For many of us, a new year represents a blank slate, a Tabula Rasa. Imagine being able to “refresh” any or all areas of your life. Now visualize this table with two columns, Yes and No. You create your truest life by thoughtfully choosing what goes in the No column and what is a Yes. Everything you say YES to and everything you say NO to matters. What if your yes’s and no’s were tabulated and at the end of a day, week, year, lifetime, you could see how the data, otherwise known as your life, balanced out?
Think of it like playing a game. Each morning, start with a wide-open YES in your heart and make room on the table. As you go through your day making decisions, interacting with others and living your life, be aware of what you say No to and what Yes is automatically created out of that No. Conversely, what do you say Yes to and what is the No side of that decision? Before you go to sleep, check in with yourself and see if you feel balanced. You already posses the winning pieces of confidence, clarity, and integrity, so use them as you play.
No Table Yes is a pose we use to teach kids these concepts to kids. It is on the fourth floor, Balance Beam, of our Elevator Series. This floor represents the heart chakra. Balance begins with centering and softening the heart. Winning pieces in the game of life are cultivated in the heart. Courage and determination can’t be found in a textbook. Compassion and connection grow from the inside and only then can be expressed outwardly. When our heart chakra is open, these qualities can inform our mind and through our Yes’s and No’s, we create and live our truest life.
Prepare to find freedom within boundaries. Say yes to life by breathng fully and expansively. Exhale and come on to your hands and knees shoulder width apart. Ground your clawed hands and your left shin to the earth. Inhale and curve your spine, bringing your right knee and forehead together. Hug into your basement. Say “No!” to your fears, doubts and old habits that are not serving you well. Exhale “Yes!” to something new as you stretch your head up and lift your right leg straight behind you. Keep your hips level. Inhale an bring your knee to forhead. “No!” Create boundaries. Establish confidence in what you believe. Keep the sides of your neck long. Exhale “Yes!” as you kick back. Feel free and expansive. Open to your possibiities. Your spine arches and curves as you continue with the right leg three more times. Try it fast, slow, soft and loud. Repeat five times with your left leg.
If you’re grounded and you know it, are you happy? Wait, that’s not the song! We know how it goes – sing along! “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you’re happy and you know it then your face will really show it. If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!”
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.
Oh Ethiopia, how quickly you stole my heart! I originally set off on the journey to Africa to provide art therapy based art classes through a local non-profit in Atlanta called drawchange. The goal was to expose a group of impoverished children to art and allow them to express themselves through a variety of art…
Often people tend to pull us into their drama. Our awareness can get overwhelmed. What if we allow them time for self-correction? What if we don’t always comment about what we are critical of? What if we focus in a positive way and offer love with enthusiasm?
I invite you to practice the zip mantra (influenced by the brilliant Paul Muller-Ortega ) on your mat space as well as in your life space. Do tell us how it goes!
The incorporation of yoga and mindfulness practices in K-12 education has gained momentum in recent years. Educators and researchers are increasingly recognizing the potential benefits of these practices in enhancing students’ physical health, emotional well-being, and academic performance. This article outlines key research studies that highlight the positive impact of yoga and mindfulness on students…
Grounded Kids Yoga 115 Milton Park Court, Alpharetta, GA 30022
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Grounded Kids Yoga provides in-person and online training, professional development workshops, and ongoing support for educators, parents, and clinicians. We specialize in kids yoga, mindfulness, social-emotional learning (SEL), trauma and pain management, emotional regulation, and impulse control for preschool through high school students. Each year, we serve thousands of children and teens through school programs, after-school enrichment yoga clubs, summer camps, Girl Scouts, 4-H conferences, and yoga studios across Atlanta, the Southeast, and nationwide.