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“Habit is one of the antidotes to inattention,” says ADHD expert Dr. Jeff Sosne, one of our featured presenters at our inaugural Children’s Wellness Conference earlier this year.
In the clip below, Dr. Sosne gives some tips for creating habit and countering what he describes as the “toxic factors that erode a child’s attention.”
His full talk, “ADHD and the Attentive Mind,” is available on our four DVD chronicle of the conference. The set includes nine engaging presentations with over six and a half hours of practical advice and teaching tips from expert educators, counselors, scientists and health professionals. Sessions include ADHD/Attention skills, Food for Thought, Yoga for Families and preschoolers, how to evaluate wellness programs, environmental education, Tools for Grieving Children, and Contemplative Education.
To order, visit the Yoga Calm Store.
Dr. Sosne will also be speaking at next week’s workshop, ADHD: The Mind-Body Connection, an essential seminar for teachers, counselors, OTs and others who want to enhance their ability to support children diagnosed with attention disorders, as well as parents of kids so diagnosed. The workshop features a live class component and will be held at Marylhurst University, just south of Portland, Oregon, October 9 – 10, from 9 am to 4 pm each day. PSU credit, CEUs and Washington State Clock Hours are available.
Space is limited, so if you’ve not yet registered, we encourage you to do so right away.
The week of our Summer Intensive – an annual event encompassing all three of the basic Yoga Calm workshops – is our favorite week of the year. Not only to we get to spend time at the beautiful Still Meadow Retreat, but we get to meet and share our life’s work with interesting people from all over the world. All of us come together for one fundamental reason: We care about children and want to give them the tools to be successful and happy in their lives.
While the challenges to children’s health and well-being are significant, we find strength and inspiration from our growing Yoga Calm community. Knowing that there are so many talented and passionate professionals working together gives us hope. And that’s the real gift of our Summer Intensive – finding that we are not alone in our belief that we can create a positive future for our children and ourselves – a future that includes joy, love and beauty. The week at Still Meadow helps us to remember that. Here are a few of the highlights from this summer’s event.
Restoring with Yoga
Daily yoga classes with YogaJim – plus our Yoga Calm workshop sessions – helped participants heal from past injuries, develop new skills and strengths and rest and restore themselves. Here’s what a few of them said:
- “The training was nothing short of amazing. I had a very powerful mental, emotional, and physical shift in my body – very grounding, centering and healing.” – Desiree Gruber, Children’s Yoga Instructor
- “I want to thank you both for a most wonderful experience. [I] had no idea how great the experience was and how quickly the week went by. There is much that I can bring to our clinic as well as the yoga classes I teach. I really did not look forward to leaving. It was so peaceful to be there.” – Tess Kerzner, LMSW, LMHC
- “When I read the flier on Yoga Calm, I decided [that] I really wanted to see what this was all about. I have struggled with group ideas and how to truly involve the middle school students. I want to especially reach the students who on a daily basis cannot focus or organize themselves. I thought this workshop [could] be the answer for what I have been looking for in my practice. I was excited about the experience and it was much more than I expected. I believe that I left there a stronger person physically, emotionally, and professionally. I love the curriculum and came back and read the book from cover to cover. I find my mind exploring the possibilities of the different ways that I can implement this in my school. I am confident that the students who are involved in Yoga Calm will not only benefit from the classes but will develop skills that will be life-long. – Sandra Luecke, Middle School Counselor
Dancing with Lynea
Accompanied by Jim’s percussion ensemble, Lynea got everyone moving with her infectious African Dance class on Thursday night.
Time to Relax
We always include one “rest” day during our summer retreats – part to provide the opportunity for relaxation and processing all we’ve covered over the first few days, but also to take advantage of Oregon’s spectacular environment. Some took the opportunity to hike the old growth forest surrounding Still Meadow. Others headed to the beach.
Some paid visits to the nearby lavender farm or Columbia Gorge waterfalls.
Pretty active “rest” if you ask me!
Eating with Impunity!
With all the yoga and dancing and hiking, we all could certainly afford to have second helpings of the amazing food Kristin and Thomas made for us. (Be sure to check back here for future posts that will include some of our favorite of their recipes – including Thomas’s incredible gluten-free chocolate-raspberry cake! Yum!)
Add to that many enjoyable evenings telling sharing stories and singing songs around the campfire, massage and other health services from Tommy and Leslie, and the general atmosphere of camaraderie as we all got to know each other – all this made for a most memorable week.
In fact, we’re already looking forward to next year – and we hope to see you there. So save the dates: June 25 – July 1, 2011. We’ll be posting the Yoga Calm Summer Intensive 2011 event and registration info on the main Yoga Calm site as we have it available.
Image credits: Alan Vernon., (^_^)wellwin via Flickr.
Yoga Calm’s inaugural Children’s Wellness starts just a few weeks from now. This annual two day event features presentations, discussion panels and expert guest speakers on a variety of children’s health topics including Yoga Calm applications for ADHD, preschool, counseling, family work, physical/health education, occupational therapy, working with adults and therapeutics. And, of course, there will be lots of yoga to rejuvenate yourself, deepen your personal practice and develop your ability to teach theme-based classes.
Space is filling up, but you still have a chance to be a part of this unique gathering of creative professionals, which we blogged about earlier this month. Since then, we’ve confirmed five additional sessions for the conference:
- Contemplative Education: Dr. Rob Roeser of PSU and the Mind & Life Institute will share information about the Dalai Lama’s research initiative to support mindfulness and compassion in our schools.
- What to Look for in a Program Evaluation: Dr. Jack Hollis will show how to create effective evaluation tools for demonstrating the benefits of classroom program innovations and the value of what you do.
- Yoga – 1, 2, 3!: Carrie Green will share ideas on incorporating Yoga Calm in the preschool classroom, with lots of visuals, props and ideas.
- Rise & Shine Morning Yoga: This pre-conference yoga class with Jim Gillen will give you the opportunity to take a moment for yourself, stretch out those hips and shoulders, and restore your spirit.
- Yoga Renewal: Afternoon yoga with “YogaJim” will help you integrate the day’s activities, release tension and start the process toward healing.
Full descriptions of these and the other 10 conference sessions, including instructor bios, are available here (PDF).
Prerequisite: Integrated Approach to Wellness 1, ADHD: the Mind/Body Connection or Immersion workshop. Registration for the 2010 Summer Intensive also qualifies. (Questions? Contact us!)
The Children’s Wellness Conference is offered in conjunction with Portland State University, Continuing Education in the Graduate School of Education (CE/ED) and qualifies for 10 CEU/Clock Hours and/or 1 PSU Graduate/Undergraduate Credit. Coursework also applies toward Calm Certification Teacher Continuing Education. Certificate of training hours provided.
One of the things we often hear from people who take our workshops is how surprised they are to learn so much in two days while leaving the workshop refreshed and relaxed. What’s the secret? It’s no secret at all to education researchers who have found that active learning processes, rest and relaxation, and a stress-free environment contribute together to maximum learning.
And that’s what we’ve put together for our June 23-24 Children’s Wellness Conference.
Held at the beautiful Still Meadow Retreat, the conference will feature 10 interactive and engaging sessions on a variety of topics of interest to creative educators. And with special yoga sessions and great meals, you’ll have plenty of time to relax and renew yourself. There’s even an overnight option for those who really want to soak up the quiet of Still Meadow.
Below is a sneak peak of this year’s conference program, which qualifies for 1 PSU graduate/undergraduate credit. (See below for details.) Full descriptions of the individual sessions are available on the Yoga Calm website (PDF).
- Food for Thought: Dr. Michelle Ratcliffe is on a mission to change school food.
- Love, Hope & Action: Lynea Gillen gets us outside with a new environmental education curriculum.
- The Attentive Mind: Dr. Jeff Sosne shares his latest practical tips on how to help children engage, shift and sustain attention.
- Yoga for Families: Yoga Calm Trainer Kathy Flaminio will lead us in a fun family class.
- Prop-Based Processing: Jeff Albin’s interactive session provides you with a variety of innovative reflection tools and approaches.
- Meeting ASCA Standards with Yoga Calm: Anna Thedford, will present and lead a discussion of how to develop class plans that are effective, fun and meet standards.
- Yoga Camps for Girls: Cat Monroy will share 5 key tools and tips for using music, art, movement and writing to develop themes important to girls.
- Literature Circle Yoga: Carolyn Mosiman creatively matches Yoga Calm’s social/emotional learning activities with books to meet student needs.
- Yoga on the Ropes: Jeff Albin leads us in variety of classroom-based group challenge initiatives using only the standard yoga equipment.
- Addressing Loss with Children: Lynea Gillen shares from her experience and upcoming book.
Prerequisite: Integrated Approach to Wellness 1, ADHD: the Mind/Body Connection or Immersion workshop. Registration for the 2010 Summer Intensive also qualifies. (Questions? Contact us!)
The Children’s Wellness Conference is offered in conjunction with Portland State University, Continuing Education in the Graduate School of Education (CE/ED) and qualifies for 10 CEU/Clock Hours and/or 1 PSU Graduate/Undergraduate Credit. Coursework also applies toward the Yoga Calm Certification Teacher Continuing Education. Certificate of training hours provided.
Health care and climate change dominate the headlines these days, but how are they related?
Well, for one, through our children. In fact, no two issues will affect them more in their lifetimes – from supporting Medicare costs for us baby boomers to dealing with the effects of major changes in weather patterns. And solutions to those issues are also interrelated, starting with the need to get children outside in nature and moving more.
just sof/Flickr
In addition to creating opportunities for much needed exercise, reconnecting children with nature is a prerequisite to their understanding and dealing with environmental issues. As Robert Pyle writes in The Thundertree, “What is the extinction of the condor to a child who has never known a wren?”
From the air we breathe to the food we eat to the exercise and solace we find in nature, our personal wellness is inextricably linked to the health of our environment. In fact, Richard Louv notes in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, children’s alienation from nature is linked to ADHD, stress, depression and anxiety disorders, not to mention childhood obesity.
And yet its not just kids’ physical and mental health that improve when they’re more connected to the natural world. National studies have shown that the experiential and conceptual use of environmental education as an integrating concept also improves learning in math, science, social studies and language arts.
There’s no question to these benefits. The great challenge is how to get our students – and ourselves – reconnected with the natural world; how to stay engaged and hopeful in the face of overwhelming environmental issues; how to work together to creatively respond to our changing world.
That’s why we created our newest course, Creating a Sustainable Future – Integrating Wellness & Environmental Education.
This course demonstrates how Yoga Calm and environmental education activities can be integrated to develop high-interest, interdisciplinary lessons that meet and support K-8 health, science and physical education standards and curricula. Through exploring techniques of physical yoga, observation, self-reflection, social/emotional skills development, storytelling and simple schoolyard explorations, teachers, counselors and environmental educators will learn how to cultivate children’s innate curiosity and appreciation of their bodies, each other, animal life and other aspects of their natural, daily environment. This foundation provides the motivation and a powerful thematic basis for integrating more cognitive environmental education and natural science curricula.
With this creative, highly experiential and integrated approach to environmental education, meaningful connections between personal and planetary health can be drawn, fostering a lifelong interest in science and increased environmental citizenry and stewardship.
Our inaugural workshop is scheduled for April 10-11, 2010. Register now.
We’ve just been updating our schedule of upcoming Yoga Calm workshops, and wanted to let you know about a couple new offerings in particular: Listening to the Body: Yoga Calm for Trauma and A Sustainable Future: Wellness and Environmental Education.
Taught by Lynea Gillen, Listening to the Body participants willlearn how to combine simple yoga with effective counseling techniques for children and adults in one-on-one therapy sessions or small groups. Counselors and health providers will experience and learn innovative practices that include social/emotional skill building, breathing techniques and yoga poses.
This whole-client approach supports the development of wellness habits and directly addresses some of the most persistent physical symptoms of trauma such as dissociation, powerlessness, anxiety and sorrow. Participants will also learn self-care techniques, recognizing that by developing and presenting a calm presence, a safe and trusting relationship is more attainable, and counseling work is less stress inducing.
Taught by myself, Lynea and Kim Wilson, MEd, A Sustainable Future demonstrates how Yoga Calm and environmental education activities can be used to develop high interest, interdisciplinary lessons that meet and support K-8 health, science and physical education standards and curricula. Through exploring techniques of physical yoga, observation, self-reflection, social/emotional skills development, storytelling and simple schoolyard explorations, teachers, counselors and environmental educators will learn how to cultivate children’s innate curiosity and appreciation of their bodies, each other, animal life and other aspects of their natural, daily environment. This foundation provides the motivation and a powerful thematic basis for integrating more cognitive environmental education and natural science curricula.
With this creative, highly experiential and integrated approach to environmental education, meaningful connections between personal and planetary health can be drawn, fostering a lifelong interest in science and increased environmental citizenry and stewardship.
Both workshops will be offered for the first time this spring. CEUs are available for both, and registration is required.
As ever, more info is available at yogacalm.org.
- Jim Gillen
Child image by timheyer, via Flickr
