Next Whole Birth Yoga Teacher Training March 2009!
Please help pass the word! I'll be sending out an announcement that you can forward to anyone you think might be interested.
You can also add e-mail addresses into the mailing list box below.
Web Site Update!
If you are actively teaching, be sure your classes are listed on our International Whole Birth Yoga Teachers Directory
Yahoo Group, too!
You are invited to join the Whole Birth Teacher's Yahoo group! It's been very quiet lately. Let's stay connected! If anyone wants to volunteer as a moderator to introduce and inspire discussions, please contact me.
What nine months of attention does for an embryo, forty early mornings will do for your gradually growing wholeness.
Jelaluddin Rumi
Dear Friends,
Happy Winter! Here's to slowing down a bit to enjoy the
gifts this time of year brings. Looking out my window this evening, the
sky is filled with deep sunset hues of purple, peach and fiery red. The colors
fill me with gratitude for simple pleasures.
Soon my family will gather with all the families from my
mom's group for our 23rd annual Winter Solstice celebration! We've created an
enduring community around our children that has sustained us through the years.
My wish for the women in my Whole Birth classes is that they all be inspired to
create their own village to make the work of family living more joyful.
I hope this letter finds you well in body, heart and mind! Please stay in touch
and send in your own inspirations for our next newsletter. Any ideas you wish
to share about your own creative approaches to teaching, resources that have
inspired you, personal anecdotes, challenges and successes would be most
welcome!!!!
Much love to you,
Robin
Rehearsing and Rehashing; A Mindfulness Teaching Story
To
explain the practical nature of mindfulness in class, I've been using
a wonderful story that Bob Stahl, friend and mindfulness teacher, told me;
A woman in an MBSR class he was teaching confessed to him that after
practicing mindfulness for several weeks, she realized that her mind
had two modes - rehearsing and rehashing. When in a group
of people and going around the room sharing, she was so busy
rehearsing what she was going to say that she missed the half that went before her. Then after she shared, she was busy rehashing what she had just said: "I hope I said that right!; Oh! I forgot to say this; maybe I shouldn't have said
that!"..and she missed out on the other half of the group.
I like to point out that we can miss out on much of our life in just this way. Rehearsing and Rehashing. Early in my teaching, I missed a lot of what was being said, because I was rehearsing and rehashing.
This
habit of R&R comes from strong self-identification. I'm learning
about the connection between mindfulness and non-identification in Jack
Cornfield's new book, The Wise Heart.
New article! published in the December Issue of the
International Journal of Childbirth Education;
Mindful Yoga as a Vehicle for Childbirth Education by Robin Sale If you're a member of ICEA you can read this article in the December Journal! Please go on line and add a comment on the
If you're not a member and you would like a copy, email me and I'll send you one.
Also, in this issue, an important article by Donyale Abe called Teaching the Facts: The Dilemma of Evidence Based Care. She addresses an important question; how do we present evidence-based information to women whose care givers and birth facilities may not offer this kind of care?
Traditions Discussion
This week I used as a group theme family traditions, in particular, holiday traditions. I asked women to share their ideas about celebrating the holidays with their new family. Did they want to continue traditions from the past? Does their partner have the same family traditions or different ones? There were many lovely ideas.
I shared a tradition that my brother had with his family. He just told me about this and I was so touched. My brother?
He, his wife and two children would spend Christmas Eve day preparing bags that contained a sandwich, some fruit, cookies and a small bottle of whiskey. They went out on Christmas eve and passed them out to the homeless folks in the city. The homeless men were suspicious, but when they saw the two little kids with their big smiles they knew it was just a gift.
May all beings have peace.
Thank you all for the work you are doing to bring more connection, happiness and kindness into your heart and into the world. Please send in your ideas, poems, articles, inspiration to share with us all!
Dear Friends,