We 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.

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Hey, Lighten Up!

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Snow White Yoga
{Tada drastuh svarupe vasthanam}
Patanjali’s Sutra Chapter 1, verse 3
Then the SEER abides in it own NATURE
Surely, it’s meant to BE~
To ABIDE in our own SPLENDOR~
The mind must get real quiet;
it needs to uncover the truth
and go on a Cloud free Diet.
No need to grasp for light
For it is already here and there.
Let’s thin out the distorted clouds
Of ignorance and despair.
Let’s work with the muddled mind,
Accept that clouds are blocking,
Train to be more observant
Of thoughts that keep on talking.
Just like the sun up above
Our LIGHT never dims to slur.
It does get covered up.
And distortion may occur.
Dwarfs mine for diamonds
In the classic tale SNOW WHITE.
We mine for JOY
It’s our undivided RIGHT.
SNOW WHITE sings joyfully,
As she tidies up the cottage.
Birds and animals dance along
And MiIRROR her BLISSFUL wattage.
SNOW WHITE glistens KINDNESS,
and undisturbed PURENESS,
That exists at the core of her being
Her true SELF, that’s for sureness.
In yoga, we use our practice
To support the removal of clouds~
To ground into our inner brilliance
And shine out free from the shrouds.
“Just whistle while you work
And cheerfully together we can tidy up the place
So hum a merry tune
It won’t take long when there’s a song to help you set the pace “
Keep your ankles in line with your knees
And your knees in line with your hips.
Clasp your elbows behind your back
And rise up high on your toe-tips.

Bend steady your knees.
Stay high up on tiptoes.
Whistle or hum a tune
While you work to hold this pose!
“And as you sweep the room
Imagine that the broom is someone that you love
And soon you’ll find you’re dancing to the tune
When hearts are high the time will fly
So whistle while you work”
Clean the sand trap of cluttered thoughts
With camel pose in a chair.
Sit on the edge of your seat
Place your hands behind you with care.

Lift the sides of your heart up
And the back of your heart high.
Pull your head of the arm bones back.
Soften both sides of your throat and sigh.
Sigh your throat back,
And LIFT YOUR HEART HIGH.
WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK
And allow time to fly.
Place hands on your lap
Lift your head back over your heart
Ground your thighs and feet,
And Feel the clouds depart.
May we whistle while we work.
May we notice our inner states.
May our inner states be bright.
And lighten our outer updates.
May the sound that whistles tunes
from within our deep heart’s abyss
Ring loud and ring clear~
OUR OWN TRUE NATURE IS BLISS!
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Local Grounded Teachers Heart Bursts Open with Pride
As I sit to write this I am grinning ear to ear because my heart could not be more full of love, joy, pride and awe. This morning, I was honored to have two of MY girls (and when I say My I mean students of mine) for over four years teach a full on yoga class to a group of 14 students at the Ivivva Store In Dunwoody Village.
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Reflections after teaching Step 1 Training – See It From My Side
Written by Amy Haysman It’s Monday after 3 days of grounding 17 grown ups in the art and design of teaching kids yoga Grounded style. I lean back in my chair at lunch, unable to carry on a conversation, and say to Sedef “I’m drained.” Instantly, my body recognized this as untrue.
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Shame
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When Resting Pose Becomes Real: Safety, Breath, and Deep Rest for Kids
During a class at a metro Atlanta shelter, we opened hearts, softened with “heart-melting” poses, and repeated “Inhale I AM, exhale OK.” Sixteen children settled into Resting Pose and fell sound asleep. Here’s what that moment taught me about safety, breath, and the healing power of Savasana for kids.
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