THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE UPCOMING BOOK, YOGA WITH EMMA, CO-AUTHORED BY MY GRANDDAUGHTER EMMA, AND ME. WE ARE CURRENTLY SEEKING PUBLISHERS FOR THE FULL MANUSCRIPT.
When the world shut down in March 2020, each of us found unique ways to keep our world turning. One of the most challenging aspects for many was creating ways to stay connected to our loved ones. My son, Ben, is a dentist, so his restrictions were even more stringent.
My first (and at that time only) granddaughter, Emma, had just started first grade that year. By March, all her school experiences had migrated online, which had its ups and downs. When Ben asked if I would tune in for a weekly reading session with Emma, I immediately agreed and then wondered out loud, “Why don’t I also take over an hour each week to get Emma moving and breathing with yoga?” My mind raced with ideas: I could teach Emma ways to get grounded with the yoga hand gestures called mudras (which she loved immediately) and we could make yoga postures more fun by mooing and meowing in cat and cow. I could feel my heart opening with every new idea! My son, Ben, and his wife, Katie loved the idea and Emma was immediately hopping up and down in agreement. “Can I bring one of my stuffed animal friends to do yoga with us?” asked Emma. “Of course!” I agreed, and we set up a yoga time for the very next week.
The first time Emma and I tuned in for a Zoom yoga session, the Type A part of me was feeling insecure. I usually teach yoga with a printed plan complete with intentions, alignment cues, and poses from start to finish. But this yoga class was different. Inspired by the deep love I have for my granddaughter and my heart’s yearning to spend meaningful time with her during the pandemic, I was ready, willing, and able. I was also flying by the seat of my yoga pants!
Emma and I have continued to practice together on a regular basis and have co-written a book, appropriately entitled Yoga With Emma. The book describes the practice we have created over the last five years.
While the inspiration for Yoga With Emma was connecting with my granddaughter during a global pandemic, the benefits have expanded beyond our original intention. The practice creates space for Emma and I to have important conversations about qualities like gratitude, love, and service as we seal our practice with mudras and intention. Emma has learned techniques that help her get grounded before math tests and to relax when she can’t fall asleep. We’ve also experienced the difference between imagining Fang from Harry Potter in Downward Dog and imagining a fluffy pink poodle. They “feel” different, which is a fun way to practice embodiment.
Yoga With Emma also connects storytelling with yoga poses and narrative with movement, supporting the development of active listening, embodiment, and collaboration. The most important elements are a willingness to share, to trust in the practice, and to explore the world of imagination together!
YOGA AS THERAPY: NEUROPLASTICITY AND EXPLORING THE SUPER SENSES
The star of this book, my lovely granddaughter Emma, was born with vision challenges. Her diagnosis is esotropic amblyopia and strabismus. Strabismus is a condition characterized by a misalignment of the eyes and involves an observable deviation in eye position which can disrupt binocular vision. Emma’s eyes turn inward, known as esotropia. Amblyopia is a visual condition characterized by diminished vision in one eye. This leads the brain to favor one eye over the other. Over time the neglected eye becomes “lazy,” generally displaying an inward or outward deviation that can compound the issue of poor visual acuity.
Emma has worn glasses since she was two-years old. She has worn a patch over one eye, gone to vision therapy, and worked with an occupational therapist. These therapies teach Emma new ways to accommodate for her vision challenges by creating new neuropathways to improve her eyesight, visual acuity, and coordination. This ability of the brain to change and transform based on experience and practice is called neuroplasticity. The change afforded by neuroplasticity is both structural and functional.
While the intention of Yoga With Emma is to connect and to have fun, our practice is also therapeutic. We calm our nervous system, strengthen our bodies, relieve stress, and cultivate positive mind states like gratitude and kindness in every session. Many of the practices we incorporate also support new ways for Emma to “see” with fresh eyes through visualization, imagination, and embodiment. These experiences allow Emma to feel and be present through the “super senses” of proprioception and kinesthesia.
Many scientists believe humans have access to at least nine senses, and perhaps as many as 32, in addition to the five basic senses we all take for granted. Let’s take a closer look at two of these super senses: proprioception and kinesthesia.
Proprioception is the ability to feel the body in space. Kinesthesia is awareness of the body moving. There are many examples in our practice of Emma and I engaging these super senses while practicing yoga. When Emma feels her hand reaching up to grab an imaginary bright red apple in Triangle Pose, she moves out of “doing mode” into “sensing and feeling mode” and engages proprioception and kinesthesia. She sees the apple in her mind’s eye and feels her hand grabbing it. With practice, Emma can create unlimited neuropathways that allow her to experience the world around her through these new doorways. Brain studies reveal that thoughts produce the same mental instructions as actions and that mental imagery impacts many cognitive processes in the brain including motor control, attention, perception, planning, and memory.
In his groundbreaking book, Neurodharma, neuropsychologist Rick Hanson combines spirituality and science. He defines Dharma as the truth of things. When we don’t like how things “are” but do nothing to change them, we suffer. When we bring in the science of neuroplasticity, we have hope and motivation that we might be able to improve our situation through dedicated practice.
Hanson goes on to define Neurodharma as the truth of the mind, grounded in the truth of the body, and that’s where yoga enters the process. Yoga teaches us to engage the body by forming different shapes or postures. Embodiment is the practice of feeling these shapes through proprioception and kinesthesia. Adding in the neural factors of present moment awareness, calm strength, and compassion have been shown to support hardwiring changes in our brain function, which means forming new neuropathways and creating a kinder, more compassionate, and honest relationship with our challenges and with ourselves. Emma still has amblyopia, but her ability to feel where she is in space and embody the moment can increase with practice. So can her self-confidence. With practice, “passing mental states can become lasting neural traits.”
When Emma and I practice Warrior One, it feels awkward for her to stretch her arms directly overhead in a straight line. She prefers to fold them inward, due to the inward cross of her eyes. Enter Giraffe Pose. When we visualize a tall giraffe with a long neck reaching up to nibble the tender leaves at the top of the acacia tree, she’s able to “see with her hands.” By activating both kinesthesia and proprioception through the power of imagination, Emma feels more comfortable reaching her arms directly up overhead, a healthy stretch for her mind and her arms.
What I love most about our yoga practice is that while we’re increasing proprioception and kinesthesia, we’re also having fun. There’s no correction, and no talk of neuroplasticity or neurodharma. Instead, Emma and I create opportunities to stretch, balance, and tune in as giraffes, butterflies, mermaids, and flowers through the doorway of yoga and the power of imagination. When we practice Tornado Twirling, a standing twist, Emma and I put on imaginary shoes that help keep our feet grounded when we twist. This simple shift allows Emma to be more stable in her foundation as she feels the twist moving up her spine as we raise our arms. Without her “yoga shoes,” Emma’s whole body was twisting, instead of focusing on her spine. With her feet grounded on the earth, the pose has greater benefit, and we have fun imagining what kind of shoes we are choosing to wear that day. Sometimes we wear big galoshes, and other times our shoes are more fancy.
BREATHING: MUDRAS AND BREATH PRACTICES
Mudras are gestures of the hands that awaken energy in the body the yogis call Prana. (There are also mudras of the feet, eyes, and whole body – but hand mudras are the most common.) Just about every society on earth uses hand mudras, either in ritual practice, or as a cultural gesture. Thumbs up is a mudra that indicates satisfaction or approval. The V sign is a mudra of peace or victory. Connecting the tips of the index finger and thumb is Jnana Mudra, the mudra of wisdom in yoga that is often used during meditation.
The word mudra means “to bring forth pleasure or delight” which sounds pretty good to Emma and to me. Mudras can rev us up or cool us down. They also help us re-balance our energy. Some mudras bring awareness to a particular area of the body like the heart, the solar plexus, or the throat, engaging proprioception of the inner body. Emma loves hand mudras because she likes forming the shapes with her fingers and imagining fish, bees, hearts, or flowers. The best reason to do mudras with children is because they’re fun and they give us another way to be in the body in a positive way.
Try this:
Cutie Mudra and Bubble Blowing Breath. When Emma was six, she became the owner of a pet fish she named Cutie (because she was the cutest beta fish in the pet store). Matsya Mudra (a.k.a. Cutie Mudra) is one of Emma’s favorites. Matsya means fish in Sanskrit.
To form Cutie Mudra, place the right-hand palm down with the fingers together and thumb extended out to the side. The left hand goes on top with the same configuration. See the little fish? Cutie swims with the waves of our breath as we breathe in through the nostrils and blow out breath “bubbles” with pursed fish lips.
“In through the nose.
Out blowing bubbles through pursed fish lips. ”
Emma sometimes reminds me that she hasn’t actually seen Cutie’s lips. We giggle and make our own fish lips anyway. The slow exhalations combined with the mudra invite a sense of calm fluidity into our being. We both settle in and are ready for yoga.
MORE FUN MUDRAS and BREATH PRACTICES
Brahmara Mudra or Bee Buzzing Breath
The tenth cranial nerve or vagus nerve, wanders from the brain down into the abdomen and is associated with numerous important functions of the body including digestion and heart rate. The vagus nerve also winds through vocal cords and the muscles at the back of the throat so when we sing, hum, or chant we stimulate this important cranial nerve. Activating the vagus nerve tells your brain that all is well and initiates the parasympathetic nervous system, sending signals to the mind and body to relax.
Brahmara means bee in Sanskrit. To form Brahmara Mudra, curl the index finger into the base of thumb on each hand (that’s the bee’s body). Then take the middle finger to the tip of the thumb to hold its little stinger so you don’t get stung!
Breathe in through the nostrils and breathe out with a long “hummmmmm” like a bee buzzing. Sometimes Emma and I buzz high sounds and sometimes we buzz low sounds. We usually buzz between 5 and 8 rounds.
Birthday Candle Breath and Mudra
To form Birthday Candle Mudra, hold up your finger like a birthday candle and blow out as many finger candles as your age. Emma recently found out that she and Vincent Van Gogh are birthday buddies so sometimes we blow out seven candles for Emma. But because Vincent is 168 years old, we hold up all our fingers and just blow and blow and blow! It’s not as calming as Emma’s seven candles, but it does make us both laugh at how silly it is.
Birthday Candle Breath and Mudra has the same effect as Cutie or Matsya Mudra. It’s calming, grounding, and cooling for body and mind.
FUN, IMAGINATION, AND CREATIVITY
Yoga with Emma is about having fun together and is grounded in imagination and creativity. I often feel like our souls speak when we practice, and sometimes they are laughing!
It’s helpful to create scenarios that your young yoga partner can relate to and visualize easily. If they’re into airplanes, be Air Force One taking off during Warrior III, or stick the landing strip in a cargo plane on the African Savannah in Locust Pose. Bring in details they can relate to and then let the youngster take the lead for a while.
Sounds are also good, and they help me know that Emma is engaged on the other side of the screen. When we yip and bark in Downward Facing Dog Pose, I know Emma’s moving and breathing.
As adults, it’s easy to get caught up in our to-do lists and forget how important it is to imagine things bigger and brighter than our everyday reality. Neuroscience supports the idea that regular engagement in imaginative activities can be beneficial for brain health and cognitive function. This process involves harnessing the Default Mode Network in novel ways that support its natural tendency toward imagination and creative thinking, encouraging us to expand past our habits and limiting beliefs.
Inviting Emma to collaborate with me as we imagine volcanoes spewing rainbow-colored sparkles into the air, or pretending we are pink poodles wagging our tails in Downward Dog makes yoga more fun for Emma and for me. With Emma, it’s easy to wear my “silly pants.” I’ve also found that the more we imagine and visualize together, the easier it gets to improvise our way into new areas of creativity.
Some children enjoy practicing yoga with an imaginary friend, so don’t be surprised if somebody “new” shows up on your yoga mat. Developmental psychologists believe that playing with an imaginary friend can be beneficial for cognitive and social development. As a child, I had an imaginary dog named Whitey. Whitey was yellow, which at age five, I thought was hilarious! For almost a year, Whitey came with me everywhere. He was my best buddy and a wonderful playmate. The idea of Whitey was troubling for my father. One day, as we were planning to go to a friend’s home for dinner, he warned me, “Don’t bring that damn dog with you tonight!” I smiled at Whitey, rubbing his ears as we got into the car. Decades later, I still feel a fondness toward Whitey. My sisters were six and ten years older, and Whitey helped me feel less alone and more engaged in life. I’m grateful to Whitey for his love and support when I needed him.
Try this:
Emma is a big unicorn fan, so Sunbird has become Unicorn Pose. From Table (hands and knees) we create our tail by extending one leg backward with toes turned under. The back of the opposite hand is placed on the forehead with the fingers facing outward like a unicorn horn. Visualizing pegasus wings makes any unicorn pose more fun.
Emma has a unicorn friend named Rosie who often flies in to practice with us. Emma’s special call for Rosie sounds a lot like yodeling, so when I hear Yodel-Ay-Ee-Oooo, I know Rosie is on her way. Sometimes Rosie’s a bit of a pill and distracts Emma with her crazy antics. On other days, Rosie is in the flow. If Rosie’s practicing with us, you can be sure we’ll be doing Unicorn Pose. According to Emma, it’s Rosie’s favorite!
THE JOURNEY OF YOGA WITH EMMA CONTINUES
I often daydream my way into future yoga sessions with Emma and Titi. When I’m approaching 75, and she’ll be closing in on her 18th birthday! Important landmarks for both of us. In my daydream, sometimes Emma leads the practice, sharing her exuberance and enthusiasm as the next chapter of life unfolds, and other times I guide the journey from a place of deep listening, and experience. My guess is that frequently our roles will be reversed, and she’s the wise, deep listener, and I’m the exuberant one.
These are just a few examples of the practices Emma and I have created together in our upcoming book.
With deepest gratitude. Namasté.
TINA AND EMMA