Namaste

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>

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  –

Inspired by Yoga Sutra 2.16 Heyam dukham anagatam

Avoidable is the suffering
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 impulse
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~
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~

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~

What are these sutras
You speak so about?
Are they stitches like sutures
With some sort of clout?

Good question, my friend~
Why, yes, yes indeed,
These sutras are potent
In times of great need.

In times of great need,
And in times of great bliss,
These highly condensed words
Should not be dismissed.

The most essential core thread,
Of deep subtle meaning,
That runs through the fabric~
It supports out of gleanings.

Gleanings of insights,
And wisdom fused pearls~
From the direct experience
Of wise boys and girls.

Sutras express so much
In so very few words.
With vast significance,
It’s not for the birds.

Sutras are formulas
To be memorized and studied.
To solve the perplexities~
Of minds getting muddied.

So chose your text wisely~
Yoga, Shiva or Seuss,
Buddhist, Tao, Platform,
Tripitaka or Mother Goose.

Then write them in BOLD~
Where you’ll see them each day!
Melt their magnificence
In every which way.

Hi, my name is Keira and I have been doing yoga for 4 years. It has been a great experience. Yoga has helped me calm down when I’m mad. Yoga makes me feel peaceful. Practicing yoga has helped me a lot by calming me down and making me more flexible. It’s fun learning new poses and helping others earn their bandanas. I wish I had started earlier. I had fun earning my bandanas, and if you do yoga, I hope that you’ll have fun earning yours.

Hi! My name is Kendall, I’m 12 years old, and I have been doing yoga for four years. In these four short years, yoga has become a huge part of my life.
From taking a deep breath before yelling at my mom or sister, teaching friends for my green bandana, to even making up flows of my own, I love every part of yoga. I especially enjoy the way I feel after class and the feeling I get from helping younger kids earn their own bandanas.
Yoga has been a steady part of my life, always helping me through a difficult week, a bad grade, or friend and family problems. I hope to continue to practice and learn as I get older.