Jodi Smith: Empowering Diversity and Inclusivity through Yoga in Schools, Studios, and Beyond

“Your body is vast consciousness. It’s not just one thing. And if you allow your body to be a container for how you're feeling then you can be like, “ok, there is anxiety in this body of mine, but there is also hope in this body of mine, and there is faith, and joy…. You’re holding space for a lot of things, but you are not one thing.” ~Rabia Meghani

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Rabia Meghani in a conversation about how to manage anxiety and uncertainty through Ayurveda. Rabia healed her dis-ease with C-Diff through practicing  Ayurveda, yoga, meditation, and then left her studies in graduate school to devote her life to supporting others in tapping into their limitless potential. Rabia works with individuals and also teaches with other organizations including Black Swan Yoga’s Teacher Training program. 

“If you start to feel that you are this one thing (ie, anxiety, illness), you start to live in this limited space. And it’s wild to think that it’s all purely from your mind. You create barriers—invisible barriers—just from your mind. And if you were to understand the barriers never existed, you can tap into that limitless potential of yours.” ~Rabia Meghani

In the first half of the podcast, Rabia and Beth discuss how we can reframe anxiety and uncertainty during times when life may occur highly stressful. Rabia also shares some of her life experiences that led her to focus on Ayurveda and yoga instead of pursuing a highly coveted masters degree in public and global health. In the second half, Rabia offers a meditation appropriate for most ages,and then offers tips for families to create grounding practices anytime and anywhere.

Rabia Meghani is an Ayurvedic Practitioner, Yoga Therapist, and Yoga Teacher. She leads the Ayuervedic sections for Black Swan Yoga’s RYT program. Rabia’s formal education is in public health and epidemiology. Merging her knowledge of disease and the ancient science of Ayurveda, Rabia aims to modernize Ayurvedic teachings and make them accessible to the masses. Her passion lies in harmonizing western medicine with eastern healing methodologies.

Rabia uses her knowledge of yoga and ayurveda to help those experiencing physical and emotional ailments. When it comes to healing, Rabia believes that one size does not fit all. This is why she works on the full person - mind, body, and spirit. When she is not on her mat or crafting teas and tinctures, you can find her exploring the beauty found in nature. Rabia lives in Houston, TX, with her husband and half dozen plant babies. 

Connect with Rabia:

Email: Rabiameghani@gmail.com 

Web:  rabiameghani.com

Instagram: Rabia Meghani

Connect with Beth:

Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com

Web: www.yoginos.com

Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese

Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/

Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth

Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos

LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

“In my 20s I felt more comfortable and more confident in myself to just let go of the seemingly needy attachments of having all my friends like me and approve of what I was doing… and just really became myself.” ~Richard Wilkinson

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Richard Wilkinson, RYT200, a yoga and meditation teacher and leader, in a conversation about the paths and possibilities of resourcing your true self. Richard also leads an iRest meditation—iRest yoga Nidra is approved by the U.S. Surgeon General and has been used by the U.S. military for over a dozen years. Richard is an international leader offering classes, workshops, and retreats individually and with his wife, Melissa Smith-Wilkinson. 

“Over the years I’ve come to the point where it’s just basically be myself, and the people that are in my life will either be attracted to that or not, and the ones who are not attracted to that are welcome to move on.” ~Richard Wilkinson

iRest is a meditative practice that is wonderful for those of us who are happy and healthy. It can bring us more peace and joy and can even invite insight into our conscious state. iRest has also been shown to be quite helpful for those of us who struggle with issues such as: anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, fear, grief. iRest yoga Nidra is approved by the U.S. Surgeon General and has been used by the U.S. military for over a dozen years. For more information on iRest Yoga Nidra, please view their website: www.irest.org

“Holding space for people to allow them to work to their capability is really important in the way that I work with folks…. Letting people work with whatever they are capable of and that can change from day to day, week to week, month to month. And I’ve found that it creates a community of feeling safe.” ~Richard Wilkinson

Richard Wilkinson has been formally trained in Power Vinyasa Yoga by Frog Lotus Yoga in Massachusetts USA. He has taken additional Yoga Teacher Training from; Maureen Rae (Vinyasa Yoga), Jennifer Reis (Yoga Nidra), Alina Calinescu (Yin Yoga), Richard Miller (iRest Yoga Nidra), David Emerson (Trauma Sensitive Yoga).  He weaves all of my training into the variety of classes that he teaches: Gentle Yoga, Hot Yoga, Hot Power Yoga, Yin Yoga and iRest Yoga Nidra. Richard’s teaching style would be classified as educational, informative and inclusive of all levels. He also places an emphasis on the Mind/Body connection and assumes that we are all in need of recovering or re-discovering our own human wholeness, on one level or another.

Connect with Richard:
email: richard@pranavayoga.studio
phone: 505.557.7898
Skype: rick.wilkinson4
https://www.pranavayoga.studio/retreats
https://www.pranavayoga.studio/trainings
https://www.caregiverwellnessretreat.com

Connect with Beth:
Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com
Web: www.yoginos.com
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

This quickie episode features a mindful meditation using the 5 senses as a means to connect the body and mind in the present moment nonjudgmentally anytime and anywhere—including out in public!

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Jodi Golda Komitor, MA, E-RYT 500, RCYT, in a quickie mindful meditation practice that touches on each sense as a way to notice without judgement what’s happening in any given moment. This type of mindfulness of the body practice can be a powerful option for people who struggle with breathing, including people who have asthma and COPD, as well as generalized anxiety disorder. This mindful moment can be explored anytime and anywhere. It is a great tool for use in classrooms, homes, restaurants, during travel, and beyond!

This Mindful Moment episode is drawn from a previously published podcast here on The OHMazing Way, #16: Jodi Golda Komitor: Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable.

Jodi Golda Komitor is the founder of Next Generation Yoga® (NGY) - the first Kids Yoga studio in the world. Inspired by her background in education, Jodi Golda started Next Generation Yoga in 1998 in New York City, a company she operated for 21 years. While in leadership at NGY, Jodi Golda developed & implemented school & community-based programs, U.S. & international Teacher Trainings and multidimensional online offerings. Of course, she didn’t do any of this alone & is proud of the badass teachers, trainers & team with whom she hired, collaborated & grew NGY.

Her passion for mentoring Kids Yoga entrepreneurs remains strong. She is the organizer of a noncompetitive, like-minded international business group called The Biz of Kids Yoga™. Through The Biz of Kids Yoga™, Jodi Golda provides private and group coaching to Kids Yoga & Mindfulness professionals.

Connect with Jodi Golda:

Email: jg@jodigolda.com

Founder, Next Generation Yoga: https://nextgenerationyoga.com/

Winner, Kids Yoga Service Award

Author, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Yoga with Kids: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Yoga-Kids/dp/0028639359

Coach, The Biz of Kids Yoga: https://nextgenerationyoga.com/the-biz-of-kids-yoga/

Creator, Whale Yoga for Kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qn415ehzZ0

Star, Gaiam Kids Yoga Videos: https://www.gaiam.com/?q=kids%20yoga

Connect with Beth:

Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com

Web: www.yoginos.com

Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese

Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/

Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth

Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos

LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

"The challenge is that because we are human beings living in society we’re influenced and conditioned by all kinds of forces that can lead to us developing biases that are particularly destructive… and that cut us off from wholeheartedly connecting to others." 
~Alison Cohen, MST and Certified Mindfulness Teacher/School Coach

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Alison Cohen, MST and Certified Mindfulness Teacher / School Coach, in conversation and practice with the critically important and meaningful topic of implicit bias. Alison first leads us through clear and concise definitions and examples of bias, explicit bias, and implicit bias. After skillfully laying a foundation, she then offers suggestions and leads practices to support us in increasing awareness of our own biases so that we can curate the wholehearted lives we wish to create. 

"In terms of implicit bias, research has shown there are really only a few ways currently to work with it meaningfully. One of those, interestingly enough, is loving kindness practice, as well as mindfulness meditation."
~Alison Cohen, MST and Certified Mindfulness Teacher/School Coach

One of the mindfulness tools Alison shares is a practice known as HALT. HALT stands for:

H: hungry

A: angry

L: lonely

T: tired

While the origination of this may be from Alcoholics Anonymous, neuroscientists, like Dr. Dan Siegel, recommend this practice for parents and others. Using HALT can be integrated into daily living in a myriad of ways. For example, before picking up your kids from school or entering a personal or professional conversation, pause and scan the mind and body for signs of being hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Without making yourself right or wrong, notice if any of those exist. If one or more do, name a way you can take care of yourself in the next moments so that you cultivate responses instead of habitual reactions. When you notice one or more of the "HALTs", a practice could be to pause and notice the breath, then feet, then belly, then hands. You might also choose to name aloud what you’re experiencing and share what you need before moving forward: In this moment I want to name that I notice I am tired and would like ________ (ie,  to get some water, have a hug, take a walk, etc) before we continue.

"What we are really talking about is love. And what are the barriers to really loving each other…. And if some of those barriers come from what we’ve breathed in and what’s been imprinted—the thumbs of culture—then each of us can make a courageous commitment to chip away at those in the name of love, connection, and ultimately what comes to mind, both individual and collective liberation."
~Alison Cohen, MST and Certified Mindfulness Teacher/School Coach

Connect with Alison:
Email: alisonc@soundstrue.com
Web: www.mindfulchangefromtheinsideout.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alisonecoh
Twitter: @1984AliCo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cohenalison/

Connect with Beth:
Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com
Web: www.yoginos.com
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

“Courageous communication is one of the ways we can build towards the world we want to see.” ~ Alison Cohen

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and mindfulness coach and mentor Alison Cohen in a conversation around mindful communication. Alison shares examples of mindful communication in the contexts of family and in schools. This podcast is the first of 2 conversations Beth and Alison had with the next one being on explicit and implicit bias.

“Each of us wants to be able to live in ways that are aligned with our conscious values and yet part of being human is that sometimes we miss the mark!” ~ Alison Cohen

In this conversation Alison references and wishes to share the following resources:

• The engaged feedback checklist from Brene Brown's book Dare to Lead: Go to https://brenebrown.com/downloads/, then scroll down and click on "Engaged Feedback Checklist"
• Mindful Communication one-page handout of mine that many students of mine have found helpful: attached (if it's possible to attach a document)
• Ruth King's racial justice and social justice resource list: https://ruthking.net/racial-awareness-resources/
• Books: Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication by Oren Jay Sofer, Mindful of Race by Ruth King, Blindspot by Dr. Mahzarin Banaji

Alison Cohen, MST 
Certified Mindfulness Teacher / School Coach
www.mindfulchangefromtheinsideout.com

3 Essential Elements of Mindful Communication + Mindful Communication Tips
(adapted from Dr. Lynn Rossy’s Mindful Communication work)

1. Cultivating Presence
“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand. They listen with the intent to reply.”
~ Stephen Covey

To become a more mindful, effective communicator, consider tuning into:

• Your awareness level: What feelings, thoughts, sounds, etc. are you aware of before the conversation begins and as the conversation begins?

• Your mind: Where is your attention in this moment?

• Your body: What message(s) do you want your body language to send during the interaction?

• Your intention: What is your intention for how you will show up during this interaction?

2. Listening With All the Channels
“People begin to heal the moment they feel heard.” ~ Cheryl Richardson

• Be present and listen “with all the channels,” especially during the first few minutes of any conversation.

• In communication, especially difficult communication, connect with the sensations of your body (feel your feet on the floor and sense the movement of your breath) as a way of staying open to what the other person says. Difficult communication often brings up fear in us, and staying with the breath and the body can be grounding.

3. Speaking Wisely
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.” ~ Plato

• If it’s appropriate, consider paraphrasing what you heard the other person say so that you’re sure you understood that person. We often only hear our version of what the person said.

• [WE WILL NOT BE DOING THIS] Before giving someone your advice, ask if it is wanted. We love to help but sometimes people just want to be heard. Simply having a sounding board can often help someone tap into their own internal wisdom.

“There are days when things are really rough. And, it’s different if you’re having a bad day and you’re sitting in front of a computer typing away, and when you’re working with a group of students who have dealt with oppressions of all kinds and have a fragile sense of being able to accomplish what you’re asking.” ~ Alison Cohen

Alison Cohen cherishes any and all opportunities to integrate community-building, contemplative practice, social justice, and joy. She incorporates trauma-informed mindfulness into her instructional coaching and leadership work with educators, school leaders, and young adults. Alison also offers mindfulness-based courses and workshops throughout the US and mentors participants in Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield’s two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Program. She is a Mindful Schools Certified Mindfulness Instructor, an MBSR teacher, and an avid retreat goer.

Connect with Alison:

Email: alisonc@soundstrue.com

Web: www.mindfulchangefromtheinsideout.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alisonecoh

Twitter: @1984AliCo

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cohenalison/

Connect with Beth:

Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com

Web: www.yoginos.com

Cell: +1 361 563 7448

Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese

Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/

Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth

Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos

LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

This quickie episode shares Sound Meditation as a mindful tool to practice paying attention with intention and compassion, and without judgement. It's a great strategy to practice anytime, anywhere!

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Randi Jo Greenberg, in a quickie podcast featuring a mindful tool, sounds meditation. This is a practice that can be used anytime and anywhere, and is great to share with kids, too, as we learn to practice being present through sound. Sound meditation can be a great alternative for people who struggle with breathing, including people who have asthma and COPD, as well as generalized anxiety disorder.

This quickie episode is based in part on the original conversation between Beth and Randi Jo, Episode #4: From Loss to Light: Being a Mindful Mom, Educator and Leader with Randi Jo Greenberg.

Randi Jo discovered yoga in the mid 90s and has been a full time certified yoga teacher since 1999. She fondly recalls of her first yoga.training that “I was the only one in this training asking, can you tell me what ‘namaste’ means?” She's lived and worked in Park City, Utah for over 14 years. She began teaching pre-natal yoga when she became pregnant in 2004 and that led to post-natal yoga, mommy and me and then kids yoga.

Connect with Randi Jo:
Randi Jo Greenberg
RJ@yogawithrandijo
Yogawithrandijo.com
Yoga with Randi Jo (Facebook)
Yogawithrandijo (Instagram)

Connect with Beth:
Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com
Web: www.yoginos.com
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

“Sometimes superhero love is about making tough decisions. It’s tuning in to that deep wisdom within ourselves to look at and make sure our intention, our motive, our motivation is coming from a place of, ‘am I being love?” ~Athea Davis

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Athea Davis, M.Ed., E-RYT 500, RCYT, YACEP, in conversations about mindfulness practices with our kids, marriages, divorces, and in education. In the first half Athea discusses what superhero love looks like with her son and while going through a divorce. In the second half Athea shares mindful practices and then describes her education resources including Mindfulness Education University.

“My former spouse was an alcoholic and eventually took his own life…. The whole experience of being committed to family and to love.... And loving someone no matter what… and then ultimately having to come to the point—with courage and bravery and say, ‘you know what? I love you, and I love this family, but I have an obligation and a duty to raise my son in a different kind of environment. This family pattern of alcoholism and this dynamic… it stops here.” ~Athea Davis

Athea Davis, M.Ed., E-RYT 500, RCYT, YACEP, is a mindfulness expert, health and wellness educator, and youth mentor. She’s the author of Today’s Gonna Be Awesomesauce: Daily Meditations for Youth, Parents & Families. Athea owns Sol Sense Yoga, a mindfully-infused education and leadership company, where she leads live mindfulness trainings + digital courses for leaders, educators, and parents. She lives with her superhero love family in Houston, Texas and is dedicated to spreading the awesomesauce sparkle here, there, and everywhere!

Connect with Athea:
Email: athea@solsenseyoga.com
Web: https://www.solsenseyoga.com/
Facebook personal: https://www.facebook.com/athea.davis.1
Faecebook Sol Sense: https://www.facebook.com/solsenseyoga/
Instagram: atheadavis
LinkedIn: Athea Davis, M.Ed., E-RYT, RCYT

Connect with Beth:
Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com
Web: www.yoginos.com
Cell: +1 361 563 7448
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

This quickie episode shares STOP as a mindful tool to disrupt habitual thoughts and verbal outrage.

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Dawn Mauricio, in a quickie podcast featuring a mindful tool, STOP. This is a practice that can be used anytime and anywhere, and is great to share with kids, too, as we learn to disrupt habitual thoughts and actions that could result in outrage. Instead, we can use STOP to pause and curate an intentional response—even with a dash of compassion and kindness!

One of the tools Dawn uses to support herself and awaken her presence throughout each day is STOP:
Stop
Take a breath
Observe what is attracting our attention
Proceed

This quickie episode is based in part on the original conversation between Beth and Dawn in episode 15, "Dawn Mauricio: Awakening Presence on Family Vacation, Technology, and in Communication". For more ideas on practicing and sharing this tool in your daily life, see our blog: https://www.yoginos.com/ohmusings-blog/

Dawn is a meditation teacher with a playful, dynamic, and centered approach. She is known for her boundless energy, and smiling personality that are both contagious, and motivating. Teaching since 2006, she has received certifications from Spirit Rock Meditation Center, True North Insight, Inward Bound Mindfulness Education, Naada Yoga, and Yoga Tune Up®.

Connect with Dawn:
IG: http://instagram.com/dawnmauricio
FB: http://facebook.com/dawnmauricio
TW: http://twitter.com/dawnmauricio
Web: http://dawnmauricio.com
Dawn is also on Insight Timer.

Connect with Beth:
Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com
Web: www.yoginos.com
Cell: +1 361 563 7448
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

“Our peacefulness should actually be in relationship to things, so everything around us doesn’t have to be in peace all of the time for us to have some peacefulness. And just because there’s disruption in the field because things are being pointed out and things that have been avoided or actually revealed does not mean that our personal peace is being disrupted.”
~ Sebene Selassie

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Sebene Selassie, a Brooklyn-based teacher & writer who explore the themes of belonging and identity through meditation and spirituality. In the first half of the podcast they discuss using mindfulness as a doorway to explore pain associated with cancer, and cultivating presence and peace. In the second half, Sebene leads a mindfulness practice, shares about her forthcoming book on belonging, and they discuss mindfully investigating race and identity.

“Often the dominant culture has taught us that we don’t want disruption because we want to keep things in status quo. So disruption feels like non-spiritual. When something is disrupted people feel like it’s an attack on the truth, when actually the truth is being revealed, and we can be in peace in relationship to that.”
~ Sebene Selassie

Sebene Selassie is a Brooklyn-based teacher & writer who explores the themes of belonging and identity through meditation and spirituality. She began studying Buddhism over 25 years ago as an undergraduate at McGill University where she majored in Comparative Religious Studies. She has an MA from the New School where she focused on race and cultural studies. She serves on the boards of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and Sacred Mountain Sangha. Sebene is passionate about making the dharma accessible and relevant for our times and teaches on the 10% Happier app, in New York City, and nationally. Her first book, Born to Belong, will be published by HarperOne in 2020.

Connect with Sebene:
Email: Sebene@sebeneselassie.com
Web: www.sebeneselassie.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sebene.selassie
Instagram: sebeneselassie: www.instagram.com/sebeneselassie

Connect with Beth:
Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com
Web: www.yoginos.com
Cell: +1 361 563 7448
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD

“The biggest factor [contributing to emotional challenges] that we see right now with all of my kids has been one or more forms of trauma in their lives.” ~ Rick Yoder

Join The OHMazing® Way podcast creator, producer and host, Beth Reese, PhD, E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, and guest Rick Yoder, a Special Education Teacher in San Antonio, Texas, who works with youth who have been diagnosed as being emotionally challenged or with “Emotional Disturbance” disorder. In this podcast they discuss integrating and adapting mindfulness and yoga into the emotionally challenged classroom—which can also be used in a general classroom, home, gym, and studio.

“I am trying to insure that I establish a learning environment where my kids will feel that they are the most successful and are able to work around their challenges.” ~ Rick Yoder

In the first half they explore the difference between big emotions and someone who is diagnosed with an “ED” or emotional disturbance, plus why Rick dislikes the term, emotional disturbance, and labels in general. In the second half Rick shares several mindfulness and yoga adaptations he uses in his classroom as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), to teach self-regulation, and social emotional learning (SEL).

“Shanti hug—like a bear hug—is a good way to start and end the day.”
~ Rick Yoder

Some of the specific mindfulness and mindful movement tools he integrates into his classroom include (FMI see yoginos.com):
Shanti hug
Flower power breath
Peace place with a bean bag and a couple of yoga mats
Starting day with a sun salutation
Glitter bottles and jars: https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Calming-Glitter-Jars/

Rick asked us to share these links as well:

Association for Children's Mental Health
http://www.acmh-mi.org/get-help/navigating/problems-at-school/

National Alliance on Mental Illness
https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Public-Policy/Mental-Health-in-Schools

MentalHealth.gov
https://www.mentalhealth.gov/talk/educators

National Association of School Psychologists
https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/mental-health/school-psychology-and-mental-health/school-based-mental-health-services

Child Mind Institute (includes resources in Spanish)
https://childmind.org/blog/anxiety-in-schools-nasp-2018-childrens-mental-health-report/

Rick is an educator with 16 years of experience in elementary and secondary school settings. His experience includes School Administration, Special Education, Math, and English Language Arts. During his tenure as an educator, he has always worked with high risk, high need student populations. especially those with severe emotional challenges. He is also in the dissertation phase of his PhD in Educational Leadership from The University of Texas San Antonio. His qualitative research focuses on exploring student voice for marginalized student groups. Rick is on his third personal journey with yoga with the most recent beginning in October 2018. He practices yoga for therapeutic purposes: as an ongoing means to continue healing a cervical disc injury as well as an outlet for channeling the related stressors from working with high-risk, high need student populations. As a result, Rick sees the therapeutic benefit he has derived from his yoga practice as one that can be of great value for his students. He has chosen to pursue his RYT-200 Yoga Teacher certification as well as the completion of the RCYT through Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®. His goal through this training is to bring yoga into his classroom as a means for his emotionally challenged students to learn self-regulating behaviors so that they can positively channel their emotional energy in order to more readily focus on their individual academic needs.

Connect with Rick:
Email: richard.yoder@nisd.net; ryoder2@satx.rr.co
Cell: 210-363-6043
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rick.yoder.18
Twitter: twitter.com/rickfromsa (@rickfromsa)
LinkedIn: Rick Yoder

Connect with Beth:
Email: elizabeth@yoginos.com
Web: www.yoginos.com
Cell: +1 361 563 7448
Facebook: personal: www.facebook.com/elizreese
Facebook: Yogiños: Yoga for Youth®: www.facebook.com/yoginos/
Instagram: yoginosyogaforyouth: www.instagram.com/yoginosyogaforyouth
Twitter: @yoginos: twitter.com/Yoginos
LinkedIn: Beth Reese, PhD