A beautiful children's meditation

I have been longing to find a really great children's meditation to use for shavasana. I feel that after 45 minutes of listening to my voice, the kids would benefit from hearing something else. I cried when I found this one "Inner Peace-Affirmations for growing up in a crazy world" by Stin Hansen, recorded by Tatiana-age 12. It is so wonderful in so many ways, and I love that the meditation is spoken by a child. Here are a few of the affirmations:

• I can control how I treat myself and others in each moment.
• I choose peace instead of rage or anger
• I look for the peaceful and the beautiful things that are all around me
  
• Think about the person that the best part of you wants to become
  

As I listened to it several times, Eva started repeating the affirmations. You can imagine how delighted I am to tell you that this beautiful meditation is also free to download on itunes, just plug the name into the search bar. We plan on using it when she wakes in the morning, and as she's going to sleep.
Do you have a children's meditation that you love & would like to share? Please comment below. Enjoy, and Namaste.

Dino-rama!

I'm working on a fun fun Dinosaur lesson plan this week!

News for Fall classes

This week, Friday's classes will be offered at 9:30 & 10:30, at Lucky Child in Oceanside. I have changed the class format to 45-50 minutes, as I have observed the kids are ready to move on after that amount of time.

Please leave a comment here, or email me directly to register for class. If you are registered with the yahoo group, you can sign up there. Classes are limited to 8-10 participants, depending on the number of siblings involved. I want class to be enjoyable for all ;-). I will post when classes have filled.

I also spoke yesterday with Margaret, the owner of Yoga Tropics , who has invited me to teach class there- and we are moving forward with an Encinitas location...yay! Please comment below for what days & time of day work best for you at this location (downtown Encinitas). I want to have one later morning class so that we can all meet for lunch at the Lotus Cafe afterward.

Magic moments

In order to escape the paint fumes (our entire apt complex), Eva & I decided to take Cisco out to the Lotus Cafe for his first visit. I knew he would love it, as it reminds me in so many ways of cafes we love in Minneapolis. I think the only thing that would make me feel more at home would be a giant chalkboard with the menu scrawled upon it, what is it about those that makes me so happy? The food was fantastic, we had the vegetarian chili, a portabello mushroom sandwich, and Eva's new- staple- item the Indigo Child's wrap.

The best part? Community, of course! As soon as we arrived, Cisco saw a fellow yoga instructor friend (and Budokon student), and the feeling of being rooted in a community of yogi friends washed over us. What bliss! I also found out that the owners are yoga instructors who ran a not-for-profit yoga center in Oregon for 10 years!

You had me at soy cheese

The new Lotus Cafe in Encinitas has opened & we couldn't be more thrilled. I've been watching and waiting (it's right across the street from Yoga Tropics), so when we passed by yesterday with a hungry child& saw the doors open, I popped in for take out. The kids' meals are all $3.50, and really substantial. We ordered the Indigo Child's Wrap (whole wheat chapati folded over pinto beans & cheddar cheese) and was delighted to learn that they have soy cheese too. The wrap came with blue corn chips & salsa. This made for two meals for Eva.

What else did we spy on our visit? Muir Glen organic ketchup, mustard, bottles of Bragg's, and then some. It's counter service (order & sit down to wait), which I find to be one of the easiest and stress free ways to feed a family. The employees were awesome, I felt totally welcome even though I was only ordering kids food. They have two rows of gorgeous wooden booths, and the whole place is lined with windows. Lotus cafe, thank you for doing it right! I'm already planning a mama meet up there, it is a delightful addition to our community. I snagged a to go menu, here's a sampling of what they offer. I wish I had brought my camera!
Shanti burger (tempeh burger)
Grilled portobello sandwich
tempting tamale (veggie tamale)
All sorts of smoothies & shakes
And, yes, they do carry meat based entrees as well.
Located right around the corner from SoulScape, I can't think of a better location. They even offer vanilla soy ice cream.

Treading lightly

Fletcher's Cove, Solana Beach



A glimpse of our beach going tiffin. I get asked about this thing every time I'm out and about, so here's the scoop: Charita at Om-goods sells these awesome & safe food tiffins. We love packing ours full of nutritious goodies. The tortillas are organic whole wheat/corn from Trader Joe's, filled with Almond butter and jelly (farmer's market) & the dip for the snap peas is Majestic Garlic's basil dip, ummm so good. In addition to this, we made a big family salad (which we ate with our To-Go Ware . Trying to "just say no" to plastic utinsils, this set of wooden ones is just lovely. I love waste free lunches!