A Yogi Mama’S Guide to Yoga, Ayurveda and Your Child: A Book For Parents And Kids

By Jennifer Hardy-Berthiaume

Parents who want to better understand the energies that inspire and motivate their children will find Jenny Bees A Yogi Mamas Guide to Yoga, Ayurveda & Your Child a creative and helpful tool along the way. Jenny takes you on an empathetic journey relatable to every parent. What makes my child tick? How can I help them fully become their happy healthy selves? Jenny, in her own journey with her children, has found good answers through Ayurveda and yoga, and even better, she shares those with you with humour and love in this very special book.

As a lifelong yoga practitioner, parent and teacher of children, and follower of the Ayurvedic diet, I am confident that you will enjoy your relationship with children even more once you read this book and, to the best of your ability, follow the practices and tips given within its pages.

Shakta Khalsa, founder and director of Radiant Child Yoga

This is a unique book written for parents and children and is about kids, yoga and Ayurveda, and how we can all become better, more intentional parents with the help of the intuitive five-thousand-year-old sister science of Yoga. The heart of the book is three beautifully illustrated poems, each written to clearly explain one of Ayurvedas three doshas, which in combination make up a persons prakriti (their nature). The text is simple enough that children of all ages will have a sense of what this Ayurveda thing is. And it wont be lost on Mom or Dad either.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: May 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781982203856

Jennifer Hardy-Berthiaume

In her 20s, Jennifer Hardy-Berthiaume (a.k.a. Jenny Bee) had a thriving career as a journalist and editor. After the birth of her second child and a postpartum depression diagnosis, she turned to a career that better suited herteaching Yoga. She specializes in yoga for women and children, is a yoga therapist, doula, birth educator and Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant. (Yes, lots of projectsthat is Vata). In watching herself and those around her, Jenny discovered how simple it could be to use Ayurveda to make tweaks in diet and lifestyle. She became determined (thats the Pitta) to help others better understand the people around them and find more balance in their own lives. She believes that its in understanding Ayurveda that we find compassion and learn the tools we need to meet our friends, colleagues, spouses and children where they are. Jenny teaches in Montreal and runs the popular collective blog A Yogi Mamas Guide. She lives with her Vata-Pitta daughter and Kapha-Pitta son and husband. Shes written many books for children (her Vata) but this is the first one that her Pitta pushed her to publish. ayogimamasguide.com jennybeeyoga.com

Book preview

A YOGI MAMA’S GUIDE TO

YOGA, AYURVEDA

& YOUR CHILD

A Book for Parents and Kids

Written and Illustrated by

Jennifer Hardy-Berthiaume

Copyright © 2018 Jennifer Hardy-Berthiaume.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

The information in this book is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-0386-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-0385-6 (e)

All hand-drawn cartoon images are by Jennifer Hardy-Berthiaume

Balboa Press rev. date: 05/17/2018

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For Arlo and Amélee, my greatest teachers, and to their father, Michel, who has

supported me in every away with the wind idea I’ve ever had.

Acknowledgements

Thank you Caitlin Dor, Jocelyn Segal-Townsend, Julia Lozano, Marie-Fatima Rudolf, Michael Bridge-Dickson, Nate Hendley, Sylvia Otvos, Demetra Zoubris and her amazing copy shop, Résonance Café, where I spent countless hours writing and drawing, and to the many people who read various drafts of this book. Thank you so much to Adam Thomlison and Vanessa Muri who went above and beyond with their eagle-eyes. Thank you to some of my dearest Yoga teachers who have become friends; Barrie Risman, Carina Raisman, Jayme Hernandez, Mélanie Faucher Shanti, Sonia Beaudoin and Melanie Richards. This book came together more quickly than any of us could have dreamed, and it would have been impossible without the generous hearts of many friends and teachers.

Edited by Vanessa Muri

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Keep your child’s light shining with yoga

Ayurveda and optimal health

AYURVEDA: SOME BASICS

Frilly Millie, Vata Girl

Flamey Jayme, Pitta Girl

Matteo Potato, Kapha Boy

Discover your child’s unique makeup (prakriti)

KIDS’ DOSHA QUIZ

About your Windy Kid (Vata)

About your Fire Child (Pitta)

About your Earth Child (Kapha)

IN CONSIDERATION OF THE SEASONS

FOOD AND AYURVEDA

THE SIX TASTES

The energetic qualities and the gunas

Diet and your Vata Child

Diet and your Pitta Child

Diet and your Kapha Child

Vegetarianism

NOSE, MOUTH AND EAR CARE

ABHYANGA/SHANTALA MASSAGE

IN A YOGI MAMA’S PANTRY

Asana and pranayama for your Vata Child

Asana and pranayama for your Pitta Child

Asana and pranayama for your Kapha Child

Resources and recommended reading

Foreword

As a child I needlessly suffered constipation, migraines and later allergies. Yet, I was raised in a super loving athletic family. If my mom or dad had only taken the time to research a bit about how bodies work. If I had only been deeply hydrated… If my folks had only taken the time to learn about constitutions.

I grew up through the 1970s and ’80s. Holistic awareness was not part of typical suburban life. Pills were the treatment for all my maladies. Doctors didn’t give explanations to the root cause and simple habit changes that would have cured me.

If my mom had picked up a book like the very one you hold in your hands—A Yogi Mama’s Guide to Yoga, Ayurveda & Your Child—I wouldn’t have tried to keep myself from crying for fear the two-day headache would get worse.

My recommendation to you, dear reader: Get deeply interested in your child’s constitution. Your child is already interested in who they are. Partner with them for the journey of having a body, caring for their body, learning the basics of self-care