I practiced yoga today with my 4 year old son, Christian, on the first manufactured toddler mat. When I rolled the mat out in front of him, his big brown eyes opened wide as he carefully scanned the mat. He quickly realized his mat was different as he compared his little mat to my large mat. He said, "My mat is NEW!" I responded with laughter, "Yes, your mat is brand new!" Christian and I then practiced a few poses together on our mats - he loves to be the yoga teacher!
A few hours later, I sat down with my two children to eat dinner. Before dinner in our home, we all hold hands and take turns saying one thing we are grateful for that day. My son tends to list 10 things a day but no one ever stops him. He often is thankful for his best friend, Canyon and sometimes, if I behaved like a super hero, I make it onto my son's list. Tonight however was special . . . Christian sat up tall in his seat and said with a smile, "I am thankful for my yoga mat because I like doing yoga with Mommy."
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Launching a Dream
Just one year ago this month, I saw in my mind's eye, a yoga mat that would allow individuals with special needs to practice yoga. I had been teaching yoga to individuals with special needs for quite some time and I often struggled with successfully cuing my students on how to transition from one pose to another. I found myself on my students' yoga mats most of the time and this went against everything I hoped to give each of my students - independence. If my goal was to teach people to use yoga to regulate themselves, how in the world were they going to do it on their own if I was always physically showing them what to do?
That is where THE MAT comes in. After I saw the picture of the yoga mat in my mind (which I refer to as divine intervention), I quickly placed my then 1 year old daughter, Gracie, in her crib for the night. I instantly began sketching the yoga mat on sheets of paper using my son, Christian's, crayola crayons. The more I drew the more I thought, this mat must already exist. So I simply began searching for the mat online. To tell you the truth, buying the mat last September would have been a heck of a lot easier than the road I have traveled on to bring my mat to life - but I would not give that journey up for anything.
After sharing the idea with my husband, Scott (thank God for you), I shared the idea with my mom. I asked her to sign my 'inventor's notebook' that I had started shortly after I realized the product was not available. I recall asking her to drive with me to the paint store so that she could sit with my children in the car while I found paints that would make up the first prototype of my mat.
So here we are. September 18, 2010. I say 'we' because I did not do this alone. My team of angels all showed up at just the right time and for all of them I am beyond grateful.
Stretch What Matters most to you and see what happens!
Namaste,
Elizabeth
That is where THE MAT comes in. After I saw the picture of the yoga mat in my mind (which I refer to as divine intervention), I quickly placed my then 1 year old daughter, Gracie, in her crib for the night. I instantly began sketching the yoga mat on sheets of paper using my son, Christian's, crayola crayons. The more I drew the more I thought, this mat must already exist. So I simply began searching for the mat online. To tell you the truth, buying the mat last September would have been a heck of a lot easier than the road I have traveled on to bring my mat to life - but I would not give that journey up for anything.
After sharing the idea with my husband, Scott (thank God for you), I shared the idea with my mom. I asked her to sign my 'inventor's notebook' that I had started shortly after I realized the product was not available. I recall asking her to drive with me to the paint store so that she could sit with my children in the car while I found paints that would make up the first prototype of my mat.
So here we are. September 18, 2010. I say 'we' because I did not do this alone. My team of angels all showed up at just the right time and for all of them I am beyond grateful.
Stretch What Matters most to you and see what happens!
Namaste,
Elizabeth
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