Thank you Eight year old Marlie for presenting me with this yoga book you wrote and taught to classes in your school. I appreciate your interesting chapters~ Yoga that keeps me calm Yoga that keeps me Grounded Yoga with more than two people Yoga with two people Yoga that keeps me happy and your very helpful notes~ Remember you will not get it the first time Breathe slowly Remember to lean your beautifully detailed art~ and your permission to share your work on our blog~ I am grateful that you have been a grounded student for three years and you continue to serve your school with yoga. With love, Cheryl Crawford
For many of us, a new year represents a blank slate, a Tabula Rasa. Imagine being able to “refresh” any or all areas of your life. Now visualize this table with two columns, Yes and No. You create your truest life by thoughtfully choosing what goes in the No column and what is a Yes. Everything you say YES to and everything you say NO to matters. What if your yes’s and no’s were tabulated and at the end of a day, week, year, lifetime, you could see how the data, otherwise known as your life, balanced out?
Challenge yourself to make this pose more difficult, more meaningful. Make it matter. Think of Mountain Pose as your family and the other poses as your friends, teachers, pets, and strangers. Honor your family by being steady. Stay still and aware. This will build your power. This will build your LIFE FORCE. This will…
As Earth Day approaches this year, I am struck by what it means to truly foster Peace on this planet. I remember as a child, learning about anti-nuclear protestors who chained themselves to fences and were forcibly removed and jailed. These brave souls became my heroines and heroes in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. I was moved to tears singing Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind” and hearing stories of civil disobedience and the message of non-violent resistance. Later in the 1990’s, when I danced barefoot on my very first Earth Day, a lump would form in my throat when I celebrated each small victory (and the Gigantic Hearts) of environmental protestors who sacrificed so much to save a single tree and worked to preserve open space for our children’s children. Peace.
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.
Oh Ethiopia, how quickly you stole my heart! I originally set off on the journey to Africa to provide art therapy based art classes through a local non-profit in Atlanta called drawchange. The goal was to expose a group of impoverished children to art and allow them to express themselves through a variety of art…
{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. 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. 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!
Grounded Kids Yoga 115 Milton Park Court, Alpharetta, GA 30022
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Grounded Kids Yoga provides in-person and online training, professional development workshops, and ongoing support for educators, parents, and clinicians. We specialize in kids yoga, mindfulness, social-emotional learning (SEL), trauma and pain management, emotional regulation, and impulse control for preschool through high school students. Each year, we serve thousands of children and teens through school programs, after-school enrichment yoga clubs, summer camps, Girl Scouts, 4-H conferences, and yoga studios across Atlanta, the Southeast, and nationwide.
Thank you Eight year old Marlie for presenting me with this yoga book you wrote and taught to classes in your school. I appreciate your interesting chapters~ Yoga that keeps me calm Yoga that keeps me Grounded Yoga with more than two people Yoga with two people Yoga that keeps me happy and your very helpful notes~ Remember you will not get it the first time Breathe slowly Remember to lean your beautifully detailed art~ and your permission to share your work on our blog~ I am grateful that you have been a grounded student for three years and you continue to serve your school with yoga. With love, Cheryl Crawford
For many of us, a new year represents a blank slate, a Tabula Rasa. Imagine being able to “refresh” any or all areas of your life. Now visualize this table with two columns, Yes and No. You create your truest life by thoughtfully choosing what goes in the No column and what is a Yes. Everything you say YES to and everything you say NO to matters. What if your yes’s and no’s were tabulated and at the end of a day, week, year, lifetime, you could see how the data, otherwise known as your life, balanced out?
As Earth Day approaches this year, I am struck by what it means to truly foster Peace on this planet. I remember as a child, learning about anti-nuclear protestors who chained themselves to fences and were forcibly removed and jailed. These brave souls became my heroines and heroes in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. I was moved to tears singing Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind” and hearing stories of civil disobedience and the message of non-violent resistance. Later in the 1990’s, when I danced barefoot on my very first Earth Day, a lump would form in my throat when I celebrated each small victory (and the Gigantic Hearts) of environmental protestors who sacrificed so much to save a single tree and worked to preserve open space for our children’s children. Peace.
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.
{Tada drastuh svarupe vasthanam}
