Child's pencil drawing of a smiling woman with red lips and a red buttoned shirt

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The Book of Marlie

Child's pencil drawing of a smiling woman with red lips and a red buttoned shirtThank you Eight year old Marlie for presenting me with this yoga book you wrote and taught to classes in your school. I appreciate your interesting chapters~  Yoga that keeps me calm Yoga that keeps me Grounded Yoga with more than two people Yoga with two people Yoga that keeps me happy  and your very helpful notes~ Remember you will not get it the first time Breathe slowly Remember to lean  your beautifully detailed art~ and your permission to share your work on our blog~  I am grateful that you have been a grounded student for three years and you continue to serve your school with yoga.  With love,   Cheryl Crawford

Child's drawn page titled Yoga that Keeps me calm, showing Down Dog, Root Tree Rise, Just Breathe and Bridge

Child's drawn page titled Yoga that keeps me Grounded, showing No Whining, Plank, Double Dog Dare and Take Out the Trash

Child's drawn page titled Yoga with more than two people, showing Tree Friends, The Wave and Energy Circuit

Child's drawn page titled Yoga with two people, showing I've Got Your Back, Lean On Me and Rectangular Relationship

Child's drawn page titled Yoga that keeps me happy, showing Mountain Range Laughter, Whistle While You Work, Baby Got Back and Laughter Hero

Child's All about the author page with a smiling self-portrait and the word Yoga

More to Explore

  • Inner Flexibility

    “How do you become flexible on the Inside?”
    That is the question that I was asked by 4th grade student Isabelle at Yoga Club last week. We were working on acknowledging what we could use more of: strength, balance, or flexibility. After meditating to find what we had the least of, Isabelle raised her hand and asked this question. I stumbled for words, trying to be eloquent and honest on the spot. I spoke of the importance of strength and balance in finding inner flexibility… but honestly this answer felt like it came up short. I found myself reflecting on this question for the rest of the day (the class was over at 3:30pm). I consulted some dear friends and got many good suggestions such as taking a walk, for no other reason than to walk.
    But here is what I came up with, that resonates as the voice of my own truth.
    Being flexible on the inside is a lifelong process. There is a big difference between being loosey goosey with no boundaries, and being open to change and to testing new waters. These two polarities give us a framework for the spectrum of possibility. At the beginning, at the core, and at the point of willingness, is a strong inner truth. This truth is clear, it reminds me who I am, what is most important to me. For some this is a relationship with family or friends. For others their connection to their higher power is the most precious thing in their lives. Maybe for you it’s a sport, or a mission, or catfishing. I check in, sometimes daily, sometimes hourly, with my Truth. Each time I face a new challenge I ask myself “Does this bring me closer or farther away from _________________.”

  • The Okey Dokey Yogi

    inspired by Dr. Seuss’s Sutra: the Zax and Patanjali’s Sutra: yatha abhimata dhyanadva (Chapter 1, v. 39)
    One day, making Okeys
    In the mountain of Dokey,
    Posed a West-Going Yogi
    And an East-Going Yogi.
    {See, an Okey is approval,
    An endorsement as such.
    Each yogi seeked okeys
    So very much.}
    And it happened that both of them posed in a place
    Where they bumped. There they stood.
    Foot to foot. Face to face.
    “Look here, now!” the West-Going Yogi said. “I say!
    You are blocking my mind. You are right in my way.
    I’m a West-Going Yogi and I always think west.
    Get out of my way, now, and let me do best!”
    “Who’s in whose way?” snapped the East-Going Yogi.
    “I always think east, making east-going okeys.
    So you’re in MY way! And I ask you to move.
    And let me go east in my east-going groove.
    Then the West-Going Yogi puffed his chest up with pride.
    “I never,” he said, “take a step to one side,
    And I’ll prove to you that I won’t change my ways
    If I have to keep posing here thirty-nine days!”
    “And I’ll prove to YOU,” yelled the West-Going Yogi,
    “That I can pose here in the mountain of Dokey
    for thirty-nine years! For I live by a mantra
    that I learned way back in West-Going Tantra.
    “Still the mind! That’s my mantra. Still the mind is the best!
    I’ll pose here, quite still! I can and I will
    If it makes you and me and the whole world stand still.
    Hey… said East-Going Yogi
    I learned that as well.
    Let’s check yoga sutras
    Won’t that be swell?
    Chapter1, verse 39
    to be quite exact.
    Focus on things that
    you won’t find distract.
    There are numbers of ways
    For the mind to become still.
    Focus on what you please
    To Fulfill!
    It is the process of focus
    Which makes us a yogi
    Not the specific practice
    You see, Okey-Dokey?
    Patanjali says to practice
    Right from the heart
    Allow this to deepen,
    For that is the art.
    Fix the mind!
    Any object you choose,
    As a focusing prop to
    Fully fix and bemuse.
    Get absorbed in your focus,
    Without distraction.
    You can attain stillness
    And sweet satisfaction.

  • Shames, Shames, Go Away! And Don’t Come Back Another Day!

    Inspired by Yoga Sutra 2.16 Heyam dukham anagatam
    Avoidable is the suffering
    that has not yet to come~
    That feeling of shame
    That sticks like chewed gum.
    How do we get through places
    That are stuck deep inside?
    Where the holdings, the collections
    The patterns reside?
    The patterns of feeding
    Our suction cupped shames~
    With secrets and silence
    And judgements and blames.
    Attract the energy of movement~
    And comfort with movement~
    Comfort with change~
    Comfort with improvement.
    Create space between impulse
    And action that binds~
    The stuck feelings that resists
    Our meetings of minds.
    Space is the experience
    Of minds open and bright
    The Wisdom of Grace
    Is filled up with light.
    Grace is the knowing
    Our mistakes serve an aim~
    Instead of allowing
    Our mistakes to serve shame.
    So to prevent future suffering~
    And the feeding of shames~
    Create a steady practice
    Of breath work and aims.
    Here’s a mantra for you
    To embody and embed~
    Press thumb into each finger
    And say in your head~
    {I inhale to prepare~
    I exhale to share~
    I inhale to release blame~
    I exhale to transform shame~*}
    {Repeat 11 times}~
    Keep your sitting bones rooted.
    Slowly rotate your core ~
    Counterclockwise 3 rounds
    Your breath? Don’t ignore!
    Inhale going backwards,
    Exhale going forward .
    Your movements ride on your
    breath~
    It’s pretty straight forward.
    Pause and move clockwise.
    Repeat 11 times.
    Close eyes and listen.
    To your heart beat like chimes.
    Find someone you know,
    You love and you trust
    Show them your shames
    And watch your blames turn to dust.
    May we have what it takes
    To transform all our shames~
    To allow our mistakes
    To serve our Great Aim~

  • Yoga & Mindfulness is good for kids? Prove it!

    For the research lovers and naysayers, the believers needing back up, parents wanting proof and the educators pursuing funding, this is for you…  IAYSM Research Bibliography A comprehensive listing of research articles and papers compiled by Adenia Linker IASYM Bibliography final Qualitative Evaluation of a High School Yoga Program: Feasibility and Perceived Benefits-Conboy et al…