Introducing Charlotte, Certified Grounded Kid…and her yoga perspective

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.

There is a huge difference between going deep and going in. Deeply understanding and knowing something is not the same level of experience as ingesting or taking something in and transforming because of it.

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?”

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

“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.

But the Skin Horse only smiled

–  From the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams  –

Yesterday, I was with my friend Autumn, and she wanted to go to Taco Bell, which is her favorite restaurant. The only way my mom was willing to take us is if we went to a place called “Kale Me Crazy”. Basically, we were bribed. I’m not a huge kale person, so I never even though about going there.

A couple months ago, my mom had gone in there and gave the owner her recipe for almond milk. He turned it into a smoothie, naming it Grounded after my mom’s company. Of course, my mom ordered that one for us. It resembled the concoctions that my mom normally would make. It was a brown, grainy, mixture that literally looked like it came from the ground. I guess it lived up to its name.

Unenthusiastically, Autumn and I tried it. And we were surprised. It tasted like a healthy version of a chocolate milkshake. We couldn’t stop drinking it. Being the nice person that I am, I let Autumn have it so I could “enjoy” my kale smoothie, which was really disappointing compared to Grounded. I guess you never know what to expect.

To try this smoothie, I would recommend going to Kale Me Crazy or, you can even make the smoothie at home by blending these ingredients.

Recipe:

Handful of raw almonds (soaked)
3 tablespoons of raw cacao
1 banana
1 tablespoon of hemp seeds
1 teaspoon of hemp protein
Handful of raw Brazil nuts (soaked)
3 dates
11/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of raw honey
2 scoops of ice
2 cups of water

So you finish your practice~
You feel loving and calm.
There is nothing you dismiss~
You are full of BLISS bombs.

You rejoin your family~’
And what do you hear?
Shouts of anxieties~
Blames, Shames, doubts and fears!

Does loving-kindness deflate
As you join the contention?
Or will your blissed state
Transmit without tension?

Each time you experience
The delight of {I AM}
Your bliss will flow forth~
Like a hydraulic ram.

Embody the KNOWING~
Of your inner LOVE state.
So you can keep it safe~
And INTERRELATE.

YOGA says your relationship
between you and your SELF~
can not be diminished,
or put upon a shelf.

You take your SELF
everywhere you GO!
Then everything is spiritual
from Grumps to Sloppy Joes!

Lokanandah Samadhi-Sukham
Shiva Sutra One.Eighteen~
Your inner bliss continues
Like you won the slot machines.

So how do we GROW
In our capacity for such LOVE?
Without mermaids and unicorns~
Blue moons and white doves?

We create an INNER space
Direct love toward KNOWERSHIP~
Call forth our virtues,
Our patience, our grit.

We bridge the gap of difference
SERVE in a profound way~
Not cold duty or bargain~
LOVE is the order of each day.

Become capable with powers
Of WILL, KNOWING, and ACTING
By practicing {I AM}
Without useless distracting.

Place your hand over your HEART~
Feel right beneath your palm~
Towards your back body~
Where this is endless peace and calm.

Allow your attention
To be with your BREATH~
To flow in and flow out
Softly in your chest.

Welcome the BREATH~
Right into your HEART.
Feel a soft golden sun
That is bright, warm and smart.

With each breath IN~
make that SUN glow.
With Each breath OUT~
Expand the warmth to and fro.

As you welcome the breath in
To the vast INNER world~
Invite the HEART to reveal
It’s largeness, depth, and swirl.

Flow in with the thought {I AM}
The mantra of the inner self~
(Not I am Sam~
Or I am a silly elf)

The heart receives the breath
With the recognition {I AM}
The exhalation feels space,
The experience of BLISS BAM.

Practice with eyes open
Practice with eyes closed
Practice often
And LOVE will be exposed.

As you greet those outside~
Amongst the chaotic and mundane~
Stay tuned into your heart
And send LOVE to their pain.

You’ll get glimpses of KNOWING
Your yoga is working~
When outer frustrations
Are shirking, not lurking.