The National Kids Yoga Conference: From Fragmentation to Collaboration

20015 National Kid’s Yoga Conference:

From Fragmentation to Collaboration

By Lara Hocheiser

Last month I had the great fortune of attending the second National Kids Yoga Conference, held in our nation’s capital.  It was an inspiring coming together of industry leaders, teachers, and newcomers, seeking collaboration on what has too often felt like a fragmented industry.

The event kicked off on a Friday night with a mix of excitement and exhaustion.  Anyone who knows a kids yoga teacher knows how hard he or she works. But even the ambitious Friday night start time could not contain the group’s enthusiasm.  By its conclusion Sunday afternoon, it’s fair to say that all in attendance left the conference with a wealth of new knowledge and inspiration. About twenty keynote speakers shared their experiences and expertise on yoga business, research, school yoga, and innovative implementable tools. Breakout sessions gave teachers a chance to bridge the divides that have often left them feeling like isolated islands. Above all what was most striking weren’t necessarily the formally orchestrated events, but the much-needed feeling of ‘togetherness’ that emerged from personal connections made, and experiences shared.

Three Takeaways from NKYC:

A Need to Collaborate

Until recently, the grass roots kid’s yoga movement has been largely fragmented. Individual organizations and teachers have made incredible progress, but a lack of a kid’s yoga regulatory organization, and opportunities to learn from each other has challenged our mission. Among other reasons, that’s why this conference was so important and successful.

At a business centered discussion group, people had the opportunity to ask for advice and support. Women asked for help, unsure how to proceed with their businesses. Others who have been there were able to step forward and offer support and love.  The sense of camaraderie was palpable and the need for more opportunities to get together in this way became increasingly apparent.

The Ethical and Inclusive Yoga Path

Both on stage, and in between sessions, one of the most noteworthy issues I heard discussed was on ethics and integrity in kids yoga. These subjects are under-addressed and can be scary, which is why they are often not included in kid’s yoga teacher trainings.  A recent court case in California highlighted the complicated feelings people have regarding yoga in schools. Keynotes presenters Jennifer Cohen Harper, Adi Flesher, Joanne Spence, and Leslie Booker together addressed the great need for yoga and mindfulness practices to be offered in an inclusive, adaptive, and secular manner. They warned that our work may be exclusionary if it is not done with extreme care. This means creating a safe space and relevant content for students of all religions, genders, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and abilities.

To aid teachers and school administrators to better understand, The Yoga Service Council recently published The Best Practices for Yoga in Schools book. It has pointers for communicating, creating appropriate programming, and for staff training.

Also highlighted was the need for kid’s yoga to be secular. This can often be a challenge for yoga teachers who have come to this field on their own spiritual journeys. By leaving out religious mythology and the use of Sanskrit language, for example, these problems can be avoided. Much of the existing children’s yoga music, books, and props may have non secular content built in. This highlights the needs for teachers to be aware of their use of language, music and other tools and a need to separate personal practice from teachings.

We need more data

Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, a Harvard and Kripalu affiliated researcher in the field of mind body medicine, reported that there have been approximately 50 peer-reviewed studies on yoga in schools. His edifying presentation recommended that yoga educators become familiar with the work and have it ready to share with schools. Although great research has been done, he insisted that thousands more studies are needed to substantiate the movement.

Presenters recommended that all yoga programs create a pre and post assessment of that is given to the children, parents and or staff, and school administration where applicable. Childlight Yoga founder and author Lisa Flynn recounted how she went about this process. It was challenging, required help from multiple people, and took years. Despite the difficulty, collecting this information is important. She recommended inputting the data into Survey Monkey or a similar free or inexpensive app to help calculate data.

Sat Bir implored that both qualitative and quantitative studies need be done. When it comes to schools willingness to invest in programming, data and research are pivotal. Without the research, schools cannot be sure their children are getting appropriate and effective programming to justify spending money on kids yoga.

Looking ahead, with the warm and fuzzies of this conference still with us, we must plan to continue the path of collaboration. Area kid’s yoga people can organize continuing ed. gatherings, similar to Boston’s Christyn Schroeder of Kidpowerment Yoga. Teachers can hold meetings online and in person, facilitate and participate in regular professional development, continue to take relevant trainings, and hold discussions about what is happening in the field.

If kids yoga is going to be a legitimate instrument of of social change, we have to be teammates, friends and colleagues.  That means making sure the conference was not the end of a conversation, but the beginning.  

The Accidental Vegan

I have always been sensitive and as such, have spent much of my life vegetarian. I was happily eating cheese and eggs until...

I learned that most cheese is made with (animal) rennet, which comes from the stomach of cows mostly. Unfortunately I could not unlearn that and have since stopped eating non vegetarian cheese. I also learned that (and saw a video of) baby male chicks being ground alive in giant grinders because they can not be used for eggs or meat. This is a practice of chicken farming globally. I decided to change my diet to change my impact. Here are two things that have been a yummy result of those choices.

Corn-co-nut Muffins:

Heat oven to 350 and line cupcake tin with coconut oil then

I mixed:

One box trader joe’s corn bread mix

Tons of unsweetened coconut flakes

Half a can of coconut cream

Half can coconut milk

Lots of chia seeds

Lots of flax seed meal

A heavy handful of frozen corn

·        
   If you want sweet, you could add honey or brown sugar, but the mix was slightly sweetened and the muffins were delicious. 

Mix well, maybe adding cranberry raisins or pomegranate seeds if you desire.

Scoop ¼ of batter into pan. (Yields approx. 11 muffins)

Bake for 20-ish minutes until firm and the fork comes out clean. These are delicious monsters of nutrition. Serve with butter or coconut oil and enjoy them warm or cold.

I bought a Nutribullet RX. I have been experimenting with it, as I am not one to follow a recipe. Tonight I made an alfredo-like pasta sauce that is highly satisfying and nutritious.

Alfredo-esque pasta

If you want hot comfort food of dense nutrition and low guilt.

Process:

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1-2 heavy handfuls of raw spinach (or any green)

1 jalapeno without stem (remove seeds to taste)

some vegetable stock

some coconut cream

a small handful of raw almonds

generous dash of celery salt

a handful or tomatoes

a squirt of tomato paste

black pepper

celery salt

one dash asafetida (hing)

To add to sauce:

Chunks of tomato

Mushrooms cut to taste

One handful frozen green peas

Flax seed meal

Anything else you want

Boil high quality and textured pasta of your choice. When its aldente, drain water. Put pasta back in pan, add the raw base, and throw in the tomato chunks, mushrooms, and green peas. Cook for about 10 minutes and then add a dash of flax seed meal to thicken and a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Super duper yummy.

Review of the Flower Yoga Teacher Training

I participated in the 95 hour Flower Yoga Teacher Training led byTara Rachel Jones. T.R. Jones has an extensive background in education, with nearly 25 years in the field. She also has a 2 decade yoga practice, accompanied by many teacher trainings. Her expertise in child development, knowledge of Montessori and Waldorf education, and synthesis of these with the Sivananda style of yoga is a much needed asset to the world of children's yoga teachers.

What most affected me, as a children's yoga professional with over 6 years in field, is that Tara is offering a complete yoga experience. I realize that my own teachings may have been lacking a well-rounded approach. Tara demonstrated how to incorporate the 5 points of yoga and the 4 main paths of yoga in a kids' yoga class. I will explain this as briefly as I can. Tara taught us about the 5 main points of yoga as laid out by Swami Sivananda which are: proper exercise, proper diet, proper breath, proper relaxation, proper meditation. She taught us yoga classes as if we were the child participants and included all of these aspects. It was tangible information because she envelopes everything in a perfect package for a child to open with interest and comprehend based on their developmental stage. She takes all of these factors into consideration and weaves them into a beautiful, peaceful age appropriate practice.  Also, she manages to incorporate the 4 main paths of yoga which are rajas or self-discipline and practice, jnana or yoga of the intellect, karma or yoga of selfless service and bakhti or the yoga of love and devotion. Again, she is doing all this with the age and development of the children in mind. So whether its by singing songs, chanting sanskrit, reading stories, acting like nature, or having the children take on responsibility, we did it all with under her gentle guidance.

Her training has changed me as a teacher in many ways. I take the complete yoga view she offers to heart when I am planning my classes. I also plan in a much more structured and predictable way than ever before. Though I understood the need for and use of consistency and repetition, she has presented how to do so in a beautifully polished way, offering poetry and call and response to motivate children to care for the earth. I am moved to incorporate more of this stuff into my teachings.  I appreciate having her words and melodies to use should I need them, but I am more of a write my own kind of gal. What she offers in her training is perfect for the creative types to see her model and adapt it in their own way with their own super powers in mind.  For the newer teachers who might need to use her words exactly as they go, they are all in the manual and Tara allows us to practice all of it. Then they have the experience of having done it and the support of the manual to refer to should they need it.

 The manual is extensive, detailed and broken down by modules. Each module is a little miracle, detailing the development of the child in that age range, how to lesson plan, examples of lesson plans, examples of art projects, meditations and relaxations with practice space to make your own. It ends with a written final exam that helps teachers build scaffolding for their teachings and use their own words to express who they want to be as a teacher and what steps they will take to get there. Her other manual is an asana manual broken down in sections that relate to the foundational pose or pose you start them from. It is illustrated by her husband and adapted from the life's work of Sarabess Forester, Jone's mentor, colleague and teacher.

Tara offers this training twice a year. Once is over a number of months near her home in the Boston area. The other is over a 12 day period at the Sivananda Ashram and Yoga Ranch. I participated in the latter. And although it was a lot to cover in only 12 days, I would not change the experience for anything. I was able to learn all the invaluable children's yoga stuff while waking up at dawn to meditate, chant and learn about yoga philosophy with the swamis every day as well as receiving one hour of asana practice. If you are contemplating which to participate in, it may be best to consider your location and learning style.

I highly recommend participating in Tara Rachel Jone's brain (and heart) child, The Flower Yoga Teacher Training. Please reach out to me if you are, too!

And absolutely pick up her book, It's Time for Yoga for your children and students! It is beautiful and her husband did all the artwork. She created this masterpiece with time tested yoga sequencing based on the evolutionary movement patterns seen in children as they develop.

Om namo sivaya,
Lara

Laughing Lotus NYC

I moved to New York City (I know, very exciting) a few days ago. After over a month hiatus of asana practice due to a medical emergency, I have been feeling the gaping hole that a lack of asana and guided physical teachings had left.

I have been internet-stalking Laughing Lotus for months preparing for the move.
I was intrigued because they offer advanced teaching modules, rather than a straight up 300 or 500 hour training, so you can develop yourself as you see fit: Ayurveda, flying, etc.

After having visited a few other unmentionable studios and being very disappointed, you can imagine my relief walking into a beautifully painted, vibed-out love den that is Laughing Lotus.

I called and was assured before my class that the instructor Kenny would be all-level appropriate. I have been worried by my diminished strength and physical and emotional state that an un-attuned teacher may blow past stop signs. I found my serpent spirit alive and ready to ascend. He spoke RIGHT TO IT. He used quotes about opening the self through alignment so the endless power from your SOURCE can be positioned to put right in. I FELT THAT.

His voice, cueing, use pf quotes, fun add-on style flow and amazing sequencing saved me. I broke into heart openers for the first time in weeks and literally hug-cried on him after. The guy even got me into hand stand, a major FEAR and ACCOMPLISHMENT. He just said, "straighten your arms and GO!" He grabbed one leg and I felt held and safe in his presence.

Even the desk staff were AMAZING. They were patient with my thousand questions and endless feedback and yes, TEARS!

If you are in NYC, stop by Laughing Lotus or check them out i Brooklyn and Cali.
I got the month trial for only $39!

More reasons to visit me in NYC.

ENDLESS GRATITUDE,

Lara

Review of the Continuing Ed Gather for Children's Yoga Teachers

On Saturday, March 14, the inaugural gathering was held at Bow Street Yoga. It was hosted by Christyne Shroeder  and Checka Antifonario. I was excited to see other outstanding experts in the field.

As I arrived, there was a family style yoga class being held by the aforementioned amazing ladies. Christyn's booming, gorgeous voice greeted me before I even stepped inside. I could hear her from the driveway! I walked into a friendly circle of small children, moms, and (yoga) teachers. I slipped right in next to the duo and I am glad I did. Their positive vibrations, experience and skill were welcoming. I loved the natural flow that Christyn employed going between her teacher voice and singing a song. The flow we were moving to as she (as we all joined her) sang, "If the the Little Rain Drops." Checka and Christyn led us through a spring time yoga class where we melted snow and planted seeds. We took turns, letting the kids be the seeds as we watered and gave them sun and then we switched. Everyone, tiny and grown, was having fun. Then we deeply relaxed. Lovely class! I especially appreciated how Checka went around to make sure all the seeds, grown up or child, got to feel the sun and rain on their backs. It was super sweet. I did not mind the foot rub either!

Once the class ended, we reconvened for Tara Rachel of Flower Yoga's presentation. What was amazing about her class is the deep knowledge she clearly had about the developing body's mechanics. She was using simple language so it was easy to follow. To me, a lot of the information felt intuitive but I never knew the basis in anatomy before her presentation. She was impressive, leading us as if we were the children while filling us with knowledge as educators. I was impressed with her story telling. I felt relaxed listening to her story about the lifespan of a seed. It was beautiful, and daring how she took us from the exhilarating beginnings of the seed wanting to break out from the cold ground, through the life of the flower, to it losing its seeds, shriveling and dying off. She didn't leave out the gorgeous language as she managed to tie in the cycle of life so beautifully and softly.  She also taught us from her own book which I have seen in homes of the children I teach yoga to, It's Time For Yoga.  I am usually skeptical to train for more than a single weekend with any kid's yoga teacher, but her presentation was so amazing that I am singing up for her 95 Hour Teacher training this July.

We were blessed to then have the renowned Elizabeth Goranson of Stretch What Matters. Her shtick is inclusion. She was a special education teacher for 15 years before starting Stretch What Matters. Her program is spoken of so highly that before I met her in person I recommended one of my Flow and Grow teacher trainee graduates register for her upcoming training this April. She has touched a lot of lives. What was impressive about Elizabeth, beside her amazing sense of humor was her passion and emotion for her field. She got teary eyed presenting. Although her time was short, we got to see and understand modalities for inclusion and implantable ideas. We discussed real issues we face as teachers of children who are far from typical. What is typical, anyhow? And she drove home the point that if we slow down to make the information accessible for one child, they all benefit. It may seem like a lot of work upfront to prepare so thoroughly, but it makes learning comfortable and possible. In my experience, inclusion is left out of most general (kids yoga) trainings so I was thrilled to have this topic offered.

Finally, Sara Andres Gardener, the founder of Yoga Reaches Out charity presented on fund raising. Her time was short but she managed to drive home that if you have an idea and plant it like a seed, work hard, and work for a greater good, BIG THINGS CAN HAPPEN. She is an inspiration.

I am so grateful to have spent my time with these women who are leaders in the industry in the Boston area. I am leaving the area shortly to pursue my dreams in New York but plan remain involved in the yoga industry and with these stunning colleagues of passion and intention. I highly recommend signing up for the subsequent date in May!

Can We Stop "Getting Back In Shape," and Instead Move Forward?

I am a daddy's girl. I was raised by my dad and have seen him in so many forms. I have seen him as a gladiator gym buff saving the world, I have seen him sick and frail, I have seen him bloated with stress, and lean. I have seen him in many shapes in between. I am thankful that today, he is well and in good form.

One thing I hear him say is that "he wants to get back to where he was…" I also hear so many other people use this seemingly harmless language of "getting back," whether it be getting back together, getting back in shape, etc.

I was at a wedding luncheon yesterday and a former marathon runner, now Phd and mother of 4 kids between 8 and 18 and 2 step children saying she was so out of shape and wanted to get back to how she was before. She looks vibrant and healthy to me. Though, I can understand her wanting to improve.  We all do. Yet that specific language causes bells to go off. In my mind, when I hear "go back" two things happen. First a connection to the speaker. I understand the speaker may be referring to that elusive "back" like a place holder in time to where some ideal and perfect form existed whether in their mind, body, financially, professionally, or in any other aspect. Then next thing I do is hurt for them because I know in my own experience, when idealizing the past, it causes the memories to feel like reality and creates a yearning for what was. This is a dangerous slope to try to ascend. Getting back literally means you have to go back in time or backwards on a path to get there where you once were so that you can improve some aspect of self. I imagine it like trying to walk up a wet slide with flip flops on. Not pretty.

Let's explore this more. What if insead of trying to "get back," we just move forward. We can use our past experiences in wellness, success, fitness sand relationships to inform our future but we never need to get back to where we were. That time is no longer available to us. We will be searching endlessly to no avail. There will not be contentment just yearning which leads to suffering.

Then, how about we move forward. Move forward toward wellness. Creating rituals that will honor where we have been and where we are now and where we wish to go. A ritual is more effective than a routine because we make it sacred by the attention and intention with put it. It also changes based on season and let's face it, we have to tweak our routines to suit what actually is going on inside and out, rather than attack goals indiscriminately regardless of circumstance. That way we incrementally grow into who we want to be with compassion and no expectation that each day will be or feel the same. We account for the realities of what happens in life and shift our focus or duration based upon that. Yet, incrementally we can move toward massive goals and move up one notch at a time. And we never have to move backwards, in time or space. We move forward with the progression around us. Honoring the cycle of birth, life and death is important with any goal. And the past is dead and its ashes build our futures. It is not morbid, its real. We can move into our future by letting the past die. But just as those we love and lost stay with us in our hearts and minds, so can the lessons of the past. And the best part is, we don't punish ourselves to become a form of us we once were and we move with the grace of time, honoring the cycle.

I appreciate my father for all he has done. I support him in any shape he wishes to take. I only hope for his own love and for all of our own love of self, that and he we move forward and not back.

I am grateful for language and its ways to unlock our perceptions. We can use semantics to draw our feelings out, like the feeling of a need to move to a past existence, "a getting back to," notice and honor how this emotion arises and reframe our goals with present and future direction.

Now, let's move forward with this insight and never again back.

Knowing emotional intelligence versus having it

While spending a great deal of time in schools, predominantly preschools, I have seen a lot of import placed on emotional intelligence. I watch the curriculum about feelings being taught by use of pictures, puppetry and vocabulary about feelings. Problem solving is taught. Sometimes real solutions to emotional reactions are taught and learned by the smallest children. They make huge strides in their ability to use words rather than hit or scream, they develop words for expressing feelings and this is paramount to their development as children.

It is all very encouraging to watch this emphasis on emotional intelligence and social interaction. I am struck, though, that more emphasis isn't put on the personal development of teachers. Teachers must have a lot of academic and professional experience. They must get continuing education credits each school year. I know teachers are doing their best with what they have. I love and respect the profession. Many of my colleagues are teachers and I used to be one myself in the traditional classroom. Yet, while I watch these people teaching emotional intelligence, I can't help but wonder about their own emotional and social development. The yogis have systems of theory AND practice regarding the mental and social behavior  called the Yamas and Niyamas. While I will not turn this article into another lesson on those concepts (but you are welcome to google it or read literature!!!!,) I will say that the teachers need more practice when it comes to the mental processes involved in processing feelings and then the way they behave in response (not reaction to) feelings and stimulus. This does not involve just a theory-based approach, but experientially based approach involving self-examination, meditation, deep relaxation and practice to be able to actually see and hear the present moment. To be able to ascertain just what kind of judgement and physiological response one has to stimulus, whether that stimulus be in the classroom, on the road, or in one's own mind.

I won't lie. With more than a decade of practice in this by doing yoga, meditation, studying and self-study, I still find myself reactive sometimes.  Yet, I have the anchor of practices and intention to come back to. I am sure that, with more of an emphasis on teacher's personal, emotional and pro-social development, with more emphasis on mindfulness and meditation, they would start to evolve, too. Teachers who can let stress roll off them life rain off a raincoat because of their practices will be more resourceful and more able to give the children what they need. Teachers who study their own mind to see patterns, and then begin to shift to patterns more in line with what they intend to do rather than what they automatically do, will be more effective in their classroom (and life outside of school.)

I support teachers. I recognize their part in brining up the next generation. The children spend a huge amount of time being led by teachers. Why wouldn't we support teachers, then, to continuously develop from within not just professionally but personally. Schools providing opportunities for teachers to learn about their mind, to learn how to deeply relax, and get to know one's own self, will come out ahead. They will better serve children and the results will be tangible and even measurable. By simply repeating workshops so the skills are taught, retaught, examined and applied in more precise ways, we can move this world forward and create adults leaders of children who MODEL exactly the type of pro-social and self-directed behaviors we would want of our kids. Imagine a world where a teacher makes a mistake and in her mind, instead of belittling herself, she sees the opportunity to shift towards another thought pattern, behavior pattern and outcome, a positive one. This is possible. Please ask me how I can help you bring this kind of learning to your teachers! I want to help every single child and every single teacher needs to be brought to a higher consciousness so that goal can be attained.

Email me for services (or I can recommend someone amazing closer to your area!)

flowandgrowkids@gmail.com