Cover image for the Focus in Time instructional kit featuring rainbow-colored text and yoga pose illustrations, designed to support kids' learning readiness through short, purposeful movement sequences

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How To Focus In School

I was diagnosed with ADHD in 1977. Everything about my struggles in school and life in general motivated me to become a school teacher and later create Grounded Kids yoga. Kids with ADHD often feel like something is inherently wrong with them and I was no different.

Words like “immature,” “hyper active,” “attention seeker” and “poor conduct” still sting and elicit feelings of unworthiness. I needed support and stability. I needed a chance to move my body before trying to sit still. I needed to oxygenate my blood and refresh my brain before trying to recall information that had gotten buried in the abundance of thoughts and sensations I was experiencing. Focus In Time provides 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10 minute yoga sequences that can fit into even the busiest of school schedules to prepare your mind and body for learning. When our nervous system has too much to process,  we revert to our stress responses (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) as if our survival depends on it. When we are in our stress response, NO NEW LEARNING CAN TAKE PLACE.

In education, we have a term called Learning Readiness defined as “the ability to receive purposeful instruction.” Focus In Time will help all students be open to receive. Click here to download the printable pages. Focus In Time is also available in 14 x 14 posters to display in your classroom.

More to Explore

  • Inspiration

    GROUNDED. (ADJ.)
    1. HAVING A SECURE FEELING OF BEING IN TOUCH WITH REALITY AND YOUR PERSONAL FEELINGS.
    2. A FIRM FOUNDATION TO BE INSPIRED AND INSPIRE OTHERS.
    Two weeks ago my Grounded class wrote letters of congratulations to Emily, who had just earned her White Bandana. She’s nine years old and lives in Atlanta. The kids in my class were amazed that at just nine she had achieved this. They were inspired. The letters they wrote were thoughtful, complementary and from the heart.

  • 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

  • Here Comes the Chakra Man

    Chakra-Man: The Official Grounded Super Hero The most realistically human of all super heroes and based on the character of a real-life principal of an elementary school. Chakra-Man came to life one day. There must have been some magic in the drawings made with love For this Chakra-Man, was more than we dreamed of……

  • I See It Everywhere

    I see it everywhere. I hear it spoken in so many contexts. I come across it in a multitude of publications. Since the idea of Grounded: Yoga, Laughter, Elevation came into being and I was blessed to be a part of the ground-floor of its creation, rarely does a day pass when I do not…

  • 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!