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Seasons Change Fall is here and students are back in school. This year more students than ever will be given the opportunity to experience yoga and meditation, two modalities that can change the world if everyone takes time to practice. In this issue we explore the work of Molly Schreiber (“Yoga in the Classroom”) and others to bring yoga to classrooms across the state of Iowa. Yoga is beneficial to every student, but especially transformative for those struggling with language, attention or behavioral issues.
I N
T H I S
4 TH ha ev eInnst e r n e t ’ s Y o g a
1 3 BL ar en ag ku iangge TBhaer r i e r
5 The Beginner's Mind
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BY JUSTIN KALISZEWSKI The internet puts a world of yoga at your fingertips. Peruse this “greatest hits” list of online resources.
School was never easy for me. In teacher conferences, my parents were told that I was a day dreamer who had trouble paying attention. In elementary school, I was moved into special needs classes because I couldn’t keep up. It became apparent that I wasn’t learning the same way as most students. I struggled with phonics and would sometimes switch letters around or misread words. By middle school, I learned to cope by memorizing words as whole objects. The school system eventually got better at understanding my specific limitations and I got better at working around my strengths. I was able to attend regular classes once again.
BY TRACEY L. KELLEY Starting a yoga practice can be intimidating, but it all starts with the right mindset.
6 SY loogwa i n g D o w n w i t h Y i n
BY LINSEY BIRUSINGH Yin is a slow-paced but intense branch of yoga with enticing potential benefits.
Our schools have gotten better at handling students with diverse backgrounds and learning styles, but we still have a long way to go. Yoga would have brought such calm and joy to my elementary school experience and introduced me to my practice at a younger age. I also think it would have made me a better student. Early programs incorporating yoga into Iowa classrooms are showing similar results. Yoga has the power to create change from within, empowering our youth to make unbelievable strides.
7 FS it vr ee s Ws -aFyrse eT oH oS ul ipdpaoyrst
BY VAL BROWN Ayurvedic tips for banishing holiday stress and regulating your body and emotions.
Fall brings change for grown-ups too. As the sun sets earlier and the weather gets cooler, it’s important to maintain a healthy routine for both our physical and emotional well-being. We examine this connection of mind and body with Amy Wheeler (“Amy Wheeler, Yoga Therapist”), who works with elite athletes incorporating breathing, posture, visualizations, exercise and diet into a holistic approach to healing and performance. For more diet inspiration, Lily Allen-Duenas offers up“Healthful Fall& Winter R ecipes”and Val Brown details “Five toWays to Support Stress-Free Holidays” to findcomfort,helpgut health and ease tension in your body. And Linsey Birusingh (“Yin Yoga”) describes a style of yoga that involves takingt imeinpostures,b reaking down the fascia and exploring the emotions sitting in your body.
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Learning To Let Go In Central America
BY ALEXANDER HIFFERNAN Visiting volcanoes, patting tortillas and embracing ritual is a recipe for inner peace.
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Yoga In The Classroom
BY EMMA MCCLATCHEY Elementary students are some of Iowa’s most enthusiastic yogis, and educators are seeing remarkable results.
In this season of gratitude, I want to express my appreciation to the writers, contributors and staff who made thisissue of YogaIowa possible. And thank you, the reader, for welcoming us into your heart and mind.
I S S U E BY ALLY KARSYN Sioux City yoga instructor Carolina Guzman has broadened her reach by leading classes in both English and Spanish.
BY SARA J. WEIS Adults and kids alike can benefit from brain breaks. Incorporate these simple techniques into your daily schedule.
1 5 AT hmeyr aWphi se te l e r , Y o g a
BY EMMA MCCLATCHEY This Waverly, Iowa native combines psychology and yoga to train everyone from Olympic athletes to school-age children.
1 7 HWei an lt tehr f Ru le cFiaplel s &
BY LILY ALLEN-DUENAS Spice up your next holiday party with these nutritious and delicious recipes.
1 8 YogaIowa Recommends
BY YOGAIOWA STAFF These books and podcasts will change your perspective on happiness, self-help and the power of your own body.
1 9 QS a&gAu wn i t h V a l e r i e
BY EMMA MCCLATCHEY The Big Gal Yoga founder has inspired thousands with her body-positive Instagram page and debut book.
FAL L 2017 VO LU ME 5, N U MB ER 4
M AN AG I N G EDI TOR Emma McClatchey A RT DI RECT I ON Natalia Araujo COPY EDI TOR Lauren Shotwell
On The Cover Students in Gina Ferrel's fourth grade class pose during their daily afternoon yoga lesson at Alexander Elementary in Iowa City. Photo by Zak Neumann.
A DVERT I SI N G R E PRESEN TAT I VES Sarah Driscoll Jav Ducker Frankie Schneckloth
COM M E N TS & SU BMI SS I O N S
Central Iowa: Linsey Birusingh thehumblehedonist@gmail.com Cedar Rapids: Kim Reed dancingbuddha@gmail.com Dubuque: Shelia O’Laughlin sheliaolaughlin@mchsi.com Quad Cities: Emilene Leone emileneleone@me.com Western Iowa: Trishia Gill trishia@evolvesiouxcity.com
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A DVI SORY BOA RD Sheree Clark, holistic health and nutritional coach Diane Glass, facilitator, Tending Your Inner Garden Dennis Kelly, founder of Yoga in the Park and Meditation Around Town, Des Moines
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G EN ERAL MAN AG ER Ally Thompson
F I E LD E D I TORS:
publisher. All rights reserved. Little Village assumes no liability for damage or loss. Locally owned, locally minded. Printed in Webster City, IA
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PUBL I SHER Matthew Steele
The internet’s yoga havens BY JUSTIN KALISZEWSKI As someone who cancelled his very first yoga membership because the student rate was costinhibitive, I am acutely aware of the economic realities that keep people from the yoga practice.
up to her name: vimeo.com/ondemand/ darlingyogafull
have recorded 14 videos in the “Fearless after 50” series.
Alberta-based Becca Pati is bad-ass, bold and beautiful and guides high-energy flows: youtube.com/yogaandlifewithbecca
Yogiapproved.com regularly runs specials on their bundles ($19 - $35). Founder Ashton August is a dynamo as a writer, and as a Vinyasa and Buti yoga teacher.
From donation classes and work-trade programs, to online offerings and free YouTube videos, the financial accessibility of the practice is growing…finally.
Sarah Beth, who has been leading hundreds of thousands of online yogis for five years, posts weekly videos that are clear, calm and presencing: youtube.com/sarahbethyoga
While the online format presents its own challenges and drawbacks—including the lack of actual human touch, which can’t be replaced virtually (yet)—video offerings are growing in quality and might represent the only way to get to some of the greats like Shiva Rea or Baron Baptiste, both of whom have free videos on YouTube.
LISTEN:
Whether you’re facing the financial predicament of choosing between a class to feed your consciousness or a burrito to fill your belly, a time constraint or geographical isolation, you can get your yoga in with these affordable and accessible online resources.
WATCH:
Vimeo has some rich content including offerings from nurturing instructor Emily Darling of Kansas City, who more than lives
The podcasts Audio Dharma, The Alan Watts Podcast and The Joe Rogan Experience cover everything from meditations and dharma talks to the most up-to-date topics, offering a lot to laugh at and think about. On Soundcloud, Cristen Malia guides a lovely, 15-minute Yoga Nidra lesson to promote relaxation: soundcloud.com/cristen-recknagelmalia/yoga-nidra-with-cristen-malia
STREAM:
Yogadownload.com offers an incredible variety and stellar rates ($12/month or $120/ year) and feature videos from two of my most all-time beloved teachers, Kristin McGill Gibowicz and Jackie Casal Mahrou. For those of a more advanced level of “wisdom,” Michelle Marchildon and Desiree Rumbaugh
TRAIN:
For a deeper degree of knowledge from a distance, teacher trainings can now be completed online. I personally have attended the Wim Hoff 10-week online course—the tools and techniques you will learn there are a game changer! wimhofmethod.com/ elearning/10-week-video-course
VETERAN RESOURCES:
For veterans of our armed forces, the Give Back Yoga Foundation teamed up with the great Rod Stryker to create a wonderful Nidra resource: mindfulyogatherapy.org/tools-resources Justin Kaliszewski is an award-winning artist, author, avid adventurer and the creator and co-founder of OUTLAW Yoga. He operates out of Colorado and teaches at Outlaw Yoga Littleton studio. He offers his own online yoga content at Facebook.com/outlawyoga, on YouTube.com/outlawyogi and at justinkaliszewski. com. Find him on Instagram as @outlawyogi.
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Starting a Yoga Journey:
In this new series, YogaIowa will address the uncertainties that arise
The Beginner's Mind
discipline that’s best for you. Look for “Starting a Yoga Journey” pieces
If you intend to begin a meaningful yoga practice and stick with it, the first posture to practice is a mental one.
The Beginner's Mind
A primary philosophy of modern yoga is the beginner's mind. This is a concept borrowed from Zen Buddhism—more specifically, from Zen master Shunryu Suzuki, who authored Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind in 1970, and helped foster the popularity of the concept in the West. The basic definition of a beginner's mind is this: possess an attitude of openness, accept how things are in this moment and release any preconceptions when trying something. This is a vital approach to starting a practice. It's easy to initially be apprehensive walking into a yoga class, even at a beginner's level. You might think, "I have no idea what's going on, or how to move, or what these words mean!" Remember, in yoga, there isn't competition
on the mat. Each individual is unique, with various levels of flexibility, strength, understanding and ability. Apply a beginner's mindset, be compassionate with yourself and don't allow self-defeating thoughts to limit your potential.
Remember, in the beginning, remain open to a new form of movement and breathing. The point isn't immediate mastery—it's a journey of evolution. This approach may awaken another aspect of yourself previously unknown, while complementing what's familiar.
When attending a class or workshop for the first time, introduce yourself to the teacher and let him or her know you're new to practice. Trust the guidance you'll receive as a result— complete with specific cues, adjustments and education—and replace what you don't know with the joy of discovery.
Transformation in Process
Remember, at first, your physical practice may need assistance from props, or you'll have a posture variation different from what other people are doing in order to move safely. Transitioning from one pose to another may make you feel as graceful as an octopus on ice skates—but all this will change with consistent effort. Use your beginner's mind to embrace the present moment. It's also common to use previous life experiences to frame the type of practice we expect to have. For example, an avid runner may think of yoga as all physical and expect practice will be easy, then become frustrated when it isn't.
While the gateway to a yogic lifestyle is initially physical, the poses are only part of the process. Learning to breathe in a way that calms your mind, releasing onto the mat what no longer serves you emotionally, creating a better sense of awareness—these benefits are only the beginning when you practice yoga with curiosity, an open heart and no fear. If you approach your practice with a beginner's mind both on and off the mat, you'll experience profound transformation. Not because something was wrong, but because more of your natural, wonderful self is revealed. Trust this process: there's freedom in it and consequently, endless possibilities. Tracey L. Kelley, E-RYT 500, shares stories, helps people listen and teaches yoga (traceylkelley.com). She's the author of one moment of a single day: essays. Tracey also creates online broadcasts, contributes to various healthy lifestyle magazines and websites and facilitates interpersonal development workshops to encourage people to see, hear and value one another.
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• FALL 2017
Yoga may seem like a mystical passage that only a few people follow. But in reality, nearly 37 million people practiced yoga in the United States in 2016, and Forbes magazine reported that another 80 million intended to try it soon.
in future issues and at yoga-iowa.com.
In Downtown Cedar Rapids BreathingRoomYoga.net
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BY TRACEY L. KELLEY
when one first steps onto a mat, from studio etiquette to finding the
Slow Down with Yin Yoga BY LINSEY BIRUSINGH Whether you’re a couch potato, a gym rat or a yogi, it may be time to start sprinkling in yin. Even if you stretch your muscles regularly, just once-weekly yin practice helps you go deeper, targeting joint structures, ligamental tissue, meridians and chakras. “All of us, no matter fitness level, retain tension in our fascia; it is the dumping place for all of our emotion and psychological stress,” said Christina Waltner, who trained under famed yin expert Paul Grilley. Yin yoga asks us to stay in passive poses for five minutes or longer, releasing tension and shape. “You'll be holding poses for way longer than any other style of yoga,” Waltner said. “You may think it’s going to be an easy class, [but will soon be] realizing it’s the hardest thing you've ever done.” These long holds are worth it. They can help heal one of our society’s most prominent issues: the spinning, stressed mind. “In such a loud, fast, demanding world, it is difficult to create a mindfulness habit until you learn to do it in a quiet, slow, undemanding environment,” Heather Ash, a yin instructor at Breathing Room Yoga in Cedar Rapids, said. “It is a great practice for escaping the habit of mindless reactivity.” The slow-paced style is also purported to heal the energetic body. “Yin draws inspiration from Chinese medicine, which focuses on energy lines called meridians,” Waltner explained. “When we release tension, the subtle effect is that energy can more easily transfer. If you stretch the inner line of your leg up to your liver, you not only stretch your inner thigh, but you free the liver meridian line.”
These long holds are worth it. They can help heal one of our society’s most prominent issues: the spinning, stressed mind.
If you’re ready for your own yin experience, Ash has some helpful tips. “First off, never be in pain in a pose,” she said. “Learn the difference between discomfort and pain. Discomfort can be intense, especially because of the mind's tendency to ‘pile on.’ Intensity is an object that we can work with.” Yin helps you ride the line between discomfort and pain with the use of props such as blankets, bolsters and blocks. These tools support the body so it can totally relax. Props also help personalize the pose. “Please remember that how you feel in your body is the only important thing,” Ash added. “How you look in a pose, how your pose compares to the teacher's or other students' or even how you looked in it a year ago or a week ago is not important. Bring yourself fully into the present breath by breath, pose by pose. This is how you find union between your body and mind, yourself and the universal collective. ‘To yoke’: that's yoga at it's core.”
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Linsey Birusingh, 500 RYT, leads retreats and adventures through her company, Yoga Thrill Adventures. She also teaches at Power Life Yoga and guides trauma-sensitive yoga for women around Des Moines. Off the mat, she is a journalist, TV host, traveler, adventurer, mother and wife.
CATERPILLAR — PHOTO BY CHRISTY COLLINS
Five Ways to Support Stress-Free Holidays BY VAL BROWN
Here are five ways to feel less frazzled, find balance and enjoy the holidays more: Take Time to Do Your Practice
Daily meditation, such as the Transcendental Meditation technique or the meditation of your choice, plus calming exercise such as yoga, can help banish worries. The trick is to not skimp on these daily de-stressors when time runs short. Pencil it in your calendar, make time and allow yourself to enjoy these de-stressing practices each day.
De-stress Your Digestion
According to Ayurveda, balancing any part of your body (or life) starts in the gut. If you’re not digesting food properly, the nutrients you’re eating are wasted instead of absorbed. Strong digestion keeps your immune system healthy and your brain happy. If things are off in your gut, your health may fall out of balance, leading to a vicious cycle of imbalance. Simple Tip: Eat your main meal of the day at lunch rather than at dinner. When you eat a large dinner, you are telling your body to do two contradictory things: deeply rest, but also maintain a higher metabolic rate to digest food. Your body cannot reach the deepest, most restful part of sleep when it is trying to handle a big meal. Support healthy digestion and elimination by adding an Ayurvedic combination of herbs, called Triphala, into the mix.
Self-Soothe with Ayurvedic Massage
There's no better way to prepare yourself for a hectic day than with a warm oil self-massage, known as abhyanga. This deliciously relaxing yet vibrantly rejuvenating massage strengthens your body, clears your mind and uplifts your emotions. Lightly warm some organic sesame, coconut or olive oil and then massage every part of your body with attention, using straight strokes over limbs and circular strokes over rounded parts like the joints. Allow the oil 10-15 minutes to soak into your skin and work its magic, then bathe or shower.
Check In With Your Emotions
The obligations and to-dos of the holiday season can demand your time and energy, leaving you feeling depleted. Ongoing stress can contribute to imbalances in your mind and body, leading to feelings of sadness and physical fatigue. Take time to check in with your emotions and your heart during this busy season, and choose to let go of unnecessary stress and unfulfilling obligations. Try brewing a cup of vata tea, in either water or warm milk, to soothe your emotions when they are stirred up.
Rest Deeply
Your body heals itself during sleep, which is why quality sleep is essential to maintain The obligations balance. Ayurveda and to-dos of recommends turning in around 10 p.m., during the holiday the Kapha time of day season can when your body naturally demand your supports rest, and waking with the sunrise. time and
energy, leaving
If you find yourself revved you feeling up during the evening, try depleted. a simple routine to slow yourself down and prepare for rest: Dim or turn off all the lights in your home as the sun sets, power down your electronics and enjoy a restful activity such as reading. You may find that drowsiness naturally comes on. If you have trouble going to sleep, wake with the sun in the morning and spend a few minutes walking in the early morning light. These evening and morning routines are a great way to reset your body’s natural rhythms.
Underneath all of the holiday activities, remember that the end of one year and the beginning of another is a time to practice gratitude and find divine connection within and around. Count all the things in your life to be grateful for, big or small. Make a list and express your gratefulness for them each day.
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It doesn’t have to be so stressful. The experience of stress is inversely related to your state of balance; the more balanced you are, the less you feel that life is stressful. Nothing may change on the outside, but how you experience our world can change—for the better. Ayurveda, the science of life, empowers us to balance our lives in body, heart and mind.
Safety Tip: All oils are highly flammable. Storing clothing, linens, towels, etc. that have absorbed oil or automatic-drying these items can create a fire hazard. Launder these items immediately or, if machine drying, use low heat and remove as soon as dry.
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With looming to-do lists, invite lists, gift lists, wish lists and grocery lists, the holiday season can quickly become chaotic, and it may leave you feeling stressed and unable to be present and enjoy your quality time with friends and family.
BY ALEXANDER HIFFERNAN My olive skin burned into a deep red soon after landing in Guatemala from a Midwest winter, as if I just left hot yoga. The thrill of arriving covered my body in goosebumps as a voice echoed in my head, “you did it.” The dream of letting go of control and being in a place of adventure was here. I was here. Dancing on volcanic ash beaches with friends from across the world, celebrating with locals during Semana Santa (Holy Week) and throwing away the to-do list, I was unsure what the next two and a half months had in store for me. The challenging part of “letting go” into these experiences wasn’t the hard part; rather, it was disconnecting, observing and questioning overriding illusory thoughts of what I “should” be doing. Through this letting go I started to find silence, which allowed me to explore self. I refer to self as the quietness that resides within us all. The place I felt most connected to self was in San Pedro, a lively village on Lake Atitlán surrounded by volcanos. Living with a Mayan family, I was exposed to a new pace of life. More rituals and fewer technological distractions reminded me of being a carefree child.
Transformative Travel:
Learning to Let Go in Central America THE WINDOW OF A LANCHA (BOAT) PROVIDES A GREAT VIEW OF THE VILLAGES ALONG LAKE ATITLAN IN GUATEMALA — PHOTO VIA ALEXANDER HIFFERNAN
Theodora, my beautiful host mother, would cook meals for us at the same time everyday. They would always consist of a variation of black beans, eggs and handmade tortillas. I can still hear her hands clap as she formed the tortilla dough. When I wasn't eating (on rare occasion) I was learning Spanish under a hut, kayaking on the lake and digesting a yoga anatomy course. This ritualistic living, full of play and freedom, created stillness within my mind and body. This freedom allowed me to wake with the sunrise and nod off with the sunset, explore the depths of yoga and stillness. This experience of finding silence shed light on how ritual is crucial for slowing down. It creates fewer distractions and more time to flirt with finding self in the midst of a busy world. I’ve learned that taking space in the present moment is a way of showing yourself that you didn’t forget about the peace within. For me, travel was the key.
Trauma Informed Yoga • FALL 2017
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This experience of finding silence shed light on how ritual is crucial for slowing down.
EL PAREDON
This practice of letting go and finding stillness started a healing process within my mental and physical body, which encouraged dreaming big and slaying distractions. Getting uncomfortable was the beginning of becoming comfortable. Listening to the self saying, “It’s your time to go,” is the proudest accomplishment of my life. It required full presence of my mind, body and spirit. My sister Hunter gave me advice anyone can use to take the first leap, which was, “You just have to trust, trust that everything will unfold on your adventures and it will.”
details about my travels, but to shed light on the lessons and healing that have the potential to happen through traveling, to simply inspire individuals to entertain the idea of travel. If you’ve ever dreamed of letting go or have been intrigued to explore the deeper self, become curious. Distractive thoughts of “you can’t leave here,” “what about your future?” or “you’re not a traveler” can rise. Ask yourself one question. What would happen if you listened to that voice saying “go”? Alexander Hiffernan is an Council Bluffs-based yoga instructor. Off the mat, he finds fulfillment in creative and entrepreneurial projects, mastering different movement styles, studying anatomy and learning to question everything. Learn more at soulcasemovement. com
My intention for writing this wasn't to fluff up
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ALEXANDER SCATTERS FLOWER PETALS ALONG LAS ALFOMBRAS (STREET OF THE CARPETS) FOR HOLY WEEK IN SAN PEDRO, GUATEMALA. — PHOTO VIA ALEXANDER HIFFERNAN
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Chiropractic for Your Soul
Yoga in the Classroom Elementary school students across Iowa are bending, breathing and bowing as more schools adopt yoga and mindfulness programs. Here are the stories of teachers, principals and child yoga instructors reinventing the traditional classroom.
BY EMMA MCCLATCHEY
and training to be used by educators.
Afternoon recess is over, and Gina Ferrel’s fourth grade class is filled with giggling, twirling, deskslamming chaos.
Her classroom activities include simple sequences like Sun Salutations as well as breathing exercises and creativityboosting games or crafts—all designed to connect mind, body and breath. She has adapted mudras, or symbolic hand gestures, that kids can match to their moods, and utilizes eye pillows to help students meditate.
“Find your spread-out yoga spots,” the teacher says. As kids scatter, Mrs. Ferrel brings up on the smartboard a video from the mindfulness activity website GoNoodle. The screen fills with clouds and sunshine.
“This is exactly why we do yoga,” she explains gently. “We came in from recess and we are worked up. But we need to get calm with our yoga, and it starts now. You know I expect 100 percent.” Cross-legged on the carpet, the kids follow the video’s voiceover instructions, taking a deep breath in through their nostrils as they stretch their arms up above them, then releasing it slowly in a soft hiss as arms float back to sides. Some close their eyes. The action is repeated nearly a dozen times, first sitting, then standing. “Enjoy the rainbow you’ve created,” the video says. Long before the sequence is complete, the tenor of the class has shifted to calm silence. Mrs. Ferrel inaudibly prompts her students to retrieve books from their desks and begin quiet reading. The activity is quick and simple, but has been tied to a significant decrease in suspensions and disciplinary trips to the office since yoga was introduced at Alexander last year. Seeing yoga and meditation in an Iowa classroom is not unusual, but it is fairly new. Studies released over the last 10 years connecting yoga, meditation and mindfulness exercises to improved behavior and test scores from students have encouraged many educators to implement some form of yoga practice into their schools. From individual teachers leading mindfulness lessons centered on food or art, to principals contracting professional child yoga instructors to train their whole staff on flows, breaths and mundras, classroom yoga takes many forms—all, apparently, to the benefit of students.
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CHALLENGE TO CHANGE
“A lot of kids don’t know what it feels like to fully relax,” said Schreiber, a former elementary teacher with master’s degree as a reading specialist. “When you turn inward and you shut off the lights and close your eyes, there’s scientific research that says the power of just doing that will lower your heart rate and relax your body and mind.” Inspired by the work of mindfulness author Susan Greenland, child psychologist Christopher Willard, musician Kira Willey and studies such as those of clinical psychologist Patricia C. Broderick connecting emotional awareness to higher cognitive function, Schreiber’s goal is to show educators that mindfulness exercises improve the mental and physical health of young students. Schreiber may get that opportunity this school year. Challenge to Change received a $20,000 grant from the McDonough Foundation—which donates funds for health and educational efforts in Eastern Iowa—for a study of the effects of yoga in classrooms. Positive findings could have a number of ramifications; for example, Iowa school districts may consider training guidance counselors on mindfulness, which could save schools the cost of hiring outside instructors. Schreiber has already begun implementing her program in four Dubuque elementary schools for the 2017-18 school year, as part of the study. Two of the schools, Fulton and Lincoln, represent the district’s highest percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunch; the other two, Sageville and Kennedy, are considered the most affluent schools in the district.
“Our minds are meant to think, think, think and our bodies are meant to move, move, move,” said Molly Schreiber, who, with her program Challenge to Change, instructs schools on how to innovate yoga practice.
“We’re really hoping to show with the study that it doesn’t matter what the socioeconomic status is, all schools need this,” Schreiber said.
Schreiber, RYT-200 95-RCYT, discovered a passion children’s yoga in the wake of her husband Kyle’s death from a car accident. In 2012, she started Challenge to Change out of her hometown of Dubuque, through which she combines child development research with yoga and mindfulness practices to tailor activities, materials, lesson plans
School demographics, provided by principals and staff, help Schreiber and her team of instructors adapt lesson plans to the study body’s specific needs, whether it be poor communication or anxiety from high parental expectations.
Before training the staff on yoga, Schreiber instructs teachers to meditate for 30 days and gain a sense of mindfulness. “It’s like the oxygen masks on an airplane,” Schreiber explained. “If you don’t put the oxygen mask on yourself first, you can’t help the people around you. It’s the same thing for the teacher: They really have to put the oxygen mask on themselves first before they can put it on kids.”
A SCHOOL FULL OF YOGIS
At Edmunds Elementary in Des Moines, yoga is considered fully implemented. This means all students begin the day with a yoga routine, and select a personal “go-to breath” depending on their moods. A kindergarten teacher could stop a stressed-out fifth grader in the hall and ask for her go-to breath—Balloon Breath, perhaps, involving a deep-belly inhalation— and encourage the student to keep up with the calming exercise throughout the day. “It’s just part of our daily routine,” Edmunds principal Jaynette Rittman said. “Part of our normalcy.” When mindfulness concepts are understood schoolwide, students are surrounded by the tools and resources they need to remain grounded. That was Rittman’s goal when she sought out a yoga program three years ago.
“The whole purpose is to teach skills and strategies to help prevent whatever behavior issue there may be,” said Hockman, a certified yoga instructor. “It’s more than When you turn just poses … it puts them inward and in situations you shut off where they the lights and learn to take close your eyes, care of each there’s scientific other and learn about research that differences.”
says the power of just doing that will lower your heart rate and relax your body and mind.
Since Edmunds first began applying yoga and mindfulness techniques in 2014, office referrals for behavioral transgressions were cut in half from about 1,000 a year to between 400 and 500. In addition, Edmunds students’ Iowa Assessment scores have increased 18 percent in reading, 18 percent in science and 17 percent in math. “Just the overall climate and culture is a building for learning and you can feel that,” Rittman said. “If you’re implementing it well people will notice that as soon as they walk in the building.” For her school’s yoga makeover, Rittman
secured a number of state and local grants to contract Yoga 4 Classrooms, a children’s yoga company out of New Hampshire that offers 67 research-based yoga and mindfulness activities for students across six categories: Let’s Breathe, At Your Desk, Stand Strong, Loosen Up, Imagination Vacation and Be Well. In 2014, Rittman and 10 faculty members traveled to New Hampshire for the initial training from Yoga 4 Classrooms founder Lisa Flynn. They ended up “revamping” the provided curriculums to make them their own. Rittman had to add 10 minutes to the beginning of the school day to accommodate the yoga interventions. When students complained the exercises felt repetitive, staff added a twist. “We started doing more flows within lessons, all based around various social topics or areas we feel like we wanted to address as a school,” Rittman said. “If we’re all talking about citizenship or giving compliments, the whole school is talking about that.” Other schools have taken notice. This summer, groups of educators from Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and even Texas visited Edmunds’ annual Yoga 4 Classrooms retraining. Hockman warns that the transition took time—not every student felt comfortable striking a Warrior Three Pose in front of peers off the bat. But mindfulness eventually leads to a more mature student body. “[If you’re acting angry] students will call you out and say, ‘Mr. Hockman, do you need to do a yoga breath?’” he said with a laugh. “It’s awesome … They know why we’re doing this.”
LESSONS IN EMPATHY
Some Iowa teachers are completely independent in their pursuits. Suzanne Yoder, a fourth grade teacher at Mid-Prairie West Elementary in Wellman, was encouraged by
her own experience combating anxiety and depression. She said a mental health course at the University of Iowa saved her—she uses knowledge from that class, curricula from the science-based activity site MindUP and further research to inform her lessons. “After taking the course myself, it was very apparent that it would be beneficial if I taught young students how the brain works, how to regulate their emotions and work through anxiety and depression before the stress of high school and later years,” Yoder wrote in an email. Yoder leads her class in mindfulness exercises such as taking 15 minutes to eat and experience peanut butter pretzels with all five senses. She also had students share their emotional reactions to a Jackson Pollock print, then create their own art outdoors. “I frequently end the day with the question, ‘What was the best part of your day?’” said Yoder, a teacher for 23 years. “I have had several reply that the best part was mindfulness and if we could do more the next day, it would be even better.” One student approached Yoder asking if mindfulness might help his uncle, who is suffering from depression. When a student’s father died unexpectedly last year, she said the lessons helped the children cope. “The kids felt safe expressing their feelings, both to the class and to the student,” Yoder said. “I have [seen] empathy levels that I normally do not see with fourth graders.”
TREATING TRAUMA
Located within eyeshot of grazing black cows and eastern Iowa City farmland, Alexander Elementary is one of area’s newest schools, opening in 2015. Many students are refugees from African countries; one-third are in ELL and speak little to no English. Seventy-four percent of kids are on free and reduced lunch programs. Last year, more than 40 students
• FALL 2017
Yoga programs lessen the need for discipline, according to Edmunds’ former English Language Learning (ELL) teacher Dustin Hockman.
LEFT: FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS AT ALEXANDER ELEMENTARY IN IOWA CITY PRACTICE YOGA. ABOVE: GINA FERREL’S CLASS SIT IN THEIR “YOGA SPOTS” AND FOLLOW A GONOODLE INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO. PHOTOS BY ZAK NEUMANN
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“There were a lot of incidents where a student looked at another student funny and they would just hit each other. There was no selfregulation going on,” she said. Student conflict can be exacerbated by language or cultural barriers, and Des Moines public schools— including Edmunds—comprise of immigrants and refugees of nearly 200 different countries, from Sudan to Syria to Thailand.
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“A lot of our students have a lot of barriers to learning and that comes out in physical aggression, anger, disrespect,” said Principal Chris Gibson. “We knew we had lots of trauma, and we needed to learn as much as we could.” In summer of 2016, Gibson had her staff study the book Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Free Classroom by Kristin Souers with Pete Hall. The resulting discussions lead to her decision to gradually begin yoga and mindfulness training at Alexander. Librarian Amber Austin—who, as an English teacher at Iowa City West High School, received praise from students after using yoga to reinforce lessons on Transcendentalism—is Alexander’s yoga leader, and a certified yoga teacher. She taught a new pose to the student body every Monday morning last school year until all were mastered, including Downward Dog, Savasana and Crow Pose, which was renamed “Falcon Pose” in reference to Alexander’s mascot. Teachers are largely responsible for leading their own mindfulness lessons, but enthusiasm for the program varies amongst teachers, and many lessons rely on smartboard videos. Austin doesn’t see this as a negative. The “beauty of yoga,” she said, is that there is no formula or manual, which affords both teachers and young yogis agency. Alexander’s first year of yoga was, ostensibly, a success. The number of office referrals for negative behavior dropped 12 percent between the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years; suspensions decreased by 36 percent; some classes so enjoy yoga they will choose extra yoga time over additional recess; and a voluntary all-school yoga gathering at the end of the school year attracted more than 100 students. Gibson described one such student who has made a 180-degree turn as a result of yoga.
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“He was very impulsive and quick to anger, and now he is one that eats it up,” she said. “He loves it—he is a yoga leader in his class. His mom and dad considered taking him to yoga outside of school, and they actually went and toured Maharishi [a consciousness-based preparatory school in Fairfield, Iowa] thinking that might be better for him because of that.”
DOES YOGA BRING RELIGION INTO SCHOOLS?
A common argument against introducing yoga into public schools is that it teaches Hindu or other spiritual customs. But classroom instructors keep the lessons focused on mindfulness, even if that means forgoing charged terms such as “om” or “namaste.” “Sometimes it can hit that funny little line,” said Schreiber, a practicing Catholic. “I’m very careful in educating the teachers in what yoga is, what meditation is and where those religious barriers are.” Hockman said in the beginning a handful of Edmunds students with religious, predominantly Muslim, parents were instructed not to participate. But after explaining the benefits, all parents ended up accepting yoga. Whether facing religious objectors or stubborn educators, Iowa’s yoga and mindfulness teachers feel they’re following the wave of the future. “Ask yourself, does tradition top what’s best for kids?” Rittman said. “Or do you do what’s best for kids, even if that involves thinking outside the box?” Emma McClatchey is YogaIowa’s managing editor and the editorial assistant at Little Village magazine. She grew up in Iowa City and studied journalism, English and anthropology at the University of Iowa.
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Breaking the language barrier BY ALLY KARSYN Teaching yoga in two languages is tough enough. Ask anyone who has learned Sanskrit. And yet a new yoga teacher in Sioux City, Iowa, has added a third language to the mix. Since June, Carolina Guzman has been leading a class called Vive Yoga at Underground Yoga. Vive, which means “to live,” is taught in Spanish and English with the usual Sanskrit sayings thrown in—Badhakonasana, Tadasana and Navasana. Between butterfly, mountain and boat poses, Guzman translated everything from English to Spanish throughout the hour-long class. “Come to a plank. La plancha,” she told her students. “We’ll be here for five breaths. Nos quedamos por cinco respiraciones … Notice your body here. Note su cuerpo aquí.” Vive started as a Spanish-only class, but Guzman soon made it bilingual to attract more students. “I felt like, maybe if I open it to bilingual, more people would come, and maybe it would bring people together,” she said. “Because yoga is really for everybody—no matter your language or background.” Anyone who has ever stepped foot in a yoga studio has probably heard some variation of this saying, “Yoga is for everybody.” However, in the United States, yoga lacks diversity. It’s been well-documented that most practitioners are young, educated, affluent, white women. Guzman’s bilingual class breaks down a language barrier, but it’s harder to overcome the economic, religious, social and cultural differences. Guzman, who spent part of her childhood in Zapotlanejo, Mexico and speaks English as a second language, is trying to reach out to the Hispanic community and welcome them in. Or at the very least, let people know that a bilingual class exists. She placed an ad in Mundo Latino, the local Spanish newspaper; posted information about Vive in a Latino Facebook group; and put up flyers at Hispanic grocery stores and restaurants. Despite these efforts, she’s finding that yoga is still met with hesitation and suspicion, which doesn’t make sense to her since curanderos are a part of Hispanic culture. The traditional folk healers use herbal remedies, rituals and spiritual cleansing to treat body, mind and soul—a holistic approach, not unlike yoga.
To make Vive more inclusive, she leaves out the chanting, the mantras, the overly spiritual intentions and the stories from Hindu mythology. In one of her classes, she set an intention “to connect with our breath and to move with our breath.” And she left it at that. With yoga, Guzman didn’t have religious qualms to overcome. Instead, her hang-up was thinking, “I need to know yoga to do yoga.” So she started her practice with videos at home, seeking stress-relief and relaxation. Eventually, she took her mat to a class and discovered a warm, welcoming community. Even though she was often the only Hispanic person in the room, she never felt like she didn’t belong. In fact, she loved it so much that she signed up for yoga teacher training last fall. She didn’t intend to teach—at least not right away, maybe someday. But then the owner of Underground Yoga contacted her with an opportunity to teach chair yoga and a Spanish-language class. “I found myself saying, ‘Yes.’ And I was like, what did I just say? I felt that this was very challenging—way out of my comfort zone,” she said. “But this is something you just have to share.” Ally Karsyn is the founder, producer and host of Ode, a live storytelling series presented by Siouxland Public Media, the NPR affiliate in Sioux City, where she is the arts and culture producer.
When she started her yoga practice, some people asked if she was going to become a Buddhist. She had to laugh at this line of logic. She’s a lapsed Catholic but has no plans for conversion, now or ever. “You don’t have to change your religion, and you’re not joining a cult,” she said. While she personally enjoys the spiritual side of yoga, she recognizes that some others may feel the need to reconcile the practice with their religion, and she respects that.
CAROLINA GUZMAN LEADS HER VIVE YOGA CLASS AT SIOUX CITY’S UNDERGROUND YOGA. —PHOTO BY ALLY KARSYN
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Yoga and Mindfulness Tips for Your Family BY SARA J. WEIS The fall season means getting back into a schedule and creating new routines for you and your family. No matter where you are in your day, these yoga hints will help parents and kids feel calmer and better able to handle whatever comes your way.
Begin the Day with Calm
Starting a brand new day at a frenzied pace is not an ideal way for anyone, adults or children, to begin the morning. Instead, spend a few moments doing some Sun Salutations and mindful breathing. Begin by standing tall with your arms at your side. On your inhale, reach your arms up to the sky. On the exhale, relax and bring your arms back down to your sides. This simple movement along with deep, cleansing breaths gently awakens your body and calms your mind. Notice how you feel calmer and more prepared to embrace the day.
Take a Mindful Break
By the end of a school or work day, your mind can reach information overload. Instead of rushing immediately into the next thing you have to do, recognize this transition time between your day’s activities and home by taking a mindful break. This will help you set a more mindful tone before you begin your after-school activities, dinner preparations or other endeavors.
This is as simple as closing your eyes and bringing attention to one part of your body at a time.
Child’s Pose is grounding and restorative, and can be a wonderful way to calm the central nervous system. Plus, it is quick and easy for both adults and children. Begin on your hands and knees. Spread your knees wide while keeping your big toes touching. Allow your forehead to reach the floor as you extend your arms. Breathe deeply in and allow your body to soften and relax as you exhale.
If taking Child’s Pose isn’t an option, then try some shoulder shrugs combined with mindful breathing. On the inhale, lift your shoulders up by your ears. On the exhale, lower your shoulders back down.
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When your family has settled back at home, have each person mindfully share three positive or happy things that happened in their day. This gives everyone an opportunity to see what is important to one another. Creating a simple bedtime routine also helps to end the day calmly. Knowing what to expect each night leaves children feeling empowered and safe, especially after a day full of guided activities over which they may feel they had little control. This ritual can include dimming the lights, speaking in quiet voices, playing soothing music, taking deep calming breaths or doing a short body scan meditation. Children love this easy meditation, and it completely calms them. This is as simple as closing your eyes and bringing attention to one part of your body at a time. For example, begin with your toes, then your feet, your legs and so on as you move on up your body. Sara J. Weis is a leading expert in yoga for kids, bestselling author of Go Go Yoga for Kids: A Complete Guide to Using Yoga with Kids, creator of the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards and Kids Yoga 101: How to Teach Yoga to Kids Online Training. She teaches for the West Des Moines School District and holds a master’s degree in education.
Off the Mat:
Amy Wheeler, Yoga Therapist BY EMMA MCCLATCHEY Amy Wheeler, founder of the Healing Yoga Institute, is training the next generation of yoga teachers and therapists. Born in Waverly, Iowa, Wheeler received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in health promotion from the University of Northern Iowa—where she also competed in track and field—before earning her Ph.D. in education psychology. She has travelled the world as a sports psychologist and accrued yoga certifications in India, Europe and the U.S. Now based in Southern California, she combines yoga tradition with modern psychology to provide therapy to top-tier athletes and patients battling cancer, chronic pain, highblood pressure and mental illness. Her instructional materials for teaching yoga to children have been accessed online by teachers and parents around the world.
A yoga teacher usually needs 200 hours of training, but to be a yoga therapist you need 1,000 hours minimum. It involves some serious biomedical knowledge [and] you also have do a clinical internship and be supervised by someone in the field. I have a ton of nursing students and psychology students that take yoga with me every quarter, and are on the path of becoming a yoga therapist in addition to their academic degree. You’ve trained scores of elite athletes, from the Los Angeles Lakers to Olympic teams. How does your yoga instruction fit into their training?
It’s really not that different. Whether you’re looking to achieve something like a free throw or golf putt, or to imagine the cancers cells in your body being chewed away by Pac-Man, or, as a diabetic, to imagine your liver functioning better, healing your body is really using all the same techniques you use in athletics. A huge part of the psychology community are starting to understand how [mental illness] is not all in your head, it’s actually cellular, and all the talk therapy in the world may not help people. You have to change the way the body and the mind are connected. That can be with breathing, posture, visualizations, exercise, better eating … You have to think, ‘I’m going to do everything in my power to get better.’ Looking at your emotional assessment charts (which allow kids to identify and communicate their negative moods so adults can tailor yogic exercises that guide them to feelings of contentment and focus), your teachings make complex concepts rather simple. For 15 years I’ve worked with kids on the
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Our work was used in a 12-week inpatient program at the Colorado Children’s Hospital with young women ages 8 to 12 who do selfharming, such as cutting. Their parents have put them in the hospital to try and learn how to become more aware of their emotions … They’re telling us the results are amazing. Not only are the girls learning more about their own triggers, but all their families are noticing such an improvement they wonder where can they get the charts and training to have in their home. It’s taken 2,000 years of material and made it very simple. I personally think this is the future of psychology. Visit AmyWheeler.com to learn more about Wheeler’s work and sign up for online courses. • FALL 2017
I feel like 95 percent of yoga teachers are [leading workout classes] and there are only 5 percent doing therapy. Because I’ve spent so much time on psychology and healing, I feel it’s my life purpose to do what only 5 percent can do—use yoga to relieve depression, heal wounds, treat trauma—that’s where I need to spend more time and energy.
How is this therapy modified when treating patients?
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What separates your work from that of typical yoga teachers?
Everything that you manifest in your life starts in your mind’s eye. You conceive of it and eventually you start taking action in that direction, but it all starts with intention. If you go up to the free-throw line thinking you’re going to miss it, that everyone’s going to be mad at you, you have an intention to miss. If you walk up thinking ‘I’ve got this; I’ve done it 100 times before and can see the ball swooshing through the net,’ that is an intention and, with practice, manifests into you being a much better free-throw shooter. Don’t let fear and negativity set your intention for you.
SSM
When I started learning about yoga philosophy I realized it all came down to basically stress management. These yoga texts have been around 2,000 years, way before psychology got on the scene. For thousands of years people were using breathing techniques, meditation and exercise to balance stress. That’s really what turned me on to it. Everything I see in psychology I can see the roots of it in yoga. It doesn’t have to be spiritual. It can be—but you can look at it in a secular way and that’s how we use it in schools.
What do you have them visualize?
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What prompted you to start integrating yoga into your psychology practice?
autism spectrum, with ADHD, anxiety, trauma, lack of self-confidence. This material helps kids develop emotional intelligence and helps teachers know where they are so they can interact properly.
AS
The first time I did yoga I just had a video of Jane Fonda I’d watch in my bedroom; that was back in the ’90s. The first time I went to a yoga class I had moved to California. I was trying to drive and turn my head to look at traffic and my neck was so tight. I went to a class and thought this could help my neck pain, but I was so bored—I was an athlete and the breathing and posing exercises felt so slow. But later I got to a point where I was so stressed out and I thought, ‘let’s go back to yoga.’ It’s not just about physical well-being but mental and emotional well-being as well.
The athletes already have so much physical training. What they really need is more confidence, less anxiety and more motivation to get rid of self-doubt. It turns into mental training for athletes—we often never even do a yoga posture. We do a lot of breathing, meditation and visualization.
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When did you start practicing yoga?
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Healthful Fall & Winter Recipes
In the season of potlucks and holiday parties, you can only eat so many sugar cookies and potato casseroles before you start to feel blah. Try these easy, healthy recipes and spice up your next work or family function—or just keep them for yourself. BY LILY ALLEN-DUENAS SWEET POTATO & PEAR CROSTINIS — PHOTO BY LILLY ALLEN-DUENAS
Finally, a marvelous appetizer that only takes minutes of prep time, and isn’t a bowl of chips. These easy, breezy crostinis are healthy and wellbalanced with fiber, fruits and nuts. Feel free to leave the parmesan out for a vegan option.
Guilt- & Gluten-Free Holiday Muffins Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegetarian 12 muffins 15 minutes prep, 20 minutes bake time
When you’re craving a piece of pie for breakfast, these are the muffins for you. They’re packed with vitamins and protein, and won’t leave you feeling guilty. They’re also pretty much foolproof so they’d be fun to make with the kids. If you don’t feel like getting out the mixer again, a blender works like a charm.
Balsamic Green Beans and Parsnips Vegan, Gluten-Free 20 minutes prep, 30 minutes bake time
I like to think of green bean casserole as the naughtiest of holiday dishes. It’s the sneaky culprit of fat and lots of problems for those with dietary restrictions. This recipe gives a complete facelift to a tired casserole. The parsnips add a surprise crunch and some sweetness to this dish. Not a parsnips fan? Feel free to substitute fresh mushrooms.
Peel two sweet
potatoes and cut them into quarter-inch disks. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and brush olive oil onto it, then place the sweet potato disks down in a single layer on the tray. Brush olive oil on top of the disks. If you don’t have a brush, your fingers work just fine! This will keep the sweet potatoes from drying out so it’s important to have them well covered. Place the tray in the oven at 440 degrees for 15 minutes before pulling the tray out and using a fork to flip over every disk so the other side can get toasted for another 15 minutes. Slice the pear into thin pieces and place on top of the sweet potato rounds. Sprinkle thyme, parmesan, walnuts and dried cranberries on top. Serve warm. Feel free to use different colored sweet potatoes, such as white and orange, for added flair.
¾ cup of sweet potato (approximately 1 medium sweet potato) 2 medium bananas 2 eggs 2/3 cup almond butter ¼ cup maple syrup 1 ½ tsp ginger 2 tsp cinnamon ½ tsp nutmeg dash of cloves 2 tsp baking powder Optional: coconut oil or butter to grease the muffin tray
Toss a sweet potato, stabbed a few times with a fork and wrapped in a wet paper towel, in the microwave for 5-7 minutes, dependent on the size. You want the sweet potato to be nice and soft so I usually err on the side of longer than shorter. Allow the sweet potato to cool before scooping out its beautifully orange insides into a ¾ measuring cup. I’m not usually one for precision, but this measurement matters as the texture of the muffin changes with varying amounts of sweet potato.
1 lb fresh green beans 8 garlic cloves 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 tbsp olive oil 2 parsnips salt and pepper to taste
Trim and halve the green beans, then peel and slice the parsnips into quarter-to-half-inch disks. As the parsnip gets thicker near the top, feel free to halve or quarter them so they’re not too big. Then put the parsnips and green beans into a big bowl.
Put the sweet potato in the mixer and whip that puppy on up! Toss in the two bananas next and mix until smooth. Then everything except the baking powder can go right on in; mix for three minutes on medium speed. Lastly, add the baking powder and mix slowly for another minute. Grease a muffin tray with coconut oil or butter or use those handy little muffin cups, and pour the batter in. Place the muffin tin in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Note: Peanut butter can be substituted, but this does change the flavor pretty drastically. I’d highly recommend using almond butter, but in a pinch or with picky kids peanut butter will do!
Finely chop eight garlic cloves. Does it seem like a lot to you? It’s not, trust me. After chopping the cloves, slide them on top of the parsnips and green beans in the bowl. Pour the balsamic vinegar and olive oil in, sprinkle hearty dashes of salt and pepper and then mix everything together until well coated. Pour into a baking dish (feel free to use a brownie pan), but line with tinfoil first to keep things easy for clean up. Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes and stir two times during the roasting cycle, once around the 10-minute mark and again around the 20-minute mark. Serve hot and fresh.
• FALL 2017
Vegetarian, Gluten Free 10 minutes prep, 30 minutes bake time
2 sweet potatoes 2-4 tbsp olive oil thyme pear walnuts dried cranberries parmesan
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Sweet Potato & Pear Crostinis
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BOOKS Big Gal Yoga by Valerie Sagun First on social
media and now in print, Big Gal Yoga founder Valerie Sagun fights back against the popular media myth that only slim women practice yoga. In this lighthearted guide to leading a self-loving yoga practice, Sagun offers both the inspiration and background knowledge needed to begin a gradual but transformative yogic journey, no matter your size. Perfectly Imperfect: The Art and Soul of Yoga Practice by Baron Baptiste Baron Baptiste made a
lasting impression on the yoga world after introducing Baptiste Yoga—an active and empowering style inspired by some of the foremost Hatha teachers—in his 2003 book Journey Into Power. In Perfectly Imperfect, Baptiste dissects the complex mind and body reactions that occur after entering a pose. In these moments, yogis can find both power and grace, and their spiritual true north. Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness by Sam Chase Poses, postures, breathing, mantras—what is
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it about yoga that has the power to bring happiness? Sam Chase argues it’s none of these single parts, but instead the fundamental questions addressed by yoga philosophy: Who am I? What should I do? Combining psychology and neuroscience with ancient wisdom, Chase explores happiness at it’s most fundamental element: the small, everyday steps we take away from strife and greed and towards our purpose.
PODCASTS
From The Heart with Yoga Girl Rachel Brathen, widely known as Yoga Girl, is an international yoga teacher, speaker, bestselling author and entrepreneur. She has always spoken boldly about her pursuits, and her podcast From the Heart is no exception. The hourlong episodes cover everything from “new mom guilt” and “owning your sh*t” to the debate about vaccines and a rape survivor’s story. From the Heart is not only one of the most popular yoga podcasts, but has frequently reached the overall top five podcasts on iTunes.
New episodes every Friday. Listen on rachelbrathen.com/ podcast-2 or through most podcast platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher or TuneIn. Self Help is Bad For You: A Podcast with Waylon Lewis and Friends of Elephant Journal Waylon
Lewis’ Elephant Journal is one of the internet’s most respected and active mindfulness blogs, often employing a sense of humor and self-awareness. Their podcast is no exception; Self-Help is Bad For You is described as “dumbed-down life advice from a Buddhist brat who barely understands himself, let alone you.” Despite this undersell, Lewis has delivered an engaging and informative series, with the most popular installments (most five to 10 minutes) offering tips for relationships, anger, meditation, relating to children and simply living life, all from Lewis’ humorous and straight-forward Buddhist perspective. New episodes posted irregularly. Listen at elephantjournal. com/podcast or through iTunes, Google Play, TuneIn or Stitcher.
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• FALL 2017
The Balanced Blonde: Soul on Fire This
Non-profit yoga with Jesus at the heart 716 Oakland Rd NE Suite 400, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
conversational wellness podcast comes from The Balanced Blonde blogger Jordan Younger, known for her “#realness-based” content. Younger, an internetsavvy yoga instructor and author, passes her 60-minuteplus episodes chatting about everything from nutrition, yoga and fashion to shamanism and reiki. Most episodes feature guests—recently, the holistic nutritionist on tour with Tove Lo, the resident shaman at GOOP and two crystal jewelry designers—with whom Younger relates more friend-to-friend than interviewer-to-interviewee. New episodes posted weekly. Listen at thebalancedblonde. com/podcast or through iTunes or Stitcher.
INTERVIEW WITH
Va l e r i e Sagun Big Gal Yoga author Valerie Sagun has been an advocate for bodypositive yoga for nearly seven years. She shares her yoga journey with more than 150,000 Instagram followers on her profile @BigGalYoga. Sagun completed a 200hour Hatha Yoga training PHOTO BY VALERIE SAGUN at 7 Centers Yoga Arts in Sedona, Arizona and is currently living in San Francisco. Her first book Big Gal Yoga was published on July 25. What is your favorite style of yoga? Kundalini yoga. I love the very energetic kind of feel to the poses. They’re not your typical yoga poses—you do lots of sitting down and slow, repetitive movements, which I really enjoy. Is body type representation for yoga improving in popular media and social media? Definitely in popular media [like TV and magazines] they’re still shying away from showing more bigger bodies because it would shatter their world. With social, we create our own media and show ourselves being like any other natural human going about life. When you see other people with your body, you want to go out there and do it yourself. There’s still the constant need to show more bodies practicing yoga. I get tired, but I know I need to keep showing visibility, keep posting. We need to take up space in the yoga world and be able to be shown by Valerie’s big media or small media, whatever we can. challenge to The Big Gal Yoga brand is full of energy, shiny outfits and smiles. What makes yoga so fun for you?
yogis of all sizes:
Post one photo of a pose each day to Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #BGYogatoEmpower
I think learning more about your body, things you didn’t know before. I think that’s why I enjoyed it in the first place. I definitely was not flexible when I started but as I progressed I could see the differences, things I never ever thought I could do. That’s the fun of it. It doesn’t have to be a dramatic transformation where you go, ‘Oh my gosh, I can do the splits now!’ It happens slowly. After you start practicing, you finally understand how the mental part of yoga is just as beneficial as the physical. It helps you to find a more positive headspace and be able to show yourself online, and makes you feel a lot more comfortable living in your body because you’ve come to understand it more.
Soaring Crane Acupuncture RENEE DALRYMPLE Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine
Chiropractic Traditions DR. NICHOLE RINEHART Doctor of Chiropractic
Licensed Acupuncturist
515.962.9093
515.962.2015
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1517 N. 1st St • Indianola
I’m just putting the main roots of what yoga is in people’s minds, and having them blossom out of that. Everyone has to find their own path, what they enjoy, how it works for them. If you can’t get up off the floor, try chair yoga. If you like to go fast, do vinyasa flow. If you prefer going slower, like me, do kundalini. A lot of it is testing things out.
Try to commit your time in small amounts. Do a 10-minute class, then a 20-minute class. Variety is the best way not to get burned out. Have realistic expectations of your time. If you can only commit 15-20 minutes, be content with that. Know you’re still getting the benefits of yoga no matter what because you’ve committed your time to coming to your mat and headspace.
• FALL 2017
What is your advice to people who have had trouble finding an entry point to yoga?
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Just try to go out there and do what you want to do. Want to practice yoga? Practice yoga. You’re the only person who can stop you.