All of my online group offerings are being offered without a set fee to enable broader participation. I gratefully accept donations of any amount.If you are able to do so, please make a donation, through Venmo, PayPal or check (info included below)*
My Tween/Teen/Adult and my Tots+ classes will be continuing through June and I encourage you to take advantage of them. After-School Yoga will resume in September.
In addition to group classes, I am offering private sessions. I am a certified therapeutic yoga teacher with over three-decades of teaching experience. I am passionate in my love for yoga and dance and for making movement accessible and possible for all. I love designing personal practices that will enhance your quality of life. I would love for you to enjoy the experience of my yoga. My ideal clients are children, women and families for these private sessions. Please contact me at AdamAnt_Eve@gmail.com for private lesson rates.
Practitioners are welcome on a mat or in a chair. Rock, roll or stroll! .
Wishing you all love, peace and hope! Eve Costarelli
Eve Costarelli’s Online Offerings
All of my online offerings are being offered without a set fee to enable broader participation. I gratefully accept donations of any amount. If you are able to do so, please make a donation, through Venmo, PayPal or check (info included below)*
For Kids:
After-school Groove & Flow Yoga (on hold until September)
Groove & Flow Yoga for Tots+https://commonstreet.zoom.us/s/717933065Thurs. 10:00-10:45AM (EDT)
What: Classes are imaginative, playful and vary from very active to quietly meditative. Children will explore yoga poses and relaxation techniques through stories, games, books and songs which help to develop their confidence, awareness, focus and their interactions with peers within a safe, supportive environment. Fun for all!
For Tweens, Teens & Adults:
Groove & Flow Yoga & Dance Break https://commonstreet.zoom.us/j/953634210Mon. 5:00-6:00PM (EDT) Groove and Flow is a mix of yoga, dance and mindfulness that affords the participants the opportunity to explore and experience the joy of movement and freedom of expression within a supportive, creative environment, regardless of experience and/or abilities.
Groove & Flow Yoga https://commonstreet.zoom.us/s/781560765Thurs. 5:00-6:00PM (EDT)
Breathe, move, meditate then deeply relax. With a blend of styles, this yoga class aims to help you realize your true blissful self. This class designed to strengthen your body, mind, and spirit is balanced with relaxation and meditation. All levels welcomed for this one of a kind experience.
*I am holding space for everyone, with no expectations. I appreciate gratefully the donations of love I receive!*suggested donations $5-$20
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************Free fitness videos offered through the Natick Recreation & Parks YouTubechannel. Videos are posted every day Monday-Friday at 11:00AM (EDT) with an active fitness class that is fully accessible and inclusive . Classes are taught at a level for tweens/teens but it available to all to join.
Flamenco Monday taught by Eve Costarelli
Groove & Flow Yoga Wednesday taught by Eve Costarelli
(Fitness classes being offered Monday-Friday, please check them out!)
Breath Friends Forever: A Mindfulness Story for Kids by Kids by Laurie Grossman & Ms. Moses’s 4th Grade Class. Instant Help Books/New Harbinger.
Truly one of the best things about this book, Breath Friends Forever: A Mindfulness Book for Kids by Kids, and its predecessor, Master of Mindfulness: How to Be Your Own Superhero in Times of Stress, is that it is truly for kids by kids. The voices are clear and strong and young. This simple, sweet story, illustrated with a creative collage of cartoon characters and real life photos, offers various ways to remind us to practice mindfulness whenever needed. The hand gestures, the breathing, the getting in touch with inner peace all combine to offer easy-to-follow instructions for calming down during times of big emotions. The nicely written story offers good factual data on how deep breathing affects and effects the body, mind and energy. This mid-grade book respects the curiosity and personage of the older child. The main message is that a friend is the greatest gift: both to give and to receive.
This is a fabulous authentically voiced mindfulness book for mid-grades. I highly recommend this book. It should be in homes, libraries, schools, therapist offices etc. It is not only a fun, mindful story, but it also serve an important purpose as a book for children to help bolster their self-control, inner peace and resiliency.
Eve Costarelli
Thank you to Laurie Grossman for sending me this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
For more information about accessible mindfulness/yoga/dance, please visit alwaysbedancing dot com
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up in a beautiful yellow brick Victorian in Brookline, MA. Our home was an artist’s home, filled with the artwork of my mother Amelia Robin, a paper sculptor, ceramic artist and water-colorist extraordinaire plus our childhood art and countless other pieces of art covered and filled every space. Although not encouraged at first to do so, it felt natural for me to follow my mother into the arts, although it took me years to discover my form of expression. I always loved to dance and mover, yet I never attended dance classes as a child instead I spent every Saturday from 9AM-4PM taking art classes at the Museum of Fine Arts and attending classical music concerts, operas and theater. But I never stopped moving. I filled every waking moment with energy. I learned to dance by watching Soul train on Saturday mornings; was stopped on the dance floor and told I was the best dancer ever; I became the Go-Go dancer for Manray, the alternative nightclub in Central Square, Cambridge, MA but my first foray into dance classes didn’t come until after college when my mother decided I should learn to tap dance. She bought me some tap shoes and paid for classes. My luck to stumble in Leon Collin’s Tap dancers Paradise. I was hooked. Tap dance became my it. My mom then compelled me to go to Harvard Summer Dance Program to study choreography and through a woman I met there, I discovered flamenco. Flamenco became my it. After having my son, I found yoga. And keeping up with my MO, Yoga became my it. This self-focused exploration is truly my passion. Through yoga I was opened to new motivations as a dancer, yogi and educator. I use flamenco and yoga as mindful moment forms from which EveryBody can access their true nature to reveal to them their inner strength, determination and courage.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
One of the most difficult parts of my career has been maintaining enough students and external projects to make a living. It is hard to make art a profession, because there is no one’s steps you can follow in. No job that is already created for you to step into. No promise that your art will pay your bills. Being an artist has meant for me forging a new path and then creating the opportunities in which I have been able to hone my skills, create my art and learn, learn, learn. I have had the absolute joy of spending over 20 years bring dance to the Boston the community but I have had a lot of sleepless nights stressing over creating the right balance of my art as a career and as a creative expression.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Always Be Dancing: Yoga & Flamenco for Everybody – what should we know?
There are three main aspects to what I do and then a whole lot on the periphery.
Firstly, through my collaboration with Open Spirit Center’s program, Nourishing Teachers, Strengthening Classrooms, I bring yoga and mindfulness into the Framingham Public Schools My program, Always be Dancing: Yoga & Flamenco for Every/Body, integrates into K-12 classrooms age appropriate mindfulness strategies using breath-work, movements and adapted practices so that even the resistant students have access to the mindfulness education. Through worksheets, small group discussions and other various practices that I have developed, students learn to identity their emotions, feelings and intentions and become aware of the ways in which they conduct themselves, all by becoming more aware of themselves. Not only do I work with students, including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADD/ADHD, emotionally developing, the Gay Student Alliances, youth with trauma and those who have had limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE), but I also bring my classes and workshops to the teachers and staff though various Professional Development Days, after-school programs and retreats,
Secondly, through my collaboration with Hoops and Homework, an after-school program for some of the neediest youth in Framingham. I go to their two sites weekly to bring yoga, mindfulness and the arts to these kids who would not normally have access to them and I have developed a training manual to accompany my programming that I hope to get published soon.
That’s not all. Thirdly is my all-inclusive flamenco dance program ¡Olé Flamenco! which brings flamenco to youth without access or with limited access to the arts, including underprivileged populations, ASD, SPD, Orthopedic Impairment and developmental and Intellectual disabilities. I use flamenco to stimulate the whole child by using movement and expression as access points for a healthy, safe, engaging, supportive, and challenging environment. This type of learning exposes children to the creation of art forms, cultivates self-expression (whether of an individual or a collective) and demonstrates a successful mixing of diverse populations-lesson which are relevant for youth in today’s society.
And one last thing…I am a budding author. I started writing book reviews about 5 years ago to hone my writing skills in preparation to write several children’s books. I hope to make a good query, get an agent and be on my way to become a celebrated author! One must always have dreams and keep on learning. Be your own soul’s light.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Well it is teacher appreciation week 2018, so here goes: my tap dance teachers at Leon Collins: Julia Boynton, Josh Hilberman, Jimmy “Sir Slyde” Mitchell, Diane Walker & Sue Ronson, who believed in my ability and my vision as a dancer. My flamenco teachers: Ramon de los Reyes, Omayra Amaya & more recently, La Lupi, for opening up the secrets to flamenco for me; for my yoga teachers Barbara Benagh, Elizabeth Goranson and Guruatma Ji, in their own special ways, helping me discover me and allowing me to find my true voice. And most recently, Debbie Clark & Rosanne Kates from Open Spirit Center for helping to open doors for me; through them I connected with Herb Chasen & Pam Kaufman of Hoops & Homework and also Cheryl Aglio-Girelli & Mynette Shifman, the teen health nurses at Framingham High School.
My husband, Rob Costarelli, IFBB Pro Bodybuilder, has been behind me 100% since day one-we are truly a power couple! My son, Anthony, my brothers Andrew & William and countless of families who have entrusted me with their children over the years. My “girls”…I have never lacked form cheerleaders and believers.
The Go Yogi! Card Set: 50 Everyday Yoga Poses for Calm, Happy, Healthy Kidsby Emma Hughes, illustrated by John Smisson
This is a very sweet, simple set of cards that offer a nice diverse range of characters and each card has an easy how-to-do-the-pose on the back.
One thing I really liked about the cards was the inclusion of the Sanskrit name for each pose, along with the made up English name. I really liked this because it extends the diversity of yoga past the new inception of yoga, into the ancient and historical and shares this ancient language and opens up dialogue for the deeper teachings of yoga, not just the poses, which is especially helpful when teaching teens.
Included with the cards is a booklet with some ideas on how to use the cards and jumping off points for more creative adaptation. These are a great addition to my teaching practice and my students really like them. Ms. Hughes and Mr. Smisson have successfully teamed up before in two books the promote mindfulness and yoga for children: Striker, Slow Down and Go Yogi! (book). These cards make a great complement to those books.
Six Healing Sounds: Qi Gong For Children With Lisa & Tedby Lisa Spillane
I love Qi gong! Qi gong is an ancient Chinese art of movement and breath meant to balance the body’s energy (the qi, chi or prana) in order to achieve optimal health and well-being. This book introduces children to the benefits of qi gong by helping them to connect their feelings and bodily sensations to their inner voice. Through varied exercises including connecting to self-love, resonating sounds, visualizations and affirmations, this book helps children purge themselves of negative emotions and ways of thinking and to replace them with more healthy thoughts to create a more vibrant, radiant, self-assured and calm persona.
A special shout out to for the cute, expressive illustrations. They are simple and child- like but are also richly detailed. I loved the creative mixed-media collaging effect of real objects blended with drawings.
This is a great book for infusing children’s lives with mindfulness and positive social- emotional strategies. I highly recommend it!
Yoga Girls Club: Do Yoga, Make Art, Be You by Tiffani Bryant
This is a great book for teens or those teaching teens. It is highly interactive and focuses on listening to your inner voice. There are nice descriptions of postures and plenty of activity pages that include art ideas, writing prompts and body, mind, soul activities to help sort out emotions, feelings and bodily sensations and to promote mindfulness. The black and white illustrations invite you to color them to add a splash of color to this very informative and easy to use yoga manual.
Thank you to Jessica Kingsley Publishing for sending me these books. All opinions expressed are my own.
I am inspired by people who adapt yoga to fit into spaces not intended, such as classrooms, libraries, parks, locker rooms and especially to those who are dedicated to bringing yoga to children with special needs; to making yoga inclusive, adaptable and accessible. Louise Goldberg, author of Classroom Yoga Breaks andYoga Therapy for Children With Special Needs, which has been an invaluable asset for my own working in the special needs community, is a prime example.
To say I was delighted to receive my copy of Classroom Yoga Breaks is an understatement. Firstly, the book is presented beautifully with its sturdy, text book like, cover; it is well organized, and there are a plethora of accompanying photographs that lend clarity to the instruction. The book starts right off with great documentation of yoga and its many benefits physically, mentally and energetically. It draws clear connections to how yoga can improve Social Emotional Learning (SEL), can benefit special needs groups specifically and also the school community as a whole and how yoga bolsters self regulation, resilience and the executive functions. Through her vision, Ms. Goldberg, shows how to bring yoga into classrooms. She shares various curriculum and illustrates how all postures can be modified to fit every person. Through bodywork, breath-work and mind/energy-work, she shows how you can take yoga off the mat and into the world.
The clarity and attention to detail makes this book an indispensable addition to every schools, community centers and library. It is a repository for everything yoga and how it fits into the classroom. I especially appreciated the section dedicated to teacher’s self-care. Learning how to take care of yourself will not only help to build your resilience, your ability to respond rather then react and your sense of self but it will in turn change the climate of your classroom opening up the channels for easier teaching and freer learning.
Disclaimer: The author sent me a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
There are so many benefits to feeling and expressing gratitude. People who are encouraged to notice and reflect upon the things they are thankful for experience stronger physical, emotional, and mental health, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, are less aggressive and have healthier sense of self.
Yoga poses and activities can develop emotional happiness, physical calmness and mental alertness and promote the appreciation of the natural world around us through attention to the kinesthetic experience.
A brief note and brief meditation for you:
Every year, an entire day is dedicated to the celebration of gratitude. We are thankful for good food, good family and friends, and a good life. But we do not have to wait till this day to be thankful. Yoga teaches us to practice mindfulness, opening the door for gratitude to be practiced all year-long. Gratitude unlocks the abundance of life. It turns what we have into enough, and contributes to our satisfaction with our own personal riches. Being thankful for little things around us allows us to be present, alive and fully in the moment.
This brings to my mind the phrase “Stop and smell the roses”. If we do stop and smell the roses, we will start to notice the richness that surrounds and inundates all our life’s moments. By taking a step back and being aware of the things in your life that you are truly thankful for, you can bring balance to chaos and calmness to turmoil. Peace of mind can be yours by bringing yourself into the here and now! Notice the veritable cornucopia of things to be grateful for in your life: your family, friends, a roof over your head, working at something you take pride in, a smile or kind word from a stranger, a flower peeping out from the sidewalk, a fresh breeze, the warm touch of the sun, the smell of the earth after rain, the farmers who grow the food, the chef who cooks it…the list is never-ending!
So…stop and smell the roses! Take a moment to look at the trees. Notice their leaves, branches and bark, feel the wind on your cheeks and breathe deeply!
Remember that you need time to relax and rejuvenate too. Take care of yourself, so that you can be the most supportive and effective person that you can be.
A simple mindfulness meditation:
1. Find a quiet and comfortable place. Sit in a chair or on the floor with your head, neck and back straight but not stiff. You can also lie down. Or lean against the wall.
2. Become aware of your breathing by focusing on the sensation of air moving in and out of your body as you breathe. Feel the air entering and exiting through your nostrils. Feel your belly rise on the inhale and fall on the exhale. If needed, the first few breaths you can allow the exhale to express through gently pursed lips-imagine you are fanning the coals. This help to elongate the exhale and the sound is a great focuser. Pay attention to the way each breath changes and is different. Notice that the air is cool as it enters the body but it is gently warmed when it exits.
3. Watch every thought come and go, whether it be a worry, fear, anxiety or hopeful. When thoughts come up in your mind, note them, remain calm and use your breathing as an anchor. Watch your thoughts as if they are clouds drifting by in the sky.
4. If you find yourself getting carried away in your thoughts, simply return to your breathing. I sometimes like to say “Thinking” or “Thought” or I name it “that is the worrying me who thinks she cannot do things…etc. when I notice I have drifted and this helps me come back to the present moment and my breathing. There is not punishment for being lost in thought: allow it, notice it, move on.
As the time comes to a close bring (this can be 1-minute, 5 minutes 20 minutes or more!) bring some more energizing breaths into your body. You can wiggle your fingers and toes. Roll to one side (if lying down). Get up gradually.
Gratitude Attitude Yoga for Kids:
How should we bring gratitude to children’s attention? Playfully. They can learn how to be thankful by getting to know themselves, physically, emotionally, energetically and intellectually. Using the methodologies of yoga, qigong, and dance, they have the freedom to express this autonomously. The gratitude attitude can be bolstered by our commitment to communicating with them where they are now, by how we act and how we relate to them during our time together. Through various activities in action and in stillness , they can explore their own paths to gratitude.
Activities:
Stillness activity #1: Ringing the chime. Turn taking. Sharing. Listening. Experiencing. Different vibration every time. Building confidence and self-esteem.
Stillness activity #2: Colored glass rocks: creating patterns, shapes, feeling their cool, soft edges…listening to a piece of quite music like “Variations On Twinkle Twinkle by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Joe Cool’s Blues by Wynton Marsalis and Ellis Marsalis.
Waking Up The Sense Activity #1:Gorilla Thumps Gently thumpingbody parts and meridian points. The chest and just below the collar bones using Aaaaaaaa-Eeeeeee-Iiiiiii-Oooooooo-Uuuuuuuu. Energy booster! Waking up the energy lines.
Waking Up The Sense Activity #2:Rag Doll Dance Shimmying, shaking, jiggling, flouncing. Feeling light. Waking up. Moving feet. Moving hands. Fingers, Toes. Head. Waking the senses. Yoga Poses:
Mountain pose. Thank you Mountains for being so strong and stable.
Mountain
Upward Mountain
Sun (breathe in, arms come up the sides till fingers touch at the top. Try to match finger to finger) feeling awake; Moon (hands clasped at the top. Lean to one side then the other) feeling bright; Wind (starting swaying arms, let them gently tap your body as your spine twists side to side) feeling free; Rain (add finger wiggles) feeling fresh.
Waterfall Bend over and touch the floor. Feel the cool water running through your fingers. Feel calm. And Kind of sparkly.
Squat like a frog. Sit still, like a frog. Breathe quietly, like a frog. Then hopping ribbit, ribbit, ribbit (and then back to your lily pad)
Cow and Cat-Moo and Meow grounded to the floor. Stable like a table!
Ribbit! Ribbit!
Meoooowwwwww
Moooooooooo
Breathe in, lift up, Snake. Hissssssssssssing down on the exhale. Repeat. Strong arm muscles pushing you. Notice your hands on the floor and push up.
Woof. Down dog. Lifting one foot for a tail. Switch. Barking. Feeling joyful
Tree Pose. Standing tall and balanced on one foot. Friend Tree: Do it with a friend. Family Tree: Do it with the whole yoga family.
Tree
Tree with hands to the top
Partner Tree
Challenge Pose #1:Single sided bow pose. Switch sides. Then try traditional bow pose.
Challenge #2:Pointer Dog Pose.
Challenge #3:Dancer’s Pose. Hold hands with a partner and be each others support. Try it on your own to test your inner balance.
Dancer 2
Resting Poses:
Floating On The Sea: On your back, the mat is a calm blue sea. Gentle waves rocking you as you let your body relax and float. You feel weightless. Hear the seagulls. Hear the waves lapping. Feel the warm breath of the sun. Smell the beach air full of ocean, sun and sand. Your belly is the ocean. On each inhale, allow the belly to fill up and on the exhale, let the belly soften. Take your next few breaths into your veer softening belly. Drift.
Crocodile: Belly time (EVERYBODY needs belly time!). Now the mat is a river. Crocodile is gliding slowly in the river. Feel the warm water all around. Head down. Can rest head to one side or the other. Or use hands as a pillow. Can bend one knee or the other (if knee is bent head should be looking to that same side or straight down.) Feel belly on the floor. Pressing in as you inhale. Feel your back softening on the exhale. On each inhale, allow the belly to fill up and on the exhale, let the belly soften. Take your next few breaths into your veer softening belly. Glide.
Sleeping On A Cloud: Belly or back time. Can you imagine clouds in the sky? Imagine you could rest gently on top of one. Feel the soft cotton cradling you gently. There is a little sway and bob as the cloud floats through the sky. In your imagination, look at the other clouds as they float by. See them drifting by. See their shapes. What shapes do you see? When you start to look at or think about other things, gently go back to looking at the clouds. It is o.k. if you do. When you do realize you are not thinking about the clouds, gently start noticing the clouds and their shapes. Float.
Games and Books:
Game #1: Let each child call out the name of a living thing and then create a pose to go with it. For example, T-Rex. Stand up. Make “little” arms like a T-Rex, and then do mat walk. Walk all around the outer edge of your mat-while acting like T-Rex-in one direction. Then reverse your direction to get the most brain balancing effect.
Game #2: Tape numbers (1-10, or less) around the walls and tape a yoga pose card next to each number. Easy version: everyone goes through poses in numerical order. Challenge option: Pair up the students. Give them each a pose order card (numbered 1- 10, but not in numerical order). Each group heads off a deux, and does their poses in the order specific to their card.
Game #3: Another version of the above game (my fall to game in every class) is putting one, two or more cards under each mat. Student pull the cards out and arrange them, either as they like or numerically. Students then have an allotted amount of time to do their pose(s). At the signal, everyone moves clockwise and arrives on a new mat, with a new set of cards presented to them. Continue until everyone is back on their original mat.
Book #1:For younger kids, check out My Amazing Day: A celebration of wonder and gratitude by Karin Fisher-Golton, Lori A. Cheung and Elizabeth Iwamiya (please check out my review of this book here). This book can be read and easily adapted to yoga poses to go along with the things the baby is grateful for.
Book #2: This is one of my favorite all time books that I read to my son almost every day. It is so beautiful and the kids just can’t get enough of the surprise and the anticipation and it is so sweet and lovely: The Lion and the Red Bird by Elisa Kleven. Here is a fabulous YouTube of Elisa Kleven reading her beloved book. Elisa came into this hospital to share her wonderful story with fantastic illustrations. The patient, Ashley, sure had a lot to say about the story! Enjoy this children’s book classic.
There are many different styles of arms, elongated and elegant; strong and sinuous. There is the classic style, lifting from the elbow or the modern style, with elbows bent and lowered first, riding tight to the body. Some arms are wild and unschooled. While still others are technical and calculated. All styles, when they are compatible with the dance, are authentic.
Your arms are never just your arms. They are an expression of your art. Next to facial expression, arms and hands are the most expressive element in flamenco dance. They capture attention as they create line, rhythm and feeling. They are the most difficult technique to master.
Learning to use your arms as part of your overall body line is of utmost importance, no matter what your style is. The arms must be extensions of the shoulders, chest, hips and legs. Arms held overhead are rarely held high enough and droopy arms are distracting and are definitely not flamenco!
To create the sweep for classic flamenco arms you must grow wings! Spread your back wide and lift your arms. Keep this image of wings as your back body spreads open to cradle the front body. As arms rise, shoulders must stay down and back. Not wrenched back, so that the shoulder blades pull in, but spread wide open to make the arms even longer than they already are. This is the key to the elegance and gypsy arrogance held in flamenco dance. Elbows must remain high throughout the movement as the shoulders remain down. Feel the the initial extension of your wings from deep within muscles between the shoulders. When you arrive at “T” position, shoulders must drop over the back of the rib cage. This will cause the front body, around the collar bones, to open wide, like a display case. There you will imagine that you are wearing a beautiful diamond necklace. This area is your display case, lift it up and display your necklace! Wear it proudly.
The arms must have energy all the way to the fingers; use Dynamic Tension. Feel your arms moving with the strength and unity of the whole shoulder girdle. Feel your arm pits are deep caverns with vaulted ceilings. You can create a small hollow opening inside as if to cradle a very ripe, very juicy apricot (do not squish it or drop it).
The passage of the arm must go through all the “stopping” points (3, 6, 9, 12 n clock face) and create the shape necessary at each point (ie Never just bring your arm up with out passing through: low “v” to “t” position to high “v” etc…). In low “v” & 6 o’clock, make sure you do not compress the arm pits.
Arms must always be controlled. Never throw them around as if you are directing air traffic. Arms are under constant tension. You can imagine from the torso to the wrists, as your arms rise, that an elastic band is pulling tights. Feel the tension, but do not show the tension. There is a buoyancy as they rise, like they are pushing through water. Keep the gently descending line from shoulders to elbow to wrist to finger tips. This picks up again as the arms pass through “T” position and then again the dynamic tension is created from the arms back into the body. Make sure your arms flow.
A little about hands:
Hand movement are very personal and your hands are an extension of your personality and the emotional content to your dance. They are the fine sable hairs at the end of a paint brush. They add flourish, punctuation and can pull energy into your field or press it away. They add the final important details to your dance. the hands move from the circling of the wrists. The wrist circles do not involve any other part of the arms-so pay attention to your elbows!
There are two hand movement styles:
Gypsy: The little finger leads the way in opening and closing the hand-like a fan opening and closing.
Classic: The middle finger leads.
Keep thumbs in as you turn your wrist.
SEQUENCE: palm, fingers, wrist, fingers
Bend wrists as much as possible. Bring your finger tips towards the very inside of the wrist before making the rotation. That is your accents point. The unfurling carries the rhythm till the next accent.
My yoga teacher, Barbara Benagh used a metaphor for cultivating a plant in relation to growing a pose in yoga. This metaphor really resonated with me and I brought it with me to flamenco class this week.
At the beginning of class, we explore the body structure to be held during flamenco and I describe the process physically:
*Feel a long lower back
*In return you will feel a response in your belly, a lifting in your belly
*Bring your belly into your spine, so you fill out your lower back
*Feel your side ribs lifting
*Have deep arm pits
*Lift your shoulder girdle up and then drop it over the top of the rib cage
*Do not pull your shoulders back, instead open your upper back wide
*At the same time, open your chest up wide too
*You need a micro-bend in your knees and elbows
*Pull the back of your cranium into your neck for a long straight line from tail to crown of head
*Eyes are down cast (hooded) in a far off type of way (do not look at the floor)
This week, however, I led the class using visualization to allow my students to create new habits in forming the flamenco body:
“When you want to plant a flower, you first need to till the soil, nourish it, plant the seeds, water it, and then sit back and wait to see the blossom….now in relation to the flamenco body. If you imagine that the soil line is at the hips, so your legs and your feet are the roots below the surface. The roots grow down and ground the dance to the earth. From the waist up is the blossom, growing from the soil line (which is your hips). This is the blossom.With good, strong roots, you then use the upper body to create the shapes and lines true to flamenco, building out of the hips and allowing the legs and feet to move separately.”
This is a much different image than if you imagine the feet are rooted to a soil line right below them. In this scenario, the legs are not rooted in the soil. But with the soil being at the hip line, you can instead imagine the legs to be strong roots growing deeply down into the soil and then allow the feet to hold you to the earth.
I was pleased to receive the book Growing Up Mindful from the author, Christopher Willard, PSYD. As I have become increasingly more focused on bringing mindfulness into situations where mindfulness might not be readily available, such as in schools, offices, and with the special needs populations, I have enjoyed the wide array of books on the practical applications of mindfulness, that I can adapt to my needs. Dr. Willard is at the top of the game. This book was really user-friendly with just enough scientific knowledge mixed with common sense. A dream book of ideas to help create a sense of balance, ease and flexibility in your life, that of your family and also to those around you. From the excellent mindfulness exercises to the practical advice, Dr. Willard offers creative and useful scripts, examples and ideas on how to bring mindfulness into your day. I highly recommend this book. It is an excellent tool for anyone: parent, teacher, and boss who wants to help young people bring mindfulness into their lives.
He also has an audio companion to his book available on Sounds True and a great set of Growing Mindful card deck that features 50 unique mindfulness activities to teach awareness, how to be present in the moment, and cultivate kindness & curiosity. Perfect for all ages!
Dear Students & Families: past, present and future,
Welcome to my preliminary teaching and performing schedule for 2016-2017. All programs are inclusive and are adaptable.
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This year, as lead youth/teen yoga and mindfulness instructor at Open Spirit Center, Framingham and their Nourishing Teachers, Strengthening Classrooms project, I am aiming to bring yoga and mindfulness to target populations of students and faculty at Framingham High School and Hoops and Homework, an award winning After School and Summer Program serving the most under privileged kids in Framingham, MA. *** My ability to reach these populations is determined by grants and private donations though the Open Spirit/ Nourishing Teachers, Strengthening Classrooms Project. For more information, please visit our donation page.
On the performance front, I will be dancing for the Boston Arts Consort and Song Caravan. On the stage, you will find me either dancing traditional flamenco or my beautiful creative gypsy-freestyle, which blends my life of dance into my own artistic expression.
I am available for *private and semi private work, site specific choreography, educational presentations and master classes. *My private lesson slots are filling fast.
This summer, I had the awesome opportunity to bring yoga to a BINA Farm/Warrior Thunder Foundation event and I hope to do more work with both organizations.
On Saturday September 24, 2016, I will be participating in Open Spirit Center’s Day of Spirit. Please join me for my gypsy-freestyle class and how mindful movement assists in freeing your artistic voice. Check Open Spirit Center/ Day of Spirit for more details
Just throwing this out there: I am looking to create a 11+ yoga boys class. If you are interested or know of anyone, please share my information with them.
Please contact me for more information. All programs can be tailored to fit your needs.
Waking Up The Sense Activity #1: Gorilla Thumps Gently thumping body parts and meridian points. The chest and just below the collar bones using Aaaaaaaa-Eeeeeee-Iiiiiii-Oooooooo-Uuuuuuuu. Energy booster! Waking up the energy lines. 
Flamenco Arms
I was pleased to receive the book 
I Am Uniquely Eve 