pancake03

Grounded In Fluffiness

pancake03Three years ago…a five year old Grounded Kid said her favorite pose was “Flat Like a Pancake”.  It was actually not an official pose, but rather a transitional phrase from Gratitude pose to Snake pose.  To honor the wisdom and innocence of this child, we decided to make “Flat Like a Pancake” a pose that’s part of the Grounded Elevator Series.  Read on to see how to griddle some pancakes the “Grounded” way.

 

When cooking pancakes keep this in mind:

Each pancake needs their own space on the griddle.

If one pancake is not squeezing their legs or firing up their hearts, it will affect the whole batch.

When the pancakes breathe together, the results are more delightful.

Groundwork: From Gratitude pose, exhale as you pour yourself down onto your belly. Fill up with breath and bring fluffiness into your short stack. Keep your hands actively clawing the griddle in line with your chest. Squeeze your legs together for the fluffiest and lightest pancake possible. Inhale, draw your leg muscles up toward your center as you lift your arm bones toward the sky. Exhale, root your tailbone down until your belly lifts in and up. Reach your chest forward and make a silly face.

Like pancakes hot off the griddle, continue to fire up all your muscles, creating enough heat to allow your heart to melt just like real butter on your favorite pancake! When you breathe into your back body and puff it up with bubbles, you are ready to FLIP!

SG7_bigCan you stay big and light and fluffy and together and Flip over? Did your belly get lumpy? Did you fall apart?

You don’t want to be dense and bland or runny and gooey. Find the balance. Keep your edges strong and crisp, and breathe evenly so you cook all the way through.

Grounded Tips:

If your pancake is runny:

1st check hands. Concentrate on All finger pads and knuckles. They must ground into the earth. Stabilize your forearm until they feel solid. Focus on keeping your arm bones up. For best results, gather heat from your palms all the way to the back of your heart. Settle your shoulder blades in toward your heart. Stay connected to your hands, arms and legs. Squeeze your legs until you feel cohesive. Allow any excess tension to drain off into the griddle.

If your pancake is dense and bland: Receive your breath. Breath deeper. Soften your eyes and throat and skin more. Possibly separate legs hip distance apart. Can you make this pancake new?

If your pancake is thick and sticking to the pan: Follow your breath. Breathe more fully into your back body so your front ribs will move back. Keep the fluffiness and melt your heart. Flow your inner thighs down to the griddle. Express your emotions. Make a smiley face or silly face.

If the belly of your short stack is lumpy: Fire up your legs, lengthen your tailbone and scoop it more fully. Notice how your breath gets more expansive and you gather more length from hips to armpits.

If your pancake is burnt: Slow your breath and movement down and really pay attention to where you are.

If your smell doesn’t cause others to exclaim “Hey what’s cookin?” Breathe through your nose instead of your mouth.

Be aware of extra ingredients in your personal batter. You want sweetness, like chocolate or berries. Even some nuttiness will add excitement to your short stack. Stay clear of anything bitter, sour or hard.

Shine out from your center so much like the golden hot cake you were born to be. Allow Real Syrup or Butter to melt your heart.

Enjoy your thin layer of sweet crust and from deep inside, radiate your light, fluffy, beautiful warmth.

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  • Inspired by the Velveteen Rabbit…How Teachers Become Real.

    horse

    The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.

    “What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

    “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”

    “Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

    “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

    “Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

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    “I suppose you are real?” said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive.

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    Good question, my dear!
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    Sweep your breath in,
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    No reason to stop~
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    What are these sutras
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    Good question, my friend~
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    In times of great need,
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    Gleanings of insights,
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    Sutras express so much
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    Sutras are formulas
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    So chose your text wisely~
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    Then write them in BOLD~
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    Melt their magnificence
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