Toward a Trauma-Informed Mindfulness Practice
It’s easy to think that if something works for us, it will work for anyone. How could the action that brought us peace, say, or joy not bring that same good feeling to everyone who tries it? We come to each moment from our own history, our own tastes, our own habits,...
Emotions Are Central to Learning
There are those who think bringing social-emotional learning into the classroom is some sort of fad. Not so, asserts a new national commission report from the Aspen Institute. “The promotion of social, emotional, and academic learning…is the substance of education...
The Importance of Voice in Releasing Trauma
After trauma, it’s not just the brain that remembers. The body remembers, too. One thing that makes it even tougher on both is that trauma is often entwined with shame. We internalize the notion that we’re not supposed to talk about what happened to us. We believe...
The Yoga Calm Blog Year in Review, 2018
The end of year is a natural time for reflection – and for us, that includes some reflection on the life of this blog, which is now entering its 11th year. That alone is a little hard to believe. It seems just yesterday that we were creating our first post over at...
What Is Your Gift?
Think back to when you were small and grownups asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up. Your answers probably changed a lot over time. One month, you wanted to be a veterinarian, the next, an astronaut. Or teacher. Or cowboy. Or scientist. Maybe you did grow...
Classroom Yoga, Mindfulness Keep Trending Upward. Why?
It’s amazing to realize that, today, twice as many kids are doing yoga than just five years ago. According to the latest figures from the CDC, 8.4% of youth now practice yoga. Back in 2012, only 3% did. Meditation practices have increased more than five-fold. That’s...
Our Connections to Nature, Each Other, Ourselves
“Strawberries first shaped my view of a world full of gifts simply scattered at your feet,” writes Robin Wall Kimmerer at the beginning of her amazing book Braiding Sweetgrass. A gift comes to you through no action of your own, free, having moved toward you without...
The Many Ways of Mindfulness
It was a lovely, sunny, summer day, and there I was beating myself up a bit for slacking on my meditation practice. Then my 7-year old granddaughter Anna rushed up and tugged at my arm. “Come on, Grandma. Come out and play with me!” So I followed her as she ran across...
Why You Should Make Regulation & Release Practices Part of Your School Safety Drill Routine
Safety drills have long been a part of education here in the US – from the fire drills we’re all familiar with to those particular to a region, such as earthquake drills in California or tornado drills in Nebraska. And these days – for better and worse – we have...
Co-Regulation and Hoberman Sphere
Originally posted on the 1000 Petals Blog by Stephanie Kennelly What should you do when an agitated child refuses to do any breathwork or movement? We often say, “you are the intervention”. In fact, we dedicated an entire blog post to the idea of practicing these...
We All Need Downtime – Parents & Kids Alike
One day while sharing a lesson on work-play balance, I asked the group of sixth graders I was working with, “What happens if you were to play all the time?” They said that you’d live with your parents for the rest of your life. “So, what happens if you work too much?”...
A New Sleep Routine for the New School Year
The start of a new school year brings plenty of challenges, including the basic business of getting back into its usual rhythms and routine. For kids, this can be especially difficult after a summer of growing accustomed to staying up and sleeping in later than usual....