Misty_Laughter

If You Are Grounded and You Know It….

Misty_LaughterIf 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!”

Oh if only it were still that simple; being three years old, clapping your hands and squealing in delight!  Those childish squeals, though piercing and impulsive, are actually a level of grounded that we adults seldom revisit.  It’s that place of stopping to absorb the sense of being overcome with simple joy.  Have you ever watched a toddler eat a lollipop for the first time?  They are fully immersed in that moment of a new smell, taste, texture and color.  The world around stops spinning so fast. The tot becomes quiet and focused on this one small delicious treat.  Suddenly there is nowhere to be except right in that place exploring the new taste of blue raspberry without worry that a raspberry isn’t actually blue or sticky.  That’s the grounded I’m talking about.  Stopping. Looking. Wondering. Smelling. Tasting. Touching. Delighting! Somewhere along the course of toddler to teen to thirty-something, we lose that sense of simple joyous discovery and decide that having to stop means sacrificing happiness.

But how can being grounded make you happy, particularly if you are 16?  Seems we are always seeking happiness with the go-do-have mentality.  Let’s ‘go’ to another concert.  I’m planning to ‘do’ the Peachtree Road Race.  Can’t wait until I ‘have’ those new boots.  So really the next verse could translate to “If you’re happy and you know it, buy new boots!  If you’re happy and you know then your feet will really show it.  If you’re happy and you know it, buy new boots!”  No, no, no.  We know that’s not the way it works.  So what does being grounded mean, if not to lose all “happiness” associated with texting, Facebook, borrowing the car and shopping?

I have a yoga teacher who often suggests we imagine we’ve just been given this new body.  Too old to give it go? I think not!  Start with Solid Ground Flow. There you are: babies, dark seeds clockunaware of the light surrounding us.  Security. And then we begin to get a little crowded.  Let me just stretch out a bit.  Wait.  What’s that?  A leg?  Two of them! How do they hold us up?  How are they connected?  What makes them move?  Explore the movement of these new legs.  Where can they take me?  What’s this flat thing attached to the bottom of each one? Curiosity. And being curious – well that’s YOGA. Oh, wait!  Those flat things help me to stand!  Well check this out!  I am taller now, upright, a strong sturdy mountain. Suddenly there is so much more to look at!  Discovery! Now fold forward and look back down at where you started.  Geez.  How’d everything get upside down?  Perspective!  What if I lifted up just a little…like a half lift… lengthened my spine and stared straight into the face of what’s in front of me?  Courage! One leg back now, one leg forward; a straight leg lunge into possibility. I can do this! Empowerment! Both legs now- plank– I’m stronger than I thought!  Straight lines of energy, nothing standing in my way!  Stick my tongue out and roar!  Share my voice. Confidence! LAUGHTER! Now this is a good feeling. Let me take a moment to thank this new body of mine, and the ground below supporting all of this – gently though, one knee-chest and chin at a time.  Gratitude!  Open the heart now into snake, fill up with joy and take in what is there.  Radiate light from my center and share it with others!  Compassion!  Look back again for a moment in Down Dog.  Rest there.  Look how far I’ve come and how I was helped along the way.  Deep breath.  Surrender. Now, one step forward, straight leg lunge, firmly rooted back.  Perseverance. And lifting halfway up to stare once again into what lies ahead. Hope. Forward Fold, did I do it?  Am I ready for more?  Can I continue moving through the hours of days, months of years, the circle of this life?  YES!  I can!  Inhale and rise up, reach for sky and sing out from the top of this tall mountain.  ELEVATION!

That’s what being grounded is all about.  It’s not losing something or stopping completely. It’s not going or doing or getting. It’s about slowing down to notice how the world works and how we work within it.  When we set our clocks back just enough to explore the sheer delight of simplicity, we are grounded and happy!  So if you’re grounded and you know it, downward dog! If you’re grounded and you know it, flat like a pancake!  If you’re grounded and you know it, laughter milkshake!  And if you’re grounded and you know it, for goodness sake, NO WHINING! If you’re grounded and you know it then your life will really show it.  If you’re grounded and you know it, Namaste.

So there you have it.  Be Grounded.  Feel Happy.  Explore Yoga. Seek Laughter.  Notice your own Elevation….and every once in awhile – get those new boots.

More to Explore

  • The Book of Marlie

    Thank you Eight year old Marlie for presenting me with this yoga book you wrote and taught to classes in your school. I appreciate your interesting chapters~  Yoga that keeps me calm Yoga that keeps me Grounded Yoga with more than two people Yoga with two people Yoga that keeps me happy  and your very helpful notes~ Remember you will not get it the first time Breathe slowly Remember to lean  your beautifully detailed art~ and your permission to share your work on our blog~  I am grateful that you have been a grounded student for three years and you continue to serve your school with yoga.  With love, Cheryl Crawford

  • Harry Potter Magic Yoga Sequence

    Feeling like a troubled, tuckered out muggle? Want to enter the wizard- like state of clarity, and focus? Choose to ground your outer body to create the conditions for a vast inner freedom. You need space inside for the magic to do its work. Albus Dumbledore teaches us… “It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

    Each pose has a corresponding spell for you to breathe into your structure. The more you breathe with awareness, the more potent the spell becomes. With each inhale; drop the spell into the space between your eyebrows. With each exhale; drop the meaning of the spell into the same space above your nose. Say the word to yourself as you drop it into the window to your heart.

    The charm Duro is used to keep objects still. Seen in Deathly Hallows, cast by Hermione while escaping from Death Eaters in Hogwarts.
    Stay balanced in each pose by softly gazing at an immobile object. Inhale DURO, EXHALE FREEZE to keep the object still.

    “Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.” — Albus Dumbledore.

    Spell: Rennervate Pose: Wake Up Mountain

    Rennervate is a charm that awakens and energizes whomever the caster’s wand is pointed at. It is accompanied by a flash of brilliantly colored red light. Harry uses it to attempt to revive Professor Dumbledore after Dumbledore has succumbed to the potion guarding the locket in the lake.

    Stand with your feet parallel and evenly rooted to prepare for WAKE UP MOUNTAIN. Exhale as you reach up high with outstretched hands and take hold of the universal energy. Inhale and pull the power into your core. Each time you exhale stretch out higher. Each time you inhale, bend your elbows and pull in deeper. Visualize the movement of energy around and inside your body. Accelerate your breath to accelerate your movement.. Then decelerate your breath to slow your movement. When your movement follows your breath, you feel more alive. Inhale RENNERVATE, Exhale WAKE UP!

    Root Tree Rise
    Mobiliarbus lifts a tree a few inches off the ground and levitates it to where the caster points his or her wand. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione uses the spell to move a Christmas tree beside her table to hide Harry.

    Ground your left foot to prepare for ROOT TREE RISE. Place the sole of your right foot inside of your left thigh or shin. Reach your right hand behind your waist between your shoulder blades. Lift your left arm overhead, lowering your hand to interlock with your right hand. Rise up inside with each breath as you open your shoulders and stretch your branches. Exhale, expand and explore. Root into the earth and into your own center. Experiment with gazing both outward as a tree rising up toward the sky and inward as the same tree roots down into the earth. Inhale MOBILIARBUS. Exhale RISE. Ground your right foot and repeat on the other side.

    “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.”~ Albus Dumbledore

    Flap Eagle Fly
    Avis. This charm creates a flock of birds from the caster’s wand and is shown in Goblet of Fire, cast by Mr. Ollivander to test Viktor Krum’s wand.

    Ground your feet to prepare for FLAP EAGE FLY. Inhale; lift your arms. Exhale your right elbow under your left one-twisting to bring your palms together. Steady your breath for balance. Lift the right leg up, over and around your left leg. Center your wrists, elbows, knees and ankles in one line. Slowly untangle your right leg and extend it behind as you hinge forward. Stretch your crown, fingers and elbows forward. Inhale AVIS. Exhale FLY. Flap for stability and fly with freedom. Ground your feet and repeat on the other side. Let your brilliance soar.

    Playing With Fire
    Incendio produces fire. It is first seen in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone when Hagrid (nonverbally) produces fire out of his umbrella in the little house the Dursleys took refuge in (from the Hogwarts letters). In Half-Blood Prince, this spell is used several times in battle, for instance when Hagrid’s hut is set ablaze.

    Ground your sitting bones to prepare for PLAYING WITH FIRE. Lift your legs and rub the soles of your feet together. Balance and rub your palms together. Create friction. Generate heat by scooping your tailbone until your lower belly fires up. Draw into you internal fire to provide energy and fuel your focus. Inhale INCENDIO. Exhale FIRE.

    I Am What I Am
    Revelio will reveal to the caster whether any other (presumably living) humans are within its area of influence.
    In Deathly Hallows, when they first arrive at Number 12, Grimmauld Place after leaving Bill and Fleur’s wedding, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are concerned that there may be Death Eaters lurking. Hermione casts Homenum Revelio to determine that the house is, in fact, empty.

    Sit in Easy Pose. To prepare for I AM WHAT I AM. Press thumbs into each of your fingers in the following order. Say “FOCUS” and press thumb and first second together. Say “CLEAR” and press your thumb and third finger. Say “CERTAIN” and press your thumb and ring finger. Say “BRIGHT” and press your thumb and little finger together. Repeat out loud for a minute. Whisper for a minute. Hear it inside while you silently keep moving your fingers for one minute. Do another minute of silence, then one minute of whispering, then one minute of saying it out loud. Close your eyes. Inhale REVELIO. Exhale REVEAL.

    Lighten Up
    Lumos creates a beam of light. First seen in Chamber of Secrets and then constantly throughout the series.

    Lie on your back and press the back of your head into the ground to prepare for LIGHTEN UP, keeping your chin level. Exhale as you lift your legs to a 90-degree angle, making an L shape with your body. Inhale; root your upper arm bones down and back by your sides. Exhale, spread your toes and extend your flame. Soften your back body into the earth. Inhale LUMOS. Exhale LIGHT.

    “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light. ” – Albus Dumbledore

    Just Breathe
    Quietus makes a magically magnified voice return to normal.
    Sonorus magnifies the spell caster’s voice, functioning as a magical megaphone.
    These charms counter each other and were used by Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge in Goblet of Fire to commentate at the Quidditch World Cup and during the Triwizard Tournament. Also used by Dumbledore to silence everyone in the Great Hall in Goblet of Fire. Used by Voldemort several times during the Battle of Hogwarts in Deathly Hallows.

    Roll up into Easy Pose to JUST BREATHE. Close your eyes and tune in to your own internal magic elevator. Visualize a silvery white light beginning at the base of your spine and flowing upwards, reaching your head and spilling out from the top of your head like sparkling stars soaring upwards into the universe. Through your nose inhale a spacious breath into your basement, up into your atrium and toward the roof of your mouth. Exhale the breath from your roof all the way down into your basement. Establish a steady rhythm of your breath. Inhale QUIETUS. Exhale Quiet.
    The quieter you become, the more you can hear the quiet whisper of your heart. Listen. Magnify your heart’s voice so it functions as a magical megaphone. Inhale SONORUS into your heart. Exhale Magnify. Listen. That’s the magic.

    “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” – Albus Dumbledore

  • Sweeping Breath- Dr. Seuss Style (Siva Sutra 1.2 jnānam bandhaḥ)

    sweep-the-spineBondage and ignorance and limitation!
    Oh my!
    We contract like a sneeze~
    You want to know why?
    These are the roots of our issues,
    You see~
    Unworthiness, insecurity, feeling un-free.

    These deep darkened roots,
    known as Anava Mala,
    cloak our awareness
    like pollen all upon ‘ya.

    This pollen of unworthiness
    Helps us forget~
    How miraculous we are~
    We recoil ~we regret.

    We regret and we doubt.
    We feel separate and small.
    Our pimples and frizzes
    Keep us enthralled.

    How, do we, how do we
    How DO we re-remember?
    Our goodness, our freedom
    From here to September?

    Good question, my dear!
    So at your request~
    I’ll teach you the tools
    To elevate your quest!

    Your breath is the broom
    that sweeps away pollen,
    Shines light on the ignorance
    Which is hidden and smallen.

    Sit tall, close your eyes,
    Tune into your spine.
    Inhale your breath
    Down the left side line

    Sweep your breath out~
    On the same side,
    From bottom to top~
    Deep inside.

    Sweep your breath in,
    Down the right side this time.
    Get real close and real low~
    To release dust and grime.

    Sweep your breath out~
    From bottom to top.
    Keep sweeping your spine~
    No reason to stop!

    No reason to stop~
    Till you feel lighter and free!
    Relieved of unworthy
    Pollen and debris.

    The pollen of ignorance~
    And debris of limitation~
    Can be swept to the surface
    For expansive illumination.

    Each time we remember,
    We grow and expand~
    We become more real!
    And that is quite grand!.

  • Zip the Lip…Potato Chip!

    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!