The OHMazing® Way with Beth Reese, PhD

Rabia Meghani on Managing Anxiety and Uncertainty with Ayurveda

Tue, 7 Apr 2020 14:15:05 +0000

“Your body is vast consciousness. It’s not just one thing. And if you allow your body to be a container for how you're feeling then you can be like, “ok, there is anxiety in this body of mine, but there is also hope in this body of mine, and there is faith, and joy…. You’re holding space for a lot of things, but you are not one thing.” ~Rabia Meghani

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Rabia Meghani in a conversation about how to manage anxiety and uncertainty through Ayurveda. Rabia healed her dis-ease with C-Diff through practicing Ayurveda, yoga, meditation, and then left her studies in graduate school to devote her life to supporting others in tapping into their limitless potential. Rabia works with individuals and also teaches with other organizations including Black Swan Yoga’s Teacher Training program.

“If you start to feel that you are this one thing (ie, anxiety, illness), you start to live in this limited space. And it’s wild to think that it’s all purely from your mind. You create barriers—invisible barriers—just from your mind. And if you were to understand the barriers never existed, you can tap into that limitless potential of yours.” ~Rabia Meghani

In the first half of the podcast, Rabia and Beth discuss how we can reframe anxiety and uncertainty during times when life may occur highly stressful. Rabia also shares some of her life experiences that led her to focus on Ayurveda and yoga instead of pursuing a highly coveted masters degree in public and global health. In the second half, Rabia offers a meditation appropriate for most ages,and then offers tips for families to create grounding practices anytime and anywhere.

Rabia Meghani is an Ayurvedic Practitioner, Yoga Therapist, and Yoga Teacher. She leads the Ayuervedic sections for Black Swan Yoga’s RYT program. Rabia’s formal education is in public health and epidemiology. Merging her knowledge of disease and the ancient science of Ayurveda, Rabia aims to modernize Ayurvedic teachings and make them accessible to the masses. Her passion lies in harmonizing western medicine with eastern healing methodologies.

Rabia uses her knowledge of yoga and ayurveda to help those experiencing physical and emotional ailments. When it comes to healing, Rabia believes that one size does not fit all. This is why she works on the full person - mind, body, and spirit. When she is not on her mat or crafting teas and tinctures, you can find her exploring the beauty found in nature. Rabia lives in Houston, TX, with her husband and half dozen plant babies.

Connect with Rabia:

Email: Rabiameghani@gmail.com

Web: rabiameghani.com

Instagram: Rabia Meghani

Connect with Beth:

Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com

Web: www.yoginos.com

Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese

Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/

Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth

Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos

LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

Richard Wilkinson on Resourcing Our True Self

Mon, 27 Jan 2020 16:15:06 +0000

“In my 20s I felt more comfortable and more confident in myself to just let go of the seemingly needy attachments of having all my friends like me and approve of what I was doing… and just really became myself.” ~Richard Wilkinson

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Richard Wilkinson, RYT200, a yoga and meditation teacher and leader, in a conversation about the paths and possibilities of resourcing your true self. Richard also leads an iRest meditation—iRest yoga Nidra is approved by the U.S. Surgeon General and has been used by the U.S. military for over a dozen years. Richard is an international leader offering classes, workshops, and retreats individually and with his wife, Melissa Smith-Wilkinson.

“Over the years I’ve come to the point where it’s just basically be myself, and the people that are in my life will either be attracted to that or not, and the ones who are not attracted to that are welcome to move on.” ~Richard Wilkinson

iRest is a meditative practice that is wonderful for those of us who are happy and healthy. It can bring us more peace and joy and can even invite insight into our conscious state. iRest has also been shown to be quite helpful for those of us who struggle with issues such as: anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, fear, grief. iRest yoga Nidra is approved by the U.S. Surgeon General and has been used by the U.S. military for over a dozen years. For more information on iRest Yoga Nidra, please view their website: www.irest.org

“Holding space for people to allow them to work to their capability is really important in the way that I work with folks…. Letting people work with whatever they are capable of and that can change from day to day, week to week, month to month. And I’ve found that it creates a community of feeling safe.” ~Richard Wilkinson

Richard Wilkinson has been formally trained in Power Vinyasa Yoga by Frog Lotus Yoga in Massachusetts USA. He has taken additional Yoga Teacher Training from; Maureen Rae (Vinyasa Yoga), Jennifer Reis (Yoga Nidra), Alina Calinescu (Yin Yoga), Richard Miller (iRest Yoga Nidra), David Emerson (Trauma Sensitive Yoga). He weaves all of my training into the variety of classes that he teaches: Gentle Yoga, Hot Yoga, Hot Power Yoga, Yin Yoga and iRest Yoga Nidra. Richard’s teaching style would be classified as educational, informative and inclusive of all levels. He also places an emphasis on the Mind/Body connection and assumes that we are all in need of recovering or re-discovering our own human wholeness, on one level or another.

Connect with Richard:
email: richard@pranavayoga.studio
phone: 505.557.7898
Skype: rick.wilkinson4
https://www.pranavayoga.studio/retreats
https://www.pranavayoga.studio/trainings
https://www.caregiverwellnessretreat.com

Connect with Beth:
Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com
Web: www.yoginos.com
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

Mindful Moment: Sensing the 5 Senses

Fri, 10 Jan 2020 06:00:12 +0000

This quickie episode features a mindful meditation using the 5 senses as a means to connect the body and mind in the present moment nonjudgmentally anytime and anywhere—including out in public!

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Jodi Golda Komitor, MA, E-RYT 500, RCYT, in a quickie mindful meditation practice that touches on each sense as a way to notice without judgement what’s happening in any given moment. This type of mindfulness of the body practice can be a powerful option for people who struggle with breathing, including people who have asthma and COPD, as well as generalized anxiety disorder. This mindful moment can be explored anytime and anywhere. It is a great tool for use in classrooms, homes, restaurants, during travel, and beyond!

This Mindful Moment episode is drawn from a previously published podcast here on The OHMazing Way, #16: Jodi Golda Komitor: Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable.

Jodi Golda Komitor is the founder of Next Generation Yoga® (NGY) - the first Kids Yoga studio in the world. Inspired by her background in education, Jodi Golda started Next Generation Yoga in 1998 in New York City, a company she operated for 21 years. While in leadership at NGY, Jodi Golda developed & implemented school & community-based programs, U.S. & international Teacher Trainings and multidimensional online offerings. Of course, she didn’t do any of this alone & is proud of the badass teachers, trainers & team with whom she hired, collaborated & grew NGY.

Her passion for mentoring Kids Yoga entrepreneurs remains strong. She is the organizer of a noncompetitive, like-minded international business group called The Biz of Kids Yoga™. Through The Biz of Kids Yoga™, Jodi Golda provides private and group coaching to Kids Yoga & Mindfulness professionals.

Connect with Jodi Golda:

Email: jg@jodigolda.com

Founder, Next Generation Yoga: https://nextgenerationyoga.com/

Winner, Kids Yoga Service Award

Author, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Yoga with Kids: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Yoga-Kids/dp/0028639359

Coach, The Biz of Kids Yoga: https://nextgenerationyoga.com/the-biz-of-kids-yoga/

Creator, Whale Yoga for Kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qn415ehzZ0

Star, Gaiam Kids Yoga Videos: https://www.gaiam.com/?q=kids%20yoga

Connect with Beth:

Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com

Web: www.yoginos.com

Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese

Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/

Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth

Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos

LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

Alison Cohen on Wholehearted Living: Understanding Implicit Bias and Growing Forward

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 19:00:01 +0000

"The challenge is that because we are human beings living in society we’re influenced and conditioned by all kinds of forces that can lead to us developing biases that are particularly destructive… and that cut us off from wholeheartedly connecting to others."
~Alison Cohen, MST and Certified Mindfulness Teacher/School Coach

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Alison Cohen, MST and Certified Mindfulness Teacher / School Coach, in conversation and practice with the critically important and meaningful topic of implicit bias. Alison first leads us through clear and concise definitions and examples of bias, explicit bias, and implicit bias. After skillfully laying a foundation, she then offers suggestions and leads practices to support us in increasing awareness of our own biases so that we can curate the wholehearted lives we wish to create.

"In terms of implicit bias, research has shown there are really only a few ways currently to work with it meaningfully. One of those, interestingly enough, is loving kindness practice, as well as mindfulness meditation."
~Alison Cohen, MST and Certified Mindfulness Teacher/School Coach

One of the mindfulness tools Alison shares is a practice known as HALT. HALT stands for:

H: hungry

A: angry

L: lonely

T: tired

While the origination of this may be from Alcoholics Anonymous, neuroscientists, like Dr. Dan Siegel, recommend this practice for parents and others. Using HALT can be integrated into daily living in a myriad of ways. For example, before picking up your kids from school or entering a personal or professional conversation, pause and scan the mind and body for signs of being hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Without making yourself right or wrong, notice if any of those exist. If one or more do, name a way you can take care of yourself in the next moments so that you cultivate responses instead of habitual reactions. When you notice one or more of the "HALTs", a practice could be to pause and notice the breath, then feet, then belly, then hands. You might also choose to name aloud what you’re experiencing and share what you need before moving forward: In this moment I want to name that I notice I am tired and would like ________ (ie, to get some water, have a hug, take a walk, etc) before we continue.

"What we are really talking about is love. And what are the barriers to really loving each other…. And if some of those barriers come from what we’ve breathed in and what’s been imprinted—the thumbs of culture—then each of us can make a courageous commitment to chip away at those in the name of love, connection, and ultimately what comes to mind, both individual and collective liberation."
~Alison Cohen, MST and Certified Mindfulness Teacher/School Coach

Connect with Alison:
Email: alisonc@soundstrue.com
Web: www.mindfulchangefromtheinsideout.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alisonecoh
Twitter: @1984AliCo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cohenalison/

Connect with Beth:
Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com
Web: www.yoginos.com
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

Alison Cohen on Mindful and Courageous Communication

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 19:45:08 +0000

“Courageous communication is one of the ways we can build towards the world we want to see.” ~ Alison Cohen

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and mindfulness coach and mentor Alison Cohen in a conversation around mindful communication. Alison shares examples of mindful communication in the contexts of family and in schools. This podcast is the first of 2 conversations Beth and Alison had with the next one being on explicit and implicit bias.

“Each of us wants to be able to live in ways that are aligned with our conscious values and yet part of being human is that sometimes we miss the mark!” ~ Alison Cohen

In this conversation Alison references and wishes to share the following resources:

The engaged feedback checklist from Brene Brown's book Dare to Lead: Go to https://brenebrown.com/downloads/, then scroll down and click on "Engaged Feedback Checklist"
Mindful Communication one-page handout of mine that many students of mine have found helpful: attached (if it's possible to attach a document)
Ruth King's racial justice and social justice resource list: https://ruthking.net/racial-awareness-resources/
Books: Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication by Oren Jay Sofer, Mindful of Race by Ruth King, Blindspot by Dr. Mahzarin Banaji

Alison Cohen, MST
Certified Mindfulness Teacher / School Coach
www.mindfulchangefromtheinsideout.com

3 Essential Elements of Mindful Communication + Mindful Communication Tips
(adapted from Dr. Lynn Rossy’s Mindful Communication work)

1. Cultivating Presence
“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand. They listen with the intent to reply.”
~ Stephen Covey

To become a more mindful, effective communicator, consider tuning into:

• Your awareness level: What feelings, thoughts, sounds, etc. are you aware of before the conversation begins and as the conversation begins?

• Your mind: Where is your attention in this moment?

• Your body: What message(s) do you want your body language to send during the interaction?

• Your intention: What is your intention for how you will show up during this interaction?

2. Listening With All the Channels
“People begin to heal the moment they feel heard.” ~ Cheryl Richardson

• Be present and listen “with all the channels,” especially during the first few minutes of any conversation.

• In communication, especially difficult communication, connect with the sensations of your body (feel your feet on the floor and sense the movement of your breath) as a way of staying open to what the other person says. Difficult communication often brings up fear in us, and staying with the breath and the body can be grounding.

3. Speaking Wisely
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.” ~ Plato

• If it’s appropriate, consider paraphrasing what you heard the other person say so that you’re sure you understood that person. We often only hear our version of what the person said.

• [WE WILL NOT BE DOING THIS] Before giving someone your advice, ask if it is wanted. We love to help but sometimes people just want to be heard. Simply having a sounding board can often help someone tap into their own internal wisdom.

“There are days when things are really rough. And, it’s different if you’re having a bad day and you’re sitting in front of a computer typing away, and when you’re working with a group of students who have dealt with oppressions of all kinds and have a fragile sense of being able to accomplish what you’re asking.” ~ Alison Cohen

Alison Cohen cherishes any and all opportunities to integrate community-building, contemplative practice, social justice, and joy. She incorporates trauma-informed mindfulness into her instructional coaching and leadership work with educators, school leaders, and young adults. Alison also offers mindfulness-based courses and workshops throughout the US and mentors participants in Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield’s two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Program. She is a Mindful Schools Certified Mindfulness Instructor, an MBSR teacher, and an avid retreat goer.

Connect with Alison:

Email: alisonc@soundstrue.com

Web: www.mindfulchangefromtheinsideout.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alisonecoh

Twitter: @1984AliCo

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cohenalison/

Connect with Beth:

Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com

Web: www.yoginos.com

Cell: +1 361 563 7448

Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese

Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/

Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth

Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos

LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

Mindful Moment: Can you hear it now?

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 17:00:12 +0000

This quickie episode shares Sound Meditation as a mindful tool to practice paying attention with intention and compassion, and without judgement. It's a great strategy to practice anytime, anywhere!

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Randi Jo Greenberg, in a quickie podcast featuring a mindful tool, sounds meditation. This is a practice that can be used anytime and anywhere, and is great to share with kids, too, as we learn to practice being present through sound. Sound meditation can be a great alternative for people who struggle with breathing, including people who have asthma and COPD, as well as generalized anxiety disorder.

This quickie episode is based in part on the original conversation between Beth and Randi Jo, Episode #4: From Loss to Light: Being a Mindful Mom, Educator and Leader with Randi Jo Greenberg.

Randi Jo discovered yoga in the mid 90s and has been a full time certified yoga teacher since 1999. She fondly recalls of her first yoga.training that “I was the only one in this training asking, can you tell me what ‘namaste’ means?” She's lived and worked in Park City, Utah for over 14 years. She began teaching pre-natal yoga when she became pregnant in 2004 and that led to post-natal yoga, mommy and me and then kids yoga.

Connect with Randi Jo:
Randi Jo Greenberg
RJ@yogawithrandijo
Yogawithrandijo.com
Yoga with Randi Jo (Facebook)
Yogawithrandijo (Instagram)

Athea Davis on Superhero Love and Mindfulness Education Resources

Thu, 5 Sep 2019 05:00:08 +0000

“Sometimes superhero love is about making tough decisions. It’s tuning in to that deep wisdom within ourselves to look at and make sure our intention, our motive, our motivation is coming from a place of, ‘am I being love?” ~Athea Davis

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Athea Davis, M.Ed., E-RYT 500, RCYT, YACEP, in conversations about mindfulness practices with our kids, marriages, divorces, and in education. In the first half Athea discusses what superhero love looks like with her son and while going through a divorce. In the second half Athea shares mindful practices and then describes her education resources including Mindfulness Education University.

“My former spouse was an alcoholic and eventually took his own life…. The whole experience of being committed to family and to love.... And loving someone no matter what… and then ultimately having to come to the point—with courage and bravery and say, ‘you know what? I love you, and I love this family, but I have an obligation and a duty to raise my son in a different kind of environment. This family pattern of alcoholism and this dynamic… it stops here.” ~Athea Davis

Athea Davis, M.Ed., E-RYT 500, RCYT, YACEP, is a mindfulness expert, health and wellness educator, and youth mentor. She’s the author of Today’s Gonna Be Awesomesauce: Daily Meditations for Youth, Parents & Families. Athea owns Sol Sense Yoga, a mindfully-infused education and leadership company, where she leads live mindfulness trainings + digital courses for leaders, educators, and parents. She lives with her superhero love family in Houston, Texas and is dedicated to spreading the awesomesauce sparkle here, there, and everywhere!

Connect with Athea:
Email: athea@solsenseyoga.com
Web: https://www.solsenseyoga.com/
Facebook personal: https://www.facebook.com/athea.davis.1
Faecebook Sol Sense: https://www.facebook.com/solsenseyoga/
Instagram: atheadavis
LinkedIn: Athea Davis, M.Ed., E-RYT, RCYT

Connect with Beth:
Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com
Web: www.yoginos.com
Cell: +1 361 563 7448
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

Mindful Moment: STOP to Disrupt Habitual Thoughts and Actions

Tue, 27 Aug 2019 16:30:04 +0000

This quickie episode shares STOP as a mindful tool to disrupt habitual thoughts and verbal outrage.

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Dawn Mauricio, in a quickie podcast featuring a mindful tool, STOP. This is a practice that can be used anytime and anywhere, and is great to share with kids, too, as we learn to disrupt habitual thoughts and actions that could result in outrage. Instead, we can use STOP to pause and curate an intentional response—even with a dash of compassion and kindness!

One of the tools Dawn uses to support herself and awaken her presence throughout each day is STOP:
Stop
Take a breath
Observe what is attracting our attention
Proceed

This quickie episode is based in part on the original conversation between Beth and Dawn in episode 15, "Dawn Mauricio: Awakening Presence on Family Vacation, Technology, and in Communication". For more ideas on practicing and sharing this tool in your daily life, see our blog: https://www.yoginos.com/ohmusings-blog/

Dawn is a meditation teacher with a playful, dynamic, and centered approach. She is known for her boundless energy, and smiling personality that are both contagious, and motivating. Teaching since 2006, she has received certifications from Spirit Rock Meditation Center, True North Insight, Inward Bound Mindfulness Education, Naada Yoga, and Yoga Tune Up®.

Connect with Dawn:
IG: http://instagram.com/dawnmauricio
FB: http://facebook.com/dawnmauricio
TW: http://twitter.com/dawnmauricio
Web: http://dawnmauricio.com
Dawn is also on Insight Timer.

Sebene Selassie on Mindfully Mining Cancer, Race and Identity

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 00:00:11 +0000

“Our peacefulness should actually be in relationship to things, so everything around us doesn’t have to be in peace all of the time for us to have some peacefulness. And just because there’s disruption in the field because things are being pointed out and things that have been avoided or actually revealed does not mean that our personal peace is being disrupted.”
~ Sebene Selassie

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Sebene Selassie, a Brooklyn-based teacher & writer who explore the themes of belonging and identity through meditation and spirituality. In the first half of the podcast they discuss using mindfulness as a doorway to explore pain associated with cancer, and cultivating presence and peace. In the second half, Sebene leads a mindfulness practice, shares about her forthcoming book on belonging, and they discuss mindfully investigating race and identity.

“Often the dominant culture has taught us that we don’t want disruption because we want to keep things in status quo. So disruption feels like non-spiritual. When something is disrupted people feel like it’s an attack on the truth, when actually the truth is being revealed, and we can be in peace in relationship to that.”
~ Sebene Selassie

Sebene Selassie is a Brooklyn-based teacher & writer who explores the themes of belonging and identity through meditation and spirituality. She began studying Buddhism over 25 years ago as an undergraduate at McGill University where she majored in Comparative Religious Studies. She has an MA from the New School where she focused on race and cultural studies. She serves on the boards of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and Sacred Mountain Sangha. Sebene is passionate about making the dharma accessible and relevant for our times and teaches on the 10% Happier app, in New York City, and nationally. Her first book, Born to Belong, will be published by HarperOne in 2020.

Connect with Sebene:
Email: Sebene@sebeneselassie.com
Web: www.sebeneselassie.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sebene.selassie
Instagram: sebeneselassie: www.instagram.com/sebeneselassie

Rick Yoder on Adapting Mindfulness and Yoga with Emotionally Challenged Students

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 05:00:21 +0000

“The biggest factor [contributing to emotional challenges] that we see right now with all of my kids has been one or more forms of trauma in their lives.” ~ Rick Yoder

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Rick Yoder, a Special Education Teacher in San Antonio, Texas, who works with youth who have been diagnosed as being emotionally challenged or with “Emotional Disturbance” disorder. In this podcast they discuss integrating and adapting mindfulness and yoga into the emotionally challenged classroom—which can also be used in a general classroom, home, gym, and studio.

“I am trying to insure that I establish a learning environment where my kids will feel that they are the most successful and are able to work around their challenges.” ~ Rick Yoder

In the first half they explore the difference between big emotions and someone who is diagnosed with an “ED” or emotional disturbance, plus why Rick dislikes the term, emotional disturbance, and labels in general. In the second half Rick shares several mindfulness and yoga adaptations he uses in his classroom as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), to teach self-regulation, and social emotional learning (SEL).

“Shanti hug—like a bear hug—is a good way to start and end the day.”
~ Rick Yoder

Some of the specific mindfulness and mindful movement tools he integrates into his classroom include (FMI see yoginos.com):
Shanti hug
Flower power breath
Peace place with a bean bag and a couple of yoga mats
Starting day with a sun salutation
Glitter bottles and jars: https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Calming-Glitter-Jars/

Rick asked us to share these links as well:

Association for Children's Mental Health
http://www.acmh-mi.org/get-help/navigating/problems-at-school/

National Alliance on Mental Illness
https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Public-Policy/Mental-Health-in-Schools

MentalHealth.gov
https://www.mentalhealth.gov/talk/educators

National Association of School Psychologists
https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/mental-health/school-psychology-and-mental-health/school-based-mental-health-services

Child Mind Institute (includes resources in Spanish)
https://childmind.org/blog/anxiety-in-schools-nasp-2018-childrens-mental-health-report/

Rick is an educator with 16 years of experience in elementary and secondary school settings. His experience includes School Administration, Special Education, Math, and English Language Arts. During his tenure as an educator, he has always worked with high risk, high need student populations. especially those with severe emotional challenges. He is also in the dissertation phase of his PhD in Educational Leadership from The University of Texas San Antonio. His qualitative research focuses on exploring student voice for marginalized student groups. Rick is on his third personal journey with yoga with the most recent beginning in October 2018. He practices yoga for therapeutic purposes: as an ongoing means to continue healing a cervical disc injury as well as an outlet for channeling the related stressors from working with high-risk, high need student populations. As a result, Rick sees the therapeutic benefit he has derived from his yoga practice as one that can be of great value for his students. He has chosen to pursue his RYT-200 Yoga Teacher certification as well as the completion of the RCYT through Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®. His goal through this training is to bring yoga into his classroom as a means for his emotionally challenged students to learn self-regulating behaviors so that they can positively channel their emotional energy in order to more readily focus on their individual academic needs.

Connect with Rick:
Email: richard.yoder@nisd.net; ryoder2@satx.rr.co
Cell: 210-363-6043
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rick.yoder.18
Twitter: twitter.com/rickfromsa (@rickfromsa)
LinkedIn: Rick Yoder

La Sarmiento on Embodying Compassion and Patience for Ourselves and Teens

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 17:13:30 +0000

“When we pay attention it gives us remembrance of choice to move through life in a different way than we have been accustomed to or habituated by.”
~La Sarmiento

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest La Sarmiento, LMT, CDL4, a non-binary, Filipino-American, body/energyworker and song-spoofing dharma teacher, in a conversation about what mindfulness is, and some of the ways mindfulness meditation and related practices have impacted La’s life including expanding self-acceptance and self-love. La says that as a five year old they felt like God didn’t make them the right way. “I had to figure out how am I going to survive being who I am in this world that’s nothing like me,” reflects La.

In the second half, La leads a self-compassion meditation to cultivate loving-kindness within. La shares that these practices helped them come to believe that “no matter what the world thinks of me, what matters most is what I think about myself.”

Additionally, La discusses their experiences and tips when working with tweens and teens and offers their insight: “what I have found most useful and powerful in working with teens is just being with them, being really present, and at the same time, as much as possible, embodying my practice, embodying compassion and loving kindness, and especially embodying patience—for them and for myself.”

La Sarmiento is a non-binary, Filipino-American, body/energyworker and song-spoofing dharma teacher. They have are a retreat teacher/manager and guiding teacher of the LGBTIQ and People of Color Sanghas with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, teach retreats for LGBTIQ at the Garrison Institute, young adults at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and is a mentor for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. They live in Towson, MD with their life partner Wendy and their two Cairn Terriers Annabel and MacGregor.

Connect with La:
3rd Person Pronouns: they/their/them
Mobile: 202.997.1399
E-mail: lasarmiento108@gmail.com
Web: www.lasarmiento.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BodhiLa/

Jodi Smith: Empowering Diversity and Inclusivity through Yoga in Schools, Studios, and Beyond

Wed, 17 Jul 2019 05:00:20 +0000

“Some people who need yoga probably don’t have access or information to it, and that was the moment (my second class) when I knew this was my path.”
~ Jodi Smith

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Jodi Smith, MBA, E-RYT in a conversation about how yoga had made a difference in her life—and how she impacts others through the practice. In the first half of the podcast they discuss how she started yoga to improve her health, changing her career path to teach yoga, especially to communities who traditionally have not had equal access to the information and practices. She also shares how she empowers diversity and inclusion in her classes and addresses implicit bias through her teachings.

“Implicit bias is a mind’s short cut. It’s taking all of your past experiences and awarenesses and making a kind of snap judgement. And in that perspective people can accept, ‘Oh yeah, I have some’.”
~ Jodi Smith

In the second half Jodi shares how she practices self-care so that she can be her best self to the hundreds of urban youth she teaches at KIPP, a public charter school system, as well as to adults at YogaWorks, and within her kids yoga business, Mosaic Kids Yoga.

“It’s important for me as an educator to remind myself that you do not take yesterday’s issues into your classroom tomorrow. You let it go.”
~ Jodi Smith

Jodi Smith was introduced to yoga practice after her doctor “prescribed” yoga to relieve high-level stress and anxiety. Through her practice with yoga and meditation, she recognized her privilege of having access to a medical professional who understood the benefits of yoga and the privilege of having the means to pay for and attend yoga classes. This awareness fueled her desire to teach and share yoga to all people who had limited access to yoga.

After completing her 200-hour yoga training, she embarked on the journey to impact communities of color. She became a full-time children’s yoga teacher in the KIPP Texas network. In this role, she has taught more than 1400 yoga and mindfulness classes to more than 800 elementary school children while impacting an estimated 4000 family members within the Houston, TX area. As a teacher in title one public schools, it was important for her to leverage the backgrounds and cultural experiences of students to make her yoga classes engaging and relevant. Drawing from her work in culturally and social economic-diverse school communities, Ms. Smith created Mosaic Kids Yoga to promote academic, social, and emotional learning while championing diversity and inclusion.

The work she does in the schools and with communities of color reflects her personal interest in how the intersection between social justice, inclusion, and yoga can foster change in underserved communities.

Addition to her yoga experience, Ms. Smith holds an MBA from Duke University/Fuqua School of Business and is a lover of art, reading and traveling.

Connect with Jodi
Email: Jodi@mosaickidsyoga.com
Web: www.mosaickidsyoga.com
Facebook: mosaic kids yoga : www.facebook.com/mosaickidsyogahtx
Instagram: mosaickidsyoga www.instagram.com/mosaickidsyoga
Best way to contact: Direct Message via Instagram
Pinterest @mosaickidsyoga www.pinterest.com/mosiackidsyoga

Jodi Golda Komitor: Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Thu, 11 Jul 2019 00:00:01 +0000

“I would like to use this time (of sabbatical) of dismantling this identity that I’ve had for 21 years in a very conscious way and allow my next version of me to come through in a very clear and integrous way.”
~ Jodi Golda Komitor

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Jodi Golda Komitor, MA, E-RYT 500, RCYT, in a conversation about how yoga found her, starting the first kids yoga studio, being a successful entrepreneur, and how she has seen the world of kids yoga change since 1998.

“I love the culture of mindfulness that has impacted so many children’s home life, school life, community life, and this is how we are going to make the world a better place.”
~ Jodi Golda Komitor

In the second half, Jodi shares a brief mindfulness meditation technique and then shares her path for selling her 21 year old business, Next Generation Yoga, choosing to share authentically and vulnerably, as well as what’s next in her life!

“This is the yoga off the mat: letting people in, letting people support me, letting people offer feedback and receiving it.” ~ Jodi Golda Komitor

And yet, Jodi Golda recognizes and values the law of change. In May of 2019, she passed the baton and sold Next Generation Yoga.

Jodi Golda currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and when she is not business coaching, she can be found practicing the arts of unwinding, romping in nature, spending quality time with loved ones, and performing random acts of kindness. Her main focus now? Searching for the right and perfect location for an upcoming sabbatical.

Connect with Jodi Golda:
Email: jg@jodigolda.com
Founder, Next Generation Yoga: https://nextgenerationyoga.com/
Winner, Kids Yoga Service Award
Author, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Yoga with Kids: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Yoga-Kids/dp/0028639359
Coach, The Biz of Kids Yoga: https://nextgenerationyoga.com/the-biz-of-kids-yoga/
Creator, Whale Yoga for Kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qn415ehzZ0
Star, Gaiam Kids Yoga Videos: https://www.gaiam.com/?q=kids%20yoga

Dawn Mauricio: Awakening Presence on Family Vacation, Technology, and in Communication

elizabeth@yoginos.com (Cole Barger, Grace Barger, Dawn Mauricio, Jordan Barger) — Wed, 3 Jul 2019 15:57:24 +0000

“At first at the end of the day I would ask myself, ‘was I mindful today? And loving and kind?’ And it’s virtually impossible to be either of those two things 100% of the time.”
~Dawn Mauricio

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Dawn Mauricio in a conversation about cultivating mindfulness with family, technology, and within our communications. In the second half Dawn shares a practical tool to help us awaken presence that takes as little as 10 seconds!

“The moments of contraction or of closing is our body telling us that it needs something. But often it’s society, marketing, whatever telling us, ‘no, no, it’s all about being pleasant and open all of the time.’ And so we tend to override the system that’s telling us I need to rest or I need something.” ~Dawn Mauricio

One of the tools Dawn uses to support herself and awaken her presence throughout each day is STOP:

Stop
Take a breath
Observe what is attracting our attention
Proceed

Dawn has been practicing and studying Insight Meditation since 2005, and has completed numerous silent residential retreats in Canada, the US, Thailand, and Burma, including a 3-month silent retreat at Insight Meditation Society. She has completed several programs of meditation studies from True North Insight (2-year teaching mentorship), and Spirit Rock Meditation Center (18-month Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training, 2-year Dedicated Practitioners' Program). Currently, Dawn is a student in a multi-year teacher training program to enable her to lead silent residential retreats for adults with Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

In 2007 she co-founded the Yoga Mala Foundation, a Montreal-based non-profit organization that supports the development of yoga programs in underserved communities. Dawn continues to be involved as a board member. She is also a board member for True North Insight, a charitable organization offering a full schedule of Buddhist Insight (Vipassana) meditation retreats and courses in English and French.

Drawing from her deep experience in yoga and meditation, she delivers an effective balance of clear, precise instruction and mental reflection. Dawn firmly believes that how we offer ourselves in practice reflects how we offer ourselves in life, inspiring her to find new ways to extend her practice beyond the yoga mat and meditation cushion - and encouraging her students to do the same.

Connect with Dawn:
IG: http://instagram.com/dawnmauricio
FB: http://facebook.com/dawnmauricio
TW: http://twitter.com/dawnmauricio
Web: http://dawnmauricio.com
Dawn is also on Insight Timer.

Victoria Reese: From Managing Burnout in High School to Presenting on Healthy Living to Congress in College

Wed, 26 Jun 2019 05:05:21 +0000

“I put so much pressure on myself and exerted so much effort in achieving my goals that it kind of came back to bite me.”
~ Victoria Reese

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Victoria Reese, in a conversation about coping with burnout and body image issues in high school, to managing her health—including anxiety—in college. With interest in public health, Victoria also shares her experience presenting her research to Congress about the relationship between fast food and obesity related hospitalizations. Victoria is Beth's "favorite" niece.

“Through all this I’ve come to accept who I am and what I look like regardless of everything which is definitely a journey… And there really isn’t an end to that.”
~ Victoria Reese

Victoria believes that while academics are important, her 3 key factors for success in college include:
~ Eating right
~ Getting enough sleep
~ Friendships

In April 2019, Victoria and a fellow college student were two of 60 students selected nationwide to present their research at the Posters on the Hill. Their research is entitled, "Relationship between Fast Food Density and Obesity Related Hospitalizations in Virginia".

Victoria “Tori” Reese is a rising senior at William and Mary studying Applied Mathematics and Economics. While she enjoys the analytical nature of math and economics, she is truly passionate about applying economic concepts to influence others to make healthy decisions through public policy. In her free time, Tori loves long distance running and swimming, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.

Danielle Etter, LPC, on Eating Disorders: Awareness, Preventing, And Shame Shifting

Wed, 26 Jun 2019 05:00:12 +0000

“I don’t think enough parents talk to their kids about their own personal struggles with eating and body image and self-esteem.”
~ Danielle Etter, MS, LPC, CEDS

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Danielle Etter, MS, LPC, CEDS, a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, in a conversation about sources and characteristics of eating disorders and body image issues. They also discuss what to do if you or someone you love is experiencing these challenges, as well as ways to prevent the onset. Beth shares her personal journey of having a disorder and how it’s now showing up in her family. In Episode #14, Beth and her 21 year old niece, Victoria, have a conversation where Victoria shares her experiences of having encountered challenges with these issues in high school, and how she continues to manage her health.

When Beth’s 12 year old daughter came to her sharing she had not eaten for 3 days and was struggling with eating and body image issues, they soon thereafter started seeing Danielle. Over the next few months they learned that there are internal factors, like genetics, and external factors, including social media.

“We stay sick if we live with shame and we allow shame to keep the eating disorder a secret… and more people are being courageous and coming out and saying, ‘I’ve had this eating disorder for twenty years and I’m done having it.’”
~ Danielle Etter, MS, LPC, CEDS

Danielle shares specific tips on eating disorders and body image issues:
~ What to look for when someone is experiencing this illness
~ Risk factors, including internal and external
~ What to do if you or someone you love is experiencing these illnesses
~ And how to prevent these challenges

Danielle Etter, MS, LPC, CEDS is a licensed professional counselor with a private practice in Houston and a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist. She has been treating clients with eating disorders for a decade. Her career as a therapist began at the Renfrew Center is Connecticut. She enjoys working with clients individually and in conjunction with their families and other providers. She has experience working with male and female clients ages 12 years old and older. Danielle believes that supportive client/therapist relationships are the key to successful therapy.

Connect with Danielle:
Email: danielleetterlpc@gmail.com

Jamie Demeris on Addiction, Recovery, Yoga and the Power of Intention

Wed, 19 Jun 2019 05:00:03 +0000

“Things that they tried to teach me for 10 years, and all of a sudden when I started practicing (yoga) on the mat it’s like, Oh my gosh, you’ve been trying to say this for like 10 years and NOW I’m getting it?”
~ Jamie Demeris

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Jamie Demeris, RYT, in a conversation about addiction, recovery, yoga and the power of intention. In the first half of the podcast, Jamie shares his journey from being an addict to recovery and finding the power of practicing and teaching yoga. In the second half, Jamie shares how the power of intention and an attitude of gratitude has literally transformed not only his personal and professional life, but also created a ripple effect in the lives of people around him.

Jamie practices creating his day each morning by:
~ Attitude of gratitude: Write 3 things with which you feel gratitude, remembering that research shows it’s 3:1 positive over corrective to make a difference
~ Set your intention: create who will show up to be each day
~ Acknowledgements: creatively acknowledge yourself and others for what they share

Jamie Demeris is a yoga instructor and manager of Demeris BBQ in Houston, TX. In 2018, Jamie celebrated 12 years of sobriety.

Connect with Jamie:
Email: jgdemeris@gmail.com
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/jamie.demeris
Instagram: jgdemeris; www.instagram.com/jgdemeris

Lee Weinberger: Peaceful People, Peaceful Pets

Wed, 12 Jun 2019 15:20:25 +0000

“What I found is that I can’t help animals without helping people—they are so connected.”
~Lee Weinberger

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, and guest Lee Weinberger, founder of Canine Counselor, in a conversation about creating a foundation of positive communication and empathy to create an amazing relationship with your pet. In the first half, Lee shares her story about how rescuing a dog which she could not keep revealed her path to switch from using psychology in counseling only people, to using her studies to impact human relationships with other animals, especially dogs. In the second half, they discuss effective tips and solutions for pet owners to create functional, loving, and compassionate family systems with your pets.

“Look, we’re all animals.. And learning theory doesn’t change that much across species.”
~Lee Weinberger

Tips discussed for effective solutions of common challenges:
~ New ways to look at existing behavior to explore the behavior we want
~ Investigating our own behavior and our consistency; what am I communicating?
~ What does learning theory tell us?
~ Extreme temperature tips
~ Recall variations
~ Exploring nonverbal communication
~ “Paying” pets for work
~ Recovering from making “mistakes”

Lee Weinberger graduated from Tulane University with a B.S. in Psychology and is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer through the Animal Behavior College. She has been training dogs professionally since 2011 and has taught a variety of classes including puppy basic obedience and socialization, adult basic and advanced obedience, and AKC Canine Good Citizen preparation. She is also an AKC certified evaluator and is a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers. She founded her own company, Canine Counselor, after moving back to Houston from Maui in 2015.

Lee values positive communication and empathy and strives to provide both to every individual, human or otherwise, that she encounters. Lee is committed to providing effective solutions for her clients’ training needs. She is devoted to helping dogs become functional members of the family—that means good manners in and out of the house. She believes that building a strong, positive bond with your dog is vital to success and happiness.

Connect with Lee:
Email: Lee.r.weinberger@gmail.com
Web: https://canine-counselor.com/

Alan Steelman, Former Congressman, on Managing The Monkey Mind

Wed, 5 Jun 2019 05:00:28 +0000

“My youngest son is the one who got me into yoga and meditation about 10 years ago, and I wish I had discovered it much earlier.“
~ Alan Steelman, Former US Congressman

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, and guest former US Congressman, Alan Steelman, MLA, RYT, in a conversation about learning how to follow your own “Yellow Brick Road” and cultivate your own “Emerald City” through mindfulness of meditation and yoga. In the first half Alan shares how he used mindfulness to “Exit the ASAP Lane,” with ASAP standing for Anxiety, Stress, Addiction, Pressure. In the second half Alan offers 3 tips for practicing being present in daily life:
~ Mindful Driving
~ Mindful Eating
~ Mindful Walking

Lastly, he discusses his second book, Managing Your Monkey-Mind FItness: Change Your Life, Save Your Life, coming out later this year.

Alan is a best-selling author, a former member of the U.S. Congress, a former Member of the White House Staff, and former Vice-Chairman of Alexander Proudfoot Company. He has been a Chairman of the Dallas Council on World Affairs, a Board Member of Sterling Software (NYSE), Aristocrat Technologies (ASX), and the Texas Growth Fund. He is a graduate of Baylor University, holds a Master’s Degree from SMU and was a resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University.

His career in politics was marked with distinction. Time Magazine featured him as one of the 200 Emerging Young Leaders in the United States, The Dallas Times Herald said, “he was one of the best ever sent to Congress from Texas.” and New Times Magazine named him one of the top ten best Congressmen in the country during his second term.

Connect with Alan:
Email: alansteelman@tx.rr.com
Web: www.alansteelman.net
Cell: 214 402 3351
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alansteelman
LinkedIn: Alan Steelman

Beth Reese, PhD: Finding Love and Action on a Silent Retreat

elizabeth@yoginos.com (Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT) — Fri, 31 May 2019 20:44:13 +0000

Why do you stay in prison
When the door is wide open?
~Rumi

What is a silent retreat? What do you actually do on a 7-day silent retreat other than, well, be silent? Join our host Beth Reese, PhD, as she shares her experience and insight into her first Insight (Vipassana) Silent Meditation Retreat and how she discovered the “prison door” to love and action was open all along. Beth attended this retreat as part of her course work for the Mindful Meditation Teacher Certification Program led by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield that she’s participating in with over 1400 others from around the world.

This Insight Silent Meditation Retreat was led by James Baraz, Konda Mason, Leslie Booker, Solwazi Johnson, Dawn Mauricio, La Sarmiento, and Sebene Selassie. Learn a bit about each leader and the golden nuggets of wisdom Beth gathered from each of them.

Beth has a commitment to think clearly and be present in as many moments as possible in her daily life. On the retreat she noticed how various thoughts—pleasant, unpleasant, neutral—could take her out of the moment and into a rabbit hole of other thoughts or adventure down memory lane. While there’s nothing innately wrong with that, if Beth is committed to be present with a clear mind, she noticed she could use this process to help stay in the present. Beth calls it Mindful TIME:
T: Thought or Trance—can you notice them as they show up?
I: invite it to tea; you don’t have to to engage with the thought or trance, but don’t be rude
M: Mine the thought for where it is in your body, and for the emotion and message behind it
E: Experience what there is to experience about it, then Exhale it.

Melissa Smith-Wilkinson on Embodied Parenting, Mindful Communication, and the Yoga of Self Study

Wed, 22 May 2019 05:00:03 +0000

“Going forward I’ve got to start with me, and what I want to see in my kiddos as healthy functioning adults, (I need to) see in myself. Period.” ~Melissa Smith-Wilkinson, E-RYT

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, and guest Melissa Smith-Wilkinson, 500 E-RYT, in a conversation about choosing to have an intervention with one of her sons, embodied parenting that includes empathy, modeling behavior, and mindful communication. In the first half, Beth shares a brief mindfulness practice for getting grounded. Next, Melissa authentically shares her journey as a parent with her son’s behavioral challenges paired with new insight into the importance of embodying what we want to see in our children. In the second half of our conversation, Melissa offers practical and mindful communication skills with others along with the benefits of finding our own authentic voice or true north.

“When you take a way all the social media, all the stuff, how do we equip our kids with this self-regulation? We can give them all these tools, and if they don’t understand that inside of them there is this inherent perfection, this moral compass that’s already inside of them—and inside of me… so that I should be making all of these choices based on that true north.” ~Melissa Smith-Wilkinson, E-RYT

Based on Melissa’s experiences, she offers these insights into creating mindful communication with you and your family that includes Reflective Listening, Taking Space, and I feel statements. She also describes the four components of Reflective and Nonviolent Communication process:

Observations - How your perceptual observations and the observations of others — the neutral facts — provide a foundation to know what are we talking about — and eliminate confusion about the particular stimulus in any given situation or interaction;
Feelings - The information our body and mind give us regarding whether our values and needs are fulfilled in a given interaction. They provide a powerful point of connection to help us understand another's experience, or communicate our own;
Needs - Universal Human Needs also known as core human motivators; when you distill any conflict to the level of Universal Human Needs, now people can see each others' humanity which begins the healing and reconciliation process and provides a solid foundation for win-win solutions;
Requests - Taking responsibility for what we actually want by expressing a request rather than a demand. Hearing another's request as such, and knowing that we still have choice.

I feel statements come from Marshal Rosenberg’s non-violent communication: https://www.nonviolentcommunication.com

More on Brené: video on empathy/sympathy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw

Resources for parents:

Mindfulness based wilderness therapy camp: Open Sky Wilderness https://www.openskywilderness.com

Resource for understanding the sutras (my fav book and mentor, Nicolai Bachman): http://www.sanskritsounds.com

Sutra book:
https://www.amazon.com/Path-Yoga-Sutras-Practical-Guide/dp/1604074299/ref=sr_1_2?crid=7NPLGOU7NGO6&keywords=nicolai+bachman&qid=1556974234&s=gateway&sprefix=nicolai%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-2

Melissa Smith-Wilkinson, 500 E-RYT is a Yoga Alliance E-RYT® 500 in Yoga Therapeutics. Restorative, Gentle and Sustainable Yoga Teacher Trainer. She leads International retreats, Alzheimer's and other Dementias Caregiver Advocate, and is a Mindfulness in Schools Educator. A native Texan, Melissa lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her son, Drew, and offers workshops and classes in their Santa Fe Pranava Yoga Studio with her husband, Richard. She also leads retreats for Caregivers of Alzheimer's in Texas, Alberta, and Santa Fe. Her teaching style lends itself toward mindful, slow sustainable asana with for strength, injury prevention, and restoration. Her for desire is for students to connect and deeply listen within, integrating their own intuition into daily life. Melissa’s retreats are truly a yoga adventure and uniquely bring students on a transformative journey that has a lasting impact. Friends, yoga, food and adventure — and you. www.PranavaYoga.Studio to start your journey now.

Connect with Melissa:
Melissa Smith-Wilkinson, 500 E-RYT
Pranavayoga.studio
melissa@pranavayoga.studio
Facebook community group for movement and yoga teachers (Restorative and Sustainable Yoga): https://www.facebook.com/groups/MelissaSmithRestorativeYoga/
Instagram
Retreats: Experience the Northern Lights in Iceland, March 2020

Eve Margol, MEd: Transforming Special Needs and Disabilities into Personal and Professional Inspiration

Wed, 15 May 2019 05:00:10 +0000

“Understanding that this (diagnosis of special needs) is hard for all parents, and saying ‘I want to help kids, but I want to help parents, too’.”
~ Eve Margol, MEd

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, and Eve Margol, MEd, in a conversation about not just accepting, supporting, and loving her first son who was born with cerebral palsy, but also how the journey transformed her career and strengthened her marriage and family.

“I want to help you because somebody helped me. That was the beginning of my journey.”
~ Eve Margol, MEd

In the first half of the podcast, Eve takes us back to Cole’s diagnosis as she remembers struggling with the sheer volume of therapists and the different jargon, and how those moments moved her to create a career as a successful special education teacher and consultant. In the second half of the podcast, Eve shares practical transition tools that parents and teachers can implement right away and often! Eve discusses some of the work she does with her consulting company, LinkEducation Resources, including Executive Functioning, Whole Brain Child techniques and strategies, as well as Non-medicated strategies for children and adults with ADHD.

Tried and true transition tools for parents and teachers:
~ Eye Contact through whole body listening: Thank you for thinking of me, I am thinking of you. Body is turned toward me and thus I know you are listening even if you are not looking at me.
~ Group plan: What’s the plan to transition from A to B.
~ Hand hat: Eyes up and hands up.

“And i think for some people it can break a marriage, but for my husband and I really brought us together.” ~Eve Margol, MEd

Eve Margol, MEd, is an educator and owner of LinkEducation Resources which offers consultation services, training and educational therapies to meet the individual needs of students and the teams that support them in Maryland and beyond. Eve’s guiding philosophy is to create a specialized learning environment that offers differentiated instruction designed to help students learn. Eve works with groups with Professional Developments in Executive Functioning, Whole Brain Child techniques and strategies, as well as Non-medicated strategies for children and adults with ADHD.

Connect with Eve:
FB: @LinkEducationResources
IG: LinkEducationresources
Twitter: @linkeducationR
Tele: 240-644-4648
Email: eve@linked-education.com
website: www.linked-education.com

Meredith Paterson: Lost and Not Quite Found

Wed, 8 May 2019 05:00:10 +0000

“What it’s like right now… and right now it kinda sucks.”
~Meredith Blanks Paterson

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, and Meredith Blanks Paterson, MA, RYT, RCYT, in a conversation about experiencing and working with deep and often difficult emotions with herself while also supporting those of her 4 year old daughter, Ruby. In the first half of the podcast, Meredith shares how years of profound changes, like the birth of her daughter, and huge losses—her mom passing away and two miscarriages—have her connecting with and moving her body in a variety of ways to manage her changing nervous system.

“Because my daughter doesn’t sit still and meditate. Just like me her life just isn’t this blissful state of meditative calm… She has really, really big emotions.”
~Meredith Blanks Paterson

In the second half of the conversation, Meredith describes how she supports her daughter’s big emotions and shares a 4-step process she uses to create space for Ruby to be fully self-expressed in a compassionate, emotionally safe space. Learn how Meredith supports and coaches others through investigating and identifying the foods and movements that are most nourishing for each person.

Meredith Paterson is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) and Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCYT) through Yoga Alliance. She has an MA in English and is a writer, editor, and educator with a passion for exploring the interconnectedness of language, yoga, movement, and art.

After several years of working in educational publishing, she realized that effective learning should not be bound by classrooms, chairs, worksheets, and tests-- learners need to move and experience and feel. She began seeking ways to bring movement and mindfulness to children. She met Elizabeth Reese of Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® in 2009 and began studying and teaching children’s yoga and later, training classroom teachers to bring yoga and mindfulness into schools.

"The practice of yoga has given me the confidence and strength to seek myself under all the layers of doubt and fear. My wish as an instructor is to help others seek themselves and to awaken to their own power and light. The birth of my daughter, Ruby, and the experience of parenting a young child have reignited my desire to provide children with tools to build their own confidence, trust themselves, and feel empowered to express their needs and know their worth. I am forever curious about how our bodies integrate experiences and emotions and how we can support children in feeling safe and telling their own stories through their thoughts, words, and movements.”

Connect with Meredith:
FB: facebook.com/meredith.paterson
IG: @texclamatory
Arbonne link: meredithpaterson.arbonne.com
email: mere.paterson at gmail.com
Message me anywhere :)

Dan Houston and the Dharma of Healing, Happiness, and Mastering Your Wildly Important Goals

Wed, 1 May 2019 14:15:11 +0000

“This work is a commitment to developing yourself and being better everyday, and being more of a contribution to other people…” ~ Dan Houston

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, in conversation with Dan Houston, M.Ed, E-RYT. In this podcast Dan shares about loss and light with family members experiencing cancer, including how his father kicked it to the curb. He shares how living life intentionally, generating your path or dharma, empowers us to deliver on our wildly important goals. In the second half he teaches a graceful breathing practice that can be practiced anywhere, anytime. Beth and Dan then explore ways in which the mindful performance coaching offered by the organization he co-created, Mind Tribes, can make the difference in what you are dealing with and what you really care about.

“Money is a measure of our wealth, and it’s not wealth wholeheartedly.”
~ Dan Houston

A full-time mover and student at heart, Dan is the co-creator of Mind Tribes, a yoga-inspired coaching company that empowers others to deliver on their wildly important goals. He is committed to empowering others to adopt a whole-life movement paradigm that gives them access to an individualized & pain-free practice.

Dan is also deeply passionate about goal setting & mindful performance coaching. He has a keen ability for to tap into possibility and results-based coaching to produce dramatic results for his clients and partners. Most of all, Dan aims to be an honest embodiment of what living your Dharma looks like in the world.

Dan is committed to truthfully, reliably & effectively sharing the yoga tradition in a safe container of transformative learning. On this path, he channels his efforts through the leadership of yoga teacher training, mindful performance coaching, meditation instruction, and teaching movement classes.

Connect with Dan:

Virtual Membership
https://mind-tribes.com/mytribe/

Declare & Deliver (Virtual Goal Coaching Program)
www.mind-tribes.com/goals

200-Hour Teacher Training (300-Hour Coming Soon)
https://mind-tribes.com/mexicoretreat/

Asana Deep Dive
https://mind-tribes.com/deepdive/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/MindTribes/

Instagram
@mindtribes

www.mind-tribes.com
https://www.facebook.com/MindTribes
https://instagram.com/mindtribes/
https://medium.com@mind_tribes

From Loss to Light: Being a Mindful Mom, Educator and Leader with Randi Jo Greenberg

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 14:15:03 +0000

Join Beth Reese, PhD, and Randi Jo Greenberg in Park City, Utah, June 22-23, for the OHMazing® research-informed Yoginos: Yoga for Youth® training, Yoga in Schools: Mindfulness and Movement Across the Curriculum. FMI and to register: www.yoginos.com

“I think back to those times now, and I was so disconnected. I was living according to what I 'should' be doing. …but there was no beginner’s mind, there was no allowing myself to live in the moment.” ~Randi Jo Greenberg

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast host, Beth Reese, PhD, and single mom, yogi, and educator Randi Jo Greenberg on a shero’s journey full of loss and love. Randi Jo boldly reveals her story of living feeling disconnected, experiencing a miscarriage and loss of marriages, towards a journey discovering love, connectedness, self. mindfulness and yoga on and off the mat. Beth and Randi Jo discuss yoga in schools including ways to implement a program, and Randi Jo leads a Sound Meditation to add to your tool box.

Randi Jo has been teaching yoga and mindfulness for Adults, kids and families ever since. Most of her time is spent teaching teachers and students in the Park City School District thanks to grants from the Park City Education Foundation, private donors and parents. She also offers year round Classes, Workshops and Summer Camps through the PCSD, Montessori Preschools, Charter Schools, The Figure Skating Club of Park City, Kimball Art Center, Basin Recreation and Utah Olympic Park. Randi Jo is certified with Yoga Works, Yoginos, Yoga for Youth, Mindful Schools, an Anusara Inspired Teacher, and is currently enrolled in a 2 year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training certification Program with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. She was named Park City Business Woman of the Year (2013) by the Park City Women’s Business Network and won top 3 yoga teacher in Park City (Park Record) 2013-16.

Connect with Randi Jo::
Randi Jo Greenberg
310-403-4645
RJ@yogawithrandijo
Yogawithrandijo.com
Yoga with Randi Jo (Facebook)
Yogawithrandijo (Instagram)

Rebecca Connors, Yoga On and Off the Mat, and Being a Mindful Montessori Leader

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 16:02:56 +0000

“I’d been through a trauma… and felt like I don’t know what’s going on, what did I do wrong, I don’t deserve this, and then yoga kicked in… and then I began to realize the gratitude.”
~Rebecca Connors

Join podcast host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, and Montessori leader, Rebecca Connors, RYT, RCYT, and Head of School at Sugar Creek Montessori School, on a journey through grief and trauma, finding and practicing yoga on and off the mat, and integrating mindfulness into her school and family life. Learn practical tools to take into your studio, classroom and home! Rebecca has served as a Montessori teacher for 10 years and in administration for 20 years. She is the mother of 3 adult kids, and grandma to one. Rebecca is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) and has her Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher credential through Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®.

Discover how yoga is a practice to explore on and off the yoga mat and how Rebecca uses it as an intentional way of living, including:
~ Realizing what’s present
~ Holding space for the emotions and thoughts to show up
~ Allowing the emotions and thoughts to be there
~ Letting them go!

Learn more about the benefits of a Montessori education and how mindfulness can be integrated into traditional and Montessori classrooms, Principal Offices and entire schools. Rebecca shares the importance of treating the child with the same respect you would to an adult, and practical ideas for how to employ yoga-based self-regulation.

Connect with Rebecca:
Email: rdw196524@gmail.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.hollingsworth.96
Sugar Creek Montessori School: http://www.sugarcreekmontessori.com/

Connect with Beth:
Email: elizreese@gmail.com
Cell: +1 361 563 7448
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

Justine Fanarof, Costa Rican Stingrays, and the Path to Yogi, Know Thyself™

Thu, 11 Apr 2019 17:14:33 +0000

The pain was there and so was the practice. ~Justine Fanarof

What do Costa Rican stingrays, Krishna Das, beads, mindfulness and yoga on and off the mat have in common? Justine Kerri Fanarof, JD, MPH, E-500 RYT, shares her “sheroe” journey of when she realized the critical importance of integrating her mindfulness and yoga on and off the mat practice into her daily life as she managed intense pain while waiting for help. She then leads 3 of her favorite mindfulness practices, and discusses with us her offering to the world through her OHMazing® program, Yogi, Know Thyself™, featuring seasonal workshops and trainings. Justine is an holistic lawyer and entrepreneur and uses her legal, public health, communications, mediation, yoga, and mindfulness skills to resolve conflict and support other entrepreneurs create, manifest, nourish, and adapt their dreams and realities.

Justine has been practicing yoga since at least 1998 and teaching since 2004. She loves creating sacred spaces of practice and inquiry for students of all ages and abilities. She is the creatrix of Yogi, Know Thyself ™, a seasonal and ongoing exploration of svadyaya, or self-study, in a sourced and experiential space of personal practice, self-care, and inquiry.

Yogi, Know Thyself ™ is an alternative to rah-rah yoga teacher training programs. It offers substantive intellectual content and physical practice to the whole human being who wants to steep themselves in their own understanding of ancient and modern wisdom and compassion practices—without pushing become a yoga teacher dogma. If that ensues, wonderful, but our focus is on the personal practice journey.

FB: Yoga with Justine @justineyogini
www.justineyoga.com
IG: @justinekerri
#fanarofing means to enjoy in the delights that life, people, and our beautiful planet have to offer

Links referenced in our conversation:

https://alzheimersprevention.org/research/12-minute-memory-exercise/

https://www.3ho.org/kirtan-kriya

Connect with Beth
Email: elizreese@gmail.com
Cell: +1 361 563 7448
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

Sourcing the Source: A Conversation with Beth's Daughter, Jordan

Wed, 3 Apr 2019 17:30:02 +0000

Imagine feeling like moments of your life are like a movie where you don’t even have the control of the director. Dr. Beth Reese’s daughter, Jordan, relates that for her having sensory processing disorder sometimes feels like there’s a disconnect between what she’s doing and what her brain processes. She also describes that practical, self-regulation tools she uses manage her mind and actions, including Flower Power breath and imagining she presses pause on that movie scene. Jordan uses these mindfulness and yoga off the mat skills to empower her to make choices in her life aligned with who she says she is, not just moment-to-moment reactions.

“I think it’s really important to just breathe sometimes,” says Jordan. “Just that one thing can really change your whole life.”

Using breath to curate your best self are skills that Beth teaches in her weekend courses and trainings at schools. In their recent podcast, Sourcing the Source: A Conversation with Beth's Daughter, Beth sharing several breathing and postures as tools along with anecdotes illustrating how they have literally transformed lives of herself, her son Cole while playing baseball, her daughter on a school field trip, a high school student and principal, and more. These practical techniques include:

Get grounded in any situation, including at work and when traveling
Baseball breath and suggestions on translating breathing techniques for different ages and interests
Shanti hug
Hand Hat

Remember that a key to creating success with these tools is to explore the Winner’s Circle. Beth loves to talk about Houston Rockets player, James Harden, who often shoots over 60 points a game as a result, in part, of the number of 3-point shots he makes. To do that he had to learn, practice, and be in the game. Consider that athletes all use these 3 steps to enter the Winner’s Circle:

Learn: someone has taught them a skill and various options and ways to succeed—they have access to a toolbox.
Practice: athletes practice and scrimmage to get better, to try what they are learning and see under what conditions which skill works best. This is like learning Flower Power breath, Shanti Hug, and baseball breath, and more, and then knowing you can try them at different times under different contexts.
Be in the Game: apply the skills you learn in the game of life. Here you explore in real-time how applying various tools makes a difference in your being amidst any circumstance.

Introducing Beth Reese, An Interview with Heather Ann Havenwood

Mon, 1 Apr 2019 15:19:24 +0000

When Dr. Beth Reese’s then 6-year-old daughter started hurling chairs at her in a busy airport, she knew something was up. Soon after, she learned that her daughter had sensory processing disorder, considered by many to be a spectrum disorder. Realizing that what Beth was learning on her yoga mat could help her daughter “off the mat”, she founded Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® in 2008. Since then she has authored award-winning, bilingual resources including an online curriculum for kids, teachers, parents, and families. She leads trainings, professional development workshops, and The OHMazing® Way Podcast for individuals, teachers, schools, and museums.

In the podcast Beth shares "Flower Power Breath" which is the first "tool" she created to support her daughter in self-regulating her energy and emotions. Her daughter still practices this breathing technique in college and shares that it helps her manage her reactions so she can create herself in alignment with who she says she is.

In conversation with Heather Ann Havenwood, Beth shares her journey from her daughter's sensory processing diagnosis to launching Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® and now creating The OHMazing® Way Podcast. This new podcast synthesizes over two decades of Reese’s work bringing mindfulness—mental hygiene—and yoga on and off the mat to her own three kids, teachers, parents and families in homes, classrooms, schools, and beyond. Listen, learn and share practical ideas for integrating research-based self-regulation tools into daily life. As for Dr. Reese’s once chair-hurling daughter, she is now an award-winning filmmaker in UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.