Powerful Me, Powerful You!

This month we explored the power within!  One of the best ways to grow up to be happy and balanced is to feel like you have the power and the means to create the life you want to live.  This is called an internal locus of control.  On the other hand, having an external locus of control or feeling like things just happen to you with no good reason and there is nothing to be done about it, is linked to being an unhappy adult, living a life with little satisfaction.

An internal locus of control means you have coping skills to deal with problems and stresses.  It means you can think through solutions and face difficulties.  It's mainly what you think and believe about yourself and your capabilities.  So, all you have to do is think and believe - in yourself and your abilities - make them whatever they need to be and whatever you want them to be!

Part of being strong and resilient is seeking support from others and finding shared experiences and commonalities from which to learn.  Everybody is unique and we can learn so much from each other!

The volcano - inhale and lift the arms up through center, like the lava rising up the core of the volcano.  Then, with a big whoosh of the breath, let the arms out to the sides.  The lava represents the rising of stress and frustration.  The release is the letting go of it all!

Warrior II pose - stand strong with legs apart, the front foot pointing toward the short side of the mat with the knee bent and the back foot pointing to the long end of the mat.  The hands come in to the heart and then we send them out wide from the shoulders like shooting an arrow.  We look out over where we've shot that arrow.  This represents looking at what we need to change and focusing on that change with a strong mind and a strong resolve to take care of it, for once and for all! 

Warrior I pose - Stand strong with legs apart and both feet turned toward the short side of the mat.  The arms in this version rise up toward the sky and are meant to represent pushing up and through.  In this case, we use it to represent rising above the challenges and struggles we sometimes face and emerging strong and capable!

Believe in yourself!  Be that strong and capable person you are meant to be!

Signing off for this month,

Tammy and Carmen

Yoga Dance!

The Kripalu Yoga program in Massachusettes teaches a yoga dance program and I remember enjoying it when there for a training.  So, we decided to have a summer dance party!  The girls started off by moving back and forth across the large studio space to music, creating various dance moves which incorporated yoga poses such as warrior and goddess pose.  We quickly got tired, so we moved to choosing songs and dance moves that went along with the songs.

Here we chose the song Brave by Sara Bareilles

Here we are dancing to I'm Alive by Michael Franti

And, Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen

We also did some "freeze dancing" and the "hokey pokey."

Finally, some strengthening and good stretching was needed!

Yoga as Story-Telling

The Yoga Girls did some creative story-telling using story dice.  The dice have images to inspire stories.  We shook and we passed our story along bit by bit, so that each girl contributed until the story was complete.  Once we had a complete story, it was time to set it to a yoga series.  Sometimes this was easy and sometimes hard.  We occasionally had to make up poses, but luckily yoga is pretty creative and inspiring!

We began with a need to measure some bananas on a scale for a monkey:

Scale pose

Scale pose

Bananasana

Bananasana

We also needed to weigh out some fish at the market.

There were cats involved and they were helping each other.

Half moon pose

At night the moon came out

And, a dangerous lion came into the village

He also was a magical lion that could fly.....

Flying dragon (adapted to flying lion)

A volcano

And a dead bug...

The End.......All that matters was that we had fun!!!!

Yoga Girls Create!

This month the Yoga Girls created origami animals.  Each girl chose what type of animal to create out of paper.  There was a panda, a tiger, a monkey, a frog, and a cat.

Next task was for each girl to create a three pose series that was inspired by the animal.  It was allowed that poses we'd already learned could be used, adapted, or renamed.

Celia's lazy panda

Faye's stalking tiger

Here the girls are leaping like frogs from a crouched position

Rowan's monkey

Emma created a series inspired by all the things her cat does before lying down to sleep.  Here is sleeping cat.

Creativity shouldn't just be about art, music, or writing.  The brain and the body working together creatively adds a whole new layer of awareness for the brain to pay attention to.  The brain and the body work together in a whole new way and the connections and awareness become stronger.  Why is it important for the mind and body to work together?  Because when you are stressed out, your mind can tell your body to relax and your body can tell your mind to relax.  When you are sick, you can help your body fight off illness by using your thoughts.  When you can't focus, you can use your body to help your mind get clear.

Yoga teaches us to connect the mind and the body automatically.  Create your own poses based on your favorite animals.  On Monday, do your monkey series.  On Tuesday, do your tiger series.  On Wednesday do your walrus series.  Each day you can have a practice.  Each day you can do some yoga.  And each day, you make yourself stronger, more, focused, and happier!

Take Care.
Tammy and Carmen