This morning, I sat in the sun and read stories from around the world while I drank my coffee. I started reflecting on how uplifted I feel when I finish reading a story that illustrates a moral. These stories are the seeds of lessons that span centuries and even millennia. It is through listening that these seeds get planted in your heart. Sometimes the seeds fall on rocky ground. The heart or the mind is not open. The attention for listening may be underdeveloped. The story does not always take root. But I don’t concern myself about this too often, as I know firsthand the power of story to lie dormant until the perfect conditions arise for it to sprout new life into the person who has heard it. I

Today, rather than going too deeply into the plot of this week’s story, I wish to reflect on the essence of it. The name of this tale is “Turtle’s Race with Wolf,” and it can be found in the same compilation that I have been using and will probably continue to use throughout the year, The Girl Who Helped Thunder, retold by Joseph Bruhac, Sr. and Joseph Bruhac, Ph.D. Because of the title, the children pick up on the plot right away. Our world is full of ancient indigenous tales about a tortoise having to outsmart some kind of bully who wants to humiliate him in a race. I’ve read tales about a wolf, a deer, and the usual rabbit that want to take a cheap shot at turtle. In

This week’s story comes from the Lenape people of Southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware where I grew up. It can be found in the compilation of Native American folktales with the same title, The Girl Who Helped Thunder, retold by Joseph Bruhac, Ph.D. The Lenape were a people whose women shared social and political power. They were free to choose their mates. This tale illustrates, however, that a women would be wise to listen to and consider her family’s advice in order to choose well when taking a mate. The story centers on the character of Pretty Face, who is named for her good looks. Her great flaw is that she is shallow and vain and considers herself too lovely for any of the men in her village. So

Welcome beautiful parents, yogis, and happy childhood advocates to the first full week of April! This month our focus is Listening as we celebrate Mother Earth in preparation for Mother’s Day next month. Our Earth is the Great Mother who shows us that a mother’s Love is a never-ending cycle of Life, Death, and Life. How obvious this is as spring draws us into replanting in our gardens and paying homage to the sun with every conceivable excuse we can make to be outside. As I write this, I am in my courtyard basking in the Sun as my neighbor picks his banjo across the street. Life is good in PDX! This week’s story comes from the Seneca Tribe of the Iraquois nations who once dwelled throughout the Northeastern section

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Welcome to my Honey Heart Kids Yoga blog! I plan to post here weekly in order to discuss the story I am presenting in my classes for the week. Because I have been a life-long devourer of stories, I find myself drawn to centering my classes around the focal point of story. I find a kind of poetic romance in the fact that I am becoming as much a storyteller as I am a kid’s yoga teacher. For parents with children taking my classes, this blog can be a resource for discussing topics that are introduced in class. Maybe a discussion will spark in a child the desire to share a pose with her parent. This sharing can foster the proud experience of having something novel to teach. Such sharing