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Going Grounded (not postal) at the Post Office

bigstock_Local_Post_Office_61490We teach kids and teens how to find humor in every day life and how awareness leads to amusement in even the most mundane places. This event took place this morning and it’s what I taught in my Grounded class this afternoon. I shared the story, taught the poses and we had an awesome, authentic experience. The kids were inspired to write down their own personal stories and the poses that prepared them to handle real life with ease. They loved using the pose stickers to illustrate their writing. Find all the details about these poses and more in our box of 84 Grounded Elevator Series Pose Cards. Enjoy!

I was at the post office this morning at 8:30 am GET UP, which in itself is funny since I’m a night owl and it’s summer and I abhor standing in the long lines. So much so that I use stamps.com (worth it!) and my own postage scale and printer. However, this particular package was international and I did not have a customs form at home, nor could I figure out the correct form to print from the USPS website. NO WHINING. My son runs every morning with his team and the park is across from the post office so I decided to beat the crowd and go on the way home from picking him up. WARROR III WITH INTENTION. He’s a champ to agree to sit in the hot car after running 8 miles. Anyway, it’s early and I’ll just be a minute. TWISTED TOGETHER. I packed up our wonderful Grounded materials at home using an official Flat Rate box, WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK, and carried it in, happy to see that there was only one person in line. GRATITUDE. It was even my turn before I had a chance to finish eavesdropping on a conversation between a city police woman in full uniform, including a holster packed with two guns, a taser and two containers of mace/tear gas or something that would surly knock some sense into anyone fighting this extremely well armed woman. DON’T ROCK THE BOAT. She was telling a post office employee that she had filled out a card for her mail to be forwarded while she was away but has since lost the paperwork and can’t remember the address to which she had her mail forwarded. ? . LAUGHTER MILKSHAKE. With a smile, I approached the older gentleman behind the counter and looked for his name tag in order to say hello. He didn’t have one because, as I soon figured out, he was new. NICE TO MEET YOU. I put the box on the counter and told him that it was ready to go to Australia other than the customs form and postage (the amount of which I already knew because it was a Flat Rate box and the website lists the prices for international Flat Rate boxes.) TRIANGLE WITH WISDOM. “Well” he said, “I’m not sure which customs form to use but it’s gonna cost a lot since it’s going all the way to Australia.” HOLD ON A MINUTE. I asked him to please find out about customs and I would gladly step aside to complete the form because by now, from the sound of violent breathing behind me, I could tell someone very cloaked was in a hurry. ROOT TREE RISE. While my post office man went in the back, I turned around just in time to see the mouth breather raise her hands and shout at the before mentioned police woman and her post office person “Our tax dollars at waste!” CAT SCRATCH FEVER.  The officer replies “You got somethin’ to say to me?” PLAYING WITH FIRE. The human brain is the most amazing computer ‘cause I can’t even count how many scenarios ran through my head at that instant. YOU’RE UP THEN YOU’RE DOWN. My man returns with a form just as she who may snap at any moment throws a floppy white envelope on the counter and stomps away yelling for him to mail the stupid package. GO TO YOUR ROOM. Without missing a beat, my mail man calls out for her to “have a nice day” with all the innocence of someone’s first day on the job. RECTANGULAR RELATIONSHIP. So, with wide eyes, I take the form and ask if I could possibly have a few more to take home so that the next time I need to mail something internationally, I can already have the form completed. TWIST AND TARGET. He tells me that he doesn’t know if that is allowed because he is new and I send things all the way to Australia, but that I can find out on the USPS website. JUST BREATHE. I’m processing this info and hearing Australia over and over in MY mind but with Oprah’s voice when another employee steps out of the back and hands me a stack of forms. My man, the new guy, then asks for some help since he’s never mailed anything to Australia before and he wants to give me the best price since it’s heavy and going all the way to Australia. OOMPA LOOMPA. I feel compelled to remind him that it is a Flat Rate Box, but it is too late. They are already discussing the options. BRING IT ON. I decide to go fill out the form so I missed out on the end of that conversation. It ended rather quickly because before I entered the description of each content, the other employee screamed to all 2 people in the building, me included, “does anyone need to pick up a package from the back? Pick up a package from the back? Anyone?” FORWARD FOLD. This shout out continued every few minutes for the next 40 minutes, no matter how few (1) other people were there. DOUBLE CHECK. I bet you are wondering why I was in the post office for 40 more minutes. Here are the ingredients to the rich icing on my not so easy bake post office cake. FLAT LIKE A PANCAKE. 1 new guy, 1 pair of tiny reading glasses, 1 extremely long customs form, 1 rule that all handwritten custom forms must be entered into the computer, 2 hands but only one finger typing, 3 beeping sounds from the computer after each incorrect entry, a package in a Flat Rate Box weighing 11.3 lbs going all the way to Australia and 1 yogini with 11 years of practice. ROCK N’ ROLL.  So, I wait and I breathe and I observe and I stretch and I connect and I AM WHAT I AM. Today I was at the post office for 45 minutes to mail  our inspiring materials to a woman in Australia ready to receive and get grounded. NETWORK. They say that when you start practicing yoga you either transform or quit. I’ve become aware of the LIFE in life. The humor, the diversity, the commonality, the joy, the depth, the darkness, the vibration of people’s energy, the Grace. I’m GROUNDED for LIFE and loving it.

More to Explore

  • Seuss Sutra 1-1: Big Picture Play of Consciousness

    Look at me!
    Look at me!
    Look at me NOW!
    It is fun to have fun
    But you have to know how.

    The enlightened sage, Dr. Seuss, in the revered text The Cat and The Hat, teaches us how to tune into our Highest Self, listen to our small, limited, fears and even invite them out to play with each other. My intention and desire is for us to value and understand this text in the highest spiritual sense. May this process lead us to a higher capacity for insight, for revelation, for learning at a deeper level, so clarity about our Self become possible.

    Cat in the Hat begins on a cold and wet day at the house of two sad children stuck inside with nothing to do, until the Cat in a Hat shows up, transforming the dull day into an adventure. As he steps in on the mat, we can relate the action metaphorically to Yoga Sutra 1.1. Now, the teachings of yoga. As he begins to express his philosophy to the children, their pet fish begins to express his hesitation and fears. The Cat reassures him with a simple “Now! Now!” That answer is an important teaching in the whole text, because it teaches us to let go of our old social order, and enter the present, which is new. “Now” in Sanskrit is “atha”, signaling the value of what you are about to dive into. “Atha” is also the first spoken word of Yoga Sutra 1.1, its entirety being~

    1.1 Ātha Yogānuśāsanam The teachings of yoga, have been presented. You don’t need to wait until the sun comes out, an authority figure is watching, or your fear is gone. All that it (Yoga) requires of you is a YES. In essence, then, The Cat in the Hat, just like Patanjali ,is telling his students to get ready to receive the knowledge on the subject of “yoga”.

    The fish in the tiny bowl represents our limited, concealed self, and our karma mala. He is fear, limiting our ability to act. The cat is a wise trickster. He questions authority, encourages enthusiasm, seeks new experiences, while destroying our old way of thinking. He is our Big-Picture Play of Consciousness. He is our Highest Self.  Your higher self is consciousness. Your higher self is the real you. Your higher self is the more complete you.

    Shiva Sutra 1-1 Chaitanyam ātmā. Consciousness is the self.

    The children were still able to recognize, the fish’s concern. Fear is natural; it’s an adaptive instinct. Don’t try to squelch it down or ignore it. Without fear, we wouldn’t have courage. Without courage we wouldn’t be brave. The Cat in the Hat was able to listen to the fish, listen to his fears, and playfully act upon them.
    “Have no fear!” said the cat
    “I will not let you fall
    I will hold you up high…”

    Introducing three Tricks to greet your Higher Consciousness (HC)…ie Cat in the Hat  and Small Fish (SF)  i.e Karma Mala, Fear.

    1.Listen

    Close your eyes. Breathe in through your heart and out through your third eye. Continue to follow your breath. Listen to your heart. Sometimes HC sounds like the whisper of a wise old man. Sometimes HC sounds like a voice you recognize that is playful, friendly, and compassionate.
    The voice of your SF is usually scared or angry. It’s probably much louder.

    2. Look

    Invite C to sit with you and have a conversation. Ask questions. When the answers sound wiser or more knowledgeable than usual, you’re probably talking to your C. Just keep talking to this manifestation of your higher self until it feels like you’re talking to someone else and the answers you’re getting don’t seem like they’re coming from your own head. What does C look like? Invite F to the table as well. What do you see?

    3. Feel

    The cat in the hat starts at your spine and goes up to the crown of your head and beyond! Feel your cat getting taller with each breath.

    Sit!
    Sit!
    Sit!
    Sit!

    Root your left sitting bone to your left heel and your right sitting bone to your right heel. Thing 1 begins in the lowest part of your left belly. Thing two resides in the lowest part of your right belly. Lift Thing one and Thing Two, both lowest bellies, up like a kite. Most everything conspires to drop low abs. The trick is to keep lifting thing one and thing two) The game is don’t spill energy, must be a conscious effort to Feel!

    A Thing is defined as some entity, object, or creature that is not or cannot be specifically designated or precisely described: anything that is or may become an object of thought: things of the spirit.
    things, matters; affairs: a fact, circumstance, or state of affairs so the trick is to LIFT Your Things! Lift your entity, being, matter, act, deed, event, material object, body, being, assembly, council, suit, matter, suit, plea, concern while keeping your sitting bones rooted to your heels. Try this in different shapes~standing, forward folds, backbends, twists, supine..Notice the difference.

    Reponses received from kids~
    “Thing 1 and Thing 2 teach me I can do it!” Ella, age 7
    “My little baby tiny weeny self is in my head. My Huge, humungous ,, big giant Self is in my heart and body.” Claire, age 9
    “My High Cat knows I can do big things” Madeline, age 5
    “My Highest Self stands up for the world. My small Fish gets angry at myself and others.” Lauren, age 6
    “My High Self is beautiful and colorful.” Emily, age 6
    “My Highest Self tells me my gift is seeing the future in my sleep.” Hunter, age 7
    “My Fear is in my foot. My Highest Self is upside down now. It’s telling me to pay attention.” Dodge, age 9
    “Higher Self is standing up for myself. My Little Self is always looking around at others.” Amelia, age 8
    “My Fear is sliding down a pole. I see that picture (of the pole) any time I get scared.” Sarah, age 9
    Once you’ve tuned in to your C, you’ll be able to get some key information about why you’re here and where you should go, and who you should go with. Your C is watching over you and helping to steer you in the highest direction. This playful practice is for each one of us to embody the deep empowerment, the authenticity, and the fullness of who we are.
    Please share how it goes. Now~ You’ve got to have fun, but you have to know HOW!

  • Living My Yoga

    In 2006 I arrived on my first yoga mat during my pregnancy of my daughter. A year later I was teaching preschool and fitness classes to children as way to continue to be with her on a daily basis. Last January I showed up to my first Grounded Yoga experience with Level 1, and I…

  • OM is a Magic Word

    We chant OM in order to ground our energy in the present moment. When teaching kids who are brand new to yoga, I am determined to invite them into the wondrous world of all that is yoga without pushing them into a place of spooky sounds, weird ways and stuff completely unrelated to anything they’ve ever known. This mantra is a mode of transportation from where we were in our individual lives moments ago to where we are now – together in yoga