Adults standing on yoga mats with arms raised overhead in a training room

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Warriors of Light: Step 1 {part 1}

26 Warriors of Light stepped into MLK weekend training with open hearted dignity.

 

Dr. King taught us, “The time is always right to do the right thing.”…

Trainees resting on mats in a studio with books and props beside them

 “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” …

A training room with mats, blocks, notebooks and pose cards laid out in a circle

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?” …

Trainees standing on mats reaching to one side in a studio hung with pose card bunting

“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.”

Trainees in warrior pose on mats during a training session

“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake.”…

A wide view of a training group in warrior pose on mats

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”…

Trainees standing in a lunge on mats during a training session

“Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.”…

Trainees folded forward on mats in two rows during a training session 

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”…

Three trainees supporting one another in a partner pose beside a handwritten sign

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”

Trainees sitting in pairs on mats holding hands in a wide legged seated pose

“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

Trainees sitting back to back and reaching overhead in pairs

“There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.”

A trainee lying back over a bolster while another supports her in a training session

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

Trainees on mats with arms raised in a studio hung with pose card buntingThank you, Carrie, for capturing the grace of our days together.

Curious about Step 1? The full pathway, the dates and what is included: children’s yoga teacher training and certification.

More to Explore

  • 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.

  • Shames, Shames, Go Away! And Don’t Come Back Another Day!

    Inspired by Yoga Sutra 2.16 Heyam dukham anagatam
    Avoidable is the suffering
    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 impulse
    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~
    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~
    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~

  • How To Focus In School

    I was diagnosed with ADHD in 1977. Everything about my struggles in school and life in general motivated me to become a school teacher and later create Grounded Kids yoga. Kids with ADHD often feel like something is inherently wrong with them and I was no different. Words like “immature,” “hyper active,” “attention seeker” and…