2/2/2019 1 Comment Sensational LivingWhitney is a visual artist. I’m a writer. We are both moms with kids in grade school. When we first met, we were each volunteering at the same school to teach yoga in our children’s classrooms. We were instant friends. Day one, we were the kind of friends who would dominate in Charades or Pictionary. You know those types of friends – the ones who finish each other’s sentences and seem to use ESP as much as words. We share so many of the same interests and see the world through a very unique yet similar rosy, pink sparkly way as if each of us were looking through our own lens in one pair of cheap sunglasses. Four years ago, we started meeting regularly to see how we could join forces and help bring more mindful moments to the teachers and kids at our neighborhood elementary school. With only two of us, and dozens of classrooms and teachers, we decided the best way to do this was to create a toolkit for the teachers. We would hand over our favorite exercises in a mindfulness handbook. We’d share our best practices from our collective years teaching yoga to kids and families. Kids need to settle down after a wild and crazy recess? Here’s an idea. The class needs to focus in preparation for a test? Try this one. Tension is running high? Relax with this exercise. Open to any page and there’s something you can do right now to feel better. No heavy explanations with lots of fun. Kids yoga helps children navigate their senses and emotions in safe ways. The more children practice, the more they are able to learn to trust their bodies and themselves. Whitney and I would roll around concepts for hours. I’d scribble out a plan. Whitney would sketch for further description and inspiration. Pretty quickly, we realized our brainstorming sessions were leading to something with a further reach than our little school. We began to see that we could dream bigger. We stepped into a space where we could Be Sensational. Be Sensational grew from that toolbox. Very soon it will be available to the world. (Spring 2019!) It’s no small task to bring a book to market and we’ve stretched beyond our roles as yogis, as writers, as artists, and as mothers so that soon YOU can have a copy of Be Sensational in your very own hands. You see I’ve always wanted to be a published author just like Whitney has wanted a larger format to share her artwork. For a long time, I expected somebody else to come along and shine a light on my work – to take a chance on me. Just when I was beginning to think that wouldn’t ever happen, somebody did. It was me. And Whitney. We’re taking a chance on ourselves. We are laying it on the line and putting our work out into this great big world because we believe in the message of Sensational Living. We just know that there are teachers, parents and kids out there who want to Be Sensational. We’re starting out hyper-locally. We live in Old Greenwich, Connecticut (known simply as OG here in town). We’d like to invite you to help us bring our vision for Sensational Living to the world. It starts small. Buy a book. Come to a signing. Contact us for a workshop. Read our blog. Follow us on Instagram @besensationalbooks. Soon, we’ll have stacks of books in our garage, but not for long. At least, that’s what we’re hoping. It helps to believe in yourself when you have a friend who is right there beside you believing too. If you start believing in us too, then I just know we can do this. We send the book’s file to the printers next week. I feel like my skin is the only thing holding me together. I might burst from excitement (and worry and fear and joy), but that is all part of the fun. Stay tuned. Love, Laura
1 Comment
|
Archives
April 2021
Categories |