The Yoga Olympics

The Greeks loved sport and the Olympic Games were the biggest sporting event in the ancient calendar - Yay!

The Olympic Games began over 2,700 years ago in Olympia, in south west Greece. Every four years, around 50,000 people came from all over the Greek world to watch and take part. The ancient games were also a religious festival, held in honour of Zeus, the king of the gods.

 

There were no gold, silver and bronze medals. Winners were given a wreath of leaves and a hero's welcome back home. Athletes competed for the glory of their city and winners were seen as being touched by the gods.

A truce for the sacred games

Before the games began, messengers were sent out to announce a 'sacred truce' or a peace. This meant that any wars should be called off so that people could travel safely to Olympia.

The entire games were dedicated to Zeus. Visitors flocked to see the Temple of Zeus. Inside stood a huge gold and ivory statue of the king of the gods himself.

The main event at the Olympics was not a sporting event, but a sacrifice. On the third day of the games, 100 oxen were sacrificed and burnt on the Altar of Zeus.

This altar was not made from stone. Instead it was made from the leftover ash of all the sacrificed oxen. By around 200AD, the mound of ash stood six meters high!

Women at Olympia

Only men, boys and unmarried girls were allowed to attend the Olympic Games. Married women were barred.

If they were caught sneaking in, they could be thrown off the side of a mountain as punishment!

However, women could still own horses in the chariot races at the Olympics and unmarried women had their own festival at Olympia every four years.

This was called the Heraia and was held in honour of Hera, Zeus's wife. Winners were awarded crowns of sacred olive branches, the same as men. But in ancient Greece, only Spartan women were really interested in sport.

The Original Events

Running - Running was the first event to be included in the Olympic Games. Athletes ran up and down a 192 metre track in the stadium.

Before the race, the competitors lined up along a stone starting block. If anyone tried to get a head start, they were disqualified and beaten for cheating.

The toughest running race was called the Hoplitodromos. In this event, runners competed wearing armour and carrying a shield. These could weigh up to 25kg!

Discus - In this event, athletes would compete to throw a stone or metal discus as far as they could.

The discus was much larger and flatter than the ones we use today and probably weighed almost twice as much.

Javelin - Ancient javelins were sharpened wooden sticks, sometimes with a metal point on the end.

Athletes could make them fly further by winding a leather band around the javelin. This would unravel as the javelin was thrown, making it spin in the air.

Long jump - The ancient long jump was very different from the one we have today. There was no runup and jumpers propelled themselves by swinging weights called halteres in their arms.

The athletes would be accompanied by a man playing the flute. They would use the rhythm of the music to time their jump and the swinging of the weights.

Wrestling and boxing - Like today's games, the ancient Olympics included boxing and wrestling. However, they were a lot more violent!

The toughest event was the pankration. This was a wrestling match with hardly any rules. The only things competitors couldn’t do were bite or poke people in the eye. Some wrestlers were even killed!

Boxing was tough too. The fighters wore leather gloves and a boxer was allowed to keep hitting his opponent even after he'd knocked him to the ground!

Horse racing - There were horse races and chariot races in the ancient Olympic Games.

These events took place on a race track called a hippodrome. There were no seats, so spectators watched from the sides of the surrounding hills.

Competitors raced around 12 laps of the track. The most dangerous places were the turning posts at either end, because riders wanted to get the best line for the corner.

However, it was the owners of the horses that were considered the winners, not the jockeys.

From Ancient to Modern

Although the ancient Games were staged in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC through 393 AD, it took 1503 years for the Olympics to return. 

The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. 

The man responsible for its rebirth was a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who presented the idea in 1894. His original thought was to unveil the modern Games in 1900 in his native Paris, but delegates from 34 countries were so enthralled with the concept that they convinced him to move the Games up to 1896 and have Athens serve as the first host.

From one Olympic to the next, there is an ever-growing number of events. At the bottom is what you will see in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Let’s have fun with it!

Bring: Ping Pong Ball, Brown Paper Bags, Flash Light - Olympic Torch, If you have an Olympic flag or print out for the Olympic Oath, Tape or Yoga Belt, Books, Scarves or fabric strips

Extras To Consider

Yoga Pistol - Start each event with the authentic sound of a pistol! Blow up a brown paper bag, twist the opening tight and pop it with your hand or bang it on a wall for a realistic sound.

Wining Anthem - Before the games, ask all potential winners to choose a favorite song to play if they win. Make a list and get the songs ready. They may choose the anthem from the country they came from or one from a country they have visited or an ABBA song!

Medals - It goes without saying that all winners are presented with medals. You can make them from paper plates and gift ribbons and just draw a number on the plate.

Olive Crowns - Olive crowns made from olive tree leaves were awarded to winners when the Olympics first began in 776 BC! Make some Olympic paper crowns (unless you have access to olive trees!) to offer the audience.

Remember that the important thing is to have fun. Don't put too much emphasis on competition - Everyone is a winner for participating - Enjoy!

The Olympic Yoga Oath

Written by Baron de Coubertin, the oath is taken by an athlete from the host nation while holding a corner of the Olympic flag. The athletes' oath was first taken by Belgian fencer Victor Boin at the 1920 Antwerp Games.

We have yogaed it a bit here for everyone in the class to take this oath together:

"In the name of all yogis, I promise that we shall take part in these Yoga Olympic Games, respecting each other and always treating each other with kindness, in the true spirit of yoga and sportsmanship, for the glory of all and the honour of our group/class."

2 Minutes

 

The Olympic Flame Sun Dance

The idea of the Olympic torch or Olympic Flame was first inaugurated in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. 

(PHOTO)

There was no torch relay in the ancient Olympic Games. There were known, however, torch relays in other ancient Greek athletic festivals including those held at Athens. The modern Olympic torch relay was first instituted at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

Here we are going to practice the Sun Dance in a Wve, but passing “The Torch” or leadership from one to the next.

You can even make a torch from a paper towel roll and some red and orange cellophane, or just bring a flashlight to pass along :-)

Again, this is very similar to the Rainbow Yoga Wave where we pass the pose from one to another around the circle as you have seen in the previous exercise. The only difference here is that instead of only the teacher sending the poses to be passed around the circle, the role of deciding the next poses keeps passing around the circle too.

The teacher passes the first pose and it goes in a wave all around back to him/her, but then they point their fingers at the next person on their right and make a clicking sound passing the leader role to them. After the new pose is passed around the circle the leader clicks to the next person to choose the next pose in the wave etc.

5-10 Minutes

Yoga Rock Paper Scissors Training

Greeks really appreciated the beauty of the human body and worked out in gymnasiums to bring it to perfect health. Here’s some training just for that...

OK, this is how it works; everyone comes to the middle of the circle and plays Rock Paper Scissors with another person. If you win, you play with someone else. If you lose, you go to one of the stations and when you are done you get back to the centre to play again.

The game ends when most people have done all of the stations.

Rock = Child Pose

Paper = Open Mountain Pose, arms up in the air, legs apart, balancing on one foot

Scissors = Scissoring legs lying on the back.

 

Stations:

1. 10 Push-Ups  
2. 10 Jumping Jacks 
3. 2 Sun Salute
4. 15 Jumping Rope  
5. 10 Rocking Boat  
6. 10 V-ups 
7. 5 Burpees
8. 10 Dolphin Swim
9. 10 Waves (wave your legs from side to side)
10. 10 Basketball (rapidly bounce your hands up and down while in low boat pose)

Prepare beforehand A4 pieces of paper with stations.

Optional… You can add a partner pose for each winning round before loser goes to a station:

Paper wins over Rock = SunBathing Pose

Rock wins over Scissors = Foot massage for the scissors

Scissors wins over paper = Paper flies over feet. 

10 Minutes

Animal Pentathlon

Run those 5 events one after the other with everyone moving as those animals from one side of the space to another. If you have a small space you can have them move a few times from one side to the other before switching animal. Demonstrate all of them first and then send everyone on the run! Whistle and encourage them to do it better and faster!

5 Events:

1. Frog Jumps (full squat to flor, jump forward back into a full squat)
2. Bear Crawl (walk on hands and feet, alternate leg and opposite hand)
3. Crab Walk (walk on hands and feet sideways, but facing “up” – making a bridge)
4. Donkey Kicks (Hands on the floor, kick both feet into air, land, jump forward)
5. Gorilla Run (Squat position, jump forward, landing on one foot after the other)

You can use this as an individual event/challenge, or a team game, plus you can race one event at a time or run one after the other relay style.

5 Minutes

 

Yoga Basketball

Divide the group into two. Each group chooses one person to be the basket and they assume Chair Pose with their hand circled in a hoop shape on their respective sides of the ‘court’.

The rule in this game is that you can only PASS OR RECEIVE the ball to another team member or shoot it into the hoop if you are in a YOGA POSE, any pose. If you pass or catch the ball not in a yoga pose, the ball will pass to the other team.

Every time the ball goes through a Human Hoop, the team must change the person who is the basket.

You can keep counting points or just play for fun!

5-10 Minutes

 

Yoga Race

Have all the kids make a line on one side of the room and run as fast as they can to the other side.

The catch is that everyone needs to run in yoga poses. Warrior, Chair, Goddess, Lunges, Frog… If they are not in a yoga pose they are disqualified!

Have many rounds… Either you choose the poses for each round or everyone does whatever pose they want.

5 Minutes

 

Backwards Race

Everyone starts on one side of their room but with their backs towards the centre. On your mark everyone starts racing, but running backwards!

Good luck!

5 Minutes

 

Balancing Books Race

Before the game, tape a few meters line on the floor (you can also use a long Yoga Belt) and gather together a bunch of books, trying to stick to the same size if possible.

Players have to walk from one end of the tape to the other (without falling off) while balancing a book on their head. If the book falls off or they step off the line, they receive no points. If they make it across with one book, they receive one point and can try again with more books.

They can continue walking back and forth until the books fall off their head, up to a total of three books (for 5 points). Points do not accumulate, so if they eventually can do three books, they receive a total of five points, not nine.

Scoring:

One book – 1 point

Two books – 3 points

Three books – 5 points

5-10 Minutes

 

Three-Legged Race

Materials - Scarves or fabric strips long enough for tying legs together (one for each pair of children)

Divide children into pairs, matching children of similar height and build.

Have each player stand next to his partner and put his arm around his partner's waist. The partners' inside legs (the right leg of the partner on the left and the left leg of the partner on the right) should be touching. Tie the partners' inside legs together so each pair of children has three legs rather than four.

Have the players line up at the starting line. At your signal, have players walk or run as fast as they can to the other side or finish line!

It sounds easy, but it takes practice to make two legs work as one! The winners are the pair of children who cross the finish line first.

Great team work practice here!

5 Minutes

 

Upsidedown Race

So you know, in yoga we do lots of things upside down… This is going to be an upside down race!

Everyone assumes the Shoulderstand (Candle Pose) and starts running as fast as they can with their legs up in the air. No slow running - It has to be really fast!

The one that lasts the longest wins - Yay!

You can play a couple of times…

5 Minutes

The Extreme Torch Sprint Relay Race

Light a candle and see which team gets to the finish line with it still lit - Yay!

Each player must race to the other end of the room and back and pass the candle to the next team member. First group to complete with the candle still burning wins!

Mindfulness and running all at the same time!

For older kids you can also add giving matches or a lighter so that they can relight the candle if it blows off - Extra fun!

5 Minutes

 

Rock, Tree, Bridge, Snake, Dog, Frog - Obstacle Race

The name of the game is the poses it consists of and you can, of course, change it and add to it if you would like.

Always have one less pose then there is a person in each group. This version has 6 poses so it is for 7 children in each group. Adjust the number of groups racing and the number of poses to fit your class.

All the groups start on one side of the room.

The first child in the group starts in Child Pose, the second child jumps over the rock and stands in Tree Pose, the third jumps over the rock, hugs the tree and comes into Flower Pose etc.

The last person in each group goes through the whole path but ends up as the first pose (Rock pose), then the very first person gets up and goes through the whole path again… they were rocks before, but now they are trees! 

The first group to complete 3 rounds of passing through the poses wins!

THIS IS AWESOME! It has lots of poses and the children stay in them for a long time!

 

• Rock (jump over)
• Tree (hug)
• Flower (smell)
• Bridge (crawl under)
• Dog (pet)
• Frog (kiss)

10 Minutes

Yoga Olympics

It sounds competitive, but it doesn’t have to be. Focus on the students’ strengths, and find something that everyone is good at.  You can be as silly and creative as you like!  You can even invent group records and try to break them together! Your students are sure to make a greater effort than they usually do and improve their poses.

Make your Yoga World Record Chart, and proudly display it in your classroom. It may look similar to this:

Make up your own yoga challenges and get your students to add their ideas too. 

5 Minutes

 

Still Water

Everyone lies on the floor completely still. If someone moves, they will have to do another 10 push-ups!

...So at this point, I don’t think anyone will :-)

In this game, we invite the action of stillness rather than saying “don’t move” which makes it more fun and more effective!

Guide your students to let their breath become calmer and calmer and almost disappear, and to be aware of all of the sensations in their body as they let go of all tension and let themselves melt and sink closer and closer to the earth.

5 Minutes

 

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