As many of you know I have taught and trained others in Yoga and Movement For The Mind for over thirty years. I currently teach various graduate seminars for educators integrating body/mind wellness, creativity and inspiration in the classroom. I recently received a paper from one of my educator students and thought I would share the following excerpt with you.
Enjoy,
Françoise
Beauty in Stillness
By Vanessa
Sleep comes at a struggle for me. It is not so much falling asleep but awakening in the middle of the night and relaxing enough to fall asleep again. I try many techniques to reduce this nuisance, such as yoga, meditation even Benadryl. They have all helped me a lot and I am better able to cope with these midnight wakings. With the years of struggle I have had with sleep, it should not be a surprise to me that my daughter has trouble falling asleep at night.
My daughter is five years old. She leads an active happy life full of play, learning and love. At bedtime, I know that she is tired, even exhausted from her day. We bathe in the evening, and read story. It still takes her at least thirty minutes and, on most days, one hour to fall asleep! I cannot believe it!
After taking the “Yoga for Educators” class with Françoise and working on my own meditation and relaxation techniques learned in class, I decided to start sharing some of these techniques with my daughter. Over the summer, I worked with her on breathing deeply, relaxing her muscles one at a time and visualizing beautiful scenes. Every night we tried something, rotating these relaxing activities before kissing her goodnight. I was hoping that slowly one of these would catch on and she would be able to fall asleep more easily. For a month, we worked on this. She still would come out of her room 2 or 3 times asking for something else and still not able to fall asleep. On some nights she even would stay awake, in bed, singing, or talking to herself for two hours! WHY?!
I approached the question with her. Really there is no explainable answer at this time. I cannot put my finger on it. So, I tried lying with her to relax her. What a wiggle worm! I would fall asleep before her but except that she moves so much that she disturbs me. Ah ha! Maybe she needs to practice stillness.
So, again we worked on the relaxation techniques, as we had before, but this time we added stillness to it. Each night I help her visualize just before kissing her good night and make sure that she is comfortable. I remind her to practice stillness and to find a beauty in her mind. This conscious stillness is difficult and has taken some time. A month later, it works! Now, she still gets up on most nights but her wake time in bed is now from 15 to 30 minutes instead of from 30 to 60 minutes. Wow! What a relief.
Stillness is hard to come by in our busy lives. In the waking hours of my daughter’s day, I probably don’t model any time to stay still myself. Why would she know what it is like. Plus, this little one is definitely precocious. It must be harder for someone that is constantly exploring and on the move. If she can find stillness at five years old, it will be a skill that will help her throughout her life. I hope our practice will influence her to take time to herself and absorb the day. I have found beauty in the stillness of my life, when I present myself the gift. I hope I can give her a sense that she too deserves it daily.
