The Still, Quiet Place

I’m finishing up a wonderful class, taught by Dr. Amy Saltzman, MD., called Still Quiet Place ~ Mindfulness for Children, to improve my mindful teaching skills. The registration materials said the class provides training in the Still Quiet Place curriculum which Dr. Amy has used in California schools. It did that beautifully, but also offered so much more.

One of the secrets to good teaching is mastery of the content – the stuff you want to teach. Amy’s expertise in this area is irreproachable. She is a highly respected professional in this field. As a physician who expanded her practice to include holistic medical care, she understands the science and humanity of truly caring for people. Her work is based on thirty years of research. She cares well for adults, including those of us in her class, but it is her work with, and on behalf of children that brought me to her class.

Dr. Amy Saltzman’s Still Quiet Place cd’s for children and teens were among the first mindfulness resources I posted here. Watching her actually teach the material, and respond to issues children spontaneously bring up, is watching a master practitioner at work.

I will post more on what it’s like being in a class with dedicated practitioners from around the country, and the world. But for now, Welcome:

Welcome, soft, grey doves, 

cooing your gentle cry: 
We have arrived.
Welcome song, 

shadows, 
pairing,
bobbing heads and black pearl eyes.

Welcome to the food, 

the drops of water glistening in
Morning’s sunshine; 
help yourself to these seeds, 
this space,
this air we breathe together in, 
this air the geraniums breathe out. 
Come back, if you like, when the tomatoes are full and ripe.
There is enough.