Mindfulness Walk and Haiku

August 3rd, 2010

The boys finished lunch late today, so we started the session with a meditative walk. Before we left the studio, I reminded the group about the intention for the walk and gave a challenge/assignment. I asked each student to compose a haiku during part of their quiet time. Some students did not know what a haiku is, so I explained this Japanese poetry style and gave some examples.

The group hiked to the beaver pond, then everyone spread out and found a place to sit and observe silently for a while. After hearing how the children enjoyed the silent observation last week, I allowed extra time for this at the end. In fact, everyone looked so serene, so blissful even sitting around the pond that I kept extending the time more and more.

I remember long stretches of time in my own childhood spent in nature or doing artwork…time that almost seemed to extend into infinity. Endless afternoons exploring the backwoods behind our house with neighbors, unaware of any agenda and forgetting hunger even. It is so unfortunate that many children in our fast-paced world don’t have the freedom to explore and relax in nature. These little forays are gifts for all of us, and hopefully if any of the students did not know how much they can enjoy simply being outside, they do now.

After we returned to the studio, everyone shared their haiku from memory. I was moved by the boys’ candidness. When I asked if I can record and post their poems on this time, the students agreed. Enjoy:

Haiku written by the students themselves:

It is a nice day
To be walking by the pond
There are no beavers ~M

Sitting near the pond
Listening to the crickets
Looking at the mountain ~Z

A big slient pond
Crickets chirping in the grass
Chirp sounds again ~C

We are at the pond
Looking at all the nature
And admiring it ~J

The heron swoops down
As I sit here to ponder
What he’s doing ~D

Looking at the trees
While sitting in the circle
Makes me think a lot ~C

See and hear every sound
It invades your restless mind
Slow down, spend some time ~R

Ducks rest on water,
Not hunting: the lake is still.
But crickets still sing ~My contribution

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Meditative Walks

July 28th, 2010

On beautiful days, sometimes we begin the class with a meditative walk. The whole group gathers outside, and I review the process. This is not the typical “chatty hike”. We start in silence, practice rhythmic belly breathing, walking slowly and with intention. We place our feet with intention, being aware of the movement of our soles, our posture, the balance of the whole body.

As we move, I share relevant stories and observations to help the students focus on the present moment with its bountiful and complex natural expressions. I talk about soil ecology and the movement of gasses, roots, mycelial strands, and micro-organisms through the earth. I lead their attention to the shrubs, trees, mushrooms, birds, clouds around us, helping the children to engage with the living earth and perhaps- even for a few moments- leave the cyclic track of the mind.

We practice sense attunement exercises, focusing on kinesthetic awareness, sight, sound, smell and even taste separately, discovering something new about our surroundings with each walk. If the bugs aren’t too bad, our session includes a time for still mindfulness. We find an interesting location, and each student selects a spot to sit and observe quietly for 5 minutes. I tell the students to find “a gem” in their spot. This can be an observation, a small object or an idea.

We return to the studio for stretches and a guided relaxation session. During this time, students are free to share some of their experiences. It’s always refreshing to see them enjoy their time nature, and enjoy it enough to say that they did. After the sitting mindfulness, I always ask if anyone felt bored or ready to move on. I am always pleasantly surprised when everyone says they enjoyed every moment of it. In face, many say they felt so relazed and composed that they did not want to leave. Some say that they feel more relaxed in nature than during the guided relaxation session in the studio. We will certainly continue to create more opportunities for the students to quietly experience the natural outer and inner world.

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July Review

July 28th, 2010

This month’s Yoga classes have been as varied as the weather.

At Frye, the girls’ class has grown to the largest numbers we’ve ever seen. Some days, we had up to ten girls in the cozy yurt! This group is enthusiastic and dedicated, at times even requesting challenging workouts. Usually, I focus on the relaxing and meditative aspect of practice- a deeper and slower pace of awareness few teenagers appreciate in the rush of modern life. The girls group has always been receptive to this approach, so classes develop a rhythmic flow with ample opportunity for improvisation and dance. However, this month the girls are also eager to “work out.” I have started to incorporate more challenging routines, including upper-body strengthening exercises.

The boys class seems to be entering a groove. After the arrival of new residents, it always takes us a bit to settle in. This group models by example, and new students are quickly able to learn the exercises.

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Responsive Practice

June 25th, 2010

Teaching fitness classes at Ironwood is a a unique challenge because, even in the rare case that a student comes to Ironwood willingly, they have not chosen fitness class in particular, so besides presenting the routines and leading the class my role is also to inspire the students to WANT to participate.

At this age, interest is still piqued differently in boys and girls.  I often find boys more interested (and engaged) by a vigorous, upper-body based workout, whereas the girls are easily motivated by slower- paced, deeper core work, dance and other integrative movement.  Both groups appreciate the final relaxation/ visualization sessions.  However, the boys seem to need to work hard before they are able to fully relax their minds and bodies.  The girls seem more able to focus on the slower movement and subtle directions of a more meditative session, allowing them to begin the relaxation session almost at will and at an earlier stage of class.

I continue to start sessions with check-in, allowing students an opportunity to share how they’re feeling and what they’re needing that day.  Using their responses and my own observations, I custom suit each class.  Last week, the girls were particularly motivated for a good workout.  We focused on core strength, doing a variety of abdominal exercises, back work and push-up variations.  We did standing poses and inverse positions, allowing for a long cool-down period.  Even if the girls begin class feeling anxious or overwhelmed with “life”, most finish with a visible- and reported- sense of wholeness and wellbeing.

The boys also had a focused class.  One of the things I’ve had to start doing recently with this group is checking-in sporadically throughout the session.   Some students are so used to being lectured at or following directions on auto-pilot that even if they started out being focused, after some minutes of dedication I see absent gazes and lazy movements.  Often all I need to do is to ask them directly how they’re doing and invite them “to return” to class.   We had a good core workout, addressing all the major muscle and bone groups of the body.  Because the boys paid attention and did not distract the class, in the end we were able to work on the inverse positions and head-stand variations they like.  Of course, no matter how long I make the final relaxation- up to 10 minutes- it is never quite enough.  The students sit up on their mats with restful eyes and no impulse to rush “on to the next thing”.

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The inner rewards of focus for girls

June 2nd, 2010

The girls class has been filling up.  This week, we had eight students!  Fortunately, for the first time in weeks, we had no interruptions from academic or other programs.  We started class with a quiet check- in.  The girls expressed the need for a meditative, restful class: an unsurprising request.  Even when the outward routine of the day appears mundane, the teens are often tired and overwhelmed by their own thoughts, feelings, and judgments.  Hence, our work of quieting the mind becomes increasingly valuable.

Nevertheless, they have already learned that true relaxation is not merely laying down and doing nothing.  In Yoga, we get there by systematically working and stretching our bodies, clearing breathing and other channels, and focusing the mind.  With the backdrop of soothing music, we did just that.  And even though they asked for a “relaxing” class, I was able to slip in a whole sequence of standing and balance poses.  The secret is weaving them into a flow, and moving slowly through each pose so the body has time to align and even rest.

This class felt extraordinarily  focused.  By now the group has learned the basic movement vocabulary and- perhaps as importantly- they’ve learned to enjoy the process.  The girls remained quiet without reminders throughout the whole class and reaped the personal rewards of a deep relaxation/ visualization session at the end.  When they rolled up their mats and stood up to leave, their faces glowed with peace and composure.

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Meditative Walk

June 2nd, 2010

It is good when our classes can take shape with the seasons, the students’ needs and mood.  Last week, the students were a bit behind with lunch and finished much later than usual.  Coincidentally, the weather was sunny and warm: one day in a string of beautiful late- spring treats.  Not wanting to make them bend and stretch with full bellies, I decided to take the group on a meditative walk.

Everyone gathered just outside the lodge, and I described our goals for the walk.  A meditative walk is much like a meditative class, except we are outside.  We move slowly and intentionally, slowing, clearing and focusing the mind on the present.  As in class, we observe the breath and enter a fluid rhythm of breathing and walking.  We allow extraneous thoughts to pass.  We feel the ground firmly with our feet, placing them with care on a living surface.

I talk about the natural landscape as we walk, guiding the children’s attention towards soil biology, the identification and observation of trees and shrubs, any animals and birds we witness, and the clouds in the sky.   My words are meant as rootlets for the mind- gently grasping their attention and attaching it to the living world they are walking through so that they may begin to experience its beauty and complexity, and to wonder about natural systems and interrelationships.

We deliberately slowed our pace a number of times.  We also did not chat except to share relevant observations.  Towards the end of class, each student found a place to sit by a stream and spent 5 minutes silently listening and observing.  This was a particularly enjoyable and rejuvenating practice.  As we quieted our minds and tuned our senses to the natural world, a number of students felt as though the sound of the running stream increased its volume and intensity.  In fact, this soothing flow continued sounding through our minds even as we moved away from the stream…much as we hope that deep, rhythmic breathing and centeredness continue for students after they step away from the studio.  There is so much we can learn from nature, especially if we take the time to listen.

We returned to the yurt for 20 minutes of formal stretching. All the students enjoyed this experience and hope to go again.

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Personal Practice and Philosophy

May 21st, 2010

This week’s Yoga classes took a surprising turn.  Usually, the boys classes are more energetic and workout oriented.  However, this time the group seemed ripe for a more meditative, slower- paced practice.  My description of the practice of clearing the mind spurred a lively discussion amongst the students.  One boy could not accept or understand the value of practicing non-judgment.  He contended that he must judge himself and his experience because that is how he can learn, resolve problems and make changes.

I offered that sometimes it’s our judgment of something as “good” or “bad” that prematurely locks that experience and keeps us from learning.  In restraining judgment, we are trying to remain open to life as it unfolds before us, witnessing with complete attention and not through the filter of our labels or definitions.  In restraining action (at least during the time of practice) we are cultivating a clear and patient witnessing ability which can empower us to understand what is happening before reacting to it.

The student asked, “so are you suggesting that we do nothing and just veg out all day…such as in front of the TV?”

I said, ”No. clearing the mind is a timed practice that’s meant to empower us to live more fully and effectively.  I only teach philosophy I’ve tested, and if I was advocating doing nothing at all, I would be at home veging out, not here leading this class.”  Our discussion opened to involve other students.  We brought in stories and relevant examples of practical philosophy, cognitive psychology and coping skills, talking while we stretched.  At the end, this student asked me if he can take a week to explore and write down an organized statement of personal philosophy to bring to class next week.  How could I refuse such a request?  I stopped short of assigning this project to all the students as it is precisely this genuine interest and motivation that leads to the development and practice of personal philosophy.  Perhaps this more Socratic teaching mode is starting to bear fruit…

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Yoga Outdoors

May 4th, 2010

This week brought glorious sunshine and warmth, heralding our first outdoor practice.  The girls arranged their mats on a grassy field and enjoyed a long session of stretching and toning.  We stand barefoot on the earth, feeling the fresh breeze and the embrace of sunlight.   Surrounded by the gradually- greening trees, we listen to birdsong and breath.  Sunlight and a warm breeze brush our skin.  The beauty and peace of nature inspire practice to blossom into joy.

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cardio sessions and freestyle

April 22nd, 2010

When the students need to work harder and get a cardio workout, we amp up the class with movements inspired by martial arts and kickboxing. This week, both boys and girls practiced a variety of kicks, squats and lunges. Girls are developing a kickboxing routine. They especially like this workout because it is invigorating and empowering. We play energetic music, and they get to move their bodies in definitively strong ways.

At the same time, they continue to learn balance, alignment and technique. When I introduce new movement, I break down each into minute steps and demonstrate proper alignment not only to most effectively exercise the muscles, joints and bones involved, but also to prevent injury.

This week, the girls were so energized by the workout and the music that they had a short improvisational/ free dance segment. It’s a nice break to offer them an opportunity to free dance. They explore space and rhythm in an organic, free-flowing way while having a lot of fun

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Allowing Peace

April 15th, 2010

Modern medical health research supports ancient values of psycho-neuro-physiological balance, as well as the techniques developed to attain them.  “Take a breath and count to ten” is one of the most cliche phrases  for keeping cool, but there is boundless wisdom in those simple words.

During our Yoga classes, students experience firsthand the value of focusing on the breath, relaxing and centering the mind in the present.  They learn simple, specific and effective techniques for calming a distracted or irritable mind.

This week, I focused the class on relaxation.  I purposefully slowed the pace of our movement to reflect a slower breathing rate.  We spent the majority of the class low on the mat, developing and strengthening the core while resting the body after a long day of moving around and working.   If we pause long enough to notice, we will feel that peace is all around.  Ever present, it rests on the blades of grass, in the song of birds, the eves of trees, the slant of the sun moving across the field.   Sometimes even in the midst of the most hectic or violent crisis, one can choose peace simply by allowing for the possibility.

Sometimes it takes simply slowing down and staying in one place (or position) to get the mind to stop racing!  At the end of our class, I led a visualization session which involved loving-kindness and mindfulness practices.  Students emerged from the session particularly inspired and refreshed.  Seeing such positive results after a deliberately slower- paced practice, I’m inspired to lead more similarly- introspective sessions.

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