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do
something different
Feel
like pushing the envelope? Want to dare yourself to explore
the borderlands of your comfort zone? Juxtaposing your daily
routine with an activity you’ve never tried can stir the
senses, interrupt a busy mind, and shake your spirit awake.
From Laughter Yoga to Tap Dancin’ for Your Soul to A Bollywood
and Henna Workshop, at Kripalu you can make the most of the
rest of your summer by taking a risk and introducing your
body, mind, and spirit to unexpected joy and energy.
 Do something different at
Kripalu. Get inspired and read short
essays by four members of Kripalu’s editorial team who decided
to do something different at Kripalu.
master
yogi at kripalu
Known
for his humility, humor, joy, and kindness, Sri Dharma Mittra
has been teaching yoga daily for almost 42 years. More than
half his life has been spent passing along the yamas and
niyamas, influencing hundreds of thousands of students with
his selfless teaching style. He is considered by some to be a
living link between classical and modern yoga. This month at
Kripalu, you can take advantage of the opportunity to study
with this renowned yoga master. Find out more about the Journey
of Yoga Absorption with Dharma Mittra, August 29–September 1,
2008.
gettin’
experiential
Want to
bring your work into the world by offering workshops? One in
every three Americans signs up for a personal development or
work-related workshop each year! How can you gain the skills
you need to be a successful workshop leader? Ken Nelson, an
experiential educator since 1975, and Lesli Lang, with two
decades of communication experience, will lead Facilitating
Transformational Workshops, September 28–October 2, 2008, at
Kripalu. In their "facilitation lab," you will gain
confidence, discover the power of experiential education to
transform individuals and group dynamics, and emerge with your
own personal leadership style. Find out more about Facilitating
Transformational Workshops: An Introduction to Group Dynamics.
Get inspired. Read "The Secret to
Creating Transformational Workshops," by Ken Nelson and Lesli
Lang.
need
a tibetan healing ritual?
Healing
Chöd is an ancient Buddhist ritual with shamanic roots that is
known for its power to heal mental and physical sickness,
remove karmic obstacles to spiritual growth, and address human
suffering. Chöd is suitable for everyone, including those with
physical or mental distress, whether chronic or mild.
This fall, Kripalu is offering two different
opportunities to experience Chöd: In September and
November, Cutting Through Obstacles: Healing
Chöd, with Dungse Rigdzin Dorje Rinpoche and the monks and
nuns of Zangdokpalri. In October, Chöd Retreat, with Tsultrim
Allione, former Tibetan Buddhist nun and one of the first
Westerners to master Chöd.
take
your yoga teaching to the next level
If you
are a yoga teacher certified at the 200-hour level (in any
tradition), Kripalu’s 500-hour certification offers you one of
the best opportunities in the country to pursue the ongoing
study of yoga. Offered through four 9-day modules that can be
taken in any order, the 500-hour training deepens your
knowledge of advanced asanas, experiential anatomy, and
applied yogic philosophy, and teaches you skills for bringing
yoga to a wider range of students. Take a look at the 500-hour Kripalu
Yoga Teacher Training. You’ll find everything you need to
know, including upcoming dates, costs, and financial aid
opportunities.
out
on the trail
What do
walking and hiking have to offer? Exercise, yes, but, as
Healthy Living team member John Bagnulo tells us, so much more
than that. An avid hiker and outdoorsman, he articulates why
walking and hiking are so important to him (and why they’re
good for anyone!) and shares tips for starting out on the
trail. Find out more about the many
benefits of walking and hiking.
healthy
living recipes
Do you
have a hard time finding healthy foods that your kids actually
want to eat? This month, Deb Howard gives you three dips
they’re sure to love, plus a delicious cookie recipe.
Nutritionist John Bagnulo tells us why beans and avocadoes are
a boon for the cardiovascular system, and how sweets can be
made more palatable for the body, not just the taste buds.
August Healthy Living Recipes
Traditional Hummus Guacamole Refried Beans
Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
take
a yoga break
Need a
neck and shoulder release while sitting at your desk? If
you've had a long day, try a quick yoga fix. Visit our home page to take a Kripalu
Yoga break.
desktop
wallpaper
Enjoy the
beauty of the Berkshires every day with Kripalu’s desktop
wallpaper. Available with and without a calendar. Easy-to-download. we
love to hear from you
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welcome
It’s
August, time for one final summer hurrah—time to enjoy
late-summer flowers, berries ripe for the picking, abundant
produce at the local farmers market, and cool nights delicious
for sleeping. This month’s issue will help you gather your
energies for the upcoming change in season—glean wisdom from
reflections on parenting yoga-style, get inspired to do
something different at Kripalu, and read sage advice from an
expert hiker. Make sure to take time to revel in this last
beautiful stretch of summer!
The
Yoga of Parenting: Breathe in the Flower, Blow out the Candle
by Carrie
Owens
Being a good parent—or aunt, grandfather,
teacher, or camp counselor—means different things to different
people and there is no single answer for everyone. Parenting
from a yogic perspective simply means we invite inquiry into
and reflection on our own personal experience. In other words,
we search for our own truths. In this piece, writer, mother,
and yogini Carrie Owens shares her experience along with
insights from leading teachers on some of the things that work
for them.
Before my first daughter was born, I
attended a prenatal yoga class in Los Angeles that was
scheduled right before a postnatal class. Like other expectant
moms, I had an idealized vision of my life after my daughter’s
arrival—via natural child birth, of course!—that included
attachment parenting (a responsive and nurturing parenting
style that facilitates strong emotional bonds), a peaceful
home, and yoga. The postnatal yoga class showed a picture of
what I imagined for our new life. I distinctly remember babies
lying peacefully next to their mothers’ yoga mats.
My
own daughter, although the most beautiful person I had ever
laid eyes on, turned out to be a yoga-mat-hating, energetic
wiggler. Attempts to engage Squirmy Girl in yoga were, to put
it mildly, unsuccessful. Not only did we not practice together
but my own practice lapsed while I attended to the business of
learning to be a mother. A breakthrough moment in those early
years occurred when a good friend recommended I tell my upset
daughter to "Breathe in the flower, blow out the candle." This
was the first time I was able to guide Squirmy Girl into
conscious breathing, and the calm that came with it. Although
she is nearly a teenager, we still use that phrase today.
Swami Kripalu said that the spiritual path is "the
performance of skillful actions that lead one to the direct
realization of truth." I can think of no better definition of
parenting than performing skillful actions with a child that
lead both the parent and the child to experience peace,
realize truth, and increase consciousness. With this in mind,
I recently spoke to several Kripalu workshop leaders to seek
out more skillful actions for parents.
Do-overs
One morning, Arti Ross Kelso, Dean of the Kripalu School of
Massage, walked into her teenage son’s room to wake him, but
before she could say a word he growled at her. She told him
she would go out of the room and try again. When she returned,
he was smiling.
Arti, her husband, and their two sons
call these "do-overs," in which they give one another a second
try if they feel a loss in consciousness or a build-up of
antagonism. An important component of do-overs is the quality
of lightheartedness. As parents, we can’t take ourselves too
seriously, or, as Arti says, "The kids are so not interested."
Big souls in little bodies Shakta Kaur Khalsa,
founder of Radiant Child Yoga, says the conclusion she’s come
to is that the one essential ingredient in teaching children
is a conscious intention of the highest well-being for those
children. She recommends that parents make a point to remember
that children are naturally radiant, aware, and full of
wisdom, or, in other words, big souls in little bodies. Shakta
says, "Since children are closer to the source of life and
haven’t forgotten their natural connection to it, the subtle
message that is conveyed in a conscious intention is what
children will respond to even more than words. See them as
those big souls and you will see them match up to that!"
Cloud watching The founder of Creative Kids
Yoga™, Rosemary Todd Clough
encourages parents to facilitate their children’s connections
with nature, so children may learn through observation how we
are all connected, which will, in turn, increase their own
self-awareness and empowerment. She says it’s important for
kids to see their parents spend time being in nature because
children naturally mimic and learn from us—so, no, we can’t
just shoo them outdoors.
A great activity is to lie on
the grass with your kids and find shapes in the clouds. Then,
she says, take it to the next level with questions or
activities. Can you make a cloud shape with your body? Can you
draw a picture of what you see? Rosemary says, "Parents have
to be able to play with their kids, get them started, and take
time to smell the roses themselves."
Don’t do time
out, do time in "Listen to your child, to your heart, to
your intuition," says Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, director of Golden
Bridge Yoga in Los Angeles. "This child is like no other
child, no one knows your child better than you!"
She
urges parents to do "time ins," not "time outs." When a child
is having a tantrum, many parents will send the child away, or
put him alone on a chair. She tells us that, instead, this is
the time to pull the child to you, hold her, and listen to
that distress to know what the child needs. Another advantage
of this is that by listening well to our children, we also
teach them to listen to others.
The Yes Game
Erin and Kevin Maile O’Keefe teach the Yes Game as part of
their CircusYoga® program, and parents report that, much more
than a game, it becomes part of the family culture. This is
how it works: everyone sits in a circle, facing one another,
and someone offers an idea or emotion, however wacky, "Let’s
scoot around on our butts!" Each idea is received with
complete enthusiasm by the group: "YES! Let’s scoot around on
our butts!" Do that until there’s another suggestion, also
received with complete enthusiasm. "Let’s walk on the moon!"
"YES! Let’s walk on the moon!" Even a "no" is received with
complete enthusiasm. "I don’t want to." "YES! We don’t want
to! It’s boring! It’s stupid!"
Once the Yes Game is a
part of the family culture (this will take several plays of
the game), it may be brought into accomplishing mundane tasks.
"Let’s do the dishes." "YES! Let’s do the dishes!" Or, "Let’s
do the dishes on one foot!" Or in French!
The Ball
Smush The Ball Smush is one of yoga teacher Craig
Hanauer’s favorite exercises to do with the children he
teaches. With the children lying on their stomachs, he uses a
large yoga ball to press those whose "bodies are ready" from
head to toe (except for the back of knees). The children are
encouraged to yell out directives, "More pressure!" or "More
on the back!" Then, the parent lies down and the child gets to
smush the grown-up. Craig reports that children respond well
to deep pressure and are calmed by the exercise. He recommends
it as part of the bedtime ritual.
Nightly
loving-kindness Spiritual teacher and writer Sharon
Salzberg recommends another bedtime ritual, a nightly
loving-kindness practice. This is not a prayer, but an
exercise in which you think about people, wishing them well
before sleep.
First, children think about people they
know, then people they’ve had conflict with, and, finally,
everyone in the world. The child may say something like, "May
George be well. May Jerry be at peace. May Dandelion be
happy." When there is someone a child had a rough time with
that day, they can say, "Well, today I was really mad at you,
Kate, but I want you to be happy." The child can end with,
"May everyone in the whole world be happy, be well, be at
peace." Sharon tells us that parenting is like meditating out
loud.
Parenting as meditation Indeed, a
meditative posture is what we’re cultivating through skillful
actions, to be really present with what’s happening with our
children, to allow them to have their emotions and thoughts
without being overwhelmed or reactionary. And, in this, to
nudge them into their own meditative postures—to experience
peace, realize truth, and increase consciousness.
For
me, the truth is that parenting has been my practice all these
years. It turns out that I didn’t need to actually get on the
yoga mat. I wish I had known this during those early days when
I yearned to be in yoga class with Squirmy Girl, but mostly I
am just glad to know it now. I can see that my idealized
vision for our family life has been realized—from deeply
attached children, to a peaceful home, to even, occasionally,
yoga on a mat.
Carrie Owens is a writer from
California, where she also works in animation. Her daughters
are seven and eleven years old.
Spreading the
Word
The Art
of Storytelling: The Moth and Common Ties Our
ability to tell stories about ourselves and our world is one
thing that makes us uniquely human and provides a deep
opportunity for connection. The Moth is a
not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to promoting the
art of storytelling. Based in New York City, they host live
storytelling events that speak to the whole of human
experience (and they have a free podcast!). Providing another
take on telling stories, Common Ties asks the world 20
questions, then selects poignant and evocative answers of 50
words or less, pairing the answers with artwork. Final pieces
are posted on their website each week. Start exploring
stories—others’ and your own—at www.themoth.org and www.commonties.com.
When I Was a Kid, I Used to Believe…
Did you
have imaginary friends? Or believe that a vampire lived in the
toilet? Or think that "ped x-ing" signs stood for
"pediatrician crossing"? A UK-based website called I Used to
Believe collects and shares the full gamut of mistaken, and
often hilarious, childhood beliefs. You can read others’
beliefs, submit your own, and relish in remembering what it’s
like to be a kid trying to figure out the world around you.
Check out the unique perspectives that only childhood
can produce at www.iusedtobelieve.com.
Quote of the
Month
I can
imagine that someday we will regard our children not as
creatures to manipulate or to change but rather as messengers
from a world we once deeply knew, but which we have long since
forgotten, who can reveal to us more about the true secrets of
life, and also our own lives, than our parents were ever able
to.
—Alice Miller, author and researcher on childhood
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