This week Christine appeared on Lifetime’s The Balancing Act TV show to speak about Addriya and how teaching is better with Yoga!

Video is available online here: http://www.thebalancingact.com/story/?id=4122

7 Tips to Slow Down & Relax This Summer

Between work, social engagements, family and friends, the forever long ‘to do’ list, trying to fit in a good workout, and other obligations, most people are constantly running and doing, leaving little to no room for relaxation, activities they truly enjoy—most importantly, themselves.

About Melissa Green

When we breathe in a rhythmic and audible fashion breathing in and out of the nose with the mouth closed, sounding like the waves of the ocean or Darth Vader, we are actually doing more than just breathing, we are stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system.  The breath is the steady part that resides within all of us.  It is always there and automatically occurs whether we are aware or not.

Whereas most of its actions are involuntary, some, such as breathing, work in tandem with the conscious mind.

When we breathe in a mindful manner, it calms the  autonomic nervous system, which consists of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are located in the portion of the brain stem entitled the medulla oblongata.

The sympathetic nervous system is fight or flight.  This happens when we get stressed or have to run away from a bear, for example.  Our heart rate accelerates, our breath is either rapid or non-existent and we feel tightness in our body.  Most of us stay in this state of mind when we get in this state, we need to breathe and that is usually the first thing that. The parasympathetic nervous system is the relaxation response in the body.

 Mindful breathing can stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and help us come into a relaxed state of mind.

Sarah Herrington teaches Kids Yoga

At Addriya, we are please to bring your attention to a great interview on Mind-Body-Green of Sarah Herrington, author of OM Schooled.  

Addriya will be publishing OM Schooled very soon.

The interview by Lindsey Toledo highlights the journey taken by Sarah in becoming a full-time yoga city in a New York City public school.  She spent 3 years as a full time yoga instructor, right along with math and science.   She has a wealth of experience in implementing a kids yoga program and all the challenges faced with bring yoga into schools.   T

As Sarah says in the interview:

“OMSchooled is a book for yoga teachers, classroom educators and anyone interested in sharing yoga with youth and promoting it in our school systems. It is a teacher’s guide but also filled with personal stories. OMSchooled grew out of years of teaching kids’ yoga as a full time, on staff yoga teacher in a NYC public school, as well as teaching in studios and privates. When I began, teaching 5-7 classes a day 5 days a week, I read every book and watched every DVD I could. While these materials helped me, I still found I needed guidance in making yoga lesson plans, combining yoga with classroom management, elevating the educational standards of yoga programs, and tips for bringing yoga philosophy to 5-year-olds. As I continued to learn through teaching I began writing OMSchooled to hopefully help others interested in this work, and to share more yoga with more youth!”

To read the entire interview, click here.

What is your Yoga?

What about bridge pose? To bridge the gap between yourself and your breath.

I love yoga because it helps me restore a sense of balance and self reflection.  When I wake up in the morning or after a long day, I need a way to reconnect.  I do this through mindfully moving my body.  This could be through a series of asanas (poses linked with breath), a long walk with my kids, alone, or just simply quiet time; doing nothing, being nothing, and not being responsible for anything even if just for a few moments.  Taking this time, helps me recharge and self nurture, so that I can be of service to others.

That in my opinion is yoga.  

    Tools to deal with default behavior!

Last week we talked about default behavior.  What do you do when life and events get a little heated.  There are specific tools which yoga brings to the table to handle these default behaviors.  When I feel myself getting stressed, or having a tight feeling in my belly which I have come to recognize as fear, I mindfully begin to breathe.

I learned from one of my yoga instructors, her method of staying calm and centered is to say to yourself as  you are breathing, I am breathing in, I am breathing out as you inhale and exhale out of your nose.   This self-talk brings mindfulness to the breath, which in turn calms the mind and the nervous system.  I teach this to my own kids and when I teach yoga to children.

Having  this simple, yet powerful tool, can turn a potentially crazy situation into a calm one by the use of the breath.

     We all know that Yoga is highly beneficial for the mind, body, and soul. It reduces stress, anxiety, illness,and injuries. Most of us treat ourselves with this wonderful Yogi Method but do we treat our children? Children are constantly going through changes through mind, body, and soul and sometimes it takes its toll. Growing pains set in, hormones change on a daily basis, and the stress the world puts on them in their daily lives can sometimes be too much.

     My name is Shani and I would like to share a story with you. It’s about my younger sister with ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome, a high functioning form of Autism. First let me give you a little background about myself. I am a 23 year old woman balancing college, a job, and my own illnesses. I suffer from Scoliosis, Interstitial Cystitis, and daily amounts of stress while I juggle my life. I do yoga on a regular basis to aid in my back therapy, alignment, posture, muscle tenderness, and my sanity. My mother is a single mother taking care of our grandparents and a child with autism. Now I would like to tell you a little bit about my sister, Savannah.

     Savannah is 12 years old and has a hard time controlling her body, facial expressions, and emotions at times. She is highly intelligent and excels beyond her peers in some subjects while falling dangerously low in others. English is her strength but she struggles with handwriting. Math is her weakness. When it comes to sitting down and learning Math or doing homework it is usually approached in a negative way. Her eyebrows scrunch up, her eyes start darting at other things to do anything but look at the numbers on her page, and her attitude skyrockets into unstable premises; agitation, over sensitivity, and sometimes aggression. Once she begins her math it’s an ongoing roller coaster to get through five problems that would be simple for you or me. She copies her problem onto the paper, this takes time as her handwriting skills are weak due to her sensory issues. She begins adding her numbers and puts down the wrong answer. “Savannah,” I say, “You’re really close but about two numbers off. Let’s count 289 plus 30 again together and double check the answer.” Her eyes get wide, and her brow wrinkles more. The first sound out of her mouth is, “Whaaaat??? I did it?!” “I know but lets just check your answer to make sure there are no mistakes,”I reply. The pencil flies across the room and the papers fall to the floor. She is in full tears screaming and crying and frantically flailing around. “I hate this! I hate this! I don’t want to do this anymore!” She screams. The rest of the evening she is emotionally distraught and no homework is completed. She cries for three hours.

     It’s not always this bad but sometime during the assignment this response happens more often than not. This isn’t her fault. Her patience is hard for her to grasp and she honestly does not understand why she is being tormented like this. I decide to try something different. The next day, preparing for her assignment, I suggest we do something fun before we begin. She is fully aware of the assignment she has to do. “Want to try yoga, Savannah?” I ask. “um, ok.” She replies, unsure. She knows she would rather do another option than her homework at the time. So whatever prolonges it is ok with her. I walk her through 20 minutes of breathing exercises and light stretches. We practice inhaling deeply and exhaling completely, even controlled breaths. She gets the blood moving into her joints and relaxes her mind. After the 20 minute session I ask her if she is ready to begin her homework task. She replies in a calm voice, “Ok, I think I can try it.” And we begin her assignment. We are slow and careful with what we write and how we count. We count together and sometimes make mistakes and check our answer. Two times she comes inches away from another temper tantrum but I remind her of the breathing exercises we did previously and she pauses and practices them. WIthin 45 minutes we have completed her math homework and checked our answers to make sure they are correct. She flops onto her back with a big sigh and says, “YES! Thank goodness it’s over!” I tell her what a good job she did and we have a nice snack downstairs to make up for the brain work. Then she is free to play outside for an hour before dark.

     Even though Savannah has sensory issues, attention issues, and the seemingly inability to stay calm; she was still able to remember what we practiced in yoga and applied it to the homework situation. She calmed her nerves, mind, body, and spirit before tackling the task at hand and was fully aware that she was about to indulge in her least favorite topic. When we were completed with our warm up of the body and got the blood properly flowing and carrying oxygen to the proper places, the back aligned and joints lubricated; she was ready to face her challenge. I was pleasantly surprised that it worked and we made it a routine. Now she looks forward to our practices, getting a bit longer each day, and has the confidence and patience to get through her most challenging tasks. Yoga has helped her face her challenges head on.

     Not only has she benefited from yoga for school but she also practices the patience she learns with her peers outside. When she starts to lose control of her facial expressions, her hands, and the other kids start picking on her; she reminds herself to breathe and clear her mind to properly deal with her challenge. Yoga has touched her life and mine and I hope that it will touch yours, your children’s, and your student’s.

If you need some ideas or just to know how to get started. Try out the ABC Yoga cards for kids and the Instructional Workbook. Also try the Yoga for Small Spaces if you have a packed classroom of kids with little to no space. 

Let’s take a look at a theme today and use it in our every day lives. The theme today is, “What is your default when things get a little uncomfortable?”  This can apply to yoga practice and life (off the mat).  Do you flee, distract or indulge yourself, become angry, have fear?  How do we know what our default is?  Being mindful and learning to become an observer instead of a participant.

What is it that you are avoiding?  The way we handle difficult things can be an opportunity for growth and can enlighten us about ourselves.  Are we avoiding growth.  What would happen if we embraced the growth and looked at the challenge straight in the face?  Points to ponder for sure.

This concept can be helpful when instructing kids yoga.  If they are acting crazy or distracted during certain poses that may be difficult for them, this may be their default behavior.  This can be pointed out to them so that they become aware of their tendencies.

Remember that yoga is all about awareness. It requires focus on the breath, the body, the mind, and the spirit. Sometimes when we get uncomfortable we forget where we are and what we are doing and give in to our emotions, when it is best to step back and evaluate them. Practicing yoga and finding your breath is a great way to step outside of yourself and see things from another perspective, offering us enlightenment. Children are highly intuitive and have the ability to do this as well; even with their ever changing emotions. They just need to be guided in the right direction and taught how to recognize these emotions and perspectives, and how to deal with them in a positive and healthy way to prepare for the life ahead of them; where there will constantly be twists and turns and new challenges for them to conquer.

  A great pose for recognizing your inner emotions and taking a step back is yogic sleep, which is in our ABC Yoga Cards for Kids Deck. Share your experiences and thoughts as well. We would love to hear them!

Yoga for Small Spaces has been reviewed by Fit Bottomed Mamas. 

There is another giveaway happening as we read this review!  Want a deck for yourself?  Go to this link and comment why you want to win these cards!