A girl I have been seeing in her home since she was seven turns ten today.  We were together for a session yesterday and for a birthday gift, I gave her her own mantra.  She is old enough and has been practicing Yoga for three years now.   I gave her a simple, grounding breath-based mantra.  The instructions that came with it:  practice for three minutes each day for ten days.  Then, regularly, as needed.  Adults are encouraged to do this for 40 days to “set” it, but I think 10 days is a good start for kids.

I assured her that the more she uses her mantra, the more powerful it becomes.  It’s only for good, ever, and can help her to feel grounded and safe.  She can say it silently to herself anytime she feels worried or scared or anytime she wants to settle into herself.

A Mantra is a  powerful way to focus and sharpen the mind.  A true gift at any age.

Last weekend, it was a woman with her “soon-to-be” step-daughter and they wanted to do something, just the two of them, to connect.  Another woman was there with her young daughter who became very interested in Yoga when her mom started her “Yoga 101″ class a few weeks ago.  So they are learning Yoga together.  Others are “regulars” and they look forward to this time to unplug, laugh and relax with family.

Last Saturday, early in the evening, I was at a restaurant bustling with the family dinner crowd.  Children of all ages sat with their parents and siblings waiting for their wood fired pizza or plain pasta.

I was struck by the eerie blue glow and blank stares on the faces of these children.  Most of them - about a dozen or so sprinkled among the tables - held a “smart” phone in their hands and were absorbed in some game or other electronic activity.  It felt Orwellian to see these bright beautiful children sitting like zombies staring into a screen in an otherwise socially engaging environment.

There was very little interaction between these children and their parents.  Even getting them to disengage from their game long enough to mutter an order to the waitress was a struggle for some.  At one table, three adults sat merrily drinking and eating while a young girl, I’m guessing about 2 or 3 years old, stared into a mini screen propped up against an empty food dish on the table.

I imagine parents reading this may be nodding their heads with some degree of recognition.  We all like to enjoy a meal out and having the kids along may or may not contribute to the enjoyment of the evening.  Bringing a book or action figure along to help keep a child amused is as old as Spider Man himself, and any good restaurant will offer a cup of crayons and some paper when a kid walks in the door.  So isn’t keeping the kids engaged with one of these flashy new electronic devices just a modern version of the coloring book?  I don’t know.  Comments?

I attended a conference at Kripalu titled “Nurturing the Spirit in Youth” many years back.  Marianne Williamson was one of the speakers and she told us that there was no nurturing anyone until we have nurtured ourselves.  It was from her at this conference that I learned the Heart Meditation I share with our students in our trainings.

Following her advice, after my Wednesday kids classes at Bloom Yoga Studio, I stayed for Dori’s class.  It’s so much fun.  She teaches Anusara style Yoga and has a sweet funkiness to herself and the music she plays.  Then, I treated myself to a Thai massage from Julia.  Aaahhhh.  I felt so nurtured.  And I felt in love.  I thought, “I’m falling in love.”   And who I am falling in love with is all my girlfriends.  I feel so empowered right now by the righteous women in my life.  Each one is a true gift and I feel like I am in a palace full of treasures.  Deepest thanks, and deepest Namaste.

“I feel inspired, contemplative, intrigued, focused, and very much like I am headed on the right path in my life and my future.  Who knew all that could be learned in a weekend?!?!?!”  - quote from participant in our last teacher training group.

Our 200-hour certification program is broken down into 20-hour segments, each covering a specific topic.  Five of these weekends cover specific age groups.  The rest cover the general concepts that underlie the practice.  My personal favorite is Know Your Yoga.  I’ve always been fascinated by Eastern thought.  My Yoga practice began in earnest in India so I was introduced to the practical/psychological aspect of the practice more so than the physical aspect.  With a background in Child Psychology, that suited me just fine.  While hundreds of Americans were flocking to Mysore for a physically demanding practice with deep and sometimes injurious adjustments, I was across town lying on the floor with my legs up the wall repeating, “I am not this body, I am not this mind.”

While there were 30-40 people at Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’ shala (school) back in 1998, I was the only Westerner at Dr. Seetha Ram’s.  A few other local women joined me.   When I returned home to The States, I shared my love of the philosophy and psychology of Yoga with anyone who was interested.  I was delightfully surprised to discover it was a bigger group than my experience in Mysore would lead me to believe.

Now, I get to spend a full 20-hours revealing the mysteries of Yoga like rare and precious gems to a willing and engaged group of devoted students.  We lean in, filled with awe and wonder.  The stories from the Bhagavad Gita, the practical advice from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the bind-boggling depth of history all hold endless fascination and can be dipped into over and  over again like an ever-flowing river.

To give a feel for what the weekend was like, I’ll share comments from the participants:

“Need a whole weekend on each of the subjects studied this weekend.”

“More workshops on Know Your Yoga and Live Your Yoga.  Love the subject.”

“I am inspired! Yeah.”

“Wonderful format to teaching a complex concept.”

“I was rather nervous for this weekend.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to be overwhelmed.  But instead I feel inspired and refreshed.”

“Mira is very knowledgeable.  She has a wonderful way of presenting the info.  Takes a lot of intense content and makes it accessible and fun.”

“I feel very inspired to continue to learn more about all these topics.”

“This was my favorite training session so far.”

I feel inspired too, and deeply blessed to have the opportunity to share this.  I love it so much and love how the word “inspired” is used so often.  It relates to the breath and that’s all it is.  To be inspired, to take in all that life has to offer and let it go, and take it back in, and let it go… breath by breath.

The foundation of the Yoga practice is a set of principals to live by - the yamas and the niyamas. These are best taught to children older than age eight, but every now and then I like to share them with the younger kids just for fun.

The niyamas include cleanliness, contentment, discipline, self-study and surrender to a higher power. Most of these concepts are too abstract for children under age eight but I thought we could talk about cleanliness in my Yoga class of children ages 4 to 6 years old. I asked the kids to give examples of being clean. They took the question seriously and gave thoughtful answers. One boy said, “take a bath.” I asked if they picked up their toys when they were finished playing with them. Another boy said, “No because I have magic and I just do this (he holds out his hand and sprinkles his fingers around in the air) and my toys are cleaned up - like Mary Poppins.”

In our training this weekend, Know Your Yoga, we will discuss ways to share the philosophy of Yoga with children (mostly over age eight, who are less under the sway of Mary Poppins).

This Saturday, I was invited to teach a Yoga class for families who have a member with a developmental disability.  It was a fairly large group, about 25 participants.  Most of the children attending had Downs Syndrome and all but one were ambulatory.  I hadn’t planned much in advance because I wasn’t sure who would be attending.  The sequence and the story line - “Spring”, of course - were pretty much the same as I do for my open Family Yoga classes.  I offered less verbal instruction and more demonstration and gesturing.  They loved it!  Smiles filled the room for most of the class and afterward, several kids came up to thank me and show me poses they already know.  Several moms expressed a strong interest in continuing.  They had not been able to find ongoing classes they could attend with their child.

The interest in Family Yoga is skyrocketing as more and more people are becoming aware of the benefits of the practice. People are also starting to recognize that is accessible to everyone, not just the flexible and fashionably dressed.  For this group in particular, having parents participate made it easier for the child to participate.  Parents gave additional cues and adjustments (something I typically discourage in an open class) based on a lifelong understanding of their child’s learning style and specific needs.

We planted fruits and vegetables into the garden (in a standing forward fold), grew from Seed to Tree, bloomed into flowers and let the sun shine (with Sun Salutations).   One girl, who had practiced with Sonia Sumar as a baby, came up to me after class and planted a kiss right on my cheek.

When we practice Surya Namaskar - the Sun Salutations - in children’s Yoga classes, we like to go faster, and faster and faster.   The kids really love this.  We practice a few rounds slow and even with the breath and then we speed it up each round.  We finish with one slow and even round.

Today my 7-10 year old students wanted to go fast right from the first round.  There are so many benefits to moving in tune with one’s natural rate of breathing, I didn’t want them to miss out.  So, I suggested to them that they were mirrors and they followed me exactly.  This worked great.  I “mirrored” a nice, even round of Sun Salutations and then invited each student to have a chance to mirror (this only works with smaller groups so everyone gets a turn - there were seven children in class today).

With the mirroring, each child paid careful attention to the details of each position and accessed the tremendous benefits of this ancient flow.

This morning, I enjoyed breakfast at the Academy for Global Citizenship with several talkative children and Sarah Elizabeth Ippel, the school’s founder. After reading an article in Mindful Metropolis about her (see link below), I realized this was a woman I wanted to know. Her passion, commitment and enthusiasm are infectious and in her I see what it looks like to manifest your big vision.

Her big vision is to show the world just how well a child can be educated. Kids attending AGC start their day with a wholesome breakfast  and then spend the day in the garden, practicing Yoga, and experiencing subjects in an integrated fashion based on the International Baccalaureate program.

While we ate our breakfast (all food served at the school is 100% organic made from scratch on site), the children excitedly shared stories about what they will be planting in the garden - watermelon! strawberries! Cherries!  Spinach! and pointed to the butterflies living in the cafeteria next to images of Yoga poses pasted to the wall.

For more information on her inspiring work visit these sites:

http://www.agcchicago.org/

http://www.mindfulmetropolis.com/Archive/August_2009/Article/It%E2%80%99s_a_Small_World_After_All_/34

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQplkevjzcw

 A new Yoga session started at my neighborhood studio while I was out of town.  I returned to a class full of boys!  My 4-6 year old children’s Yoga class has 100% male attendance.  Something you don’t see in adult classes.  I imagine their moms, all yoginis, thinking, “Hmmm, Yoga sure helps me feel calm and centered, I bet it would be great for my pre-schooler/ball of energy.”

Several boys were returning students, one from many sessions back.  He was so excited to see me.  He had a big smile on his face and kept saying, “Your the best teacher.”  With his depth of experience with teachers as a 5-year-old, I take that as quite a compliment.  ; - )

There is definitely “boy” energy, which I define as active, initiating and independent (whereas girls tend to be more cooperative, communicative and calm).  Let me be clear here that I have had many girls in class full of “boy” energy and vice versa, there just seems to be a trend, right? Either energy complex can be highly contagious.

I walked in full of energy, sat them down and said, “Guess What?” in a big enthusiastic voice.  I left them hanging for just a moment and then leaned in and almost whispered what we would be doing in class, as if I was letting them in on a secret. They were in on it.  I kept my energy up, redirected as needed (which was not much) and had the youngest and the loudest excuse himself from class for Final Rest.  He’s not quite four yet and he will learn week by week the rituals of attending our Yoga class.   Meanwhile, the other boys settled in under their blankets and drifted off on their magic carpets, returning to report they imagined they were at Target, scoping out the toy section!