A year in reflection, 2013!

Well this afternoon, I was sipping my lunch soup and wondering how the year has slipped by so quickly.  I had a dear friend remark, that this must be your year of study and introspection. She was totally right! I am in the process of completing my Ananda Yoga Teacher Training as a refresher from the year 2002. It takes quite a bit of study, reflection and physical yoga. I am so enjoying this time to dive deeper in the ancient yogic teachings and taking the time to introspect about what the new year will bring. 

2013, was also another deeply inspiring time to study with my spiritual guides, and be certified as a "Sharing Nature® trainer. With this program, it is taking some time for study and deep reflection as to how I will be applying these deep teachings more fully.  They always say: 'If you want to learn something, it is best to dive deep and teach it." 

So 2014, will bring for me personally a time for deeper attunement by sharing these two streams of inspirational light that seem to be coming my way. 

The future, is in Divine Mother's hands. 

Now to thank all my readers and friends this past year, I want to keep the tradition that I started last year and revisit my most popular blog entries. In case you didn't see them,

In the fifth position this year on "Inside Out":

"Blowing in the wind: a year of crafts in review" 

http://chandi-holliman.blogspot.com/2013/06/blowing-in-wind-year-of-crafts-in-review.html

Who can resist learning more crafts. We all have creativity in our bones and as teachers we love to see what others are doing. Here were my favorites from our last school year, 2011-2012. 

In the number four position: 

http://chandi-holliman.blogspot.com/2013/06/guest-post-on-inside-out-author-parent.html

My Child, My Very First Spiritual Teacher

The title and photo says it all. This is a guest post from one of our lovely parents at the Living Wisdom School. I am thrilled to see how many of my readers loved her writing and humble account about  her new book and working with her children. Thank you, Nilanjana! 

In the third position most read: 

The very last entry during my school year ending in June 2013. 

http://chandi-holliman.blogspot.com/2013/06/mother-we-thank-you.html

This blog entry also began with a shared piece of art from one of my internet friends in Ashland Oregon, Elaine Frenett. It was so magnetic, I know this is how others were drawn to this entry. Thank you again Elaine. 

In the second position for this year:

http://chandi-holliman.blogspot.com/2013/01/launching-our-spiritual-dream-boats-sail.html

This was one of my favorite and most meaningful celebrations that we had for our children this past year. 

It surely started our year out in a blaze of magnetism and joy. 

An in our top position this year:

DRUM ROLL Please

http://chandi-holliman.blogspot.com/2013/05/infinite-mother-of-us-all.html

This was such a beautiful inspiring day the words and pictures I believe capture the essence of Mothers Day. 

 

Thank you all for a wonderful year in reading this blog. I am inspired by so many who I have met, and I will continue to meet in 2014. 

May we all be one in the light some day.  Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

 Right now most of us are relaxing and reviewing the spiritual thoughts that Christmas brought to us this year.  Yes, another year of rustling to this party or that, shopping, tuning into that best present for a friend, or just listening to your favorite musical Christmas piece.  But that is the outward form of Christmas. 

 The many inner moments of the past week, came disguised with many forms and small packages.  This year marks a special seventeenth year that my husband and I will always remember. It was like riding a bike at your fastest pace, but it never seemed to take off fully or was tripped up by yet another surprise. We just had to laugh at it all, try our hardest and keep it all in prospective.

But as we are still enough, as a thief in the night, that awestruck sparkling moments, did creep in and filled us with this amazing sense of awe and power. 

 Christmas isn't just one day for us, it is how we live our lives constantly on our spiritual journey 

May this Christmas be forever close to your heart, and may we all continue to share that light with all whom we meet. I send my warmest blessings of love and light to you all. 

Merry Christmas. 

Spending time together in gratitude. Activities shared during the month of November.

Where has our month gone? We all had so much fun, this fall that it is hard to let it all go. 

In our classroom at the Living Wisdom School we combined our fall activities with our gratitude month.  Our primary focus for November was on communities, where we live and go to school. Next month we will expand the communities to the world and the many holiday celebrations that happen during this holy season.

Here is list of some of our classroom activities highlighted from the picture above. 

.

1.  The children glued tissue paper, using starch on their jars that made gratitude trees for their Thanksgiving tables. Each jar, we added fairy, magic glitter and well, a little plaster of paris. (I kept that part a secret. Then they magically turned into trees.) The children just loved it. 

2. This is one of our classmates. His picture is in our 3D mural in our hallway. The children love to climb in our outdoor natural play-space. The children had an idea to create this mural for our family open house in November. 

3. Each day at our circle time we wrote what we were thankful for on small slips of paper. The children loved this activity adding several a day. They were carefully hung on our classroom gratitude tree. 

4. Our nature altar was changed with a real tree on of the boys found in our tree playground. It had blown over in a storm so we brought it in the classroom. 

5. We are all practicing our cutting and pasting skills this month. We made our community neighborhoods. The children are also practicing for our all school fundraising project that we will be making for February. 

6. This is our 3D mural.  This was a several step process, complete with running paths, leaves glued to the service, trees painted by every child, leaves made from melted crayons, leave block painting and our stumps were made from toilet paper rolls, starch, coffee filters and acrylic paints. 

7. The children love the trees. Their pictures were cut out and put in the 3D mural. 

8. Our community "yogi", fireman came to our classroom. We had a wonderful time with Bryan Dotson. Bryan is a multi-talented fireman and teaches his team of firefighters how to meditate and practice yoga. He was a perfect role model for all our students at our school. 

For our community project we cooked cookies from Bryan and his staff. 

9. Concentration was another one of my sub categories in our curriculum. These were our Thanksgiving trees that each child carefully painted gold along each stem.This was extremely challenging for five year olds and they took great pride in their finished trees. All their daily blessings were then added to their own trees. Each tree was then taken home for their family Thanksgiving table settings. 

It was in gratitude that we were able to spend this joyful time together. A beautiful month indeed was shared by all. 

Blessings,

Chandi

In Gratitude

We celebrate "gratitude" everyday during our morning circle time in our classroom at the 

Living Wisdom School 

I would like to extend my gratitude for my spiritual family and all the beautiful friendships throughout the world, that I have come to know through reading my blog. 

May this day be filled with deep peace as we inwardly thank the one giver behind all our gifts.  

With deepest love during this holiday season,

Chandi

Come gather round. stories, and music for families

Come gather round

With a friend on the left and a friend on the right.

Come gather round

It's time for a story. 

Its been awhile since I have put my attention on sharing my favorite stories for young children.  It is that time of year again when we focus in on the holidays and we want to give as special gifts for our love ones. This book is so sweet for all the budding musicians in your life.

This month's classroom favorite is: Mole Music by: David McPhail (here is a link to the illustrations and the book being read.)

Mole has always led a simple life.  One day on the television he sees a man playing the violin.  This inspires him to order a violin and start practicing himself.  At first he is terrible, but over the years as he keeps practicing he gets better and better.  He dreams of playing for others and little does he know — he is.  Mole’s persistence at playing the violin is inspiring and beautiful. There are actually two stories happening in this book. David McPhail creates the illustrations of mole's life under the ground and simultaneously how his music effects all life,above his home. It brings cheerful smiles to the reader on each page. 

This book is a beautiful way that I like to teach music in my classroom. Music is the channel of vibration  and how powerful it is to uplift our thoughts and consciousness.

 We were very fortunate to have the distinguished David Eby join us at the Living Wisdom School of Seattle this past month. He and others, shared with us a direct experience of music and vibration.

 David is a director, cellist, teacher and writer exploring connections between music and consciousness  He is living his dream to bring together spiritually minded musicians and intentionally creating inspiring

 performances of great masterpieces.

" The highest role of music is to inspire and uplift consciousness — to give us an experience of something greater than ourselves."

When I feature a book on my blog I never want to give the story away, but you can be sure it is about creating an experience while listening to music and expanding our awareness to something greater than our selves. 

Collage inspired by the story, Mole Music by Chandi Holliman

"A person’s magnetism is an expression of his consciousness. Improve your magnetism by infusing everything you do with positive thoughts and energy. The more joyful and loving your consciousness, the more uplifting will be your magnetism." 

Swami Kriyananda 

This is a beautiful video I just found. I would like to share with you.  Deeply inspiring. 

As I conclude this month, please visit "Inside Out," later this month and I will compile some new suggestions for all your holiday gift giving.

Aum, Shanti

Chandi

 

Spiritual quote for the week

I came across this spiritual quote during the week, and I felt inspired to share with one of my photos.

" When one realizes God, he no longer feels that others are different from himself.
Paramhansa Yogananda

Take this into your meditation for the weekend.

Have a good weekend all. 

Blessings and Gratitude,

Chandi

Peace gave us the seasons

Pictures taken by: Patricia de Anguera 

The fall leaves for most of us are now just a passing memory for this season.

 Each fall brings such a beauty as every tree, branch, and bush displays its own 
unique luminosity.

Every morning on my drive to work, I watched the world change right before me. 

 Around every corner was yet, another tree, of brilliant radiance.

This fall had so many magical moments with my classroom too. The children really opened up to the world of fall and all its beauty. I received comments from my parents about their daily outings with the children and how we were all experiencing this season of beauty together. 

   The thought kept murmuring in my mind;"Surely,the light today in this tree has to be more beautiful than the one I saw yesterday? "

Fall has to be my favorite season of the year?"

The colors are so beautiful. This fall has filled my heart with such deep love, gratitude and with a humble heart I can surrender more easily to that greater power of spirit all around us. 

Or then again, is it winter with the sparkling snow or maybe springtime with the delicate cherry blossoms falling like a delicate floral snow showers. Is this my favorite season?

As I chuckle I can recall so vividly this past summer photo a day project, with large warm beds of lavender aroma that filled my soul to the core?" I just cant make up my mind which season I like the best. . 

I have had the thought that all this beauty is from an astral memory. You may begin to ask, what is an astral memory? "The astral universe, made of various subtle vibrations of light and color, is hundreds of times larger than the material cosmos."

What type of a memory can linger so long in our hearts? What type of memory 
opens up all our senses by looking at these astral colors of leaves? This is beginning to feel like a heavenly memory that can touch us so deeply and we can experience it at any moment during our day.

Several days after meditation, I pondered all these thoughts while having a  
daily shower of beauty opening up every part of my being. 

I am not sure I will ever really know from my rational mind. But I can reveal in sharing 
this deep inner love with my students and all whom I come in contact with. It comes from 
a deeper sense of knowing something that is beyond myself. The deepest longing 
of the soul is to feel that spirit everywhere. 

In my classroom this month,  I have been teaching one of the original 

chants written by Paramhansa Yogananda: Oh God Beautiful 

One of the little boys in our class was outside under the large maple trees. 

He gently, looked up to the sky, the meadow, and began to chant:"I get it now,"as if 

light-bulb, went off in his mind. 

"God is everywhere. Everywhere you look." How profound this statement

for a four year old. How long did it take all of us to realize this?

I know for me, it took a very long time. 

I leave you with that thought of inspiration and I hope that 

your experience of Divine Mothers presence this fall was as angelic as
ours was in the Pacific Northwest.