Chinese New Year 2016 is on Monday, February 8th. It is the Year of the Monkey this year. Traditionally, the celebration honors deities and ancestors. But in a kids’ Yoga class, we can celebrate the Chinese New Year with a story!
One day 12 animals were having an argument. It was going to be the lunar (crescent moon) new year and each one of them wanted the year to be named after them. The rat (child), the ox (cow), the tiger (lion),the rabbit (malasana), the dragon (cat) the snake (low cobra) the horse (camel) the goat (dolphin), the monkey (monkey), the rooster (eagle), the dog (downward dog), and the pig (pigeon) could not agree who should have the honor of the lunar (other side crescent) year being named after them. So they went to the King (warrior 2). The King decided they should have a race across the river (seated forward fold). Now the rat (child) was not the strongest (motion for strong) or fastest swimmer (swimming motion) but he was the cleverest. He looked around and saw the ox(cow) was the strongest swimmer. So he attached himself to his tail and just as the ox was reaching the finish line, he leapt across his head and landed on the other side. The King (warrior) laughed and said, “Better luck next time Ox. You may be the fastest swimmer but rat (child) is the winner (star). So the first year in the lunar calendar was named The Year of the Rat. Ox was second, so the next year was named after him. And then the King (warrior) named a year after each animal in the order that they finished the race. This year, 2016, is the year of the monkey!