Empower them to rest

I have been visiting schools, teaching yoga to very young children for years. I play yoga with toddlers and preschoolers, teach them important lessons, and then end by deeply relaxing them. Often, the children struggle to relax or resist completely. So many times, I have seen their classroom teachers yell at them to get them to relax. How counterintuitive is that? I do not ask for or need the "assistance" in the first place. I find it unproductive to scream a child into blind obedience rather than empower them to experience relaxation. I am not judging the teachers, either. I used to be one. I was a preschool teachers for years. I know how patience can be tested and retested a hundred times an hour some days. Yet, the yelling is merely showing them that it is ok to lash out when someone else doesn't meet your behavioral expectations. So we are teaching them to yell to get what they want and jerking them out of feeling relaxed rather than getting them there in a fluid, calming and empowering way.

What can be done? Give them the power back! Give the kids the power to reach inside, find the skills and reteach them.

Give each child a stuffed animal. Ask the children if they know how to be calm and peaceful. They will say yes. Then say, "as amazing teachers, you guys can teach the animals how to be peaceful, still and relaxed by showing them how to properly do savasana." The kids LOVE to help. They want to feel their own power. They can do it. Of course, you'll need to guide them. All you need is your calm voice as a presence to talk them onto the floor. To lay them down. To have them hold their animal to their heart. To let the animal feel the peace that the child is holding inside. This child is able to teach peace by simply being empowered to do so. Watch their little bodies become still and melt onto the floor as you guide them into deep relaxation. Then, when you reawaken them, congratulate and celebrate them. Learning to rest is a life long process. You can open doors for these kids by teaching them true balance. To move and then to be still. To teach and be the student. We can do this, together!

Lessons I learned From Teaching Teachers

I have now led 3 Flow and Grow Kids Yoga Teacher Trainings over the past year. I am happy to report the trainings are enriching in so many ways. First, I thought it would just be a way to show others how to do what I do. As I worked on to create the manual and develop the content, I realized it would be more than that. I would be a way to empower adult leaders of many walks to reach children specific to their skill sets and backgrounds. It would be a program to adapt for age, ability, setting, duration, intention and much more. It would allow us to match the right teacher to the right group or individual children and to make attainable goals. It would be a program to catalyze self development of both teachers and students.

The training blew me away this past weekend. It exceeded any expectation I had when creating it. The program not only gave the teachers in training the skills they need to be excellent children's yoga teachers, it gave them their very own breakthroughs.

Although there were some tears, they were tears of awakening. One of the participants learned she could benefit from the very same self-love material that was offered in the Therapeutic Yoga section of the book. This is a lesson I myself have learned over and over doing what I do for a living. All the participants recognized where loved lacked in our own self-thinking. As adults who had previously been young girls, we knew that there was plenty of need to reinforce this awakening to offer love and softness to the SELF first to that it can be authentically directed to others. So, by teaching these very lessons to children, we are learning to love ourselves and that in and of itself is enormously invaluable. We felt as if we sent healing back in time to our childhood hurting selves and this began a mature healing process.

There is so much more I can say about this but I will leave it for future entries. I want this simple message to be enough.

Weaving practices into the loom of life

As a yoginni of over a decade, I rely on many practices I've established to maintain equanimity. Though, the more practices I have established, the more I notice I do them and then discontinue or shift into other focuses of practice. And over time they all weave together to form the action of my life.

 I have breathing practices I use throughout the day,  some for the morning, some for getting pumped for work, one for relaxation or meditation. I have writing practices I use to record my mind as I study myself/Svadhyaya.  One of the most successful writing practices I established was my journaling project last year. I was to write as often as possible, about once a day. Each day, no matter how hard, I looped the writings back to gratitude as their foundation. It proved to be a sturdy foundation and it shaped my mind. Though old patterns show(ed) up frequently, especially in the absence of practice.

As I added in new practices, naturally some of the others faded away. I completed my last journal and in the new one, I shifted from gratitude to innovation as the interweaving common ground. And I found myself writing much less. And I find myself over the past week angry and, not surprisingly, not so grateful. The beauty of it all is having a mind I observe and practices to come back to or tweak.
This morning, I am pleased to report, my first thoughts were of counting my blessing and expressing gratitude. This morning I have more energy and I am excited to be part of the world. What a relief after weeks of feeling down and pessimistic.

The yoga sutras say, to practice/Abhyasa and to detach/Vairagya. So as a yoginni (and libra) I am balancing the scales between never giving up and constantly letting go.

I'm glad to have the discipline/tapas to implement practices and the self awareness to notice which ones are effective and when to go back. One important note will take away from this is seeing how easily I got down on myself for feeling "negative" thoughts and for struggling. Rather then judge myself so harshly next time, I hope to remember that the threads/Gunas of life will braid, leaving different strings on top and they will require different approach and practices to feel balance and equanimous.

Regardless of how beautiful or challenging a moment is perceived, I pledge to never give up and always let go. With the recent suicide of Robin Williams, more people I think could benefit from practices such as writing, breathing, expressing gratitude to combat fatalistic thoughts. Nothing is permanent. What feels like a big deal and intense, will simmer over time. Letting go of needing things to show up perfectly and never giving up on trying new approaches are crucial to wellness and survival.

Wasted on Waiting

Often times when I am teaching a yoga class and I have the students rest after a vigorous exertion, I ask them not to waste energy waiting to relax. I have them authorize their rest and then notice any amount they are waiting to do the next thing so they can fully surrender NOW. Then I see the whole room melt into the wood floors.

In my own life, I like to think of myself as generally mindful. I tend to do the practices I teach to in my real life and on the mat. Except when I don't... We are all works in progress/process.

A few weeks ago I went to a concert with friends. I was unfamiliar with the band. We got there around 9 and being early (relative to show times, not bed times ;-) ) I assumed the band playing was the opening act. Fast forward over an hour and I comment in my head about how long this opening act is jamming for. Then it occurs to me, DUH, this is the main act!!!!

I wasted my energy waiting for the real thing when all along it WAS the real thing. So I learned that whether its waiting to relax, waiting to enjoy or waiting to be happy, WHY WAIT? What a waste of time and energy. I am grateful for this moment.

I learned something profound from the experience and I hope you can see how this applies to your own life, too.

Much love,

Lara

Transforming a Generation: Awakening to the Great Impact of Awareness, Education and Practice.

Transforming a Generation:

Awakening to the Great Impact of Awareness, Education and Practice.

By Lara Hocheiser

5/11/2013

The truth about learning is that teaching any subject matter solidifies personal understanding. We need to model exactly the change our world needs in order to perpetuate peace and raise  our youth to be innovators, compassionate problem solvers and intellectually curious life-long learners.  We all have a role in shaping our world for the better and if we don’t see our part in the solution, the problems magnify. In a world dominated by sensationalism in the media, widespread violence , religious extremists and  the first generation of youth with a shorter life expectancy than their parents, we need  to promote self study and the yoga path to wellness. Accountability for our actions begins with awareness of self and the world around us. I will prescribe a shift that will take place  as one develops a greater sense of self and a perspective shift on the impact that one’s actions, thoughts and words have on others, especially our children. Applying yoga techniques and philosophy at home ,in the classroom and in the world at large will have an enormous impact on the generation we are raising and it begins with you  right in the present moment. That’s now!

What if we could have a generation of emotionally literate, self-aware individuals all comfortable in their own skin so that they share their gifts with the world while conscious of their thoughts, words and actions? What if we can raise these wonder kids by simply waking up to our own influence and then deciding to open up the to possibility of being at our best in attitude, even when we make inevitable mistakes and blunders. And we choose to do so gracefully,as if each imperfect brush stroke in the canvas of our lives were part of a bigger plan. Rather than cover them up, learn from them and work them into the masterpiece you leave behind. Creativity and thoughtfulness can be your all access pass to sharing yoga and its deep fountain of knowledge with those in your home, classroom and community. Please join me as I share my own experiences as a student, teacher and community leader. I will shed light on the shift in my own life and how it has impacted my teaching style, my student base and their loved ones.

Ride that wave

Spring has come in with a splash. The waves and ripples of this season of new life and blossoming can be quite impressive and pick us up, knock us right over or wipe us out. The force of nature, the birth, creation, and utter awakening of the season, the birds and bees, the day light and bright light, the constant chatter of the animals and insects procreating all over the air, water and earth can be distracting, invigorating and eventually draining. I'm working weekly with over 400 children and adults so I get a pretty good idea of whats going on in peoples minds, bodies and spirits during our yoga check ins. The energy of all beings seems to be up and down like waves in the ocean. The tides can be violent, rising high and suddenly crashing down. The weather has been all over the place and we are recovering from an uncharacteristically hard and long winter. We are all affected by the environment and each other. Consequently, I have noted that some typically wild children are dragging themselves around exhausted. Conversely, I've seen some normally centered adults running around like drunken undergrads. I've even spotted people I consider spiritually well to be especially sensitive and volatile.

What's it all mean? The meaning is whatever meaning we decide it is. I choose to see it as a moment of chaos and loving vibrancy that is exciting and simultaneously exhausting. But what about balance? If you're one of the many people experiencing seasonal imbalances, make sure you are keeping up with practices of wellness. Do the four part breath, eat balanced foods, get into bed at a reasonable time, keep up your routines even if you feel like dumping them, journal, talk to a mental health professional or your support system, run, go to yoga, and most of all, self-observe. Notice when your energy is way out of whack and respond with a suitable practice to come back in the direction of center.

Worry not about a little extra energy or exhaustion, just notice and manage yourself. Keep up the good work. Buzz on little bees os spring.

Namaste,
Lara

Yoga Where You Are: Dream Life

Yoga Where You Are: Dream Life: Developing conscious awareness in waking life brings forth presence. It provides the tools to take in what is as it happens. Being conscious...