Month: March 2017

Our Kings


Stop mistreating Black Men!

They are my kings!
Every time
My husband leaves the house
I hold my breath
Until
He…
My Black King
Returns.

I
Hold my
Breath.

Until

My Black King returns

I hold
My
Breath.
My son has yet to return.
I hold my breath for all my black Kings

and shine a light on their paths back home.

Meditation bowl and candles beneath bust storme's sculpture

Journaling The Journey

Taiga WuWu™ © (Journaling the Journey)

This is where I get personal.
Think about this: Transition is an oxymoron right? …Whether you desire it or it captures you.

I chose to make a transition that in some aspects brought about the unexpected. Isn’t that life?

The name Taiga WuWu is my creation. It is short for Tai Chi, Yoga, Wake Up, Walk Up! Further explained:

Since my knees are delicate due to years of dancing, the preferred pace of movement for me is a deliberate, slow burn. The pace of Tai Chi and Yoga-like moves fit me. I am encouraging myself to wake up or reawaken myself with a different mindset.

As ‘grounding’ does during meditation, the Taiga WuWu concept involves the perpetual flow of literally walking upright and staying optimistic while any reinvention is occurring.

In my case since over 2016/2017 I had to refocus areas of concentration to restore my total health (recuperate from a torn rotator cuff, weight loss, knee surgery as well as general maintenance), prioritization of personal nutrition with a spiritual balancing is occurring.

I believe that everyone must mindfully figure this out for themselves despite fads or media attention.

Who am I? This year I am realizing the levels of what that entails.

“ Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response
lie(s) our growth and our freedom.”

-Viktor Frankl, Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor

Most often repetition is necessary to master a skill as in meditation.

This quote is repeated from the ‘Just Four Breaths’ page.

I love Frankl’s words because space, (our journey through life) is as necessary as clay for a sculptor to play with.

The use of clay is turned around, pieces discarded or retained, maybe reused. Recreated shapes are then carefully placed together as a single sculpture. Then, a whole new thing becomes reality.

I AM Masterpiece!

Just Four Breaths

“Deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body. This is because when you breathe deeply it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax. The brain then sends this message to your body. Breathing exercises are a good way to relax, reduce tension and relieve stress.”

Stress Management: Breathing Exercises for Relaxation – WebMD

Are you feeling stressed?

Maybe you are and don’t know it…

Do this right now: close your eyes (or not). Make yourself comfortable.

Give yourself a gift, take a pause and breathe. (inhale and exhale as 1 breath) 4 times slowly…

Note how you feel when you finish. Then…

Try it again.

I hope that you instantly experience relaxation and a mind shift.

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.”
– Jon Kabat-Zinn from Wherever You Go, There You Are

Read more of my mindfulness curriculum perspectives related to how middle schools confront bias.

Making Presence

(From My Blue Book #3, May 22, 2016)

Silence is now accepted.

We all possess a river within.
Like my new spiritual and inspirational naturalist Jourdan Imani Keith says, “ Your body is a body of water.”

She reminds us that what we put into our bodies comes out of us and touches everyone because of our ecological biology as a species and as part of this planet.

Similar to that river is the ebb and flow of our breath. In and out, fast, slow, even or erratic my symphony is my own.

Together, however we compose:

A ‘rhythm section’
As cuz Rashid would call it
Of silent mellow

Since meditating mindfully with kids, I believe that over time racism, bias, prejudice, negative stereotyping and the like will dissipate IF every class in every school and every home sets [mindfulness] at the table. Maybe we will return to sitting together to partake… and contemplate our days together.

“ Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response
lie(s) our growth and our freedom.”

-Viktor Frankl, Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor

Besides a hug, giving or receiving one (like the beautifully spirited ones Anya runs to give me every time she sees me), sitting in silence with kids at the start of every lesson shifts hope and lightens burdens.

We meditate on gratitude, generosity, listening, empathy, looking (learning how to read not only books, but “the room” and each other). We often write about our reflections and notice where we need to change and that adjusting our behavior is okay.

Learning to not judge is hard as heck but we practice every day.

Imagine that!

I am walking in a new light of awareness that shines constantly.
Present Alternatives Unite Spirits & Empathy (PAUSE)

Humane Curriculum

HUMANE Curriculum
(Honoring Us: Multicultural, Mindfulness & Addressing Bias iNtegrated Education)™

“I believe that over time racism, bias, prejudice, negative stereotyping and the like will dissipate IF every class in every school and every home sets it (mindfulness) at the table. Maybe we will return to sitting together to partake…and contemplate our days…together.”
-Tahira from my ‘Making Presence’ piece

Most people need to learn that an inner life exists within all of us.

At best what would it be like if children learned of this inner life from birth; at least were guaranteed to be taught once entering school?

These days, the competition of grades and becoming entrepreneurs in elementary and middle school are perceived-to-real prerequisites for high schools and colleges. Experts have redefined this trauma that is just beginning to be conveyed to the general public. The effects of trauma on students in education are neglected in some school communities while others seek knowledge and resources for help.
Talk about stress!

The umbrella of multicultural & inclusive practice necessitates curriculum that integrates mindfulness while addressing bias and other traumatic issues. While research has existed for over 30 years, we have just scratched the surface to include it in the core standards.

Kids unconsciously yearn to be empowered! Those who know mindfulness now appreciate its benefits.

“I love doing this (breathing). It makes me feel like I’m floating.”
-1st grader

Educators need an explicit integration of these humane areas of development. Our society demands to be filled with people who live with this light and benefit from its grace.

Might a deeper understanding of our interconnection (mind/body/each other) within schools create better citizens around the world?

“Why Aren’t We Teaching You Mindfulness?”
– AnneMarie Rossi – YouTube

Words!

I love words; their power, etymology, written, spoken, read, and especially the reciprocity of reading and writing.

As a child I was confused by how to read as a first grader.

I remember sitting in my first grade class of about 30 kids in the back at an elementary school in Roxbury, feeling petrified whenever the teacher asked us to read aloud. Yikes!!! Back in  the day this is how reading was taught…like we were supposed to ‘get it’ by osmosis somehow. We all were on the same page right?

Imagine 30 kids looking at words on a page at the same time. I didn’t know what to do except turn the page at the same time as the teacher said.

I didn’t know what to do after that.

At least the pictures in our Dick and Jane book were interesting.

Honestly, since the class periods were only about 40 minutes long and my last name was Wilson, how many times do you think I got a chance to practice out loud in class?

Then, innovative methods like switching the order of kids reading, small groups or reading alone, literacy specialists, or check-ins with the only teacher in the class were non-existent. Heck, I don’t even remember her face or name.

Light years later, I am a literacy specialist and what is my favorite grade to teach? Yes! First grade!

In this space, a lot will be shared…including stories after first grade to current experiences, the trauma of some systems and parental influence on children in first grade and the fun techniques applied that changed me into a lover of words.

Stay tuned.