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Classroom Teachers

  • Pose Chip Icebreaker – Get To Know You Game

    Last month I finally broke open my Pose Chips from Grounded Yoga. Okay, now how to use them, I thought. It just so happened that I was launching a new class that night called, “Girls Night Out” (8 – 12 years) and that I had a full house of 18 (some of which Iʼd never met). One of the main intentions for this new class was to create a space for girls to come together and connect. So, what a perfect opportunity to use the Pose Chips as a tool to do so. As the girls were arriving, I came around and placed a pose chip on their mat. I asked them to keep it safe for the whole night. Once everyone arrived, I introduced the “Pose Chip Icebreaker – Get To Know You Game” and hereʼs how it works:

  • Rainbow Yoga Poses

    Kids give us a new perspective, and a broader one as well.  It’s OK to sometimes have a winner in a yoga game. It’s fun to use intuition and try to stump each other. Here is a mini pose card game created by two second grade grounded kids.

  • Lasagna Savasana

    Sedef Dion who teaches a Pre-Grounded class at Springs Yoga shared with me the story of a four year old girl who in the cutest way mistakenly called Savasana….Lasagna. This inspired me to write a Savasana visualization with a Lasagna theme that Amy and I recently used to connect with our Fernbank Elementary Yoga Club students. After we did our practice complete with the Lasagna Savasana, one of our students..the Principal’s seven year old daughter said…”that was so relaxing…this could help me fall asleep at night”. Since it was her birthday that day, we wanted to put together a recording that her parents could play for her as she lays her head down for a good night rest after a long day.

  • A Grounded Guide for Kids: Inspired by the Wisdom of The Little Prince

    Grown-ups like numbers. When you tell them about a new friend, they never ask questions about what really matters. They never ask: “What does his voice sound like?” “What games does he like best?” “Does he collect butterflies?” They ask: “How old is he?” “How many brothers does he have?” “How much does he weigh?” “How much does his father make?” Only then do they think they know him. If you tell grown-ups, “I saw a beautiful red brick house, with geraniums at the windows and doves on the roof…” They won’t be able to imagine such a house. You have to tell them “I saw a house worth a hundred thousand francs.” Then they exclaim, “What a pretty house!”…That’s the way they are. You must not hold it against them. Children should be very understanding of grown-ups.
    — The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery
    So Children, how do you master the art of Grown-up relationships one conversation at a time?

  • when something horrible happens

    how do you teach yoga to teens? you start by teaching Truth. speak to the highest in them. they will get it when you tell them that they are a spiritual being in a physical body and that they are immeasurably powerful. when they root their feet into their mat, into the earth in Mountain pose they will feel steady and strong; a steadiness they themselves create becomes a thing they can rely upon. when their feet are rooted into the earth, they will become rooted in their integrity. when they are faced with difficult situations they can breathe into steadiness, root into their integrity and make grounded choices.