Yo

Spiritual Gangster

Grounded Rap
By Carlos, 8th grade Spiritual Gangster

YoYoga is the best, so don’t put it to the test.
Yoga is better than the rest.
It helps you breathe through your chest.
Now just go wit da flow and don’t mess wit Yoga.
It’s so fly it can make a drunk person sober

Yoga is the best. Don’t put it to the test.
Yoga is better than the rest.
It helps you breathe through your chest.
But when it’s time to leave
we want to stay
but the teacher says it’s time to say
Namaste.
Namaste.

More to Explore

  • 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~

  • Inspiration

    GROUNDED. (ADJ.)

    IMG_07761. HAVING A SECURE FEELING OF BEING IN TOUCH WITH REALITY AND YOUR PERSONAL FEELINGS.

    2. A FIRM FOUNDATION TO BE INSPIRED AND INSPIRE OTHERS.

    Two weeks ago my Grounded class wrote letters of congratulations to Emily, who had just earned her White Bandana. She’s nine years old and lives in Atlanta. The kids in my class were amazed that at just nine she had achieved this. They were inspired. The letters they wrote were thoughtful, complementary and from the heart.

  • 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.

  • How to Bliss Bomb the World

    PIC-2So 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~
    PIC-1Your 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.

  • Living My Yoga

    In 2006 I arrived on my first yoga mat during my pregnancy of my daughter. A year later I was teaching preschool and fitness classes to children as way to continue to be with her on a daily basis. Last January I showed up to my first Grounded Yoga experience with Level 1, and I…