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....
Mr. Rogers & the Place of Radical Caring in Education
In angry, challenging times like our own, it’s all the more important for us to pay attention to reminders of the best we can be. They are a source of hope, courage, motivation. And right now, we have a marvelous reminder in the acclaimed documentary Won’t You Be My...
It’s Not Just “ADHD Kids” Who Need to Release Energy throughout the Day
The other day, we noticed that our “Focusing Fun” segment from the Flying Eagle DVD – a demonstration of a simple game to practice focus – has now been seen by almost a million people. One million! Clearly, folks are looking for help with addressing ADHD symptoms...
Guest Post: How to Incorporate Mindfulness on Your Family Vacation This Summer
For many of us, summertime is travel time. Yet whether it's a day at the beach, a weekend of camping, a week of sightseeing, or a longer journey abroad, it can be easy to get so wrapped up in the busy-ness of making trips happen or documenting every moment for sharing...
Why Yoga Calm Is the Right Choice for Teaching Social-Emotional Skills
One day when our granddaughter was five and we were driving home from school, she told me about a recent interaction she’d had with her baby sitter. “You know what I noticed, Grandma?” Anna asked. “What?” “I noticed that I was getting frustrated with her.” Great, I...
Many Paths to Yoga Calm, Many Paths It Can Lead To
There are many paths that lead people to Yoga Calm. For Pati Richards, it began with running marathons. “I wasn’t interested in yoga at all,” she says, “but everything I read said to do yoga to improve your running, so I took it up.” So when Yoga Calm training was...