Circle of Trees and Sock Puppets (oh my!)

Upon arriving at TIS to teach the eighth Mind Move Make class, I realized something different was in the air.  There was a palpable excitement that I just couldn't put my finger on, plus there was absolutely no parking anywhere around the school!  When I saw the Assistant to the Head of School and the EMT both dressed as Starbucks cups, I realized that today was the Halloween celebration and parade.

Between the candy consumed and the costume wearing, the Mind Move Make crew was a bit more energetic than usual.  We started the class by creating a Circle of Trees, something I've wanted to try for a while now.  Standing in a circle, with the palm of one person's hand pressed to his or her neighbor's, we helped each other in tree pose.  The students who were focused found tree pose to be easier with help from the people standing next to him or her.

Because of all the Halloween enthusiasm, the movement part of our class was shorter than usual.  We warmed up our bodies and went through two sun salutations before I decided to make an early transition to the art part of the class.

Art-wise, today we started creating sock puppets!  I showed the students many pictures of amazing

sock puppets before we started.  After thinking about and brainstorming ideas of their puppets, the students used paint to add color to their creations.  I explained that this was only the base color for their puppet, and that we would layer fabric and other materials on top of the puppet to make it more creative and interesting.

At the very beginning of class several students asked if I brought the book Annie and the Old One so that I could finish reading it to them.  When the students were settled and ready to work, I engaged them in a discussion about the book so far to see what they remembered.  I was really impressed by their recall of many details from the book as well as their understanding of the message.

As they worked on painting designs onto the beginnings of their puppet creations, I finished reading Annie and the Old One.  It was wonderful that they enjoyed the book so much!  I'm planning on bringing another book to read during the art portion of our next class.

Annie and the Old One

Last week during relaxation time the students contemplated someone they are grateful for, along with thinking of a kind action they could perform to demonstrate that they care for this person.  This week we began our seventh Mind Move Make class by sharing the thoughts and ideas they had the last time we met.

I started the discussion by sharing that it was my husband's birthday and he is the person for whom I am grateful. My kind action was going to be surprising him with Thai food from his favorite restaurant.  The singing bowl was handed from one student to another as the students either shared their ideas or chose to keep them to themselves.  Most of the students are getting really good at playing the singing bowl as they like to practice if there is time at the end of class.

One student shared that he is grateful for Mahatma Gandhi.  This student is Indian and explained that without Gandhi his family wouldn't be the same.  He asked the other students in the room if they knew who Gandhi was, and most of them said no.  The student went on to give a great explanation to his peers of Gandhi's role in helping free the Indian people from British rule through non-violent means.  Another student connected these actions to Martian Luther King's leadership of non-violent protest in the United States.  It was a great conversation.  After everyone had a chance to share, we warmed up with a few movements and played our last round of Yogi Says.

This week I demonstrated the dovetail weaving technique to the students.  We also experimented with weaving other materials like ribbon or fabric onto our looms.  As the students worked I gave them the choice to either talk quietly together or for me to read a story.  Almost everyone voted for me to read a story; I was surprised and a little flattered by this because they enjoy each other's company so much.  The book I read is called Annie and the Old One by author Miska Miles.  The book is about a ten-year-old Navajo girl, her family, and their connection to weaving and the earth around them.  At the end of class we were a little more than half way through the book, so I promised to bring it for the following class so they could know the ending.

Gratitude

To start our sixth Mind Move Make class, the students gathered their rock pouches and I explained that I wanted them to think of someone for whom they are extremely grateful.  During relaxation time I asked my students to hold a rock in his or her hand while keeping this special person in mind.  I wanted all of them to contemplate WHY they are grateful for this important person along with one way to express this feeling of gratitude through a kind action.  We will discuss the students' thoughts and ideas about this at the beginning of our next class.

After that we started the movement portion of our class.  We warmed up our vertebrae

by cycling through cat-cow poses, then began moving through a few sun salutations.  After warming up I taught the students Sphinx Pose.  Then I turned the class over to the students and we began our second round of Yogi Says!  Four more students got to choose their favorite pose for everyone to try.

The students were excited to get back to the weavings they started during the previous class!  I taught them Pick and Pick, a new weaving technique.  The Pick and Pick technique alternates between two colors of yarn to create what appears to be stripes in a section of the weaving.  This is a much more complicated technique to master, but many of the students were successful.  

Weaving is such a contemplative art form; it helps students connect with the fiber materials at their fingertips.  During this class, most of the students chose to work on their weavings while sitting together on the carpet instead of using the tables.  They shared stories with one another while their fingers entwined the colorful pieces of yarn together into a new work of art.  

   





  

Warp and Weft

During each Mind, Move, Make class we discuss how focusing on the sound and the feeling of our breath can help cultivate a sense of internal calm.  I asked my students if anyone had used his or her breath in a helpful way since our last class.  One student shared that she remembered her breath when she felt she was going to get in trouble at school.  Breathing mindfully took away some of her nervousness in a stressful situation.

I also let the students know that we are halfway through all of our classes for the first session.  I asked them to share what they've enjoyed most about Mind, Move, Make so far.  One student said she likes the  creativity she experiences during both the movement and art parts of the class.  Another student likes practicing yoga poses she already knows and learning new ones.  A third student enjoys the art portion of the class best.  It was interesting to hear their thoughts and ideas about the class.

Many of the students reminded me that I said we would play a game called Yogi Says; they were

curious and excited to get started.  I created a sign with all the yoga poses we've learned so far so that they could reference it when selecting a favorite pose.  After warming up our bodies with some initial movement, I chose the student who was showing the most focus start the game.

The first pose chosen was Pigeon, and I quickly realized only a few students would get to share their favorite poses this week if we were going to also have time to create artwork!  We will play Yogi Says for three classes so that everyone gets a chance to share his or her favorite pose.

Today we began weaving on a cardboard loom during the art portion of the class.  The great thing about this project is that the students can continue making looms and weavings at home because the materials are easy to find around almost any household: cardboard, string, and yarn.  This is empowering to the students because they can explore this process on their own and make gifts for friends and family.

I taught my students how to prepare and string their cardboard looms and explained the difference between the weft and warp threads.  We began with a basic weave, but over the next few weeks I'll teach them three more weaving techniques.  The children were pretty giddy about this project; in fact a couple students didn't want to leave at the end of class because they just wanted to keep weaving!

A wave and an ash tree

If you could weave something into yourself, what would that be?

This is the question I posed to my students during our fourth Mind, Move, Make class.  I almost told them what I would want to weave into myself, but stopped to hear their ideas first.  One girl said she would weave the qualities of a wolf into herself.  Another girl wanted to weave a rainbow into herself, and when she smiled her teeth would be multi-colored.  Finally, I told them that I would love to weave the flight of a bird into myself so that I could soar over the landscape.  Two other qualities I'd love to entwine within myself are humor and kindness.

While the students were laying on their yoga mats relaxing and following their breath, I read one of my favorite poem by W.S. Merwin.  It is called "Recognitions" and I'll share it here:

                                    Stories come to us like new senses

                                    a wave and an ash tree were sisters

                                    they had been separated since they were children

                                    but they went on believing in each other

                                    though each was sure that the other must be lost

                                    they cherished traits of themselves that they thought of

                                    as family resemblances features they held in common

                                    the sheen of the wave fluttered in remembrance 

                                    of the undersides of the leaves of the ash tree

                                    in summer air and the limbs of the ash tree

                                    recalled the wave as the breeze lifted it

                                    and they wrote to each other every day

                                    without knowing where to send the letters

                                    some of which have come to light only now

                                    revealing in their old but familiar language

                                    a view of the world we could not have guessed at

                                    but that we always wanted to believe

After that, we started to move!  I explained that next week we would play the game "Yogi Says" and they would each need to remember what their favorite movement pose is so that they can share it with the class.  When I explained this, one student asked, "Can we ONLY choose one pose?  I like so many of them!"   During this class I taught them several new poses, such as Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II), Triangle (Trikonasana), Pigeon, and Dolphin.  I'll be interested to learn everyone's favorites next week!

During the art portion of the class we returned to the idea of weaving qualities and characteristics that they admire into themselves.  I printed a self-portrait photograph of each child in black and white and intended for them to draw a picture on a separate piece of paper and weave that drawing into their portrait.  One student had the idea to use oil pastels to add color to her self-portrait directly on the photograph, and all of the other students loved this idea!  Most of the students spent the rest of the class adding vibrant color to their portraits and didn't have time to weave anything into the photograph.  The idea of weaving other traits into themselves was not lost, though, because most students transformed themselves into whatever it was they admired using color.  We had some very interesting results!

We also completed the fabric rock pouches that we started the first class!  Each session we use the rocks to help us focus during balancing poses.