Local Grounded Teachers Heart Bursts Open with Pride

As I sit to write this I am grinning ear to ear because my heart could not be more full of love, joy, pride and awe. This morning, I was honored to have two of MY girls (and when I say My I mean students of mine) for over four years teach a full on yoga class to a group of 14 students at the Ivivva Store In Dunwoody Village.

This is an offshoot of Lululemon stores for girls and they too offer free yoga classes to their community of girls 5 and up.  I along with a lot of my other Grounded friends have taught there over the last several months as our little city is used as a test site for this store.  When I taught there several months ago I had the thought, now this is a place where my White Bandana girls could actually teach. I contacted the store manager and she was on it.

I reached out to the parents of the girls and they were a bit unsure but I assured them that their girls were ready.   So a few nights ago I went over to their home to help them plan a class. They, along with some pose cards, chips and posters sat and wrote a great sequence for back to school. As I sat and listened to them brain storm and write down laughter poses, milkshake laughter “ because it is everyone’s favorite”; breathing poses, because those “are great for school days when you are feeling stressed”; Solid Ground flow to keep them moving, Bring it on for the challenging days and Nice to meet you because you never know who will end up in your classes! I was astounded.  And, in the days that followed, I thought less about the class than even when I teach! They had it down pat.

When I arrived at the store, they were there along with their mom and 3 friends in tow in case no one showed up.  They had already set up the mats in two rows, their mats and had their lesson plan stationed just so.  I offered them pose cards just in case they got nervous and needed them, but Kendall the older one shook her head and said, “I really don’t think we will need it. “ She told me she was nervous;I told her I was too and we smiled at each other.

As the clock struck 10 and we were ready to start, there were 14 eager girls ready to move.  I did a brief introduction telling the participants that these were my students who were 9 and 12 and they were going to teach the class. You could see the perplexed faces and crooked smiles; the uneasiness was palpable.   I glanced at Kendall and Keira to see if they were ready and got an affirmative nod. That was the end of me helping them. Their Back to School lesson plan went off without a hitch. They tag team-taught and helped each other when necessary, adding useful information when needed.  They demonstrating when necessary, adding jokes and adding in some laughter to break up the tenseness you could feel. They were quick on their feet and with their wit and wisdom.  They even offered in a game to get the students moving and had extra poses ready if they needed.

Keira, the younger of the two. has a very gentle and soft voice normally. When she first started coming to me, she used to ask her sister to tell me what she needed or wanted.  Today you would have never guessed it. Her voice was clear, thoughtful, there were no ums , or uhs, or long pauses. Everything she said and did was so well thought out. She even led them in the final Energy Circuit, which is normally her least favorite pose.  They asked everyone to feel the energy in the room and that is when my heart just leapt. These girls get it. They get that there is a purpose in this, they get that we are more than these bodies and that there is an energy that supports us all. They offered themselves so brightly today you honestly could see a glow around them when they were done.

The girls that took class loved it. It was not until after class that Mom told me there were tears since I saw them a couple of nights ago and again this morning. But her thought was, they needed the adversity, they needed to rise to the occasion and do what was asked of them because she knows that they have a lot to offer. The grins, the hugs, and the love that were there today after this class is what yoga is all about. This connection, this unity – it does not matter what age you are – you can participate. It does not matter how old you are – do what you love and it will show!

Namaste,

Natalie

More to Explore

  • Inspired by the Velveteen Rabbit…How Teachers Become Real.

    horse

    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  –

  • Shames, Shames, Go Away! And Don’t Come Back Another Day!

    Inspired by Yoga Sutra 2.16 Heyam dukham anagatam

     

    Avoidable is the sufferingshames regrets doubts
    that has not yet to come~
    That feeling of shame
    That sticks like chewed gum.

    How do we get through places
    That are stuck deep inside?
    Where the holdings, the collections
    The patterns reside?

    The patterns of feeding
    Our suction cupped shames~
    With secrets and silence
    And judgements and blames.

    Attract the energy of movement~
    And comfort with movement~
    Comfort with change~
    Comfort with improvement.

    Create space between impulseZI60-Hands-Button
    And action that binds~
    The stuck feelings that resists
    Our meetings of minds.

    Space is the experience
    Of minds open and bright
    The Wisdom of Grace
    Is filled up with light.

    Grace is the knowing
    Our mistakes serve an aim~
    Instead of allowing
    Our mistakes to serve shame.

    So to prevent future suffering~
    And the feeding of shames~
    Create a steady practice
    Of breath work and aims.

    Here’s a mantra for you
    To embody and embed~
    Press thumb into each finger
    And say in your head~

    {I inhale to prepare~shames 2
    I exhale to share~
    I inhale to release blame~
    I exhale to transform shame~*}

    {Repeat 11 times}~

    Keep your sitting bones rooted.
    Slowly rotate your core ~
    Counterclockwise 3 rounds
    Your breath? Don’t ignore!

    Inhale going backwards,
    Exhale going forward .
    Your movements ride on your
    breath~

    TS24 big

    It’s pretty straight forward.

    Pause and move clockwise.
    Repeat 11 times.
    Close eyes and listen.
    To your heart beat like chimes.

    Find someone you know,
    You love and you trust
    Show them your shames
    And watch your blames turn to dust.

    May we have what it takes
    To transform all our shames~
    To allow our mistakes
    To serve our Great Aim~

  • 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!