Blog Archives

How Does Your Garden Grow? (or Dirt, Digging and Kids!)

5/30/2020

If there was ever a year for gardening, this must be it.
We have all the key ingredients at our fingertips:
Kids at home: eager and curious
Sunshine: it comes and goes
Rain: or a watering can or hose
Dirt: even if you don’t have a garden space (or way more shade than sun like I do) you can probably find a container and buy a bag (or a few bags) of $2.00 soil.

These are difficult times for many people, children and adults alike. Soil is soothing for the soul. Get the kids digging in dirt. For an added bonus, throw in a few seeds or plants (flowers, vegetables or herbs) and watch them grow. The satisfaction and sense of accomplishment is beyond words. And you get something of beauty or a tasty bite from Mother Earth as a bonus. Do not underestimate the benefits of planting or just playing in dirt for (and with) kids. No need to be a Master Gardener. Just dig!

I have an “archeology dig” going on in a bare patch in my backyard that is for nothing beyond the pure pleasure of grandchildren seeing how deep they can dig! Yes, it is unsightly. Yes, it is really deep. Yes, one hole has morphed into 4. But there is a pandemic. I am not holding a gala in my backyard anytime soon. I can sit on the deck and watch the digging from a distance and see joy, excitement and adventure unfold before my eyes.

Grounding or Earthing is a phenomenon that has been making waves for several years now. Whether or not this idea is for you, there is no mistake that being in nature, walking in bare feet and feeling the earth beneath us is very healing AND costs little more than a good bar of soap. Nonetheless there have been numerous studies proving the benefits of being in nature so this should not be dismissed without consideration or taken lightly.

There is another gardening analogy I have used many times with children with anxiety. I would show them my bounteous tomato plants laden with fruit and explain how these resulted from spending much time nurturing them. I would then explain that to nurture our fears, to put our thoughts on them every day, several times a day, helps them grow too. What we put our attention on grows!

Don't give your attention to your fears They will grow and grow and grow.

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Stay Safe, Be Kind, Wash Your Hands, Meditate

5/20/2020

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.We are living in stressful times. It is no secret that one of the most widely acclaimed antidote for stress, anxiety or concerns of any kind is meditation. It was gratifying to hear Charles Pascal, Professor of Human Development, end an interview by saying,
"We should be meditating as much as we are washing our hands."

Physical Health is paramount during the pandemic but equally important is the need to take care of our mental/emotional health. In fact there is no separation between physical, emotional and mental health. One affects the other. I urge all to take a moment each day to meditate.
Meditation is not the big, bad, scary, impossible, time consuming feat that you might have been led to believe. Meditation or mindfulness is simply the act of taking a breath, with awareness in the present moment, with kindness, without judgement of the outcome. You do not have to sit in a painful position, or stop your thoughts for hours on end or reinvent yourself. Simply become aware of your breath, watch it flow in and out. If you notice you are thinking, them acknowledge the thought without judgement and let it go. Do this over and over for a minute, 2 minutes, 15. Sit, lie down, walk or run. Soon you will find that you have created more time in your day by feeling calmer, more relaxed and on target. Notice that you are beginning to respond rather than react. Notice that you are having more better moments in your day and less moments of unbridled stress. Breathe... Notice... Be...
Even a child can do this. Even you can do this with a child.
Help make the world a better place. Help make you a better place.

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Listening to the Rain (Mindfulness)

5/14/2020

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As I sit listening to the gentle rain outside my window, the rhythm quiets and soothes my mind and my body. I relax as the lulling sound touches my soul and cleanses my spirit. You might wish to try this mindfulness exercise for yourself for just a minute or settle in for a longer reprieve from worldly matters.

* Become aware of the rain tapping against a window, a skylight, a roof or wherever your senses might take you.
* Are you able to see the drops bounce off of solid surfaces or melt away into more absorbent layers of grass, earth or forgotten clothing left to the elements?
* Are you able to feel the rain touch your hand, your head, your nose or your boot?
* Are you brave enough to stick out your tongue for a lingering taste of nature?
* Are you able to smell the rain? Some people can smell the rain before the rain comes. But once it is here the whole world awakens to the fresh, green, living scent. Earth worms love rain. Seeds are nourished into sprouting gems. Roots slurp moisture right up to the tips of their tiny bursting buds.
* How do you hear the rain? Feel the rain? See the rain? Smell the rain? Taste the rain? The rain lives in the apples and oranges, carrots and cucumbers, all the food Mother Nature provides. We eat a little bit of rain every day.
* Take some time to be with the rain with any or all of your senses open and aware.
OR
* Maybe you would prefer to experience this from the safe, quiet, cozy comfort of your home, or another room in your mind. Close or soften your eyes. Take a long, slow, deep breath in and slowly and quietly release your breath out, longer than the inhale if you can. Try to close your senses to all but the sound of the rain. If other sights or sounds or smells come into your awareness, just acknowledge them and then let them go, bringing your attention back to the rain...just the sound of the rain. Listen acutely. Let your other senses rest as you bring only the steady dripping or dropping or dribbling of the rain into focus. Notice if it slows or quickens, if it splashes or slides, if it bristles and blows or relaxes into a hush. Allow the rain to teach you to be mindful, to put all your attention on just the rain. Be grateful for the rain.

Tara Brach, a psychologist and founder of the Insight Mindfulness Community of Washington, uses the acronym RAIN to teach a 4 part mindfulness exercise that may help your child learn emotional regulation.

R: Recognize your feeling in the moment. Put a name to the feeling if you can. This reduces the power associated with the feeling.
A: Allow the feeling to be there. Don't try to change it. Just acknowledge it. It is just a feeling. It might be uncomfortable but it is not you. It will pass. It will not stay forever.
I: Investigate the feeling, with kindness. Where is it in your body? How is it making your body feel? What is it making you think? Be a detective and investigate the situation caused by the feeling, but do it kindly. Don't criticize.
N:NON-Identification. This is just a feeling. It might not be a nice feeling but neither is it you. It is just a feeling that will go away. It might come back but it will go away again. It is not you. Do not hold onto it, thinking that you are the feeling. You are not. It is like the fish in the pond, the clouds in the sky, the apples on the tree. They are part of the whole but they are not the whole. Feelings are part of you but they are not you! Instead of saying, "I am sad", you could say "I feel sad." Instead of "I am mad", say, "I feel mad." Your emotions are just feelings.

You will have many feelings in a day and certainly in your lifetime. You may need to do this exercise over and over again.
RECOGNIZE THE FEELING - name it to tame it
ALLOW THE FEELING - Acknowledge it for what it is - just a feeling - not you
INVESTIGATE THE FEELING - be kind as you find where it is sitting and how it feels
NON-IDENTIFICATION - the feeling is just that, a feeling, not who you are

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May 09th, 2020

5/9/2020

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Spring is taking its time settling in and with the delay, big feelings may be expanding with the lack of freedom that comes with bike riding, roller blading, kites flying, warm breeze brushing cheeks and tickling hearts. While we know that all feelings are OK, we sometimes begin to believe we are those feelings. This exercise is to help children (and adults too) understand that feelings come and go, just like the clouds float across the sky or frogs jump from lily pad to pond. The fish are not the pond. The clouds are not the sky. We are not our feelings.

1. Sit or lie quietly and draw pictures in your mind's eye.
2. Imagine you are watching fish swimming in a pond.
3. Each fish represents an emotion like fear, worry, anger, frustration, sadness, jealousy, happy, excited, any feeling that comes up.
4. Just watch the fish and their emotion swim by.
5. Try not to take on the feelings of the fish; just BE.
6. You will have feelings because everyone does, but that does not mean you are the feeling; you might feel angry, sad or afraid, but that emotion doesn’t define you That’s not who you are.
7. Watch, don’t judge, or engage with the feeling and it will swim by just like the fish in the pond.
8. You might like to say, “I am the pond. I am the pond. I am the pond.”, until you feel calmer. Be the pond!
9. You could do this with clouds and name the clouds and watch them go by, saying “I am not the cloud. I am the sky." Be the sky!
10. Name it to tame it. See the feeling for what it is. Name it and watch it swim, float or hop away. Let it go. (inspired by 100hours.org)

What do you think these frogs are feeling? Anger, frustration, worry, fear, disappointment, sad or something else? Name the feeling and watch it hop away! You are not the frog (or the feeling). You are the pond!

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In 2020, it is almost 20 years since, the Children's Garden began bringing yoga to children and their families. Jennifer and Barb (Yoga Barb) Westgate, were the first 2 in Ontario and the 4th and 5th in Canada to be certified children's yoga facilitators, through YogaKids. Since that time they have both studied under many other renown experts in the field of children's yoga, health and well-being. Jennifer, a speech and language pathologist, a certified reflexology and Reiki practitioner and a student of Sonia Sumar (Yoga for the Special Child), brings a well rounded experience to all children, but especially to those with different abilities. Yoga Barb offers Metamorphosis, Reiki and Emotional Support through her private yoga programmes and during group classes upon request. Her background in behavioural sciences, mother, child care provider, certified parent educator, and now "Gran" to 4, have enhanced her natural ability to provide a nurturing environment to all who seek her guidance.