Namaste

Some kids play all manner of sports when they're little.  Nadia played soccer for three years and had a love/hate relationship with it.  She looked so darn cute in her uniform, though.  She also played volleyball in middle school.  I'm trying to talk her into rowing crew with the Dragon Boats at her high school, mostly because I think it would be fun and something new and interesting to do.  She's not really a competitive person at heart, and I have mixed feelings about that.  Competition, especially when parents try to ingrain the drive for that in their kids at too young an age, is not always a good thing in my opinion.  The reason I have mixed feelings is that my dear teenager will sometimes limit what she tries because she doesn't want to compete in any way.  As with most other things in life, there has to be a middle ground. 

As for Miss Marisa, she is into Yoga.  A few years ago I bought her a couple of DVD's in the Yoga for Kids series, created by a former Montessori teacher and current yoga practitioner/teacher who works primarily with kids.   I did some yoga years ago and enjoyed it and thought I'd give see if my little one liked it.  Well, with the first viewing and practice of the exercises, Marisa was hooked.  She asked for those DVD's almost every day for months.   When I heard about a class for kids ages 7-12 with the goal of helping them calm themselves and gain focus, I knew that was for us.   I drove the half hour each way from Tuesday to Friday this past week, and it was well worth the commute and the class fee.  The two women teaching the class are probably the most "calm" people I've ever met.   I need that around me at times because I can often feel my whole body and mind spinning off kilter and out of control.  Being around the teachers for just a few minutes at the beginning and end of each session was a little bit of therapy for me!  Talk about getting more than your money's worth. 

There were 5 girls in the class and it seemed to me, with verbal reinforcement from the teachers, to be a very supportive and kind group.  Marisa was by far the youngest but they just took her in and she was able to show her strengths and easily became part of the group.  It was a wonderful experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat. 

We've had our share of challenges going out into the community.  We even bought a leash, in a size too small for her that we made work, because Marisa was having more fun running away from us than looking at the animals in the zoo in Hawaii.  So, this yoga class and the benefit of doing something in a group, the expectation of following the teachers' instructions, and the need to walk from the car down the street, into the studio, and back to the car again, were all very valuable skill-building experiences for her.  There is hope, and we are having more, for want of a better word "normal", days than not now. 

And I have to add that the other benefits to Marisa's yoga class were the great coffee shop and lovely little bakery down the street!  That made Mom and big sister happy to hang out while class was in session.