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
I think it is safe to say that no one likes whining, but despite that fact, regardless of age we all find ourselves doing it. It creeps up on you suddenly, born out of a desire for something you don’t have, or to leave a place where you don’t want to be, or perhaps to…
During a class at a metro Atlanta shelter, we opened hearts, softened with “heart-melting” poses, and repeated “Inhale I AM, exhale OK.” Sixteen children settled into Resting Pose and fell sound asleep. Here’s what that moment taught me about safety, breath, and the healing power of Savasana for kids.
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.
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?
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.