Just breathe

What comes to mind when you hear the word “breath?” Do you have a memory of getting the wind knocked out of you when you did a belly flop in the pool? Or holding your breath when you were scared? Do you hear the words “I can’t breathe” that have become a mantra of the Black Lives Matter movement?

The conversation

Last night Shakti Yoga students gathered at Gateway Market for a conversation about breath. There were 11 of us around the table. I started off by asking everyone to write down what they think of when they hear the word “breath.” The answers were diverse, but most common was “life.”

Sandy Gustafson reported on what she’s learned during the months since we decided on the topic. Here are links to some of the resources she shared with us last night.

Some resources

Dr. Sundar Balasubramanian’s website melds ancient breathing practices with modern science, and offers breathwork for improving your life.

Andrew Huberman, a Stanford professor, offers a number of resources on how to breathe better, including this YouTube episode.

Keep your mouth shut

When Joseph Schneider told me I breathe through my mouth a lot, I was horrified! And in denial. But then I paid closer attention to my breathing while I practiced yoga. I had to admit that yes, I was breathing through my mouth. A lot. Then he loaned me this book, with a sticky note marking the chapter on mouth breathing.

I swear reading this chapter kept me awake for two nights, and sent me in search of medical tape to keep my mouth closed when I sleep. Keeping your mouth closed can help with snoring and sleep apnea! Who knew?

Something we take for granted, do from the moment we’re born to the moment we die, is way more complicated than I ever knew.

There’s always more

I tend to think of things like breath in broad strokes. Brette Scott offers a monthly “Energy Tuneup” at Shakti that focuses mostly on the breath. It’s really quite interesting and the sessions I’ve attended definitely shifted my energy.

This photo reminds me of the yoga pose Tadasana, or Mountain Pose. It can be rigid and stiff, or there can be a lot going on inside, including deep, controlled breathing.

Lisa Acheson shared a lightbulb moment when she learned she needed to soften her very focused breath. Working on it too hard had become detrimental to her body. Just like anything, finding the middle is a lifelong project. Breathing deep, softening, moderating, relaxing–all practices for life.

I came to a deeper understanding that the subject of breath is broad, but also particular, and integral to everyone’s life. Well, duh.

These conversations always remind me that there’s still so much to learn, and I can still improve my life and health even as I age. It’s not just good for our bodies but also our brains to learn and think about stuff in different ways.

Using my breath to come back to my body and link it up to my mind is an important part of my mindfulness practice.

A Mindful Spring

I’ve been determined to really pay attention to spring this year, and to share it with some folks who seem to have an easier time being mindful than most.

It’s been a while

…since I’ve dug deep into my experience in youth development. Being an educator is hard these days; I think it always has been. Kids, parents, counselors, administrators, teachers face criticism every day. I was excited to share some time with a group of educators working to prepare young people for life.

Preparing for a workshop at Partnerships in Motion, the culminating event of a federal grant to STOP bullying in schools, was a pleasant excavation. My friend Cyndy Erickson recommended me to the planners as the expert in the field of youth-adult partnerships. Flattery will get you…

I have a lot to draw on from my years in 4-H Youth Development. The organization has a long history of involving youth as partners. Older kids help younger ones with their projects, lead group meetings, and finally grow up and volunteer to lead the 4-H groups of their children. It’s seamless; it’s expected and it works.

The Civil Rights movement of the mid-1960s was the impetus for extending 4-H to families of color in the northern states. It required the Land Grant System, created by Abraham Lincoln to extend 4-H to kids in cities and small towns, and the USDA provided funding for staff to do the work. That’s where I came in.

Bumper sticker that says, Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.

At ISU Extension I worked with kids who weren’t from traditional 4-H audiences. They didn’t think it was for them, and it wasn’t. There was a separate 4-H organization for Black kids in the south, established around the 1890 Land Grant Colleges, but not in Iowa. Extending Ithe 4-H program to those kids was hard because of its long history of just being for farm kids. Indeed, there’s still a belief among many that 4-H is just for farm kids. In the 1970s our tee shirts said, “4-H ain’t all cows and cooking.” But affirmative action didn’t last even a generation. By 1989, the only way to grow programs was through special funding.

So I started writing grants, negotiating contracts and agreements with other organizations. We did the hard work of collaborating with schools and other organizations. Cyndy was a big part of that work, as she was developing the SUCCESS program in Des Moines Schools then.

Through it all we wove the strands of positive youth development theory, and best practice. Our teams worked hard to involve our audiences in making the decisions that shaped the programs. We developed weekly family nights where we taught the kids cooking and child care skills so they could watch their younger brothers and sisters while their parents learned parenting skills.

We put experiential education to the test, for ourselves. Learning by creating new ways of reaching kids and their parents. Finding out what worked and what didn’t.

So, I drew on that experience to plan my workshop at Partnerships in Motion. I asked the teachers and school administrators and counselors to envision their students as the subjects, the actors in the drama of their education, rather than the recipients. I shared H. Stephen Glenn’s “Mistaken Goals” with them. And melded those mistaken goals with the Circle of Courage from Reclaiming Youth at Risk—Belonging, Mastery, Independence, and Generosity.

Then we brainstormed how they can satisfy all those needs so kids don’t have to work for mistaken goals. We talked about developing systems that keep kids involved in the peer-to-peer and mentoring work they do, conversations and lessons they’ve implemented over the last five years. In the long term, this kind of work increases resilience of young people, making them resistant to bullying and violence.

Being an educator is hard these days; it was probably always hard. But change happens so fast, and everyone from parents to legislatures attack the teaching profession every day. I was really excited to be able to share some time with a group of educators who are working to prepare young people for life.

All Day Long

Some soreness in my upper back is reminding me to do that five-minute slow Cat/Cow pose she recommends. Squats. Side body long. And after a walk stretch quads and hamstrings. Yay! Oh! and don’t forget the hips, pelvis and psoas.

Whatcha Reading?

So for November, Native American Heritage Month, I’m reading books by indigenous authors. I’m nearly finished with “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese. It’s my favorite of the books I’ve read recently…

Validation and Inspiration

I’ve been feeling like I needed a reset for a while. Like my teaching wasn’t always hitting the mark. There were students in my classes that I just felt I wasn’t reaching. So, I’ve gotten my reset.

We’re Gardeners!

That’s what my four-year-old granddaughter says as we plant fall crops. I always tell folks who work with kids in gardens, it’s not about the plants. It’s about the kids.

Soulmates

As I plunge the depths of art and yoga, as I travel more, and find new next steps, it’s great to have a team member that can finish my sentences, and pick up my work where I leave it.

Hold the Center

Toward the end of the hike there were times I wasn’t sure I could make it. So I took another page from yoga and just breathed. And took one step and another. I passed groups, and groups passed me. Strangers cheered me on, and we told each other we were glad to be there.