Glitter Jar

Sara Lockie on May 9, 2018

Glitter is not my favorite.  I try to keep it out of our home, but it’s getting more difficult. Not only do my kids bring it home on art projects, but I didn’t realize how glittery it would be to have a daughter! Glitter on shoes, shirts, pants, backpacks, notebooks, and toys. Glitter that finds its way into every corner of every room of our house. I can count on glitter in the dustpan when I sweep the floors.

As much as I complain about glitter, I do appreciate Glitter Jars. They are simple to make – add  water and food coloring to an upcycled water bottle. Add glitter and shake. Glitter swirls around in every direction, like a sparkly, colorful snow globe, it’s mesmerizing.

Sometimes my mind feels like that snow globe–thoughts dart in every direction. To-do lists, work requests, full mail boxes, and I do mean plural with voicemails, emails and paper mail. Family commitments on top of it all make me forget why I walked into a room, and wonder what I meant with a calendar entry.

From well-intentioned extra-curricular activities to technology distractions, I know kids feel it too. When I’m teaching, I wonder why I need to repeat directions times or explain concepts yet again. But then I remember that their young minds are distracted just like mine. And they’ve learned fewer tools to cope.

Life doesn’t have to be so jumbled up.  Though swirling glitter is fun to watch, it eventually settles. Just so, as I sit mesmerized by the Glitter Jar, my mind focuses and my thoughts slow.

The education team at Next Step is developing a variety of Mindfulness & Movement resources for educators. In the next month we’ll roll out–

  1. A collection of cards outlining 5-minute activities to help kids in classrooms and at home focus their thoughts and balance their emotions.
  2. We’ll offer workshops and coaching to help you integrate these and other strategies into your classroom or family life.
  3. And we have a trained team that’s ready to bring Mindfulness and Movement to the kids you work with, in or out of school. Urbandale’s Adventuretime program is the first to schedule this program.

Like the Glitter Jar that settles with just a few minutes of stillness, some mindful moments can turn an overwhelming classroom or household into a refuge of calm. Sometimes a small change is all we need to make for a big impact.

Devastation in Puerto Rico

Sara Lockie on October 16, 2017

Shelly Johnson, Martha McCormick and I planned to travel to Puerto Rico this Tuesday. Next Step was chosen to present at the North American Association of Environmental Educators’ (NAAEE) Annual Conference in San Juan this week. Our presentations were planned, and we were looking forward to learning about a place we had never visited.

Instead, we have anxiously followed the news as two storms approached and hit the island, and through the weeks since. Here are some of the things we learned–

  • Eighty-four percent of the population in Puerto Rico is still without power nearly one month after Hurricane Maria.
  • According to the Washington Post, only 63 percent of the islanders have access to clean water.
  • Just 60 percent of wastewater treatment plants are working. Food supplies and medical systems are inadequate.

People are dying. Three weeks of recovery, yet so many US citizens continue to live in devastation.  This is unacceptable.

If 3 million people were suffering in a different part of the country, perhaps even Iowa, I can’t help but think the response would be different. Constant media coverage would put a spotlight on the slow recovery. A stream of politicians would visit. Certainly, the president of the United States would not be threatening to abandon relief efforts.

Obviously, our conference was cancelled. The organizers have scrambled to make some of the conference topics available online. We’ve been invited to submit the materials we would have presented to a virtual conference site.

Here are some of our plans. Focusing on these projects has been difficult because my mind dwells on the families living in such desperate circumstances in Puerto Rico.

SESSION TITLE: Keeping Environmental Education Programs Fresh: Aligning with Next Generation Science Standards
SUMMARY: Naturalists’ interactions with school groups have a major impact on the next generation. By tweaking programs as school curriculum evolves, naturalists can expand their outreach.

  • Participate in an interactive online NGSS scavenger hunt to learn about Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
  • Align your own programs to NGSS with a template. An example is provided as well.
  • A description of Next Generation Science Standards, tips for aligning programs with the standards, and sample before/after lesson tweaks are in our slides. Contact us for a copy.

SESSION TITLE: Teaching with Mini Wind Turbines and Solar Panels: Opportunities and Challenges 
SUMMARY: Renewable energy production is on the rise, offering both benefits and challenges for our next generation.  Learn about these technologies as well as strategies for incorporating them into STEM learning experiences for students.

  • Experience a sample activity from our middle school renewable energy curriculum: VIP interviews.
  • To explore opportunities and challenges in renewable energy, take on various perspectives from the assertion jar. Find the Assertion Jar lesson in our middle school service learning curriculum.  This renewable energy add-on provides specific statements.
  • Build mini circuits using materials from the Teachers Going Green teaching kit.  Then search for energy lessons on the website.
  • If you would like a copy of our slides, please contact us.

Even though we don’t get to travel to Puerto Rico this year, our hearts are with the people of that small island. If you’d like to donate to the recovery efforts, here’s a link that may help you decide the best route to do so.

Let’s Figure It Out

Martha McCormick on August 2, 2017

As we go spinning around the sun, we tend to mark anniversaries. I have one coming up tomorrow. It’s been 11 years since I cleaned out my desk at Iowa State University Extension in Polk County and started my work here at Next Step. I was there til 8 pm on my last day! Who does that?

Someone who is way too invested in work? One who has trouble letting go? Or maybe a person who has bitten off more than she can chew?

Probably all of the above, and more. Just this spring I threw out a box of slides I brought home from work eleven years ago. I was cleaning up my studio and came across several unfinished projects that brought a lump to my throat. I really wanted to make that apron, string those beads and create that lamp.

One thing I appreciated when I started Next Step was time to plan without feeling pressured by multiple deadlines. As my business has grown, and we’ve gotten busier, I sometimes feel hurried again. But the pressure has never gotten as great as it was when I was doing youth development work, writing grants, managing staff and all that went with it.

Owning my own business provides a lot of freedom, but it can be pretty demanding too. The roller coaster of work and no work can be scary. It’s much harder to know if you’re really good at what you do, kind of like looking into fun house mirrors. And of course the variety of people can put you off balance.

Balance is always a challenge. It helps to know your priorities. For a while I had this order–children and other living things, work and me. That’s changed significantly since the kids are grown. Some say if you don’t take care of yourself you don’t have anything to give others, but that’s still a tough sell for me.

I think these secrets to life, love, happiness are ever emerging. After a few careers and nearly 67 trips around the sun, I’m still learning. That’s what makes an adventure!

Clear Boundaries. No Limits

Martha McCormick on February 17, 2015

Art is unique in requiring that hands and mind be in the same place. Distraction and anxiety are at the forefront of challenges for Des Moines Art Center Outreach students. Art class provides opportunities for quiet, focus and mindfulness.

Make Space

Martha McCormick on September 26, 2014

While I was in Akumal I dreamed I gave birth. Don’t worry; someone whisked the baby off before I could do any damage. But dreams of giving birth are really about transformation and creation.

Vacations are for getting away from routines, exploring places that are a little uncomfortable. This trip especially gave me a chance to question my “way of life,” to reflect on my addiction to “busyness,” my hesitation to have down time.

So I came home and changed my calendar.

Changing your calendar doesn’t seem like a very big deal. But you haven’t seen my calendar! Seriously, every journey starts with a single step. I changed my calendar  to give myself space for reflection, mindfulness and a new routine.

Over the last year, I’ve begun teaching art classes for the Des Moines Art Center Outreach Program, and I’ve become a certified yoga teacher. Teaching five or six classes a week wrought havoc with my old routine where I usually spent mornings working at my desk or in art class.

Now most of my mornings I’m out and about so when I got home I set aside three afternoons a week for “office time.” Sometimes that will include a power nap, reading, yoga or time in the garden and art work.

The real thing I’m transforming isn’t my calendar. I’m creating space in my life for reflection, planning, playing art, moving my body, making a home and other adventures.

Remember! Having an adventure means you don’t know how things will turn out.

Retreat to Akumal

Martha McCormick on August 8, 2014

Akumal is a sleepy little resort just about an hour south of Cancun, Mexico. It’s the perfect place to relax, do some yoga, go snorkeling and explore the underground–the cenotes.

I fell in love with Akumal last February. It’s kind of an old hippie village, friendly to those of us who have un piquito Espanol. Or none at all. The restaurants are international and the fish is fresh as can be. After a week, I could totally see returning for more. More sightseeing, more time sunning on the beach and of course more time doing yoga!

As fits the setting, Akumal has a more relaxed and musical approach to yoga than you may be used to. However, it’s founded on strong principles of alignment, and the teachers are very knowledgeable about anatomy, sequencing and philosophy. I got some excellent feedback on the mysteries of my bodily misalignment.

Michael J. Stewart 3Michael J. Stewart is  master teacher at Yoga en Akumal, and during the off season he teaches across Europe, Russia and Morocco. I just happened to get to Akumal when Michael was teaching a workshop. It was a lovely adventure, and we celebrated the closing with a group dinner where I found him to be an engaging spirit as we discussed everything from Hindu philosophy to John Friend.

Michael quotes Patanjali who said ‘to perform the yoga asana “boat posture” simply to get a flatter tummy is indeed, missing the boat.’

GO TO AKUMAL AND CATCH THE BOAT!

Become an Embodied Being

Martha McCormick on November 26, 2013

“Your body is a temple of the holy spirit,” I think that’s one of the few catechism teachings that made a real impact on my life. It’s made me hesitate to get tattoos, though I do have some “nasty piercings” as my daughter calls them. Since I started practicing yoga about four years ago, that catechism passage has become more meaningful to me.

We are embodied beings. The path to harmony with nature and fellow humans is at least in part through physical discipline. To create serenity and contentment, we must nurture and respect our bodies. Too many of us (some say 90% of women) do NOT respect our bodies. We think we’re too fat even when we’re too thin. We yoyo diet and don’t get enough exercise.

“Be the Change in Your Body” is part of a series of Thursday evening dinner discussions at Christopher’s Restaurant. Join us on January 2, 2014 for a discussion on changes that happen to our bodies, with or without our permission. What it takes to accept those changes and the power they have over our self confidence. We’ll explore what it means to be embodied beings, to nurture our spirits by keeping our bodies healthy. We’ll discuss our relationships with food, and the ways we move our bodies to enhance our lives.

“This body of ours is a temple of the Divine”

– Katha Upanishad, Hindu tradition

Just Sit There

Martha McCormick on November 4, 2013

Next Step Adventure is offering “Be the Change,” a loosely connected series of Thursday evening dinner discussions  at Christopher’s Restaurant beginning January 2, 2014 with “Be the Change in Your Body.” Register here for one event at $30 or register and prepay for all five events for just $125 ($25 discount).

Our February 27 session will focus on mindfulness. The more formal aspect of mindfulness is meditation. To be honest, I do better in moving meditation.

Walking, swimming and art are three of my favorites. In Sweat Your Prayers, the late Gabrielle Roth reflects on her nearly forty years of teaching personal and spiritual development.

Since I’ve been practicing yoga, seated meditation comes easier to me. Breath is one key. Observing your breath leads to managing it, then moving with it. Finally in savasana, we let our breath breathe us.

I’m excited to be making some progress in seated meditation–I can now sit comfortably for 20 minutes or so, without getting squirmy or falling asleep. Quite an improvement. So what?

So, it turns out meditation not only helps us handle stress but actually changes our brains and our bodies. As I age, I become more and more committed to maintaining my mobility, both physical and mental. My mom spent the last three years of her life literally vegging out in front of Animal Planet.

At her graveside service, I imagined God requiring a certain amount of stillness. Because she never stopped working, being busy, she had to make her quota all at one time. I plan to get my sitting done in a less painful way.

I just learned from Jill Bolte Taylor’s My Stroke of Insight that staying in the present moment happens in the right side of the brain. “We are the life force power of the universe.” That’s what this neuroanatomist learned from having a major stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. She believes that through focusing in the right hemisphere of our brains, we can project peaceful energy into the world. Talk about an idea worth sharing!

We’ll touch on all of these aspects of mindfulness, and some others as well on February 27 at the “Be the Change” dinner discussion. We’ll focus the discussion on being fully present in life through meditation, putzing, art and yoga. Whether through formal or everyday practice, mindfulness improves mental health.