Dragon Breath is a great way to release the anxieties and worries that may be making it difficult for you or your students/children to function well in your lives.  Join me on this free, audio offering from the “Spotlight” article of me on the Moving Spirit newsletter as I lead you through this releasing, breathing pattern.  Feel the tension dissolve with each breath!

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Peaceful blessings,

Sandy

The last sentence of an article I recently read on the Intent Blog written by Debra Moffitt was,”Every action counts.”  For some reason those words have clung to me like a burr that catches hold of your pant leg and travels home with you after a walk through a meadow of tall grasses.  This sentence was the author’s last words in her article discussing what karma is, “the effects of our actions.”  She describes how what we do has an effect on us and on others.  Every actions counts . . . .

I left for Newtown, CT to work with some of the K-6 grade teachers with my props and materials safely packed, my music stored in the pocket of my suitcase, my handouts ready, my flash drive with my presentation safely tucked away in my purse, and my emotions jitter bugging inside me.  Would I really be able to be of some assistance in making the teachers’ stress levels soften?  Would they connect with me, an outsider, and feel that I had something useful for them to use in quieting their emotions? Would they each find one, two, or three relaxation techniques I was prepared to share with them that they could adopt as their own self-care techniques?  A sense of uneasiness filled me as my husband and I started down the road to Newtown on March 13th.  I so wanted to be helpful to them . . . .

There are times when you are faced with a situation that requires you to do what you have to do.  The recent snowstorm, Nemo, that hit New England, was one of those times for me.  I arrived in Providence, RI on Thursday, February 7th,  the day before the storm was due to hit, knowing full well what was coming our way.  I have endured many a snowstorm living in Illinois and New Hampshire, but this one was coming at the worst possible time.  My daughter was to have a baby shower on  Saturday, February 9th.   If the weather prediction was correct , her shower wouldn’t be on Saturday.  We had to wait and see. . . .

We’ ve all have heard that we should ‘be in the moment,’ or ‘enjoy each moment to the fullest.’  This advice for living may sound trite, overused, but there is great truth in those words for one never knows when the moments will end.   When three generations of my immediate family gathered in Florida last June  to celebrate my dad’s 90th birthday, I found that I was joyfully living that advice.

The start of a new calendar year brings with it the opportunity to make some changes in your classroom.  You may have rearranged your students’ desks, created a new bulletin board, or developed a new interest center that supports a new unit of study.  Starting fresh in the new year always feels good and generates renewed interest in learning.  There’s another change I’d  like to suggest that will help to bring awareness to the state-of-being of your students.  What is it?  It’s a How do you feel? chart.

The nation is in mourning.  The recent loss of 20 children and 6 adults is unfathomable.  How could such a thing happen?  Those of us left are at a loss for words to express the overwhelming grief and compassion we feel for the families of the victims and the community of Newtown, Connecticut.  We each relate to the families and community in our own personal way:  as a mother or father, a sister or brother, a grandmother or grandfather, an aunt or uncle, a teacher, a police officer, a fire fighter, or even as one who has experienced a loss of life too, though in a different way.  Our hearts ache, and we want to be of some help, some support.  But what can we do?

“It’s all about the heart.”  Those words came to me some years ago during a meditation.  At the time, I felt it meant that one should live and act from the heart.  Be kind, caring, helpful to those in one’s life.  Now, some years later, I have come to know that there is a greater, deeper meaning to those words.