A lovely story of the little rabbit, Pip, who is afraid of nearly everything. Although he is the smallest rabbit in his family, he has the biggest imagination. Pip sees scary things wherever he looks. Enjoy the story with twenty kids’ yoga poses!
Once upon a wild wood (Tree: Standing tall, bend your right knee. Place your right foot on the inside of your left leg either above or below your knee joint. Bring your hands in front of your heart or you can lift your arms up to the sky), deep down in a burrow, lived a family of rabbits (Rabbit: Sitting on your heels, lean forward. Stretch your arms and shoulders behind you. Interlock your fingers, opening your chest. Bend forward from your hips lifting your arms up to the sky). And there was one very, very little rabbit called Pip. Everything about Pip was small, except the list of things he was scared of. That was enormous. Pip was scared of all the usual things such as spiders (Spider: Squat with the feet as wide as shoulders. Place your hands inside your feet, walking your fingers around the back of your feet. Lock the knees around your elbows as you bring the ankles in front of you), also some unusual ones and some that were just weird. Poor Pip. He could not help it. To him, even the most harmless things were full of menace.
When it was raining, he just knew it was a gobbler blowing bubbles at the bottom of lily pond (Pond: Sitting up tall, spread your legs wide. Keep your toes flexed, arms outstretched on your legs. Bend forward). Those tree stumps? Pip was sure that they were the teeth of a giant wood troll (Giant: Standing up, legs wide, move into a forward bend. Take hold of your ankles. Lift up one foot after the other. Walk with your big dinosaur footsteps). He was even scared of those fluffy pink clouds (Cloud: Lie on your back. Feet together, bring your knees towards your chest. Clasp your hands around your legs as if you are hugging your knees). One fretful day, Pip fell asleep after finding twelve new things to add to his list (Relaxation: Lying comfortably on your back, close your eyes. Feeling the ground, allow yourself to melt downward. Let your feet and arms relax). When he woke up, it was suppertime. From across the garden came the smell of cooking (Bunny Breath: Sit on your knees. Take 3 short and quick breaths in through your nose. Breathe out through your mouth with a long and smooth sigh). Pip stood up to go home (House: Open your legs wide but a comfortable distance apart. Lift your arms up over your head bringing your hands together) and that was when he heard it. It came from right in front of him. Raaaaar, it went. Raar, raaaaarrrr. Then a little louder. Raaar. Raaaar, rarrr, raaaarrrr. Pip did not stop to think and fled into the dark woods… into brambles (Eagle: Standing up, bend the knees slightly. Lift left leg up and wrap it over the right leg. Hook the top of left foot behind right calf. Straighten your hands. Right arm on top and left arm under, wrap together pressing the palms together. Raise the arms to the level of the chest), through haystacks (Dog: Coming to all fours, tuck the toes, lift your knees. Send your hips up and back), across ditches and under fences (Snake: Lie on your tummy, bring the hands up by the side of the chest, push the hands into the floor and lift your chest up). Pip fled as far from the Raaarrrr as he could.
At last, Pip stopped (Mountain: Stand with the feet together, big toes touching each other. Keep the stomach tucked in, chest forward, spine stretched up and the neck straight. Bring arms close to your body. Eyes can be open or closed. Focus on the breath and the steadiness of the body). He was very long a very long way from home. All around him were hundreds of things to add to his list. Then the moon peeked out from behind a cloud (Crescent Moon: Standing tall with hands on the sides, sweep the arms up overhead palms touching. Lean over to one side so that the biceps touch the ears.) and Pip’s eyes grew wide. In front of him stood the biggest, most enormous scary thing he had ever seen (Monster: Standing with the feet wide apart, bend your knees. Throw the arms out at shoulder level while bending the elbow and opening all the fingers to be faced in front. Lift your chest and open your shoulders). Rarrr, it said, rarrrr. Pip trembled with fear, but the scary thing did not move, and it kept very quiet. Rarrr, went Pip’s tummy. Raarr. “That’s my tummy making that noise. That means it’s me. I am the scariest thing of all.” said Pip. Pip took a big breath and said “I am not scared of you, Scary Thing. I am not scared of anything on my list of things to be scared of!”
On the way home, Pip saw a gobbler rise out of the lily pond. It was a frog, indeed (Frog: Squatting down with your fingertips on the floor. Push up to your tiptoes, take heels off the floor). “I am not scared of you!” roared Pip. The giant wood troll thumped its stumpy teeth at Pip as he passed (Giant: Standing up, legs wide, move into a forward bend. Take hold of your ankles. Lift up one foot after the other. Walk with your big dinosaur footsteps). “You don’t scare me!” yelled Pip. When Pip was nearly home, a spider dropped out of the sky, and tried to drag him into its web, which was the last time that spider was ever seen (Spider: Squat with the feet as wide as shoulders. Place your hands inside your feet, walking your fingers around the back of your feet. Lock the knees around your elbows as you bring the ankles in front of you)… Pip stood on the doorstep (Door: Standing on your knees, extend your right leg to the right. Lift the left arm over head toward the right. Slide the right hand down the right leg. Keeping your chest open, bend toward the right side), roared his loudest Raaarrr, and went inside for supper.
In the wild wood (Tree: Standing tall, bend your right knee. Place your right foot on the inside of your left leg either above or below your knee joint. Bring your hands in front of your heart or you can lift your arms up to the sky), they still tell the tales of the Scariest Thing of All. Little gobblers, wood trolls, spiders pull the covers over their eyes and hope the Scariest Thing of All never comes back.
Relaxation:
Facing your own fears and difficulties:
What a lovely story of the little rabbit, Pip, who is afraid of nearly everything. Although he is the smallest rabbit in his family, he has the biggest imagination. Pip sees scary things wherever he looks. He is scared of almost everything, from tree stumps to unusually shaped clouds. His worries begin to wear him out. Finally, his anxieties spin out of control and he runs away. His journey into the dark woods forces him to face his fears. Pip discovers that the dreadful noise is actually coming from his own hungry belly. He is the scariest of things! He is empowered! The revelation gives Pip newfound courage. And, he realizes that things aren’t always quite as scary as he first thinks. Former fears are dismissed as the rabbit hops home for dinner.
You may think about the things you fear or that make you worry. How much they really exist… Is it real? Or is it a product of your mind, your imagination? Facing your own fears and difficulties may not mean that they will disappear immediately. But their effects on you may decrease over time. You can take actions on things that worry you, you can take positive steps. Or you can just notice the reflections of fear on your body by breathing deeply. Do you feel it in your stomach? Maybe there is a tightness in your chest… may be your hands are sweating… Say hello to it and tell that you see it. When you realize it, you can feel courageous just like Pip!
When you feel ready, you can slowly start to move your fingers and toes. Pulling your knees to your chest, give them a big hug. Rolling over to one side, lift up to a comfortable sitting position. Bring your hands together in front of your chest. Thank you for doing yoga with me today. Namaste!