Breathing In the Wonderland of Ron Clark Academy

“Who ARE You?” This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly. “ I–I hardly know, sir, just at present– at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.” 
― Lewis Carroll

Same.

Falling into the wonderland of Ron Clark Academy. Falling into the sacred space of fourteen radiant 7th grade girls.

Falling into the magic of their hearts.

“There’s no use trying.” Alice said: “One CAN’T believe impossible things.”

“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Inspired by both their wonder and the wonderland of the classroom…

And the curious energy of the space.

Can our deep breathing give us the capacity to believe six impossible things before breakfast?

Can we, like Alice, manage our fears, our misunderstandings and chaos, figure out our own skills, strengths and talents, and finding friends to help us when we need it?

getting “curiouser and curiouser!” With our breath, with our movement of our breath…

Curious.

Can we return to the breath, return to ourselves, seemingly unchanged – but changed entirely internally?

Knowing we live by breath. We can get everything from our breath of life. Can we speak to our breath like a friend? Talk to it? When anxious, inhale and tell the breath to bring us joy? When doubtful, tell the breath to bring us trust? What if what gave us life, can give us everything?

Curious. Can we inhale deep with reverence, with love, and with compassion and kindness? Can we connect and communicate with our breath to give us peace of mind? Can we let it go on the exhale?

Can our breath give us strength? Give us peace? Delightfully enliven us? Can we let the breath go with what does not?

Can we inhale deeply and ask oh, my breath, my friend, please give me love, give me the insight to feel all in me, within me, and around me?

Can we still love and honor the parts of us that are hard to love? Can we exhale out all that doesn’t line up with our moral codes?

Oh our dear friend breath, oh breath of our life, our trusted guardian, our sensitivity, please give us peace of mind. make us humble.

Help us discard our pre-conceptions. Help us display an admirable readiness to encounter reality on its own terms, a receptive cast of mind, a discovery of our truth.

Help us step away from assumption, from collecting excess doubt and worry.

Help us find pleasure in the mystery, in the multiple dimensional reality.

Oh dearest breath, help us make sense of the nonsensical because the nonsense is only provisional, only on the surface. Help us down the rabbit hole, help us go beneath the surface of our every day issues, just like Alice.

Help us, as the  Duchess keenly observed, to know, to understand that “Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it.”

Help us to know our individual moral codes. Remind us to infuse our codes with breath. Breathing in we turn up the volume of our code, and the same with breathing out.

Help us to help each other connect to our codes and our collective codes. Help us long deep breath. Help us feel ourselves releasing what tightens our grip on negativity.

Help us share our laughter.

Dearest Deepest Breath, Give us the power to love and love alone.

BIG LOVE to Elektra Thompson, Ron Clark’s extraordinary Counselor for inviting us into her Girls Conference. And of course for holding the Deep Breath Initiative in the Alice in Wonderland classroom.

BIG LOVE to all of the radiant 7th grade girls who welcomes us in with such grace and curiosity. Thank you for leading the breaths and sharing your moral codes. Your virtues you want to cultivate.

BIG LOVE to Mr. Taron Germany – Mari J Productions Corp for capturing the radiance of the 7th grade girls at Ron Clark Academy. What a great gift (and surprise!)

BIG LOVE to Lululemon Atlanta’s Rhiannon, Marissa and Clair for connecting with all of us! Love being #HereToBe with you!

BIG LOVE to Lewis Carroll for sharing Alice in Wonderland with the world.