We all have a limited, contracted, outer hard surface. Yoga teaches us to dig deep into our center to know our true, authentic selves. Yoga Teacher Barbie was gifted to me on my birthday and I have chosen to Ground her and help her to expand her consciousness. All of my students are gifts; yet this is my first one who was born in Indonesia and had a non-existent childhood,. No wonder she has restricted knowledge.
Perhaps Barbie’s obvious patterns of limitations can teach us how to observe our own stuff. Barbie has offered her correspondence to her beloved, Ken for you all to witness her progress. I welcome advice on how to help her ground her feet!
Can getting grounded bring me back to balanced working order, the way nature intended me to be? Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) defines GROUNDED as mentally and emotionally stable: admirably sensible, realistic, and unpretentious grounded [?gra?nd?d] adj sensible and down-to-earth; having one’s feet on the ground I do aim to know where I belong…
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…
The week before college life officially started at Belmont Abbey College, the Student Life department held one of its biggest and most important trainings of the year for its Resident Assistants. “RA’s” are some of the most influential student employees on campus. They represent the college in helping new students settle into resident hall life, assist in planning social events, lead discussions, report maintenance concerns, serve as a resource to campus information, lend a listening ear and comforting shoulder to cry on, perform room checks, work in the hall office and much more.
Needless to say, the RA position entails a great deal of responsibility, but these students are ready and capable of giving even more light and love back to those they serve. With all of the trainings, seminars and long check-lists to prepare the resident halls for new student orientation, the RA’s wanted one more important thing to prepare them for this celebratory new year of college. . . to get GROUNDED!
Through our programs, we endeavor to “ground” kids, teens, and adults via yoga, laughter, and elevation. But what exactly does it mean to be grounded? By formal definition courtesy of the Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary….
grounded [ˈgraʊndɪd]
adj
sensible and down-to-earth; having one’s feet on the ground: mentally and emotionally stable : admirably sensible, realistic, and unpretentious <remains grounded despite all the praise and attention>
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.
Said my young friend who wants a connection: “I wave. I shake hands, with no objection. No pain, no remorse, no one intervening a choice I make without much thought or meaning~”
“…Is there a gesture that honors each other? That celebrates greeting sisters and brothers? Can you show me HOW to express happiness with social and spiritual significance?”
YES, my dear friend, I can show you a mudra~ a gesture of sorts, for kings, friends and sudras. Place hands together from fingers to wrists~ like a knife, cut through difference that may exist.
This immediately gets you to the shared ground~ of ALL people, of all cultures, of all sound. It’s a recognition, a united force~ that honors equality of all from the Source.
Close your eyes and tune into your own inner light; your divine spark that forever burns bright. That’s the key, my dear friend, you must see your OWN in order to recognize others’ light shown.
BLEND your five fingers of action on the left~ with five fingers of knowledge on the right~ to achieve the symbol of perfection the union of opposites; interconnection. FInd the Connection of your brain and your heart; your sun and your moon; your stop and your start. Marry together reason and emotion~ unite thoughts and feelings, stillness and motion.
Join positive and negative; hot and cold~ theory with practice, silver with gold~ Wisdom with Method, intellect with instinct~ talent with genius, and feelings with think!
Exhalation and inhalation, ,brain and heart~ Align in harmony, right from the start! There is indeed no sphere of our existence untouched by the symbolic significance~
of Namaste~
Namaste
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.