Mind Move Make Online!

I met Morgan Pace Bolton of Grateful Heart Kids Yoga about a year ago at a Living Yoga workshop that was called The Biology of Breathing.  We've stayed connected ever since and planned to collaborate on a summer camp for children that would offer mindfulness, yoga, and art.  When COVID-19 hit our communities, I approached Morgan about working together to offer virtual classes that focused on cultivating community for children in this strange era of social distancing.  Our first class happened on March 23, before online school started.  We planned to offer classes until children returned to school on April 28th.  When the decision was made to close schools in Oregon for the year, we extended the classes to go until June 1.

I am proud of the community we've developed with kids ranging from Kindergarten to 5th grade.  My three-year-old also joins in on the classes because she is home with me at this time.  Teaching online has been a tremendous learning experience. 

During our second class we read the book The Jar of Happiness by Alisa Burrows.  Here is a recorded reading of the book if you'd like to watch and listen to this sweet story.  We talked about what we'd put into our own jar of happiness, focusing on a person and an object that brings us happiness.  The drawing assignment was to draw either a person or an object (stuffy, blanket, book, photograph) that brings happiness.  

Morgan and I decided to use breakout groups to facilitate a conversation in which children truly felt seen and heard in a smaller group.  During our breakout group for our second class, each child had a chance to share what they would put in their own Jar of Happiness.  Then everyone got to share their Here and Now drawings that they created on their own.  It was fun to hear everyone's voices and begin to build community through conversation, despite the fact that we are all at home in different spaces.

Morgan lead us in some gentle movement at the beginning of the class, and through a Sun Salutation after our breakout groups finished meeting.  She's paired each movement of the Sun Salutation with a beautiful phrase that matches the movement with something like spoken word poetry. Our Quick Draw Challenge was to create a mandala design that had radial symmetry.  It was fun to see what everyone came up with, and I think many children were still working on this when our session ended!

Thanks to all the children who participated in our second class!