If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I’ve been playing with the play-list for the Hot Yoga for Teens class I teach once a week. It’s an abbreviated class, only one hour in duration, but involves as many of the 26 hot yoga poses as we can fit in, along with a lovely savasana at the end. The students spend the first few weeks learning the poses and then each week we add in a few new challenges and technique hints to bring up their level of yoga and deepen their experience.

I like to include a lot of current and pop tunes which are fun and have positive messages. I always keep in mind the teens and try to choose stuff they’ll enjoy. Also, I encourage my students to suggest tunes to add and they love to hear their favourites during class. This particular play list may be more energetic than most yoga play-lists, which are known for their relaxing, calming sound tracks. I wanted to empower the students and let them know anything is possible through hard work, dedication, focus, and love. So this is what it looks like currently. It’ll change before the next session starts, but for today we’ll enjoy this version.

Breathe – Sia

Amber – 311

Hey, Soul Sister – Train

This Too Shall Pass – OK Go

Uprising – Muse

Sober – Pink

Karma Police – Radiohead

Sewn – The Feeling

Love Is The Answer – Weezer

Hey World (Don’t Give Up) Michael Franti & Spearhead

Hungry Heart – Minnie Driver

Breathe – Anna Nalick

Claire de Lune – Claude Debussy

For suggestions on music for kids and teens yoga class visit The Magic of Music on The Kids Yoga Resource.

Getting kids and teens to set goals is part of teaching them how to achieve success in school and life. I know whenever we attend Parent Teacher Interviews the teacher always encourages our child to set some goals for the coming term. We then review the goals at the following Parent Teacher Interview to see how the child is progressing.

Students are also sometimes asked to consider who they want to be by the end of the year, in five years, by the end of high school, etc. This is pretty heavy stuff and involves teaching them the concept of putting their best effort forward starting today. Or as Stephen Covey puts it, “Begin with the end in mind.”

For yogis this means accepting where, what and who you are today, while working to improve yourself one breath, one pose, one meditation at a time.

To help teach this idea to children there is a fun and interactive website www.futureme.org. It’s an e-mail service called FutureMe which allows individuals to send themselves a future e-mail. E-mails can be sent anywhere from one month to 30 years in the future.

The site is very easy to use. In order to send an e-mail simply:

1. Type in your e-mail address
2. Write a subject, such as, “Congratulations Graduate”
3. Write a message to your future self
4. Choose to make your message private or public
5. Choose a date on which to receive the e-mail
6. Enter the verification code
7. Click the ‘Send this to the future’ button
8. Check your inbox to verify your e-mail address

Then forget about it until you receive it in your e-mail sometime in the future.

How cool is that!

Applications I can see for this include:

• writing an e-mail at the beginning of the year to receive just before final report cards
• setting a goal for the term, such as, “I will contribute more in class.”
• Grade 1 students writing a message to be received prior to leaving Elementary School
• sending yourself an e-mail at the beginning of a major project detailing how you accomplished this goal and the things you hoped to learn
• Teens writing advice to themselves

The possibilities are limited only by your creativity. Have fun and get motivated to put your best into living today.

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe via RSS or e-mail to receive all the latest on helping teens and kids be their very best physically, mentally and emotionally delivered directly to you.

“With Valentine’s Day around the corner I’ve been attempting to soften my heart, to open it to the richness and wonder of the world, to increase my ability to connect in a meaningful way to those with whom I come in contact. And so I’ve been contemplating my heart…

As one diagnosed with a heart murmur as a child, I learned early on the mechanics of the heart. Scientifically, it is a muscular organ with four chambers which pumps blood throughout the body by means of rhythmic contractions. However, it is also symbolically the center of our emotional and spiritual life.”

Read the rest of the article on Elephant Journal.

The article also inspired a poem, Yoga of the Heart by Bob Weisenberg of Yoga Demystified, who encourages us to contemplate the infinite wonder of the heart. I am deeply honored, Bob.

Recently I wrote an article for Radical Parenting which is a parenting site written by teens and gives you the straight facts on how to raise a teen in today’s crazy, mixed up world. The site is managed by Vanessa Van Petten, who manages 80 teen writers as they share life through their eyes and what they really need from their parents in order to succeed. The site covers everything from study hints to the latest teen trends and issues and promises to keep it real, challenge what you think you know, provide tried and true advice from those in the trenches, and help teens and parents navigate the teenage years as harmoniously as possible.

Shari wasn’t happy. She wasn’t popular, didn’t have a boyfriend, didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life, and felt alone much of the time even though she was surrounded by friends. Then Shari’s Mom enrolled her in a yoga class. In a matter of a few weeks Shari began to walk taller, feel stronger, and know that she could accomplish anything she set her mind to. She began to attract positive people and experiences into her life and spent most of her day smiling and feeling good about herself. As Shari practiced yoga her self-confidence grew. She knew herself better and was certain her future would be bright no matter what it held.

Here are a few ways in which yoga helped Shari and will help you feel good about yourself and know you can handle anything life brings your way…

Read the rest here.

Christmas morning dawned amid blue skies and hoar frost. It was a balmy -15 celsius out, so I snagged my husband’s Nikon and the dog and went to explore a nearby park. Here are some photos from my walking meditation to celebrate the season.

Here in Alberta, Canada we notice the solstices. Today the sun will rise at 8:48 am and set at 4:16 pm local time. Yes, you read those times correctly. Not quite 71/2 hours of daylight. It’ll be dark as you go to work/school and dark as you come home. For someone who loves the sun and thrives in the long days of summer, this is a challenging time of year. I am always thrilled when the Winter Solstice arrives because it means that we will now gain daylight minutes with each new dawn.

With the darkness of the early hours around me I have enjoyed two wonderful posts about how to take care of yourself during these long, cold, dark days of winter. Both of which come from the always engaging elephant journal.

Winter Solstice = Kidney Kindness by Cora Wen

Provides Chinese medical insight into the solstice and how to nourish your kidneys living in harmony with the seasons and your body’s natural rhythms

Winter Solstice Yoga by Nancy Adler

Yin yoga explained with some wonderful pose suggestions to help you stay on your mat during the winter, using it as a time for rest and renewal

Until the sun begins to shine in at least equal amounts each day I will continue to ingest copious amounts of vitamin D supplements, try to appreciate the natural ebb and flow of energy levels, take care of my body with respect and compassion, and follow the advice of these sage women.