Note from Shakta
What follows are unsolicited comments from those who have taken Radiant Child Yoga basic or certification training. Every week I receive very special feedback from students who are sharing these ideas with their students. I hope they inspire you the way they did me!
Allison Morgan
New Jersey
Hi Shakta
As you know I have been writing a manual for a 1 day course for therapists and teachers teaching them how to integrate yoga into their therapeutic work with “children with special needs.” I also just completed teaching the 2 hr Radiant Child so your work and mine have been fiercely merging in my mind over the past week. The other day I actually wanted to write to you and talk about how to put both works into a teaching module, which I know from previous conversations with you has been of interest. The more I am involved in integrating your work within my therapy sessions, the more I am amazed at the progress and change that the children are making and the connections that I am making with them. The other added bonus is that teachers, aides, other therapists and parents are noticing changes in attitude, behavior, motivation, attention (all important foundations to learning). This work HAS TO be more accessible to therapists and others that work with these special children.
Linda Hagwood
Hi Shakta
I have a 4 year-old little girl who has severe physical disabilities who has been really changed by your program in its VERY altered state. I work with her collaboratively with a physical therapist, and she is using a voice output device to request next steps in several of the multiple part songs from your Happy CD (Happy Jio, Everything Changes). She cried and cried before we introduced the yoga music to her. The PT gets a lot more of her work done with her now that she has been calmed by your magical voice, and I am learning more about how much she understands of the picture symbols and the use of machines to communicate.
I will be presenting some of the Radiant Child Yoga ideas at a workshop in central Washington this summer for teachers of deaf, blind and autistic children, where I will do a day-long training on the book I wrote, Better Together.
Marie Hauser
Dear Shakta,
I would like to take this opportunity to convey my deep gratitude to you for the comprehensive and complete curricula you provided in your Radiant Child Family Yoga program. I had the pleasure of sharing my time there with the most phenomenal women I have met in a very long time. There was an incredible energy present in that unique group. I think that is a testament to you. Your personal philosophy and integrity drew all of these women together. We are blessed to have been able to come together and share that time in learning with you. You graciously took us into your home in the mountains and shared the whole yogic experience with us. Thank you, Shakta. I am eternally grateful for the gift with which you have graced me.
Love,
Christine
Thank you again for the wonderful opportunity. Radiant Child exceeded my expectations. I really, really, REALLY enjoyed the training. You have such a wonderful light surrounding you, it was so peaceful to be in your presence.
Love & Light
Cheers,
Michelle B.
Dear Shakta,
I wanted to thank you so much for all you shared with us at the Radiant Child Yoga levels 1-3. I am so inspired and “brought home” by the Radiant Child work. I feel as though you speak a language in regard to children that has always been at my core, and I feel so grateful to have found you and the Radiant Child program….to share a language and philosophy around working with children. There is such a call for this work within the world today…..for children, families, and schools.
Marla J.
Dear Shakta,
I can’t tell you enough how the tools I learned from your training have helped my students, in particular my student with severe Autism. In the past month he has had several changes in medication, which have caused his aggressive behaviors to escalate to the point where it takes three adults to carry him out of the room. He kicks, pulls hair, punches, and the way we get him to calm down is through blowing the feather* game. Once it is safe for me, I tickle his face with the feather, and tickle his ribs and stay calm. I say “Kevin feels frustrated. Calm feather.” as a way to help him connect with his emotions and the words to use with them..
We’ve been able to intervene with the feather and breathing and avoid many situations when he could have escalated to the point of physically hurting people. The first time we used the feather we were able to get him to come down from a fit in just nine breaths! This normally could have escalated into an all day fit.
He has become quite attached to a witch puppet that I have and she has wispy hair. I’ve taken the feather-blowing concept and use that with the witch. I say, “Kevin, blow my hair.” And when he does, it makes her fly back and giggle. We used this almost every day in October, multiple times a day.
His twin brother who is currently under-going testing for Asperger Syndrome was having a break down; crying because I had given them some extra math practice from a different math program then the one we usually use. So Kevin got the witch and came over and told his twin brother, Lee; “Lee frustrated. Blow my hair!” Lee blew the witch’s hair and Kevin laughed like the witch, and said “Again”. It was such a huge success for both of them because they are very violent toward each other at home.
Also every morning with my whole class we do yoga and songs with movement. It’s such a great way to start the day. Many of my students have rough home lives and so it’s really great for them to be able to let go of anything that happened in the morning before they came to school.
The other second grade teacher and I have ability-grouped our math classes so I teach the lower students, and I only have nine kiddos in my math class. The first fifteen minutes of math we do yoga to get them ready for the math after recess. Half of this class is comprised of students that are emotionally disturbed and they benefit greatly from the yoga and meditation. They have told me that they are using it at home on their own as well.
I ordered “How To Talk So Kids Can Learn” and have read it and refer back to it frequently now. It has been a great way for me to work on my communication not just with kids, but with my husband as well.
Thank you so much for coming to Utah for the training. Because of your training, there are over 80 children each week that are able to experience Radiant Child Yoga here at my school.
Thank you so much for coming to Utah for the training. There are over 80 children each week that are able to experience Radiant Child Yoga here at my school.
Thanks again, Shakta!
* Shakta’s Note: The feather blowing game in RCY is for learning how to use the breath to calm and focus.
Jackie Wake
This training was so motivating! It has been about two months since Shakta came to our Head Start teachers and gave us children’s yoga ideas to use with the children. It is really working in the classroom– the kids are able to calm themselves and love the balloon exercise. She also helped us learn some relaxation and stress management techniques that have been great for my staff. Our program really benefited from this training!
Kassy
Shakta,
Attending your workshop has given me not only a plethora of ideas and inspiration for my students, but a love of Kundalini yoga to add to my own journey. Thank you, Thank you!
All the best,