CircusYoga® Stories
Africa Yoga Project
Supported by CircusYoga teachers Jen Taylor, Kyoko Jasper, Jenny Sargent, Deven Sisler and Acro Yoga teachers, we co-led an hour and a half of community practices in yoga, circus, and acrobatics. We took turns leading the group as our instructions were translated for our honored African guests. If you’ve ever been translated, you know how this slows down the rhythm of the dialogue. So, at some point, I let go of my words and began to teach with non-verbal sounds and body language. The attention of the group became focused and excited. We moved as one. Then I passed the focus around the circle and everyone had their moment to shine uniquely. After we could feel ourselves come together as a tribe, we began to partner through push sticks, partner yoga, acrobatics, and flying. The room was vibrating with joy, laughter, and the common language of play.
Following the community workshop, NYC yogis gathered and folks from Karma Krew held a silent auction. The evening raised $2900 for the Mizero Children Hope Tour. I’ve always wanted to travel to Africa and now we have friends to visit and a practice to share. —Erin Maile O’Keefe
Drop-in Center for Homeless Youth in Los Angeles
I knew CircusYoga worked well with middle class parents and kids on retreat at Kripalu, and it worked for the mainstream kids in schools. But, would it really work with the hardened teens Philip had told me a few hair-raising stories about?
We set about to include Cirque du Monde on our West Coast Winter Tour. First, Erin and I lead a CircusYoga Level 1 Teacher Training for Philip and his teachers. It was a rollicking and fun three days and we all felt infused with a new spirit of enthusiasm for the work. Even still, there was wonder from the group of teachers as they considered applying the CY principles and practices to their youth population.
“Well this is all fine and good but what about when Omar comes in right after smoking crack? What do we do then?” “Yeah and don’t think about getting these kids to fly one another if they haven’t changed their socks in two weeks.”
They were skeptical and their skepticism fed my fear and doubt. Thankfully, I had my co-teacher, co-creator, and Hawaiian goddess with me to make eye contact.
We took a deep breath before the first class with the teens and twenty minutes into the class they too were rollicking on the floor, making new connections and taking appropriate risks. We thought it had gone well when the kids didn’t want to leave at the end of class, some asked to stay for the next class, and one or two exchanged contact information with us. However, when Philip and the other Cirque teachers reflected on how much of a breakthrough that experience was for most of those kids, we knew how successful the class had been.
What I keep discovering as we apply CY to new populations is how we are all, essentially, the same beneath the surface differences of class, ability, race, ethnicities, and experience. We all want to live fully in the moment, to love one another, to laugh at ourselves, to grow and keep growing. CircusYoga is my way to do that. What’s yours? —Kevin O’Keefe
Academy for Career and Living Skills Takes Flight
“Would you be willing to come up sometime and help? No money, just for fun?” Martha asked.
“Sure,” we said.
We signed in past the bored security person and went to the basement gymnasium of the old building. Many of the kids were already there and a few wheeled or walked their way in with the help of their teachers or paraprofessionals. Many of them needed one-on-one care to negotiate the hallways and stairs. The school serves kids with a wide spectrum of special needs including autism, learning disabilities and emotional disturbances, cerebral palsy, or other neurological challenges.
We were looking forward to working with them and their caregivers. Martha once told us, “It’s not the kids that are a problem it is the adults.” First we taught juggling with scarves. After teaching thousands of people to juggle it is easy to forget how wonderful scarves look floating in the air. Those kids reminded me. So many of the kids were game for whatever we offered. Quite a few teens got out of their wheelchairs and flew on Erin’s or my feet. That was a thrill for everybody. They enjoyed the release as much as any prisoner. If you spend your life in a wheelchair the weightlessness of flying is a breeze.
Martha Gold is one determined lady. She single-handedly instituted Namaste Day into the school calendar. She gets all kinds of people to donate time and services to provide their children with a wonderful celebratory day. —Kevin O’Keefe
Namaste Day celebrates the light in every child
Four years ago, Martha, a Kripalu-trained yoga and CircusYoga teacher, designed a yoga program to help introduce her school community to this practice. Martha enlisted many of the school’s physical and occupational therapists as co-teachers and assistants and together they now lead students of all abilities in weekly yoga sessions.
Martha has tagged her classes at P.S 811X “Yoga Wonderland: Where Children of All Abilities Shine Their Lights.” Together, Martha explains, she and her students find ways to support, honor and enjoy each other regardless of physical or emotional challenges.
“In one class,” says Martha, “there may be a student who is profoundly disabled and can only move her head and blink her eyes along with kids who have challenges that are more mental/emotional and not as physically apparent.”
“Don't ask me how or why these classes work so beautifully,” she says, “they just do!”
Recently, the children, their teachers and other staff celebrated the school’s third annual Namaste Day. This party is given by the school’s therapy department staff to honor the kids who have committed themselves to the yoga program throughout the year. One hundred and fifty of the school’s students were guests at this year’s event.
“The party is quite an event! Volunteer face painters, clowns, magicians, balloon artists—many from the CircusYoga tribe—and others come together to share their talents and love and make this an unforgettable day for the children.”
“Every time I take on such an endeavor, doors seem to fly open and I encounter the most caring and generous individuals who are only too happy to be a part of this beautiful thing. Each year’s party exceeds the party of the year before. It is something the kids eagerly anticipate and talk about for months afterwards.”
“It’s so amazing to me how the administration at the school has embraced Namaste Day and that it has become an annual event. Even more exciting to me is that almost everyone in the school has now learned the meaning of Namaste: to honor the light inside each of us.” —Christine Carpenter
The P.S. 811X yoga program and Namaste Day are solely funded by Martha and by contributions from businesses and caring individuals. In addition to her school-based work, Martha provides workshops to therapists, teachers, parents and others on teaching yoga to children of all abilities. For more information about these programs, or to learn how you might help with her school-based teaching, contact Martha Gold at martha@yogawonderland.com.
Sometimes a scarf is just a scarf…unless, of course, it’s a hankie
“I didn’t truly appreciate what I was getting myself into when I started teaching CircusYoga,” says Savory. “It’s really quite amazing!”
Here, Savory recounts some of her experiences while using scarf-play at a number of summer library programs last summer:
“I have found that the groups I teach vary tremendously in how creative they are willing to be with the scarves. But one group I worked with really surpassed itself.”
“I made the scarves I use from organza as I couldn’t afford to buy lots of juggling scarves. The material is shiny and sparkly, but also a bit slick—so of course, perfect for slipping on.”
“Right off the bat, one of the boys in the group slyly smiled, put his scarf on the floor and stepped forward, pretending to slip on the scarf as if it was a banana skin. Of course, all the children took delight in copying this. What’s that I remember about being cautioned to teach safely?!!”
A girl in this group then took the scarf she was holding and pretended to blow her nose with it. The look of horror that passed my face as every child in the group giggled and then copied her was undoubtedly quite something! Fortunately it was pretend and I didn’t have to wash all the scarves afterward.
“At another library that summer, we were doing scarf yoga and a little boy asked, ‘Can we do anything with this scarf?’ Of course, I said ‘YES!’ He proceeded to wave his scarf while leaning forward with his body. He then hit the floor, hands first and kicked his legs up in the air. This was very reminiscent of another boy at my CircusYoga training who pretended to be an exploding clown. It was a delight to see him do something so ‘outside the box.’” —Christine Carpenter
