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Location:
Jenn’s Home Studio
212 Colabaugh Pond Road
Croton on Hudson NY 10520

Tuition: $125

Are you ever frustrated by the behavior of your students or your own children? Ever frustrated by your reaction to their behavior? Feel like you don’t want to yell but don’t know what else to do? Wish you could spend more time on content and less on classroom management?

The Compassionate Classroom (and Living Room) workshop will give you tools and techniques to keep your students engaged through cooperation rather than control. You will learn to communicate in a way that shows compassion and respect for all children, and use powerful strategies to create an environment of mutual trust.

Our goal is to provide all children with a sense of internal discipline, and offer teachers and parents alternatives to punishment methods that engage children rather then ostracize them. Avoid unnecessary conflict and power struggles with your students and you’ll be amazed at how much time you can dedicate to learning.

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March 24th, 2012
1:00pm – 5:00pm

Location:

Karma Kids Yoga
104 West 14th St.
New York, NY
Tuition: $100

Every day children are told to pay attention, yet we never actually teach them how to do this! This course offers you ways to introduce children to a mindfulness practice that both engages them, and gives them space to listen to their own thoughts and feelings. Includes both still and moving meditations.

Help children tune in, focus better, make sense of their emotions, make good decisions, and experience a richer and more fulfilling day to day experience of life.

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The Link Education Expo is a great place for principals, parents, educators, guidance counselors and education leaders to find K-12 education opportunities for children.

We had a great time at last year’s Link Ed Expo sharing yoga with old and new friends, and we are looking forward to another great day. Bring your children to enjoy activities and performances. A free Little Flower Children’s Yoga class will be offered. Stay tuned for the time!

We’ll be on hand all day to discuss yoga options for your school, provide information about our teacher training programs and to answer questions. We love hanging out with kids so be sure to bring yours over to visit us!

Hope to see you there. Visit the Link Education website for more info and to register: www.linkeducation.org

Location:
Jennifer Cohen Harper’s Home Studio
212 Colabaugh Pond Road
Croton on Hudson NY 10520

Tuition: $125

Come learn the fundamentals of the Little Flower approach to teaching children how to live their best possible life. We will discuss the core practices that should be a part of every class, expanding beyond movement to include breathwork, mindfulness activities, self exploration and community building.

You will leave this workshop with a solid understanding of what the overall experience of a LFY class will be like for a child, as well as several activities that you can begin using right away with your children.

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Beginning January 15th, you will be able to listen to one 4 minute meditation each day, as well as the previous postings.

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Registration Required: 212.779.3434 OR kara@weeonesclub.com

Join Little Flower at the Murray Hill Wee Ones Club for a free Mom and Baby Yoga class! This class is most appropriate for babies 3-12 months old.

Wee Ones Club will be offering regular Mom and Baby Yoga classes on Thursday mornings beginning in July. Contact Kara for more information at the above email. Wee Ones Club will also be offering free trials for Creation Station and Music for Aardvarks, so be sure to ask about all of their programs!

To introduce this activity you want to give the students a chance to explore the feeling of each element. A wonderful way to do this is to allow the students time to draw each element as part of their practice.

1. Give each child 4 small stones (one of each color – and tell them that these stones represent a mountain, a tree, a flower and still water) and 4 index cards, and ask them to put them on their mat in front of them. On the first card, ask the students to draw a picture of a mountain. Now pick up your first pebble, which will represent a mountain (you can let the students choose which color best represents a mountain to them). Tell the students that a mountain represents strength and stability, and that inside each one of them is a mountain that is strong and steady, no matter what is happening around them. Have them hold the stone they have chosen, come into mountain pose, and then practice saying the following together: Breathing in I see myself as a mountain, Breathing out I feel strong. Repeat this 3 or 4 times, and then take one or two breaths silently together. Have them write along the bottom of their drawing Breathing in I see myself as a mountain, Breathing out I feel strong. Optionally, on the other side of the card, they can draw a picture of themselves in mountain pose.

2. The next element to explore is a tree. Invite the students to draw a tree on the next index card. Then pick up the pebble that represents a tree, and come to stand in tree pose. Tell the students that a tree represents balance as it reaches its roots down into the earth, and it’s branches up to the sky. Let them know that they have the balance of a tree inside each of them, and that this balance will help them live a healthy life. Practice saying together: Breathing in I see myself as a tree, Breathing out I feel balanced. Repeat 3 or 4 times, and then take one or two breaths silently together. Have them write along the bottom of their drawing Breathing in I see myself as a tree, Breathing out I feel balance.Optionally, on the other side of the card, they can draw a picture of themselves in tree pose.

3. The next element is a flower. Have the students draw a flower on their third index card, and have them choose a stone to represent flowers. Then come into flower pose (seen in above photo). Tell them that a flower represents joy and beauty. Inside each of us is a flower that is always growing, keeping us joyful even during hard times. Practice saying together Breathing in I see myself as a flower, Breathing out I feel joyful. Repeat 3 or 4 times, and then take one or two breaths silently together. Have them write along the bottom of their drawing Breathing in I see myself as a flower, Breathing out I feel joyful. Optionally, on the other side of the card, they can draw a picture of themselves in flower pose.

4. The final element that we will explore is still water. Have the students draw still water on their fourth index card. They might need more support with this drawing, and you can discuss still water being a lake or pond.  Tell the students that still water represents calm and peacefulness. Inside all of us is a vast lake of calm still water that helps us keep our life peaceful. Have them hold their last stone, and come into savasana. Practice saying together: Breathing in I see myself as still water, Breathing out I feel peaceful. Repeat 3 or 4 times, and then take one or two breaths silently together. You can extend this element by allowing the children to rest in savasana either in silence or with some gentle music playing. Once they have come out of savasana, have them write along the bottom of their drawing Breathing in I see myself as still water, Breathing out I feel peaceful. Optionally, on the other side of the card, they can draw a picture of themselves in savasana.

5. After children have explored the feeling of these elements through postures and visualization, a journaling activity helps make the experience even more concrete and meaningful, and gives them time to reflect. You can use pages that you have created and photocopied for the students, or you can just have them write and complete the following thoughts in a journal:

Mountain: I feel strong when_________________________________

Tree: I feel balanced when___________________________________

Flower: I feel joyful when____________________________________

Still Water: I feel peaceful when________________________________

Advancing the Science and Practice of Contemplative Teaching & Learning
The Garrison Institute NY: November 4-6, 2011

Sharing ideas, getting new inspiration, connecting with a community and learning about new research in the field are just a few of the very good reasons to attend a conference this Fall. Nothing reinvigorates my teaching quite like these inspiring gatherings! Whether you are on the east or west coast there is an opportunity coming up for you to meet like-minded people this Fall.

ABOUT THESE CONFERENCES

Mindfulness: A Foundation for Teaching & Learning

Studies with teachers and other caring professionals show that practicing mindfulness decreases occupational stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue, and increases empathy and effective communication, and enhances the classroom environment and pro-social behavior. Educational institutions including early childhood centers, public and private schools, and universities have embraced mindfulness as a valuable educational practice. Join educational colleagues from across disciplines to explore the role of mindfulness in teaching and learning. Sponsored by Standford University and the Association for Mindfulness in Education.

Click Here to Register

Advancing the Science & Practice of Contemplative Teaching & Learning

Contemplative Teaching and Learning promotes awareness of self, others and the world by infusing classroom life and teaching with experiential practices such as mindfulness, yoga, tai chi, reflective journaling and others. It deepens learning and builds inner strengths and skills including attention, self-regulation and compassion. This symposium allows educators, health professionals, researchers and policymakers to learn from one another in an environment that nurtures dialogue and advances evidence-based practice.

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Oh, yes! It’s time to store the bathing suit, shorts, tank tops, and flip-flops, and bring forward the layers.  Time to switch the summer beverage of lemonade to perhaps to maybe a hot chocolate. It’s fall and the kids are back in school! That could only mean one thing. It’s yogatime! I have been teaching yoga in NYC schools for the past four years and each year keeps getting better and better. At the beginning of the school year, through the hallways there’s a sentiment of, “Oh, boy. Here we go. Let’s do the best that we can do, be positive, and march on through to June.” And when June arrives, it’s a sentiment of, “We did it!” Voila! Summertime! I have had some kids express and show signs of sadness that yoga is over and that we won’t be meeting any longer. But I reassure them that it’s just for the time being and they are going to have an awesome summer. I also reassure them that those feelings are perfectly fine and that now they have wonderful memories to carry them through the summer up unto the fall when we meet again. I also shed light that to have those feelings is a good thing. It shows that they care; they care for themselves, others, and the practice. That’s what yoga is about. To me, as a yoga teacher, I couldn’t ask for anything more. Now that the school year has begun and we’re back in the classroom that means for us little yogis at Little Flower Yoga that we’re back on the mat. Hooray!

With the beginning of every school year, I take it upon myself to go to my schools the week before and touch base with the teaching faculty and staff, making myself available, and answer any questions or concerns they may have just before we start yoga classes. As I walk through the halls I hear, “Salvador! I missed you! I’m going to have you again for yoga!” The kids give me a hug and I notice that they’re taller getting taller! It’s a great beginning. I have the pleasure to work at schools where the faculty, staff, and parents appreciate what the practice and I have to offer. While the kids study their ABCs and 123s, I link the school’s teaching philosophy with the teachings of a yoga practice, creating a learning environment that nurtures their intellectual, social, physical, and ethical growth. And we are silly and have fun! Living in NYC can be stressful, no matter what age you are, and to see the kids laugh, giggle, and smile is exactly what the doctor ordered.

In these first weeks of yoga I establish a ritual and a pattern to the class, so the kids know what’s coming up and that they feel safe. We acknowledge the yoga space, I introduce basic yoga poses (cat/cow, child’s pose, down dog, mountain, sun salutation, tree, and rest and relaxation), while teaching the kids that they don’t have to participate in anything that makes them feels uncomfortable in any shape or form. We acknowledge that they have breath and I ask them, “How are you breathing?” While in the yoga poses and yoga movements I ask them, “How does this pose or movement feel in your body?” We work on being focused in poses and movements, asking them, “Where is your focus?” And during rest and relaxation, I ask them, “What is a relaxed body?” In this yoga beginning, I’m teaching them to recognize how they are feeling. We make the body strong and flexible, but what they are thinking and feeling count just as much. I also set guidelines and expectations, honoring yogic principles of love, compassion, truthfulness, generosity, balance, and being at peace with oneself. And names, names, names! That’s always a challenge for me. It’s the new kids that get me. I really love name-games! “My name is Salvador and I am forty-one years old.” The look of shock on their faces! “Whoa! You’re just as old as my daddy and you have more grey hair this year!” That’s funny!

I’ve been with the kids for a month and we’ve established a practice, acknowledging a beginning, middle, and end. I’ve got to know their names, but this year I have a lot more brothers and sisters, and I find myself mixing up names, just like how my parents would mix up my name with my older sisters and older brother. I’ve been called MagdalenaRebeccaJaimeSalvador. Thanks, mom and dad.

Now that the kids are back in the classroom, and we’re back on the mat, it’s great to see the kids again, taking note of how they’ve grown and developed over the summer. We’re a family. We’re a community. As I plan my classes I always think of the kids and honor a yoga practice that unites strength, softness, comfort, ease, compassion, and kindness. That’s yoga. It’s an honor to share it and have practice with the little ones! We’re off to a great start! Here’s to a great year! Yoga!