things for others—like helping a friend who is sad, putting recycling in the bin, or cleaning up the classroom. I hold out my other hand and say,

“This hand reminds me of all the kind things I do for others.”

When we put our palms together, it shows that we are both special and kind. That is our light. When we begin and end yoga, we honor that light in each other with Namaste.

2. Breathing Practice

We sit criss-cross applesauce and begin to breathe deeply to prepare our minds and bodies for yoga.

  • Inhale through the nose like you’re smelling a beautiful flower, hands on our bellies, which get bigger as we breathe in.

  • Exhale through the mouth, gently, making our bellies smaller again.

We repeat this three times. To help visualize the breath, we use the Hoberman Sphere, which expands and contracts like our bellies do when we breathe. Children can open the ball slowly or quickly to match their breath. This “breathing ball” is also a useful focusing tool in later poses.

Children practicing yoga in a colorful outdoor setting with a sunset and airplane in the background. 

3. Reading My Name Is Not Isabella

We read the book My Name Is Not Isabella one page at a time. After reading each page, we pause to do the corresponding pose together. Once we’ve completed the pose, we return to the book and continue reading. We repeat this pattern—read a page, do the pose—until the story is complete. Then we transition into Savasana.

  1. Bed (Ardha Purvottanasana) Page 1- Sit with knees bent and feet on the ground. Place your hands behind you and press into the floor.  Lift your stomach, hips, and chest to make a little bed. Your tummy is the soft mattress, and your arms and legs are the bedposts. Stay cozy for a few breaths, then gently sit back down.  Repeat a few more times.

  2. Rocket Ship (Malasana), pages 2-3- Start in Malasana, squatting low like a rocket on the launch pad. Count down 3-2-1 and then blast off! Jump straight up like a rocket shooting into space, then land softly and come back down to your squat, ready to launch again! Repeat 2-3 more times.

  3. Chair (Utkatasana), pages 4-5- Stand tall, then bend your knees and sit your hips back like you’re sitting in an invisible chair. Reach your arms up overhead and keep your belly strong as you balance in your chair.

  4. Ride a horse (Adho Mukha Svanasana), pages 6-7- Start in Downward Dog with your hands and feet on the floor and your bottom up high. Gently bend one knee, then the other, like a horse galloping, Yeehaw!! 

  5. Get on the bus (Dandasana), pages 8-9- Sit tall with your legs straight out in front of you like strong bus tracks. Lift your hands up and pretend you’re holding a big steering wheel. Scoot your bus forward by wiggling your bottom-right side, left side-until you’ve moved three times on each side. Now it’s time to park the bus! Beep-beep! Back your bus up by scooting your bottom three times on each side the other way.

  6. March (Tadasana March), pages 10-11- Stand tall like a strong mountain. Pretend you’re marching bravely like Rosa Parks-lift one knee, then the other, and try to connect your opposite arm to your opposite leg as you march in place. Keep your back straight and your belly strong as you take each proud step!

  7. Time to Make Yoga Cookies, (Baddha Konasana “bowl pose” to Paschimottanasana “forward fold, oven pose”) pages 12-13- Put on your chef’s hat and bring your feet together to make a bowl. Now add any ingredients you want for your cookies. Let’s stir the batter! Lift one foot to use as a spoon and stir the bowl. Dip the spoon into the batter and “taste” it by bringing your foot toward your face. Hmm… let’s add one more ingredient. Now use your other foot as a new spoon and stir the batter some more. Perfect! Time to put the cookies in the oven. Straighten your legs and reach for your toes to place the cookies in the oven. Turn on the timer by flexing and pointing your toes-tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. Ding, ding, ding! The cookies are done. Take them out, blow on one to cool it off, and take a bite. So yummy! 

  8. Mouse (Balasana), pages 14-15- Kneel down and bring your forehead toward the mat. Curl your body into a tiny, quiet mouse hiding in its cozy hole. Stay very still and take soft, squeaky mouse breaths.

  9. Carrying Books (Utthita Eka Padasana), pages 16-17- Stand tall on one leg and lift the other leg straight out in front of you. Stretch your arms forward and pretend you’re holding a big, heavy stack of books. Keep your belly strong, your back tall, and your eyes focused on a spot on the floor, like a still Hoberman’s Sphere, to help you balance. Try to stay steady so the books don’t fall while you hold your strong, tall pose. Repeat on the other leg.

  10. Feel your Heartbeat (Sukhasana), pages 18-19- Sit comfortably with your legs crossed and your hands resting on your heart. Close your eyes and take a few slow breaths. Feel your heartbeat under your hands and notice how it moves as you breathe in and out.

  11. Duck (Malasana version), pages 20-21- Squat down a little like a duck with your feet apart and your arms by your sides. Waddle around the room, taking little steps and keeping your body low to the ground. Quack if you want, and flap your wings- say hi to any other ducks with you!

  12. Bath time! (Head, shoulders, knees and toes), pages 22-23- Stand tall and get ready to scrub your body as we sing “Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes”. The song goes- Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.  Eyes and ears and mouth and nose.  Head, shoulder knees and toes, knees and toes!  We do four rounds. First round, go slow.  Second round, go at normal speed.  Third round, go fast.  Fourth round, go backwards at a slow pace!  Toes, knees, shoulders, head, shoulders, head.  Toes, knees, shoulders, head, shoulders, head.  Nose and mouth and ears and eyes. Toes, knees, shoulders, head, shoulders, head!

    Movements:

    • Head- scrub your head, shoulders- scrub your shoulders, knees- scrub your knees, toes- scrub your toes, eyes- scrub your eyes, ears, rub your ears, mouth- rub your mouth, nose, rub your nose.

    • Round 4 same movements, reverse the order: Nose, eyes, toes, shoulder, head

  13. Moon and Stars (Parsva Urdhva Hastasana to Utthita Tadasana), pages 24-25- Stand tall in Mountain Pose with your feet together. Stretch your arms straight up and touch your palms together. Take a big breath, then lean slowly to one side to make your body look like a crescent moon. . Come back up tall, and then lean to the other side. Feel your body stretch from your fingertips all the way down to your toes! Come back to center and jump your feet wide, arms stretched out.  You are a twinkling start in the night sky! 

  14. Dream (Sukhasana), pages 26-27- Sit criss cross, hands on your knees, close your eyes and think of who you would like to be.  Take a few big breaths and then share who you were thinking of and why!

4. Savasana (Final Rest)

After we finish our story and poses, we quiet our minds and calm our bodies with Savasana.

“Savasana helps our brains become calm and clear, making room for new thoughts and ideas.”

I demonstrate with the Yoga Dust Brush—a clear-handled brush filled with floating glitter. I show the kids how the glitter swirls when the brush is moving and settles when the brush lies still. I explain:

“Our thoughts are like that glitter—when we lie still, they settle down and our minds become clear.”

Children lie on their backs, breathing gently.

  • Optional tools: Eye pillows or breathing buddies (stuffed animal)  on bellies, and/or star machine with calming music or the bird timer.

  • I gently “brush” a little yoga dust on each child’s forehead to help them relax.

  • I guide them to breathe in through their noses, expanding their bellies to rise, and out through their mouths, letting their bellies fall.

5. Magic Yoga Hugs & Closing Namaste

After a few quiet minutes, we begin to wake up:

  1. Stretch arms overhead for a full-body stretch.

  2. Hug knees to chest, and slowly roll up to a criss-cross seated position.

We bring our hands to our hearts and think of someone or something we love—family, friends, pets, even a favorite toy or blanket. It can be someone alive or someone who’s passed on.

  • Breathe in and raise your arms up.

  • Breathe out and give yourself a hug.

“As we breathe out, whoever or whatever you were thinking of will receive a magic yoga hug, wherever they are!”

Repeat once more, either with the same person/thing or someone new.

Then, we place our special and kind hands together and bring them;:

  • On our hearts: > “We respect each other with loving hearts.” Have the children repeat “loving hearts”.

  • On our mouths: > “We respect each other with kind words.” Have the children repeat “kind words”.

  • On our foreheads: > “We respect each other by trying new things with open minds.” Have the children repeat “open minds”.

Finally, we all say together:
“Namaste.”

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