Rainbow Dreams and Art Blog

Another session of Family Yoga just ended, and although I am enjoying the short break, I can’t wait for the next one to begin. I love how Storytime Yoga methods have helped me reach out to touch families through yoga and story.
It was wonderful to see how the parents and the kids seemed to look forward to class each week. The girls in one family chose yoga class over a birthday party at a pizza place. They didn’t want to miss a yoga class, which made it even more of a privilege to teach them.
One of my favorite poses each week, was Community Boat, where all of us gathered in a big circle and held hands, and attempted to assist each other in getting all of our connected feet off the floor at once, as we laughed and breathed together.
One of my favorite story themes, was “The Roar of the Awakening,” when one five year old girl did Lion’s Breath pose and roared playfully another Dad. It was so cute, and we all laughed together. The sense of community, and the warmth of our hearts when we were together each week was something I will cherish for a long time.
I look forward to sharing Storytime Yoga with many, many more families in the days to come!

Tags: Art, Health, Storytelling, Storytime Yoga, Yoga by Lisa
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Welcome to January 2010!  I hope that it is a healthy, happy one for us all!

Like most everyone, I have made my own personal list of resolutions for the New Year, and I have created a list of favorite things, and of course this includes resources related to health and fitness, art, and storytelling. These are all things and people I feel passionate about and that are helping me get off to a great start this January.

Eischens Yoga

especially my teachers Lynn Shuck

and Kari Tomashik

Storytime Yoga - Sydney Solis!

Arbonne Shakes (great for nutrition and weight loss)

Arbonne Detox Tea

Arbonne Natural Hormones

Skechers Shape ups (exercise shoes) – they have been great for my knees and help me use the whole back of my body…calves, hamstrings, etc.

Alternative Medicine Solutions

Health and Healing Chiropractic -  in Rochester

North Oakland Family YMCA – a great place to work out!

Auburn Hills Community Center - a great place to work out!

Woolynns – fiber artist Lynn Shuck…beautiful scarves

Beyond Barbie – beautiful, figurative work by a beautiful artist

Please note, these are all resources that I have had a great experience with, your mileage may vary!

Tags: Art, Creative Writing, Health, Storytelling, Yoga by Lisa
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This past week or so, I have enjoyed experiencing my world beginning to thaw. Everywhere are signs of spring, which begins tomorrow. As I drove to the YMCA to work, I was excited to see a pasture full of sheep grazing, and amongst the sheep were these little, white lambs, with their mothers. They were so cute. I heard the sounds of the ice melting and breaking up on the lake at Stony Creek Park…it looked like giant glaciers melting. The little pond on my way to work had ice melting too, and yesterday I heard the peepers for the first time this spring.

On Sunday, my daughter and I ran in the 4-mile St. Patrick’s Day race in Detroit. Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, and seeing all the green, reminded me that spring was even closer than I’d realized. The day was so warm and the sun so bright, that we even had sun burned cheeks! It felt so good to run in my first race ever. I felt like celebrating, as I had spent so much time frozen with the pain in my knee, and then to be able to run, free of pain, was like the first day of spring.

My classes schedule is busy, and I am looking forward to new experiences in the spring and the summer. My new yoga classes with Fill in the Blanks workshops in Ferndale, have gone well, and I am beginning another session of family yoga classes in a couple of weeks. There have been many ups and downs, but it seems as though the kids really do enjoy yoga, even more than I’d expected. I love working with kids and seeing them try new things and learn to listen to their bodies.

Tags: Articles, Creative Writing, Personal Storytelling, Yoga by Lisa
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Thanksgiving is only a couple of days away and it seems like a good topic for my blog today.  I am thankful for so many wonderful opportunities that have come my way.
The past few weeks, my time teaching Storytime Yoga in our North Oakland YMCA Childwatch, has been absolutely magical.  There is no other way to describe it.  The classes are only a half hour long, but when I walk in and the kids come running or walking toward me, smiling, I know why I’m doing this.  I silently give thanks for each one of these great kids.  There have been so many special times that we have shared.  On Monday evening last week, I introduced my pink, winged piglet, named Star, just as usual.  I talked about poetry and how Star loves to recite poetry.  I asked if anyone had a poem to share and to my surprise and delight, there were several kids willing to share poems.  It became a very special experience.  Then, I also introduced my Sophia, the Snake of Dreams, and talked about dreams.  Amazingly, several kids again wanted to share their dreams!  The cutest thing was at the end of the class, I asked each child to take a turn and show us all their favorite pose, and that we would all do it with them.  Well, the kids were so focused on poetry, that the first child actually recited a poem instead of showing us a pose.  So then I had us all do a yoga pose that could go with the poem.  If it had a tree in it, for example, we did tree pose, and so on.  It was great fun and soon all the kids were joining in.  Purely magical.  This is why I love teaching yoga, seeing the positive impact on others.

In my yoga class for senior citizens, it is so nice to see how much they appreciate their practice, and how they are grateful and happy to see me.  Just the same way that I feel about them.  I love all of my students and I love seeing them feel better and more at peace.

I have so much to be thankful for!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Lisa

Tags: Eischens Yoga, Storytelling, Storytime Yoga by Lisa
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