Meditation Helps Me Float Away for the Weekend!

Angels Wings

I asked one of my very first yoga students
who had been in a Friday afternoon class with me for well over a year,
what her favorite part of yoga was,
"Meditation," was her quick answer.
"Why is that?" I asked my young yoga student.
"Because it helps me float away for the weekend."

Mantra Meditation or Meditation Helps Me Float Away

I recently introduced my students to mantra meditation. I knew that several girls were struggling in their relationship with their family members and/or friends. And, so, one afternoon, I introduced my students to mantra meditation. Mantra meditation is ancient (in Sanskrit it means "instrument of thought") and has been practiced for several thousand years. I told my students to meditate on a positive word or a phrase that speaks to them. Think about what you would like to have happen or how you would like to feel. "I have lots of friends. I love myself. I am happy," were all suggestions I gave my attentive students. After I rang the chimes to signal the beginning of meditation and sat with my own eyes closed for a minute of so, I opened my eyes. I am always curious how my young yogis respond to meditation and part of me is always keeping a watchful eye on them. One girl was looking around the room but sitting quietly and clearly lost in thought. Several other students sat peacefully with their eyes closed and bodies still while one little boy, who cannot close his eyes out or anxiety lay quietly on his mat in crocodile pose (face down). Not a word was spoken as we sat for 3 quiet minutes. After meditation I always have an art activity set up. This afternoon, we drew with colored markers. "Draw what meditation is to you," was my direction. Olivia, a young yoga artist, described her drawing, Angels Wings (shown above) to me. " That's me sitting on the boat and even though there is lightening, black clouds and rain, and a giant wave almost crashing into the boat, I am peaceful and safe, meditating."

I see An Icy Wonderland!

Candle Gazing or I See an Icy Wonderland

Mary, one of my younger yoga students who has the flexibility and aura of an up-and-coming yogi master, asked me if she could bring a candle to yoga class. "Yes, that would be nice," I heard myself tell Mary. A week later when Mary arrived for class with candle in hand, we lit the charred wick and then placed it on the floor in the center of our yoga circle after we finished our yoga poses and settled into meditation. The glow of the candle created a peaceful, warm space in the room. Aside from the random thoughts about flames, schools, and children running through my head, the presence of this once-burned light blue candle made me think about the first time I gazed into the flame of a candle (called trataka in Sanskrit) at my adult yoga/meditation class. I couldn't see what all the fuss was about and why in the world anybody would want to stare into a flame although I do remember staring for hours into a campfire flame as a child and how peaceful that made me feel. Having taken a few classes in Buddhist meditation and even more classes in yogic meditation, I find that I prefer to close my eyes and let my mind "watch" a beautiful white lotus flower unfold or recall the image of kayaking on Newfound Lake on a sweet summer morning. Those images help me feel centered and peaceful. Staring into a flickering flame just doesn't do it for me but different strokes for different yoga students and candle gazing, I thought, might really work for some of my students so I decided to give it a try. And, to my surprise, many of my students loved candle gazing, well gazing into a once-burned candle might be more accurate. Where I saw a yellow flame dancing around, distracting me from my own much-preferred mental images, my yoga students imagined a cave with all kinds of life in it, an ocean stopped in time, a icy wonderland full of imaginary creatures with a campfire burning bright in the night sky. Candle gazing into a candle that had burned in such a way so as to leave melted and then hardened wax had become a way for these students to project their thoughts and feelings onto an external object and let their imaginations take off. Next time I try candle gazing, I am most definitely going to stare into the flame of an old, well-burnt candle and remember to let my imagination take over :)

Make Way for Meditative Ducklings

Make Way for Ducklings

from boston-discovery-guide.com

Walking Meditation or Make Way for Meditative Ducklings

We had just finished a guided relaxation and my young yoga students lay still on their mats. Time for walking meditation I thought. To prepare for this, I asked my students to roll up their yoga mats and stand quietly in mountain pose (feet firmly grounded, arms hanging loosely by their side). Then I began to slowly walk around our room.  With all eyes on me I quietly repeated, "Heal, toe pad, toes," over and over as I made my way around the room in a wide circle. "Watch, listen and follow me," I then guided my students.  The room was immediately filled with energy as my young yogis started wandering around the room, into the corners, up near the piano; each in her own quiet space.  Like a school of minnows, disturbed in their pond,  each young student was now swimming in his or her own direction, breathing excitedly.  As I attempted to regain some sort of order and move us into meditation I directed them, "Now, breathe in and lift up your heal, then your toe pad, and finally your toes.....breathe out and place down your heal, toe pad, toes...."  I thought about the first time I tried to synchronize my breath with my walking in an adult yoga class. I was in quiet hysterics as I struggled to get my toes and my breath to work together while listening to my masterful yoga teacher, walking with perfect synchrony, direct us and perfectly model, "Breath, heal, toe pad, toes.  Breath, heal, toe pad, toes."  Kids learn so much quicker and with less judgment. Within a few minutes their feet and breath were in tandem. "Swans dancing in the springtime rain, I thought to myself," as they gracefully made their way around the room in a meditative walk.  After a few minutes I sensed the space between us had changed and so turned around to find that all my sweet young yoga students had cued up behind me, with just inches separating me from them and them from each other.  We continued on, "Breath in, heal, toe pad, toe...breath out, heal, toe pad, toe," for the next few minutes but all I could think about was that famous sculpture in Boston Public Garden where the mother duck leads her ducklings, all lined up behind her, around the park. "Make way for meditative ducklings," I smiled to myself as we continued to quietly walk through the room.   Make way, indeed. 

Using Yoga

http://yogabuddies.blogspot.com/2008/10/pose-of-month-volcano-pose-october.html

I once worked with a student who was delightful but cognitively challenged. He also suffered from a heart ailment. My time to work with him was 1:30, right before the end of the school day. At a parent conference we discussed how unavailable he was to learning at that time of the day...he was just too tired. My colleague, sitting across from me at that meeting, who knew that I taught yoga and meditation to kids after school on Fridays, suggested that I do a little yoga with him at the beginning of my sessions. I don't know why this seemed so surprising to me, I was trained to teach yoga to kids and to teach yoga to kids in the classroom. I had hours of meditation and adult yoga training yet using it to help at school, during my sessions with this student, just didn't occur to me. Next time I saw this student we practiced bunny breath to energize him, we pushed the table aside and did 2 sun salutations, and we meditated for 5 minutes. He was then, ready to learn! I guess I learned something valuable, that day, as well :) Use yoga! It works :)

When I Am Sad My Mom Gives Me $40

I prepare for my Friday kids yoga class by spending several hours on the preceding Sunday thinking about a topic that I believe will have great meaning for my young yoga students. In good yoga-teacher form, I try to connect the upcoming class theme to a topic that I have an idea may resonate well with my young students. I plan an art activity that I believe will be a natural extension of whatever topic I have chosen. But sometimes, despite all my careful planning, the best yoga classes seem to simply follow from what my students need that day vs. what I think they need. And, I love this. For example, one chilly fall session I was all set to talk about peace and practice the warrior series of poses. I had recently read the cute little book, Peaceful Piggies Meditation. With lights low and everybody very still and quiet, my young yoginis loved our 5-minute sitting meditation that followed this story. And, so, I wanted to carry on with that topic and have my students make piggy puppets and recreate the peaceful piggy storyline with our own twists and turns. However, earlier in the day one of my students had revealed to me that she was very sad because her aunt, who had been free from breast cancer this past summer, had recently and very sadly, succumbed to another form of cancer just that week. She was very down as her family planned to attend the funeral some distance away. So, with that in mind, I threw my well-thought-out lesson plans aside and decided "what it feels like when we lose someone we love" would be our yoga session topic.

As I revealed the topic of the day to my yoga class, love and loss, one of my youngest yoginis groaned, "Oh, no. I hate this topic," while the rest of the group sat perfectly still on their mats, staring straight at me. I guessed they were all not a little hesitant as we launched into our discussion. Several girls told us about pets who died and how they missed the ones they loved but not the ones who bit them. Ya gotta smile. Kids are so honest. One serious little girl told us about longing for a grandmother she never knew; one who had died years before she was born. She went on to tell us all how sad she was for her dad because it was his mom who had died when he was a young boy. I am always amazed at how deeply kids feel, and not just about themselves. Hope, a 5th grader, with tear-filled eyes, told us about how her whole family was with her grandmother as she passed away not so long ago at the age of 91. We had a short discussion about what a great, long life her grandmother had. And then I told the girls about my morning. Before I left the house I grabbed the first rain coat I found in the closet, a red rain coat. As I slipped the bright red jacket over my shoulders I remembered, "This is my mom's coat." Sliding my hand into one of the pockets, I felt my mom's lipstick, pink lipstick. She loved pink. I twisted the tube to get a better look at the color, imagining my mom applying this very tube of pink lipstick her lips and thought, "Miss you mom." The girls were wide-eyed as I told them my story. Not one of them could imagine her life without her mom.

Although we could have spent then entire 75 minutes yoga class talking about our feelings when somebody we love dies, I shifted the direction of the conversation and asked the girls what they do when they feel sad. One girl told us her mom gave her $40 when her grandmother died and she felt much better :) Another said that her family goes out to eat. In fact, she went on, her family goes out to eat whenever something good or sad happens. Yet another student said that she likes to go for walks in the woods to lift her mood. And, Lidia told us that she tries to just push sad thoughts out of her mind. Several girls said that their parents had bought them puppies, gerbils, or other furry creatures to ease their sadness. I laughed as I told them that I had done that very same thing after my mom died. Four weeks after my mom quietly passed away in her sleep, my husband and I bought a lively and crazy yellow lab puppy and it did make me feel better.

With all that heavy talk in the air, we stood up and began our asanas (yoga poses) and pranayama (breath work). We lifted our mood with Bunny Breath; Celia demonstrated. I showed them Conductor Breath and we all laughed at the energy it created. We hissed with Snake Breath, as we moved up and down in Cobra Pose. "Look," I noted, "how moving our bodies and changing our breath can change our mood." We all laughed. Each girl then led us through her favorite yoga pose; Sun Salutation, Rockin the Baby, Rag Doll. And, we found 10 minutes after meditation to make our piggy puppets. "Maybe we will have time to recreate our peace puppet play next time" I thought, "And, then maybe not." "

I love my kids yoga classes because I think a lot about what we discuss and what transpires during class well beyond our hour and 15 minutes together. Since I am the teacher, what I teach reflects me and in that my classes are all very personal. And so following this class I thought about how as humans beings, young and old, we all suffer through sadness and loss. Whatever works to ease our suffering, be it $40 from a kind and loving mom or Conductor Breath in a class full of yoga friends who all know how you are feeling...whatever works, I think, is worthy of thought and consideration as it may help us find ease and grace in our lives.