#4 Building Community

Activate the Lord's Prayer:  https://youtu.be/wkb1NxTRssM

Free to Believe: https://youtu.be/OHpd5TEpFnc

Balance at the Beach: how to do it -- https://youtu.be/Uo86v9go8QY,  sequence with no music -- https://youtu.be/muH3XPb9Ujo

Dance with the Lord: https://youtu.be/YCXixUkFkEM

BEE Bold:  https://youtu.be/vupI7cq3eYM 

Psalm 100

Whole World Mudra -- 1Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth!

Praise Hands -- 2Worship the Lord with gladness:  come before Him with joyful songs. 

Palms together, Thumbs north and south -- 3Know that the Lord is God:

Slide and Bend, Hold ⅔ of fingers -- it is He who made us; 

Slide back to palms and Twist  -- and we are His People and sheep of his pasture.

Slide, Bend and Hold ⅔ on the opposite side -- 4Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise.

Slide back and twist to prayer hands -- Give thanks to Him, and praise His name:

Thumbs up -- 5For the Lord is good;

Heart Mudra -- his love endures forever;

Hold hands over heart -- his faithfulness continues through all generations.

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

God is my Shepherd

And I am his little lamb.

(breathe arms overhead and the rest in lap)

He feeds me

He guides me

(1/2 banana stretch)

He looks after me.

I have everything I need.

(1/2 banana stretch)

Inside, my heart is very quiet.

As quiet as lying still in soft green grass

In a meadow

By a little stream.

(hands crossed over heart)

Even when I walk through the dark, scary, lonely places

I won't be afraid

Because my Shepherd knows where I am.

(windshield wiper knees left to right)

He is here with me

He keeps me safe 

He rescues me

He makes me strong and brave.

(twist)

He is getting wonderful things ready for me

Especially for me

Everything I ever dreamed of!

He fills my heart so full of happiness

I can't hold it all inside.

(twist)

Wherever I go I know

God's Never Stopping

Never Giving Up

Unbreaking 

Always and Forever 

Love

Will go, too!

(reverse swan dive hands on breathe in, exhale to prayer hands)

Reframing Chapter #3

https://youtu.be/g6eRPe3KOSk

"The story of your life is formed by what you notice each day." Look for good things! p. 132, The Onward Workbook by Elena Aguilar

• take some deep breaths
• draw nose circles one way, then the other
• helicopter breathing: hands to shoulders, twist one way on breath in, twist the opposite on breath out
• tiger/ bird dog -- add bent knee and elbow
• down dog to plank, plank to down dog
• sun salutations

[on plank: I'll get through this. I am powerful. I am valuable, and I belong.  Everything is connected.  I am enough, I do enough.  I am peaceful and calm.  I am kind.  I am caring. I am grateful.]

"The third law of motion in physics is that for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction.  What you put out comes back to you.  Before the thing that goes out, the action, there is the thought to create the action.  Behind the thought is an intention--a motivation.  That intention is the energy that is going to be returned to you.  So taking time to create intentions, to design them as you want, is a high-leverage strategy to influence how you experience your life." p. 138

• down dog, knee to nose 3x, crescent lunge, prayer twist 

repeat

Interrupt distorted thoughts:  black-and-white thinking, jumping to conclusions, unrealistic expectations, disqualifying the positive, overgeneralizing, catastrophizing, emotional reasoning, personalization

"Is there any other way to look at this? Is there any evidence to suggest that this way of thinking isn't entirely true?"  p.172

• triangle
• warrior II
• reverse warrior
• side angle
• revolved side angle

repeat

• stork
• warrior I
• stork

repeat

• dancer 

"Robert Hargrove, a business and life coach guru and the author of Masterful Coaching (2000), distinguishes between two kinds of stories we tell: "river" and "rut" stories." p.182

• river
• boat
• seated tree on both sides
• river
• bridge
• twist
• happy baby
• rest

" . . . the stories we craft predict our futures, encapsulate our legacies, and impact our resilience. You have a choice, so tell powerful stories." p. 93, Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators by Elena Aguilar

Move Like the Moon to Anchor

 

https://youtu.be/nltb7r5cVHw (8:18)

Onward to Chapter #2

Here's the link to the Chapter #1 yoga fun with Elena Aguilar's Onward: https://youtu.be/cbZu-g226DQ

Chapter #2 of her book explores emotions!  I ran across a new hashtag yesterday: #allfeelingsarevalid😉 I like how that supports what I tell people shorter than me -- "all feelings are okay" -- they don't all feel "okay" to feel, but it's normal to feel both pleasant and unpleasant feelings as you live each day. Here's the yoga practice we shared to explore Chapter #2 ideas:

breathe

stretch side body, forward fold over crossed legs [recross and fold], neck stretch

roll to all fours -- table to tiger/bird dog -- inhale stretch, exhale crunch elbow to knee 

child's pose

down dog to lunge to side plank [gate is an option]

half sun salutations

sun salutations -- "I am grateful" "I can do hard things!" "I will shine my light"

star, power pose, wide legged fold, alternate hand to floor/ceiling, chair

warrior 2, peaceful, side angle [feet together, breathing wings]

warrior 1, warrior 3, pyramid [knocking on heaven's door--dynamic twist]

seated forward fold

seated pigeon, option to work on belly [windshield wipers, knee circles between sides]

butterfly

simple twist

rest -- body scan: Close your eyes if it's comfortable and bring attention into your body. Take a deep breath--bring in oxygen, enliven the body. As you exhale, connect with a sense of relaxing more deeply. Notice feet on the floor, sensation of back on the floor. Notice the weight and pressure of your body, its heat. Notice your legs--is there pressure? heaviness? lightness? Bring your attention to your stomach area. If your stomach is tense or tight, soften. Take a breath.  Notice your hands.  Are they tense or tight? Notice your arms. Let your shoulders be soft. Notice your neck and throat. Let them be soft and relaxed.  Soften your jaw. Notice your face and facial muscles. Let them be soft.  Then notice your whole body.  Take one more breath. Be aware of your whole body as best you can.  Take a breath.  When you are ready, open your eyes.

Ideas shared:

"Your emotions want to serve you, but sometimes they just don't know how. In spite of how messy they an be, you can acknowledge their efforts and thank them."

Thank you, sadness. You've helped me understand . . .

Thank you, fear. You've helped me recognize . . .

Thank you, anger. You've helped me learn . . .

Thank you, disgust. You've helped me see . . . 

• Emotions are temporary.
• Your emotional intelligence is your awareness and management of how you are feeling.
• Befriend emotions [think of them like the Inside Out movie characters]
• Emotions are messengers, sources of potential energy, and a part of the human experience
• Life cycle of an emotion: (1) prompting event (2) interpretation (3) physical response (4) urge to act (5) actions (6) after effects
• Emotions motivate us to act 
• Emotions helps us identify and respond to opportunities
• We have the right to experience and talk about our emotions

Ideas for managing emotions in ways (1) nobody gets hurt (2) nothing gets hurt

• BREATHE [breathing interrupts the intensity of an emotion, slows the heartbeat, normalizes hormone release, relaxes tense muscles]
• yoga
• walking
• drawing/painting/creating
• talking with others
• spending time outside
• think of a happier time
• repeat a mantra: "this too shall pass"

What ideas work for you?

Read a TON in 2021

https://youtu.be/oaEboAdjSAE

31 minutes, 15 seconds

Explore stories, movement, being still and BREATHING! #zipaDeeYoga

12th Day of Christmas

 

Celebrate and Appreciate: Trust

"Endings are times for celebration and appreciation, which lay the foundation for resilience in the days ahead."~p. 289, Elena Aguilar's Onward

"Celebration boosts our resilience, because, in looking back, we select the strands of story that we weave into a narrative of our strength . . . in creating the narrative of who we are, we become more resilient . . . How you tell the story of your life matters."~p. 290

"Appreciation is like a secret sauce.  You need only a few drops of it every day--in combination with other key habits and dispositions--to create a rich resilience.  That's because our feeling and expressing of appreciation strengthens social connections, deepens our emotional intelligence and self-confidence, and heightens our ability to focus on the the positive."~p. 291

"Expressing gratitude is a mental habit we can develop--we just need practice."~p. 293

"Resilient people trust themselves, and they trust a process."~p. 309

11th Day of Christmas

 

Ride the Waves of Change:  Perseverance

"Change is the one thing we can count on . . . Perseverance, patience, and courage help us manage change."~p. 267, Elena Aguilar's Onward

"Classifying our complaints into those we can control, those we can influence, and those we can't control is a step toward using our energy wisely."~p. 270

How to deal with unwanted change:

• slow down
• evaluate and analyze the situation
• use your energy where it counts
• be open to outcomes

~pp. 272-278

"Patience is an emotion and a skill.  Impatience is often triggered by events outside our control, ones we think should be different. Patience begins when we accept ourselves and the way things are."~p. 285

"Resilient people are tenacious, and completing challenges strengthens this disposition . . . Yet, in order to cultivate perseverance and tenacity, you must look beyond short-term concerns and toward long-term goals.  You need to put off immediate gratification and manage your impatience."~p.286

10th Day of Christmas

 

Play and Create: Courage

“Creativity and play unlock inner resources for dealing with stress, solving problems, and enjoying life.  When we are creative, we are resourceful, and we problem-solve in new and original ways, which fuels our courage.  Our thinking expands, and our connections with ourselves and others deepen.”~p. 247, Onward by Elena Aguilar

Benefits of Play

• Relieves stress
  
• Improves relationships
  
• Improves brain function
  
• Stimulates the mind and boosts creativity
  
• Keeps us feeling young and energetic
  

~pp. 251-252

Creativity is “the ability to dream things up and make them happen, to live driven by curiosity and not by fear . . . Here’s another argument for indulging in creativity: it’s good for your brain.  It gets your alpha waves going. Alpha waves are signals in the brain that closely correlate with states of relaxation.  Scientists have found when people are relaxed, they’re much more likely to have big aha! moments . . .”~pp. 258-259

“Getting hands dirty settles an anxious mind.”~p. 260

9th Day of Christmas

 

Be a Learner: Curiosity

“If we see challenges as opportunities for learning, if we engage our curiosity whenever we’re presented with an obstacle, we’re more likely to find solutions.  This habit and disposition helps us not just survive adversity but thrive in the aftermath.”~p. 221, Onward by Elena Aguilar

Do the most important things when you have the most energy.~p. 235

“There is an upward spiraling relationship between curiosity, knowledge, and resilience. The more we learn, the more we want to learn, and the better we are at managing challenges, the more curious we become, and so on.”~p.244

Yoga, Anyone?

 

8th Day of Christmas

Cultivate Compassion: Perspective

“Compassion for ourselves, as well as for others, helps us deal with the interpersonal challenges we face on a daily basis.  Perspective allows us to empathize with others, see the long view, extricate ourselves from the drama of a moment and identify a wider range of responses to an event.”~p. 197, Onward by Elena Aguilar

Compassion:

Makes us more resilient

Makes us healthier and happier

Primes our minds for collaboration

Makes difficult relationships (a tiny bit) easier

Strengthens communities

~pp. 200-203