The Treasure in Your Heart - Stories and Yoga for Peaceful Children (Storytime Yoga)

132 Pages·2007·1.93 MB·English

by  Sydney Solis

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Stories• •and Yoga
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for Peaceful• •Children
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•• •• The Mythic Yoga Studio
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Copyright©2007 Sydney Solis, The Mythic Yoga Studio
The Mythic Yoga Studio
200 31st Street
Boulder, Colorado 80305
First Edition
Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007904776
Solis, Sydney, 1966-
Storytime YogaTM: The Treasure in Your Heart – Yoga and Stories for Peaceful Children / by Sydney Solis
ISBN 9780977706310
1. Hatha yoga, for children 2. Exercise, for children 3. Storytelling
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.
To order additional copies of this book, visit www.StorytimeYoga.com or call 303-456-6311.
Photographs by Michelle Maloy Dillon
Edited by Melanie Sumner
Cover design and text layout by Mary Schaeffer of Graphic Bytes
Models:
Crosby Chipman
Nayana Peterhans
Soklyn Peterhans
Alejandro Solis
Paloma Solis
THIS IS AN EXERCISE PROGRAM AND IS NOT INTENDED TO GIVE SPECIFIC
HEALTH OR MEDICAL ADVICE. BEFORE STARTING A PRACTICE, PLEASE
CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN
DEDICATED TO
My Mother
Agnes Clara Ann Tichacek Straub ••
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June 10, 1931 – Oct. 11, 2001 •
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And my Father •
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Albert Edward Louis Straub •
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May 1, 1933 – •
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And to my beloved ••
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Justin, Walker, Crosby, Alejandro, and Paloma •
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Acknowledgements
Many heartfelt thanks to the following lights in my life: the children at Creekside and
Columbine Elementary Schools in Boulder, Colorado; Louann Harlow of Boulder Parks and
Recreation and all the children and families who took classes there; Sherry Patterson, Kathy
Ireland and Deborah Cortez of Lakewood Head Start; Aliza Sodos of Littleton Yoga Center;
and Andi Johnson of Yoga Elements in Louisville, Colorado.
Thanks to Francie Halderman, Greg Shaw, Gerald McDermott and Bob Walters of the
Joseph Campbell Foundation. To Jan Manzer of the Joseph Campbell Foundation Colorado
Roundtable for his undying enthusiasm, and to Germaine Dietsch and Bev and Tom Brayden
of Spellbinders.
To Melanie Sumner for her friendship and editing and literary expertise and for sending
along Pam Redden to edit and proofread. To Susan Kaplan for her friendship, love, peace,
kindness and brilliance. To Carole Heepke of the Boulder Public Library for friendship,
stories, and community. Thanks to Chuck Hunker and Mark LeBlanc for sensational
business coaching and to my assistant Heather Fontenot.
Extra special thanks to Laura Simms and Dan Hessey, as well as Debbie Huttner of the
Wellness Initiative, Boulder, Colorado. Also to to Andria Pizzato, Brenda Abdilla,
Elizabeth Padilla and Mary Schaeffer.
To Margot Dengel for her undying enthusiasm as a Storytime YogaTM teacher and to all the
Storytime YogaTM teachers in the League of Yogic Storytellers. You make my heart sing.
To Jeanie Straub of the Parker, Colorado public library for her expertise and brilliance.
And most of all to my beloved Justin Chipman, healer and husband extraordinaire.
I am also extremely grateful for all the suffering I have been given to endure, for this
obstacle was indeed the path.
Sydney
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Table of Conte• nts
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FInotrrwoadrudc tbioy nLaura Simms ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 31
How to Use this Book 7
The Joy of Stories 10
Techniques for Teaching Yoga Philosophy to Children 12
Relaxation for Children through Yoga Nidra and Story 18
Creating Your Own Guided Visualizations for Children 22
The Treasure in Your Heart — The Stories 26
Treasure: Self-Reliance — The Jewel in the Well – Unknown 26
Treasure: The True Self — The Roar of Awakening – Hindu 28
Treasure: Unity — Brahma's Tears – Hindu 32
Treasure: Non-Violence — The Cracked Pot – Hindu 34
Treasure: Non-Attachment — The Monkey and the Moon – Chinese 37
Treasure: Contentment — The Stonecutter – Japanese 39
Treasure: Self-Study — Gift from the Gods – Hindu 42
Treasure: Surrender — The Story of the Sands – Sufi 43
Treasure: Courage — The Three Sisters – Muslim 45
Calming the Storm – Christian 48
Treasure: Stillness — Standing Still– Jewish 49
The Heart that No Longer Moves – Sufi 50
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Treasure: Kindness — Mohammad and the Cat – Muslim 58
Treasure: Controlling the Mind — Praying the Psalms – Jewish 59
Walking on Water – Christian 60
Heaven and Hell – Zen 61
Treasure: Anger Control — The Lotus on the Roof – Hindu 62
Broken Mirrors – Hindu 63
Conejito and the Wax Doll – Yaqui, Zapotec 64
The Two Wolves – Cherokee 66
Treasure: Gratitude — The Cherry Blossoms – Zen 67
Treasure: The Eternal Cycle — Children of Wax – African 68
Treasure: Peace — The Color of God – African 70
The Dove and the Sparrow – Unknown 71
Yoga Asanas — The Poses 73
Appendix: Using Interfaith Stories and Teaching Yoga in the Public Schools 110
Story Sources: 113
Sydney Solis Storytime Yoga
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Forward ~ by Laura Simms
Some years ago, as a storyteller/facilitator in a conference called Young Voices at the UN,
a girl from Bosnia was asked by a journalist if she knew the causes of war. She answered
cheerfully, “I am interested in the causes of peace.” She had lived through unimaginable
horrors and understood, as did all the young people in that gathering, that there is no
winner in war. There is only violence and loss. A book that offers us activities - a means -
to uncover, awaken, and joyfully support the inner goodness and capacity for peace in our
children is a weapon worth wielding.
Sydney’s lovely book of philosophy, heart-motivated activities and inspiring stories with
yoga poses is a treasure of clues and inspirations. It offers a practical way to deepen body
knowledge and ear to spirit enjoyment for the benefit of children. The book promotes and
instigates the enlivening of the causes of peace. The inner spiritual life of children is often
ignored, or assumed because it is natural, to be active. However, the muscles of inner
relaxation, patience, confidence in one’s goodness, resilience and capacity for compassion
albeit inherent, need exercise in order to gain strength and flower. We need to learn how
to provide our children and ourselves with the zeal for wholesome compassionate living.
I first met Sydney Solis when she took a workshop I was giving at Naropa University. Her
immense generosity of listening and unquenchable interest in the power of stories to heal
made us fast friends. At the time she was seeking her own way through the dark forest
of trauma recovery. She was fresh from the devastating pain of her husband’s suicide and
her children’s confusion. She was reviewing her life with a dedicated looking glass to better
understand what had happened. A few years later, engaged in a week-long storytelling
residency, it was evident she had transformed her own obstacles into medicine for self and
others. She had begun teaching yoga and working with children. Sydney came to study
again, but this time to better understand how to help others. I loved each time she got up
to tell a story, or to dialogue with students. I savored the trust I felt in her awareness and
selfless quest to be the best storyteller possible.
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