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
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.
Last week my seven year old son participated in a Grounded Quest for Elevation Yoga camp and was asked to contribute a blog post on how Grounded has changed his approach to situations….here it is…in his own words…
Found: This Fear escaped from a very Grounded 9 year old’s first chakra. Her thighs were rooted and her connection to the earth was solid. She faced her fears, and actually whispered to herself, “I have the Right to be Here.” After the Fear escaped she felt even more Grounded and Elevated and aware of where she was in space.
Said my young friend who wants a connection: “I wave. I shake hands, with no objection. No pain, no remorse, no one intervening a choice I make without much thought or meaning~”
“…Is there a gesture that honors each other? That celebrates greeting sisters and brothers? Can you show me HOW to express happiness with social and spiritual significance?”
YES, my dear friend, I can show you a mudra~ a gesture of sorts, for kings, friends and sudras. Place hands together from fingers to wrists~ like a knife, cut through difference that may exist.
This immediately gets you to the shared ground~ of ALL people, of all cultures, of all sound. It’s a recognition, a united force~ that honors equality of all from the Source.
Close your eyes and tune into your own inner light; your divine spark that forever burns bright. That’s the key, my dear friend, you must see your OWN in order to recognize others’ light shown.
BLEND your five fingers of action on the left~ with five fingers of knowledge on the right~ to achieve the symbol of perfection the union of opposites; interconnection. FInd the Connection of your brain and your heart; your sun and your moon; your stop and your start. Marry together reason and emotion~ unite thoughts and feelings, stillness and motion.
Join positive and negative; hot and cold~ theory with practice, silver with gold~ Wisdom with Method, intellect with instinct~ talent with genius, and feelings with think!
Exhalation and inhalation, ,brain and heart~ Align in harmony, right from the start! There is indeed no sphere of our existence untouched by the symbolic significance~
Hmmm, Our Monkey Mind Our Mind Monkey~ Is restless, and random, Rebellious, and junky?
Silly, and scattered Like a toddler in its movement~ Won’t settle down, And needs vast improvement?
The mind is a problem, That we need to control. It’s random, and restless And a bit of a troll?
That’s nonsense, we say! And quite derogatory! The nature of the mind Is going for glory!
The mind is evolutionary, progressive, dynamic. Always seeking and moving toward that which is magic.
So, think NOT monkey mind More like, mind is royalty~ A King to Serve With Love and Loyalty.
But, how can we Serve, The Great Intelligence of our minds? By meditation and mantras And movement refined.
By exceptional quality Of the company we keep, What we see, what we hear, How well we do sleep.
By lavish feasts of sutras, Of songs, and of silence, Of settling, and stillness And speech for your Highness.
Much of your activity Will settle in bliss~ Yet portions of Royal Mind Will continue to hiss.
And that, my dear friend~ Is the Great Intelligence~ It wants more and more Of higher elegance.
The Discipline of yoga, Now, you see, Is in permitting and inviting This process~ to BE.
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
Found: This Fear escaped from a very Grounded 9 year old’s first chakra. Her thighs were rooted and her connection to the earth was solid. She faced her fears, and actually whispered to herself, “I have the Right to be Here.” After the Fear escaped she felt even more Grounded and Elevated and aware of where she was in space.
