Online Yogiños Classes Now at YogaVibes!

by Meredith Paterson

Today, we are so excited to announce our collaboration and partnership with YogaVibes.

Yogiños: Yoga for Youth classes are now available on YogaVibes so that you and your family can take a class anytime, anywhere. 

Download the classes and have a yoga party at your house!

These unique classes were filmed in partnership with the Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, and each class weaves together art, storytelling, yoga, music, love, and loads of fun!

Here are descriptions of each of the classes:

Ahila demonstrates mudras.

Mudras:
In this FREE yoga video, we explore some of the Hasta Mudras that are associated with the Hindu deity Vishnu and his beautiful consort Lakshmi. Designed for ages 4 & up.

Lakshmi: The Heroine of Generosity:
Join kids and families of all ages on an adventure about the greatest form of wealth: the art of generosity. Learn mudras, breathing, poses and cultural narratives inspired by an original work of art of Lakshmi who is known for bestowing wealth, prosperity, and abundance of knowledge, kindness and generosity. Music credits: "I am OHMazing" by Hunter James (words by Beth Reese and first verse of Upanishads); "Jai Ma" by Donna De Lory; "Ganapati Om" by Donna De Lory; and "Toco el Sol" by Albert Del Rio (lyrics by Beth Reese). (48 mins.) Designed for families with yogis of all ages.

Beth and the Yogiños discuss Ganesha's vehicle
in the "Super Friends" video.

Super Friends:
Reflect on people and pets who are special. Learn about several heroes and their companions or vehicles. In Sanskrit, a vehicle is called a vahana. Surrounded by original works of art, we will meet several heroes and heroines - Shiva, Parvati, Lakshmi, Vishnu and Gansha - through sight, sound, breath, and poses or asanas that reveal how friends and pets are special to us and how we are special to them.  Music credits: "Toco el Sol" by Albert Del Rio (lyrics by Beth Reese). (47 mins.) Designed for ages 4 & up.

The Courage in Me:

Meredith discusses the courage in our hearts.

Learn one of the ancient stories of Garuda, half-man, half-eagle, and the heroic tasks he had to take on moments after his birth. Inspired by the works of art surrounding us in the galleries of the Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, we use breathing, asana (yoga poses), and partner work to look inside our own hearts to find the courage we need to face difficult situations. Music credits: "Toco el Sol" by Albert Del Rio (lyrics by Beth Reese). (35 mins.) Designed for ages 6 & up.

Hero at Home: Create an OHMazing™ Day

by Beth Reese

In Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® we spend a lot of doing yoga off the mat. In fact, I was happily surprised when I learned that yoga is a way of life not "just" poses or asanas. Asanas are 1 branch of the yoga tree. The overarching philosophies pf yoga are known as the 8 Limbs:

Meredith encourages yogiños to cultivate pratyahara
by carefully looking at this sculpture of Vishnu as Varaha
in the Crow Collection of Asian Art.

Yama :  Making good choices for others

Niyama :  Making good choices for yourself

Asanas :  Body postures or poses

Pranayama :  Breathing exercises

Pratyahara :  Cultivation and control of the senses

Dharana :  Concentration, focus, inner awareness

Dhyana :  Meditation

Samadhi :  Union with the Divine within yourself

Sometimes at first it may be hard to imagine practicing yoga off the mat. In this week's Yogiños in Your Home we offer a short film showing Remy and one of her OHMazing™ Days.

Be a hero at home and share yoga on and off the mat!

Beth is the mother of three OHMazing yogis under the age of 12. Her oldest daughter, Jordan, is the inspiration for  Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® as she learned to navigate challenges associated with Sensory-Integration "Disorder" through practicing all 8 Limbs of yoga.

elizabeth@yoginos.com

Together at the Table: National Food Day

by Meredith Paterson

Monday, October 24, 2011 marks the first National Food Day! 
How do you plan to celebrate?
Keep reading for links to recipes and resources below.

All across the country, friends and families will cook and eat together; farmers' markets and local food organizations will host parades, parties, gardening demonstrations, cooking classes, and more-- all in the service of raising awareness about access to healthy, affordable, sustainable food. And sustainable food is food that supports the earth, the growers, the harvesters, and the consumers.
Find food day events near you and as well as nationwide events.

The old saying is true. We ARE what we eat. The food we consume becomes the energy our bodies use to think, move, create, and love. So we need to start with clean, healthy fuel for our bodies. In Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® classes, we often discuss the effects of the food choices we make and how important the food we eat is to the health of our bodies, our families, and our earth. Let's work together to make sure that everyone has access to healthy food that sustains the planet.

"Food Day's goal is nothing less than to transform the American diet—to inspire a broad movement involving people from every corner of our land who want healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way. In other words, we want America to eat real. We want to get Americans cooking real food for their families again. We want fewer people at drive-throughs and bigger crowds at farmers markets. We want to celebrate fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy whole grains—and to support the local farms and farmers that produce them. We want all Americans—regardless of their age or income or geographic location—to be able to select healthy diets and avoid obesity, heart disease, and other diet-related conditions. "

The Food Day website offers curriculum and other resources for teachers to use in their classrooms as well as resources for throwing your own event and talking with your family about the importance of the Food Day goals.

Free Food Day recipes from chefs like Kate Sherwood, Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse, Dan Barber, and Rick Bayless. Jaime Oliver 's Food Revolution is sponsoring Food Day events and posting recipes on its website.

Like Food Day on Facebook.

How will you celebrate Food Day? Comment below or let us know on Facebook.

Love the way nature serves us

by Damla Eytemiz

 A sunny Friday… Wind comes and goes… Definitely a good day for outdoor activities…

I love the nature and I love the way it serves us… However, I believe we should give something back to it if we want this world to last long.

I am reading a lot about ways to save the world and to go green. Today I am going to share five ways how to save the world.

1-    Share the car: We are all producers and consumers. So let's think more about the earth and be more gentle to it so that all the generations will enjoy at least as much as we do. Why don’t we start sharing cars? You can share your car with your wife, husband, kid or a friend or neighbors. It won’t only mean the total mileage will be less but maintaining one car instead of two will certainly be less expensive and will require less energy. With the money you save, it is possible to make many OHMazing choices. There were an estimated 255 million registered passenger vehicles in US in 2007.

2-    Electric Companies: If you can, choose an electric company that offers energy from renewable sources. Then, you will help the earth to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases that is due to fossil fuels; coal, oil, natural gas.

3-    Avoid buying too much: Don’t buy things that you will want to get rid of quickly. We all go to malls, shops and come with things we really don’t want to buy. All the advertisements and all the marketing make us buy the things we actually don’t need or it is not on the priority list. When you do grocery, if you know you can’t consume a lot, please think twice. Eggs, milk, vegetables, meat, fruits are all perishables. So, excessive amount of buying will end up putting the items in trash in a couple of days.

4-    Go for Organic Coffee: If you are a coffee drinker, go for organic coffee. US sales of organic coffee were $89 million in 2005 and the number is increasing more each year. If you are not a coffee lover, you are more than welcome to skip #4 giving yourselves a high five.

5-    Check the chemicals: Our laundries, kitchens, bathrooms are all full of chemical products whether we see or not. Please check the products you use and read the content labels whether they are harmful to the environment or not.

6-    Keep up with Yoginos…. Do Yoga…. Make it an inseparable part of your life.

Damla Eytemiz is from Turkey and she is trilingual in Turkish, English and German. She started Yoga in 2010, and she has been doing Pilates since 2007. She loves sports and thinks kids should put “Yoga” in their lives so that they can readily work through life’s challenges and be happier kids. 

Drinks with Problems

During the first Yogiños Instructor Training in Corpus Christi,
Damla and Claudia practice double boat pose.

by Damla Eytemiz

Nowadays… We are either watching our weight, diet or we all just want to be healthy. Yesterday I came across a game online, called FATWORLD.  It is a video game about the politics of nutrition. It explores the relationships between obesity, nutrition, and socioeconomics in the contemporary U.S. The game's goal is not to tell people what to eat or how to exercise, but to demonstrate the complex, interwoven relationships between nutrition and factors like budgets, the physical world, subsidies, and regulations. For more information, please check fatworld.org. Weighty topics section provides more information related to nutrition, exercise, diet and meal plans, obesity and other health concerns, children’s nutrition and etc.

I am a bookworm, especially when it comes to health and nutrition books. I enjoy everything I read especially if it is something I can bring to action. After starting working at Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®, I can tell that I felt so much healthier physically and emotionally. Yoga made me search more about health and nutrition and each day I started to do better in picking what I should eat and drink and what I should avoid. However, I met a lot of people who thinks a healthy body is only related with eating healthy food.

I call on people to realize that eating and drinking are sisters or brothers. One shouldn’t be considered separate.

I want to share with you some information from about the drinks we should avoid drinking and/or be more concerned about. The following four drinks with problems are form a recent posting by Andrew Weil, MD. 

Coffee drinks with full-fat dairy, artificial flavorings, and extras such as chocolate sprinkles. These can pack as many calories (and fat) as a meal. A better option is a plain coffee with soymilk or, better yet, antioxidant-rich green tea.

Frothy summer cocktails. Whether it's a margarita or a pina colada, sugary drinks pack a double dose of calories due to alcohol and sugar - some can top 800 calories in one drink.  A better option is a glass of red wine (60-100 calories) or a light beer (about 100 calories).

Non-juice "juice drinks." Before buying juice, read the label and make sure it is 100% juice (not just "made with" real juice) and check for added sweeteners and calories. Many of these products are no better than drinking sugar water.

Soda. There just isn't anything nutritious about soda, whether it's diet or regular. If you're a soda addict, break the habit by eliminating soda as a treat, and stop reaching for it automatically with a meal or as a thirst quencher.

Next week, I am writing about WATER and how it is important for our life. Keep up with us ogiños: Yoga for Youth®  lovers ! And be the change of your life.

Poised for Possibility: Off the Mat Svadhyaya – Self study

Meredith Paterson, Jennifer Buergermeister, and I celebrate
the Second Instructor Training at CuraYoga last June.
We will have another one in June 2012.

by Elizabeth Reese, Ph.D.


Last Friday I had the pleasure of dining with my dear friend and colleague, Jennifer Buergermeister, in Houston. We have shared a pot of tea, a morning cup of Joe, but never a dinner. Like any good gathering over savory foods, we savored sharing our memories and experiences and, in turn, grew in both our professional and personal relationships. 


With a photo-shoot with a dozen OHMazing™ Yogiños on Monday,  Meredith came to Corpus Christi to direct the event (many thanks!). Mere is consuming very

Meredith assist Yogiña Molly in
Estrella/Triangle/Trikonasana.

selective and specific foods right now. While the rationale is hers to share, I can share my observations of a friend and colleague who is illuminating her path with self-love and exploration. 

Listening to her challenges and the grace with which she navigates what, when, and where to eat, I ultimately see a person who is cultivating and practicing yoga with every bite. Literally, through careful selection of foods and beverages, Meredith is practicing one of the limbs of yoga, Niyama or personal observances, and one of its elements, Svadhyaya.

Sva means "self'" and adhyaya means "inquiry" or "examination". Any activity that promotes self-reflective awareness can be considered svadhyaya.  When we intentionally cultivate careful reflection and responses in our activities, we also can learn to embrace our limitations.

With years of experience with these kids (lol), Jeaneen
carefully orchestrates culinary techniques like
carefully slicing scallions and tearing spnach.

In my house tonight, I find myself struggling between wanting quiet at dinner time with watching my kids find joy in preparing a meal with our dear friend, Jeaneen. Of course the fact is, the idea alone that the Texas Rangers are in the World Series automatically increases the volume... thank goodness!


"These are asparagus. They can bend and also break, just like us. Let's wash them carefully," advised Jeaneen.

"This is cheese. Let's slice it mindfully like when we make decisions about whether to do this, or that. Stay with these friends, or go with that group." 

As the evening goes on, my kids (ummmm and I?) abandon bedtime bewitching hours in favor of assisting Jeaneen and learning about food sources and how they make us more aware of ourselves—or more adept at engaging with Svadhyaya. Accordingly, I become more likely to remember and respond to what a dear friend and mom once advised me, "there's more to education than school."

Whether over spring rolls and corn polenta cakes, buckwheat cereal or Corpus Christi couscous, we can choose to mindfully reflect and respond to what we consume and share in more ways than one.

 The name for this dish is still debatable but I like
Corpus Christi Couscous!

Elizabeth Reese, Ph.D., RYT, RCYT, is the founder and executive director of Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®. She is a teacher with over 20 years of experiences leading learners of all ages in creative problem solving, self-reflection and empowerment. Her teaching credentials also include windsurfing and skiing. 

A yoga practitioner for over 10 years, Beth completed an Anusara Immersion and teacher training with Christina Sell in 2009 and currently is working toward Anusara Inspired Certification. Beth is RYT-200 and a Registered Children's Yoga Teacher (RCYT). Beth is the mother of three OHMazing yogis under the age of 12... and we all LOVE Corpus Christi Couscous!

Journey in the Rain

Sandra and her youngest son Jeremiah work together
to create "My OHMazing™ Space" at the
Corpus Christi Montessori School.

by Sandra Golaszewski

South Texas is one of those corners that does not get a lot of rain during the year. So when it does rain, we fully embrace this natural occurrence and as a family we have always done it. You have too, especially down here in south Texas. Rain is considered nourishment for mother earth and the water of life. It makes us feel calm, it washes away our worries and thus starting over fresh. It is essential that we show our children, that rain is good for us and should be enjoyed. Nowadays many parent do not want their children to go out and get wet, out of fear that they might get sick. Well, do not spend endless hours in the rain. If you feel you are getting cold do not stay, just make your way inside into the warm tub and afterward a warm tea. This is how we harden up, strengthen our immune system, by being exposed to mother nature.

There are many ways to enjoy a stroll in the rain:

1. Jumping in puddles

2. Singing in the rain

3. Dancing in the rain

4. Exploring the gutters/drains – finding out where it travels to

5. Making paper boats and have them travel in the puddles

6. Going through the mud, and talk about the feeling of mud on your feet

7. Pitch a tent and listen to the rain drops on the tent – very soothing

This weekend we spent some time together playing outside in the rain, since it has not rained in “months”, literally. We ran through the puddles, jumped and danced in the rain. Had fun feeling the mud on our feet and explore how the rain was flowing through the gutters and where it eventually takes the rain to. We also did ‘Yoga of the Mat’ by walking barefooted and feeling mother nature on our feet, as well as the mud. 

Sandra Golaszewski is a Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® Inspired Instructor. Originally from Berlin, Germany, Sandra is bilingual in German and English. She started Yoga in 2010, and has since been very interested in varies forms of Yoga and also is a Reiki I practitioner. She has 3 children that are being homeschooled using Montessori and Waldorf philosophy and she includes Yoga almost every day. Sandra believes that a child should be treated as a 'whole'.