Mental Health Awareness

 

May is mental health awareness month, and we are passionate about story and yoga’s ability to promote not only literacy but also health and well-being.

Yoga is a skill that will support your kids for life. If you have never practiced yoga, now is the perfect time to give it a try. You and your kids will benefit. Sharing story and yoga with your kids will build a bond that you will be ever so grateful for.

Our stories offer social emotional learning skills, mindful movement and imaginative play! Parents and kids play and have fun together as well as learn to be still and quiet.

Listening to wisdom stories, practicing yoga, simple breathing exercises and easy meditations are all beneficial habits that will last a lifetime. They support happiness, health, and relationships!

Children are natural yogis; most kids are flexible and willing to try new things. Let it be fun and something that feels good for both of you. Yoga is non-competitive, anyone can practice.  

Yoga is different than other forms of exercise. Strength, flexibility, and balance are developed as are body, mind, and emotions. Research has found that yoga supports mental health issues like anxiety and depression, even ADHD.

Yoga helps children become calm, confident, and compassionate. In a noisy and chaotic world, yoga helps focus the mind, body, and emotions. Create a space where you can practice together without judgement or expectation.

Learning how to relax, breathe, and release tension is a life skill we all need, they help us to deal with life situations. We all know that mental health is just as important as physical health!

Celebrate Mental Health month and grab the eBook, Peace and Quiet, for FREE May 23 and 24.

Get it here > getbook.at/peaceandquiet

We love feedback, please take a moment and leave a kind review at Amazon!

May you and your children be happy and healthy!

Kathe

Spring into Yoga

A simple sequence just in time for the Spring Equinox to bring balance to kids’ AND adults’ bodies and minds!

Yoga is an ideal exercise for parents and children to practice together. It gets energy moving when the body is slow and slows down energy when the body is overactive.

No special equipment is needed. Comfy clothes, bare feet, a non-slip surface, and space to move is all that’s required. Yoga mats are nice but not necessary. Try this springtime sequence outside on a big towel.

Practicing with your child helps them to develop healthy habits for overall well-being. Don’t worry about kids getting the pose perfect. The most important thing is to get them to listen to their body, move slowly, and become aware of the breath.

Now let’s become a Wildflower as we go on A Yoga Storytelling Adventure!

1.  Seed – Child’s pose

Imagine you are a little seed.

Come down to your knees and sit back on your feet. Fold forward bringing your head to the ground. You can stretch your arms out in front palms down or place them back alongside the body with the palms face up.

You are a little seed covered with soil waiting to wake up. Stay here for a few breaths, breathing in and out slowly. Feel your connection to the earth.  

2. Sprout – Downward facing dog pose

Spring rains fall and the sun warms the earth. The seed sprouts.

From child’s pose come onto hands and knees. Hands under shoulders. Knees under hips. Spread your fingers wide like spider webs. Curl the toes under and straighten the legs lifting the hips up and back as you come into downward facing dog pose. Look at your toes. Stay here for a couple of slow breaths as you enjoy the stretch.

3. Seedling – Mountain pose

The sprout unfurls into a seedling.

From downward facing dog pose walk your feet forward, then slowly roll up to standing, the head is the last to come up. Stand tall, feel your feet firmly planted like roots growing down into the ground and your head lifted high to the sky. Take a few breaths as you reach for the sun.

4. Bend in the breeze – Side Stretch pose

Gentle breezes help you to grow strong.

From mountain pose slowly inhale and lift one arm up then exhale as you reach over for a gentle side stretch. Pause and feel the stretch. Switch arms and repeat the stretch on the opposite side. Inhale as you lift your arm, exhale as you bend. Mindfully move from side to side a few times. Notice the strength of our arms and legs.

5. Grow tall – Star Pose

Sunshine and rain help you to grow strong.

From mountain pose step the feet out and lift the arms up. Breathe deeply in and out as you imagine the soft rain and warm sunshine nourishing you from fingertips to toes. Lift your face to the sky in gratitude. 

6. Blossom and Leaf – Tree Pose

You are ready to blossom!

From mountain pose come onto the toes of one foot. Turn the knee out to the side and rest the heel on the ankle or lower leg. This is your little leaf bud. Press down into your standing leg reaching your roots deep into the ground. Bring your heads together at your heart and slowly reach your arms overhead. This is your blossom. Breath, balance and appreciate your strength.

7. Butterflies and bees – Warrior III

Butterflies and bees sip your sweet nectar.

From mountain pose reach forward and lift one leg behind you. Arms can be stretched out in front of you or opened out into a big T. Imagine a butterfly or a bee flying by to sip your sweet nectar.  Balance and breathe as your offer your sweetness to others.  Release the pose and repeat on the opposite side. 

8.  Wildflower – Easy Pose

You are a sweet-smelling wildflower and bring happiness to the world.

Sit in easy pose. Legs crossed and hands resting on your knees. Close your eyes. Feel your seat on the ground and your head reach high to the sky. Smile as you breathe in and out. Sunshine and rain have nourished you. You have grown strong. Butterflies and bees dance all around you. 

Springtime blessings,

Kathe

P.S. Home school parent, elementary teacher or school librarian? We've got companion products for each of our books! Check them out @ www.ayogastorytellingadventure.com

Spring into Homeschooling!

Homeschooling or considering homeschooling?

We are thrilled to announce Mel’s upcoming podcast interview with Bex Buzzie on The Homeschool Advantage.

Listen here https://realedtalk.podbean.com/   

If you homeschool or are considering homeschooling you won’t want to miss this.

Bex Buzzie is a teacher, coach and educational course content creator from San Diego, California. She connects homeschoolers to vendors, curriculum content creators, coops and more. The Homeschool Advantage is here to give you the leg up in a world that is slightly upside down.

For several decades now there has been a huge exodus from the public school system and it will probably continue. Tons of resources are available, and parents may feel overwhelmed as they research suppliers.

The Homeschool Advantage works as a liaison. Parents can connect with the creator of content and see if what they offer resonates with them. A win-win!

We know parents as educators are innovators themselves and are continuously looking to expand their curriculums. We hope we can help them to fulfill their mission with a fun way to incorporate social emotional learning, mindful movement, and imaginative play into the homeschool classroom with A Yoga Storytelling Adventure.

Parents and teachers are discovering ways to use story and yoga creatively in the classroom with our FREE 10 page Resource Guide filled with tips.

Get it here www.ayogastorytellingadventure.com/freebies

All 3 eBooks will be FREE for this promo March 2 and 3

Reviews mean the world to indie authors because they help more people notice their books. If you read one of the books, please consider leaving a review at Amazon, we’d love to hear your honest feedback!

 getbook.at/peaceandquiet

getbook.at/foreverfriends

getbook.at/theimpossibledream

With the magic of story and the wisdom of yoga let the adventure begin!

Kathe and Mel

Inhale Joy, Exhale Gratitude

 

Yup, Thanksgiving is right around the corner and tis the season for joyful gratitude! Thanksgiving is a day when many of us take a break from being overwhelmed and overworked; we celebrate family, friends, food and faith with a grateful heart.

It’s easy to be grateful for those extraordinary moments when things are going well, however, it’s even more important to find joy and gratitude in the ordinary simple things. Things we often take for granted and forget to notice like the simple pleasure of being alive, able to move and breathe.

Energy flows where attention goes and when we focus on the simple things we are grateful for we begin to notice the abundance of things we actually have to be grateful for.

Being grateful is an important practice and has been scientifically shown to make us happier. It’s the easiest way to feel better almost instantly and is one of the most powerful tools for creating a more joyful life. When you are grateful, your brain releases those feel good hormones we know as endorphins!

I invite you to try it and encourage your kids too! Practice saying thank you. Find every little reason to express your gratitude. Say thank you to your family, your friends, and your pets. Say thank you to schoolmates, co-workers and the cashier. Say thank you to your food, a warm cup of tea or cocoa. Say thank you as your release your day and slip into peaceful sleep. 

A simple practice is to say thank you each morning for being alive, able to move and breathe. Inhale joy as you open your arms wide, exhale bringing your hands to your heart in gratitude!

We can also encourage our kids to be grateful with a Gratitude Jar. Every day they can write down one thing they are grateful for and place it in the jar. It will bring joy to their heart when they open it up at the end of the year and remember all the simple things they have been grateful for.

I am grateful for all of you have supported A Yoga Storytelling Adventure! 

Amazon has discounted Forever Friends for a limited time, so now’s your chance to get it for $10.16!

Books make Great Gifts and it would be a perfect stocking stuffer! Just click on the link in the side bar. 

 

Blessings to you and yours.

With joyful gratitude, Kathe

Emotional Wellness for Kids

Emotional wellness is defined as the ability to process feelings in a healthy and positive way and manage the stress of everyday life.

Children may experience pressure from parents, teachers, peers and even from within themselves. This pressure can take many forms; some are minor bothers and others are major disturbances. Children must develop resilience in order to respond and adapt. Emotional wellness helps us see things from a different perspective.

Our goal as parents, teachers and caregivers is to help children realize that the world is a better place because they are in it, that they have something to contribute. This motivates them and gives them purpose.

Not all stress is a bad thing. Children learn about themselves as they learn about stress. Stress challenges us and successfully managing stressful situations enhances a child's ability to cope with future difficulties.  They learn how to traverse life’s mountains and valleys. However, when the stress is intense, it can affect the body, mind, and emotions.

Consistent daily stresses, though minor, often have consequences and we know major events can have lasting effects on health and well-being. Individual temperament determines how a child perceives and responds to stress as does age and development. Some children are naturally easy going, whereas change can throw others off balance.

Children can improve their ability to handle stress. Emotional support from family and friends helps, as does having previously succeeded in managing life’s challenges and strong sense of self-esteem is essential. 

Yoga has proven to have positive impacts on health including helping children to enhance their sense of self-esteem.  In numerous studies, yoga has repeatedly been shown to;

·         Increase self-confidence

·         manage stress and anxiety

·         regulate emotions

·         reduce hyperactivity and impulsivity

Yoga is more than exercise. Although exercise actives the mind in addition to the body, the practice of yoga is meant to bring the two together. The word yoga means union, and it is much more than merely the postures most of us are familiar with. 

Yoga offers a release from our day to day stress. It focuses on the action of connecting breath and movement. Yoga can help kids learn to live in the moment, focus on the task at hand, and handle problems peacefully.

Each particular posture has been cultivated over thousands of years to bring about effects in the mind and body. The postures not only stretch muscles they also constrict muscles. Children become more aware of their body and how it functions. Some poses are more difficult than others and kids should go slow and take it easy. 

The more often your child practices yoga, the greater the benefits. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends yoga as a safe and potentially effective therapy for children coping with emotional, mental, physical, and behavioral health conditions. Childhood is a great time to create healthy habits including yoga. Creating a yoga practice habit can have many positive impacts, some of the physical benefits include improved;

·          balance, strength and flexibility

·          coordination and concentration

·         digestive system and so much more 

Conscious breathing and a simple pose or two can be important tools for managing stresses as well as everyday challenges. Introduce your child to yoga with A Yoga Storytelling Adventure! 

Click on the link to get your FREE ebook; Wednesday and Thursday, October 12 and 13 for Emotional Wellness Month!

getbook.at/theimpossibledream

getbook.at/foreverfriends

getbook.at/peaceandquiet

We are grateful for the Reads and the REVIEWS!!

Paperbacks always available (see the sidebar) and remember Books make Great Gifts!

Om Shanti, 

Kathe

Book Walk and Giveaway!

As former librarians Mel and I were in charge of a Book Walk during the Summer Reading Program kick-off many years ago. I decided it was time to put one together for one of our books. So much fun!!

A Book Walk incorporates reading/literacy and usually the outdoors, it is often set up in a park. Perfect for a vendor event. A local Farmers and Artisan Market is one of my favorites places to sell as well as meet interesting people!

I chose A Yoga Storytelling Adventure; Forever Friends, a wisdom tale about a majestic elephant and a homeless dog, illuminating kindness, honesty, and friendship. Perfect for the dog friendly farmers market.

You can make a Book Walk yourself, here’s a list of materials you’ll need.

•       2 copies of the book
•      Real Estate Sign boards with H stakes 
•      Velcro dots
•      Utility knife, cutting surface, ruler
•      Scissors and tape
•      Construction paper
•      Glue stick or double sided tape
•     the pages will need to be laminated

As a former librarian and children’s author it was pretty tough to cut up our books but I reminded myself that the story was being transformed into something newly beautiful. I began by deconstructing the book, using the utility knife and a ruler to cut a straight edge. Go slow. You want your lines to be straight. Cut the pages out of both books, stacking each book separately.

You’ll be using pages from both stacks to put the book back together in the right order. Line up each page with its other half. Using a small piece of tape, secure the top, middle and bottom of the pages together.

I chose to place my book pages on construction paper which serves as a background border, but this is optional. Tape the construction paper together. Use the glue stick or double sided tape and place your book pages on your background boarder. Number each page 1, 2, … so that when participants come upon the Book Walk they will know where to begin.

Using your word processor create a page that says Book Walk along with any other information you want to share. This page goes next to the cover image of the book. Everything is now ready for laminating.

Once your pages are laminated they will need to be trimmed. Trim the laminated pages leaving a 1” boarder so that your story will be waterproof. Go slow; sometimes the scissors slip through the laminate!

Time to add the Velcro dots. Put the dots together and stick them to the four corners on the backside of the book pages (as well as the middle if your book is on the large size). Next place the pages on your sign where you want them to line up before you remove the remaining sticky back. Once the sticky backs are removed carefully press into place. Do this for all your pages.

Your Book Walk is ready for display! Gently push your H-stands into the ground. Space them about 8 to 10 feet apart depending on the length of the route and the number of pages in the book. It’s best if readers can see the next page up ahead. Then slide your real estate signs over the wire. Walla, you are ready to go!

Giveaway!! 

All three ebooks will be FREE for International Literacy Day. Celebrate mental literacy, emotional literacy and physical literacy with A Yoga Storytelling Adventure.  Mark your calendars and grab them while you can. We would love for you to read them and a review is always appreciated!

Save this post and click on the links below to “buy now for free” on September 8 and 9. These will take you to the ebook. Of course, the paperback is available for purchase and the link is on the right hand side of this page. ;-)

getbook.at/theimpossibledream

getbook.at/foreverfriends

getbook.at/peaceandquiet

Enjoy your adventure!

Kathe

Social Emotional Learning and Breath Breaks

 

                                                          Breath of Joy

Wouldn't it be great if we could build a community of educators committed to using wellness and social emotional learning as vehicles for healing and social change? So, what is social emotional learning anyway?

Social emotional learning is defined as the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. 

It is a process through which we acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions. These skills are vital for school, work, and a life of success.  

Sounds good, but how do we go about building this community? Before we get out our tools, lets start with a breath break!

What is a breath break? Simply said, a breath break connects you to your breath. You can enhance your physical, mental and social emotional well-being with mindful breathing techniques. You'll notice that you become less stressed when you practice conscious breathing and you'll want to share this with others. 

Breath is life! When we build awareness of our breath, we gain the capacity to respond thoughtfully rather than react to our situation. Breath awareness deepens our connection with the ever-flowing movement of our breath; increasing presence, enhancing mindful awareness, calming the body, and focusing the mind. 

Breathing techniques make use of the natural calming and soothing impact of the breath on the mind and body. They activate the parasympathetic nervous system allowing us to rest and digest. Mind/body practices help us in time of stress! They also help to build healthy habits that ultimately, in time, decrease our reactivity to stress. 

Now that we've acquired a bit of knowledge, let's apply it and practice Breath of Joy!

Breath of Joy

Stand tall in Mountain pose; head lifted high to the sky. Inhale in three parts, lifting the arms out in front, out to the side, then overhead. Exhale with an audible "HAAA" and fold forward. Bend the knees and gently swing the arms down and behind you. Slowly return to standing. 

Repeat 3 - 5 times. Pause and notice how you feel. 

Breath of Joy is just one of many breathing exercises you can practice with your students and other educators that will bring a smile to everyone's face!

Our newest title, A Yoga Storytelling Adventure: Peace and Quiet, offers breathing exercises that develop self-awareness and self-control. These interpersonal skills are needed to build a community committed to using wellness and social emotional learning as vehicles for healing and social change. Yoga has always been about healing and social emotional change! 

Peace and Quiet takes us on a whimsical journey to Eastern Europe, where a mind-mannered girl thinks she lives in a noisy and chaotic house until her wise neighbor turns her world upside down and she sees things in a different way. 

In this timeless tale kids learn that they may not be able to control the world around them; however, they can control their inner world. Although intended for ages 4 to 8, kids of all ages will discover a simple way to stay calm, focused and alert with three easy breathing exercises to use as a means of self-empowerment. 

Included is a Polish word guide to help develop an appreciation of a different language, and best of all, a full description of yoga poses makes the story come alive as you go on A Yoga Storytelling Adventure!

In honor of International Yoga Day the ebook will be FREE June 20, 21, and 22.

We would love for you to read and review!! getbook.at/peaceandquiet

May all beings be happy and healthy!!

Kathe

 

As always FREE resources for your home or school classroom

@ www.ayogastorytellingadventure.com