Smiling children practicing yoga poses in a colorful classroom during a Grounded Kids Yoga teacher training session

Certified to Teach Kids Yoga in Middle School

Last night felt surreal.  I was standing in my kitchen with Lee, Amy & Cheryl when they handed me a single piece of cardstock with the words ‘Certified Grounded Teacher.’ I felt my throat clench and my heart skip a beat.  Though I have been teaching Grounded Yoga for over a year, it was this small piece of recognition that let me know that I am now officially recognized as part of one of the greatest movements of my lifetime.

Once I received my 200hr teacher training in 2012, I had begun leading my daughter’s classes at school once a week and eventually took over the Tween class at my studio.  I pulled resources from all around- other teachers, online sites, books, games…everything I could find to help create a well-rounded class.  It was a year of growth and some things worked and some failed miserably.  What I did know was that I loved teaching children- their honesty in their bodies and mouths and they way it was starting to create a shift in their perspective. My dear friend and teacher, Lee introduced me to Grounded in early 2013 when she came home lit UP from Level 1 training.  I watched her do Go To Your Room and that’s literally ALL it took!  I knew that something special was going on with Grounded…something that hadn’t been done before…something that was about to change how the world looks at kid’s yoga.  We put a plan together to “sell” our yoga program to our school as a full-time yoga curriculum.  And it WORKED!  I decided to take the Level 1 training just after school started so we could teach the same material and use each other to bounce ideas and begin to try to understand the huge undertaking we’d just landed.

The rest of the school year was filled with Level 2 & 3 and some of the greatest learning experiences of my life.  I was teaching 4-8th grade yoga every day, and high school classes whenever possible.  We met many challenges along the way, especially as it relates to effective communication between us and the teachers regarding expectations.  We also felt the force of middle school resistance and cooler-than-yoga attitudes from a few who just didn’t want it!  We were teaching as part of a school day curriculum, not as an elective or after school club.  Not everyone on their mat wanted to be there.  But it didn’t take long before they, their classmates, teacher and parents began to see a dynamic change happening and word spread quickly about how much FUN we were all having.

Some days we got really grounded, focusing on alignment, muscle groups, anatomy and growing roots.  Some days we laughed really big, got creative, wrote in journals and on our friend’s backs.  Some days we cried and talked about bullying and gossip and how it tears down the very fiber of our beings.  We said sorry, we hugged and promised to love bigger and better the next day.  Sometimes we talked about yoga’s benefits for menstrual cycles, surprised our athletes with headstands and 3-stacked planks, and gave a student a special chance to shine with a crow pose he’d practiced for weeks.  We choreographed an amazing flow to One Tribe by the Black Eyed Peas in just 4 practices!  We found out that we really could still our bodies and quiet our minds for a whole 5 minute Savasana and that is was totally worth it! I have watched over them, struggling and resisting until they finally surrendered- into a pose, into an acceptance, into giving into their own grace.  I have seen them create beautiful poses all on their own and teach it better than I could’ve!  I’ve heard them describe benefits of poses I’d never even considered!  It is a completely different experience with children; more honest and certainly more challenging, but in ALL the best ways.  They don’t come in to please.  They come just as they are.

I am forever changed by the incredible small (and not-so-small) people all around me.  I can never repay the gift of learning I’ve experienced at their hand; I can only continue on this journey with gratitude and joy in my heart and lightness in my feet.  I wish this to all of you reading.  You are GROUNDED, lucky you.  We are pioneers on this path and have SO much good work to do!  As someone really cool once said, “You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes…Get on your way!”

 

Smiling children practicing yoga poses in a colorful classroom during a Grounded Kids Yoga teacher training session

More to Explore

  • 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!

  • Snow White Yoga

    Snowwhite{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.
    SE52 big
    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.
    ZI64 big
    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!

  • Seuss Sutra 1-1: Big Picture Play of Consciousness

    Look at me!
    Look at me!
    Look at me NOW!
    It is fun to have fun
    But you have to know how.

    The enlightened sage, Dr. Seuss, in the revered text The Cat and The Hat, teaches us how to tune into our Highest Self, listen to our small, limited, fears and even invite them out to play with each other. My intention and desire is for us to value and understand this text in the highest spiritual sense. May this process lead us to a higher capacity for insight, for revelation, for learning at a deeper level, so clarity about our Self become possible.

    Cat in the Hat begins on a cold and wet day at the house of two sad children stuck inside with nothing to do, until the Cat in a Hat shows up, transforming the dull day into an adventure. As he steps in on the mat, we can relate the action metaphorically to Yoga Sutra 1.1. Now, the teachings of yoga. As he begins to express his philosophy to the children, their pet fish begins to express his hesitation and fears. The Cat reassures him with a simple “Now! Now!” That answer is an important teaching in the whole text, because it teaches us to let go of our old social order, and enter the present, which is new. “Now” in Sanskrit is “atha”, signaling the value of what you are about to dive into. “Atha” is also the first spoken word of Yoga Sutra 1.1, its entirety being~

    1.1 Ātha Yogānuśāsanam The teachings of yoga, have been presented. You don’t need to wait until the sun comes out, an authority figure is watching, or your fear is gone. All that it (Yoga) requires of you is a YES. In essence, then, The Cat in the Hat, just like Patanjali ,is telling his students to get ready to receive the knowledge on the subject of “yoga”.

    The fish in the tiny bowl represents our limited, concealed self, and our karma mala. He is fear, limiting our ability to act. The cat is a wise trickster. He questions authority, encourages enthusiasm, seeks new experiences, while destroying our old way of thinking. He is our Big-Picture Play of Consciousness. He is our Highest Self.  Your higher self is consciousness. Your higher self is the real you. Your higher self is the more complete you.

    Shiva Sutra 1-1 Chaitanyam ātmā. Consciousness is the self.

    The children were still able to recognize, the fish’s concern. Fear is natural; it’s an adaptive instinct. Don’t try to squelch it down or ignore it. Without fear, we wouldn’t have courage. Without courage we wouldn’t be brave. The Cat in the Hat was able to listen to the fish, listen to his fears, and playfully act upon them.
    “Have no fear!” said the cat
    “I will not let you fall
    I will hold you up high…”

    Introducing three Tricks to greet your Higher Consciousness (HC)…ie Cat in the Hat  and Small Fish (SF)  i.e Karma Mala, Fear.

    1.Listen

    Close your eyes. Breathe in through your heart and out through your third eye. Continue to follow your breath. Listen to your heart. Sometimes HC sounds like the whisper of a wise old man. Sometimes HC sounds like a voice you recognize that is playful, friendly, and compassionate.
    The voice of your SF is usually scared or angry. It’s probably much louder.

    2. Look

    Invite C to sit with you and have a conversation. Ask questions. When the answers sound wiser or more knowledgeable than usual, you’re probably talking to your C. Just keep talking to this manifestation of your higher self until it feels like you’re talking to someone else and the answers you’re getting don’t seem like they’re coming from your own head. What does C look like? Invite F to the table as well. What do you see?

    3. Feel

    The cat in the hat starts at your spine and goes up to the crown of your head and beyond! Feel your cat getting taller with each breath.

    Sit!
    Sit!
    Sit!
    Sit!

    Root your left sitting bone to your left heel and your right sitting bone to your right heel. Thing 1 begins in the lowest part of your left belly. Thing two resides in the lowest part of your right belly. Lift Thing one and Thing Two, both lowest bellies, up like a kite. Most everything conspires to drop low abs. The trick is to keep lifting thing one and thing two) The game is don’t spill energy, must be a conscious effort to Feel!

    A Thing is defined as some entity, object, or creature that is not or cannot be specifically designated or precisely described: anything that is or may become an object of thought: things of the spirit.
    things, matters; affairs: a fact, circumstance, or state of affairs so the trick is to LIFT Your Things! Lift your entity, being, matter, act, deed, event, material object, body, being, assembly, council, suit, matter, suit, plea, concern while keeping your sitting bones rooted to your heels. Try this in different shapes~standing, forward folds, backbends, twists, supine..Notice the difference.

    Reponses received from kids~
    “Thing 1 and Thing 2 teach me I can do it!” Ella, age 7
    “My little baby tiny weeny self is in my head. My Huge, humungous ,, big giant Self is in my heart and body.” Claire, age 9
    “My High Cat knows I can do big things” Madeline, age 5
    “My Highest Self stands up for the world. My small Fish gets angry at myself and others.” Lauren, age 6
    “My High Self is beautiful and colorful.” Emily, age 6
    “My Highest Self tells me my gift is seeing the future in my sleep.” Hunter, age 7
    “My Fear is in my foot. My Highest Self is upside down now. It’s telling me to pay attention.” Dodge, age 9
    “Higher Self is standing up for myself. My Little Self is always looking around at others.” Amelia, age 8
    “My Fear is sliding down a pole. I see that picture (of the pole) any time I get scared.” Sarah, age 9
    Once you’ve tuned in to your C, you’ll be able to get some key information about why you’re here and where you should go, and who you should go with. Your C is watching over you and helping to steer you in the highest direction. This playful practice is for each one of us to embody the deep empowerment, the authenticity, and the fullness of who we are.
    Please share how it goes. Now~ You’ve got to have fun, but you have to know HOW!