Please make sure to check out the November 1st Yoga Challenge post that I did this morning if you are interested, then go over to the Yoga Challenge page and see what I got up to today for my yoga time!
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When my 2 and a half year old nephew was talking to my Mom on the phone last night he kept on saying..
“HAPPY WEEN!!”
I HAD to post tonight to show you what Liam was for Halloween!
Remember when I posted what he was his first and second Halloween??
This Halloween he was an elephant!!!
Look at how the feet cover his shoes! A-dorable!
He was so excited!
Yummy candy!
Chillin’ at the end of the night, all worn out!
I’m pretty sure these are some of the cutest photos i’ve ever seen of my nephew!
They made my Sunday!
Hope they brought a smile to your face 
Please check out the new yoga challenge page that I have created. That will be our space for all things yoga during the month of November!
When thinking about why I want to do this challenge an immediate answer comes to me. I think of all the benefits that I want to get from yoga. I have heard many many stories from people in my life (either online or offline) about their success from yoga and they always seem so happy and calm and they really take pride in their yoga practice. I’m not a professional by any means, but the previous stints i’ve had with yoga makes me crave more. In the past i’ve done a bit of yoga and then quit after a certain amount of time because I either let other things get in the way (like running or other exercise) or I just didn’t make the time to do it. November is my (and our!) month to make the time for ourselves to sit, stretch and really try to receive the benefits of yoga.
Why yoga?
First and foremost I need the stretch it provides! Whenever I start a yoga program I become painfully aware of my lack of ability to touch my toes. Over time as I start to loosen up the progress begins to show. The poses get easier, they are not as daunting as they were before and I can feel my muscles getting stronger.
Secondly, the time away. What I mean is – regardless if its 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes I know I can take that time away from everything. It’s kind of like doing other exercises, you know you are spending the time being good to your health and body. Yoga allows the mind to clear so that you can focus on breathing and just stretch
and concentrate on the poses. During yoga I’m not planning my day for tomorrow, i’m not figuring out what bills I have to pay, i’m not concentrating on anything else but what i’m doing right there.
Thirdly I want to do yoga for strength. Many women who i’ve spoken to have said that they have noticed great changes in their bodies. I noticed in such a short period of time previously that my arms looked more toned and I was looking (and feeling!!) stronger. I have heard that yoga can give you a workout like no other exercise can. It can lengthen your muscles and change your body in ways that other exercises don’t.
Does this all sound too OUT THERE for you? Maybe you prefer to get your workout in with a good run or through a kickboxing class. While I love those exercises too, I want to work on incorporating yoga into my daily routine. Will I still be doing other exercise? Of course! But taking 10 minutes each day isn’t much to ask for myself. Not only will this allow me to experience a different form of exercise, but it will also show me that I can make extra time in the day for myself.
But where do I begin?!? You may be asking yourself that question right now! I like to use websites such as Yoga Today and I also enjoy the videos from Polly’s site Yoga is Yummy. Polly’s videos are quick, informative and enjoyable- so I suggest if you need somewhere to start, check out her yoga for newbies video first. Then work your way through the rest!
You don’t need all the gear right away, like a yoga mat or blocks- but if and when you feel that you might want these things- there is a lot of advice out there on what to buy.
I will likely be buying myself the gear, but I will wait a bit to see how I go!
I hope you’ll join me on my journey throughout November. I hope we can discuss what works and what doesn’t. I hope we can all link each other to great websites, talk about struggles and triumphs and give a little encouragement to those who need it (I probably will!). There will be loads of room for discussion so please feel free to use the comments section as much (or as little) as you want. I’ll be updating the yoga page each day that I commit to 10 minutes of yoga. Throughout the month as mentioned before, i’ll be increasing the time spent – but starting small and working my way up is the way forward with this challenge! Will you join me?
What was your childhood like in your school?
Were your teachers nice?
Do you remember the ones who used to yell at the class or have a positive attitude?
As i’ve been sitting here this morning making my classes work I got to thinking about a lesson that I taught last week that was sort of an A-HA! moment for me.
It had nothing to do with the effect that chemicals had on our plants for our science investigation..
Or the work on the working wall…
It had to do with the personality traits and characteristics of a character in a science fiction story that we were reading. Keill was a young boy who wanted to be a legionnaire on his home planet. He was only 12 years old and he had to get through a challenge within two days. This challenge showed how brave, strong, patient, determined and loyal he was. I had to explain to the children what the word characteristic meant and how they could apply that word to themselves. I asked a few of them if they could start to describe themselves, just like we did for Keill.
They sat there for a few minutes, looking at me like what the heck are we supposed to say? Finally I gave them an example.
Ok I said…I think Sanjida is a very hard worker. That is a characteristic that describes her.
Some faces started to light up. Others just sat looking at me blankly.
I asked them again to come up with some ways to describe themselves. Some hands went up.
Funny, thoughtful, pretty, tall…
All of a sudden after a few positive things I started to get some negative responses.
…naughty, loud, disorganized.
I was confused at this point because I didn’t expect the children to come out with negative ways of describing themselves. Then I decided to ban the negative. I told them that they were no longer allowed to use negative words, but had to focus on the positive.
After a few minutes, I didn’t get many hands up and then I finally asked how many of you find it difficult to come up with a positive way of describing yourself?
Two thirds of the class hands went up. I was pretty shocked! The reason for this was they were either too embarrassed to say something positive about themselves, OR they really has no idea how to compliment themselves and think positively.
When I asked why this was a boy put his hand up and said that he always remembers the negative things people say to him, like his parents, teachers and friends. Surely, he has had positive things said to him – but when you are told negative things as well- you often remember them more clearer in your head.
It was an A-HA! moment for me because it made me think about the way I talk to children. It made me realize that I must STRESS the positive to them, and although children need to be told when they have done something negative they must be given a chance to learn from it and then be rewarded for the positive thing that they do afterwards to correct it.
Children are like little sponges.. they take in everything you say and believe it. You tell them they are naughty and they will believe they are naughty. You tell them how disorganized they are and they may grow up thinking they will always be disorganized.
I’m planning on trying to focus more on the positive in my classroom…
…and i’m really trying to use positive reinforcements for the children so that they don’t believe they are full of negatives. Even if their handwriting isn’t the greatest or they continue to spell the same word wrong, giving them support and showing them how to do it and being a positive motivator is the key thing here.
Remember my plan of attack?? This definitely falls in to it.
Hi guys! My apologies for being m.i.a yesterday!! I was being a good bridesmaid and going out shopping with my friend the bride-to-be!! Her wedding is next June. We went to see her dress (which is gorgeous!!!) and then we went to check out some bridesmaid dresses for her sister and I to wear! We also went shopping for a coworker who is expecting her second child just after Christmas. So much fun and so girly!
Check out the dress we are thinking of getting for us bridesmaids!
The front:
I LOVE the sweetheart neck line – doesn’t it look great???
The back is super cute!! I love the little buttons. It actually zips up at the side so they are just there for show! Don’t mind the round white thing on my butt. That is for shoplifters. Which we are not!
The second time I tried the dress on we did up the white sash into a bow. What do you think? I thought it looked cute, but i’m not sure… shall we vote??
The bow is not perfectly done but you get the idea.
She is thinking of having white rose bouquets! Probably similar to the ones that I had!!
So, tonight is Pizza Friday in our house!! Do you have any little weekly traditions that you like to do?
We also have a DVD of our wedding that our friends made for us (so sweet!) and we are going to watch it. I’m sure it will bring back loads of memories.. I may even shed a tear or two! I can be a sap sometimes!!
I hope you are enjoying your Friday. I have spent it doing some work!! I also got an hour walk in. Don’t forget, the yoga challenge starts Sunday.. i’ll be preparing a post for it tomorrow! For those of you who haven’t joined or just don’t think its for you; don’t consider it necessarily a YOGA challenge if that title is too big for you… just consider it a stretching, breathing, taking-time-for-you challenge!
See you tomorrow!
This morning I woke up early to spend some time with my bestie.
Meet Tim. You’ve met him before, no?
Obviously i’m Canadian!
We spent some time grading some leaflets that my children wrote about saving the environment.
Do you want to know how you could save the environment and the wildlife in it? Well look no further. My 10 year olds have some advice for you:
How can you protect wildlife? Adopt a gerilla of course.
Don’t throw your rubbish on the floor.
Next time you don’t have a bin…..GET ONE!!!
Lots and lots of wild animals are instinked. Save them!
One of my favourites….
The environment is in our hands, so always take care of it like its a member of your family.
Sometimes even when I have to do work on my days off I can enjoy it because of things like this. Kids can come up with the cutest things.
Now that their rough drafts are completed and marked, they’ll be able to do their neat copies on the computers once we are back at school next week. I’m sure they will turn out great!
What’s your POA?
Yesterday while I was running I was coming up with my plan of attack (poa) for work next week. In fact it’s my POA for the next couple of months before school gets out for Christmas holidays (and we go on our honeymoon!). I have been finding that I literally count down the days and hours to the weekends sometimes, or even to the end of the day. Before I know it i’m going to be sitting in my chair at 95 years old and wondering where my life went. Once in a while I ask myself whether I truly love my job. I do like my job, but there are aspects of it that stress me out to no end. I complain to Steve once in a while (probably more than I should) and I’ve also complained to family members and friends. I studied for a long time in school to become a teacher and I really want to get the most out of it. I always remind myself why I became a teacher in the first place. It was not to sit in the staff room and moan about the children or inspections that we have coming up. It was not for the holidays (ha, i’m on holidays now and I’m working!!). But it was originally for the children first and foremost.
I ALWAYS remind myself of this. I am there for them. Think about all the time children spend in school! They spend more time with their teachers than they do their own parents sometimes! Since this is the case, I need to make sure that they get the most out of their day. When they do, I do.
I think no matter what job you have – you need to remind yourself why you are doing it in the first place. Whether you own your own business, are writing a book while living in one of the most expensive cities, a stay at home mom (yes this is a JOB!), or doing temp positions to help you get by so that you can move back to the US with your husband, there are always going to be times where you are stressed, frustrated and may question yourself. In the end there is a reason why you are doing what you do.
Keep that in focus.
So, I need to make sure I have a plan. The days at work that I enjoy most are the ones that I have spent time prepping the lessons and feel that I have delivered and the children have learned something. I’m planning on going into the next 7 week term with a POA, so that I will get the most out of my job and the children will too. Then maybe I won’t be wishing my life away waiting for that next holiday!
What’s your PLAN OF ATTACK?
It doesn’t have to be work related. It can be for anything!!
Do you feel much more ‘ready’ when you know you have a plan in place?
