Girl Scouts and kids yoga. They have a lot in common! Healthy living? Yes. Building self-confidence? Yes. Showing respect for themselves and others? Yes. Focusing on the positive and reducing stress? Yes. Plus, Girl Scouts and kids yoga both plant the seeds for good choices in the future.

This past weekend, I had a wonderful group of Girl Scouts take a Butterfly Kids Yoga class and honestly, we had a ball. We cranked up the music and got moving (planks, downward dogs, upward dogs, bow poses!), we challenged each other with tricky partner poses (double boat pose, anyone?), we learned calming techniques through yoga breathing, and we all enjoyed the peacefulness of "Secret Garden" to relax (set to a beautiful Taylor Swift song).

The hour flew and at the end, I looked around at a room of 14 very proud, strong, and beautiful girls. All of the girls then earned a Yoga Patch for a job very well done. And equally important, everyone left with big smiles, a sense of accomplishment, and new tools to help them feel calm and relaxed.

And what I didn't tell them (but you may thinking too) is that the tools and techniques from just ONE yoga class will hopefully help them physically, mentally, and socially. So, as they proudly display their Yoga Patch on their vests, they are also displaying the fact that they grew in ways they may not even realize...yet.

Cheers to all the Girl Scouts out there and everything they are doing for themselves and others!

Namaste,

Ali

PS. I still love Girl Scout cookies. Maybe we should invent a new Girl Scout cookie pose?