The Great Outdoors
This week’s blog, written by our wonderful Ambassador Clair-Louise Walsh, draws on her experience of working with children and the beauty of the great outdoors.
One big difference between children and adults is that kids are much more resilient than we are. One example of this is children’s reaction to the weather. They haven’t yet developed the habit of saying “oh no, it’s raining” and instead adopt a much more positive attitude when they look out the window at the grey sky and huge raindrops… after all, rain means puddles and puddles are fun!
I’ve also noticed how children don’t seem to feel the cold as much as adults do. You often see adults wrapped up with scarfs and jumpers, and the children next to them are unzipping their coats or pulling the hats off of their heads. They don’t allow the cold weather to bother them as they are too focused on the play they are engaged in, or the nature they are surrounded by. What a wonderful way to be!
Where I live, in Luxembourg, the nature is stunning. It’s a very green country with magical forests and beautiful views. The children of Luxembourg have shown me that whatever the weather, the outdoors can be appreciated with the right attitude. When I worked as a Montessori teacher, I took my class to the forest once a week for a big walk. We would watch the colours change as the seasons passed by. We’d build snowmen in the freezing snow, observe the new spring flowers as they began to pop up from under the ground and sometimes we would just stand with our eyes closed and listen to the sounds around us. It was truly amazing, and once again, I was the student and the Children were my teachers. Their sharp eyes pointed out things that I hadn’t even noticed, they would hear a bird singing and draw my attention to it. They would ask me to tell them a story about an imaginary wolf living in the woods encouraging me to be creative and spontaneous. Most importantly, they taught me to be present. The children led by example and I observed how they embraced everything that they experienced moment to moment, paying attention to what was happening at that very minute. This is the beauty of childhood. Adulthood brings with it so many distractions and stresses that we forget about the simplicity that we once practiced so effortlessly. We do however always have an opportunity to be reminded of the way we once were, and that requires two things. The first is an openness. An open mind and an open heart to receive these observations. The second is a willingness to learn from the most valuable teachers on the earth, the children.
About Clair-Louise Walsh
Clair-Louise is a trained Montessori Teacher, a registered Children’s Yoga teacher and trained in India for a 200 hour teaching certificate in Vinyasa and Hatha Yoga. For the past seven years she has lived and worked in Luxembourg offering Yoga to children, adults and families. Most recently, Clair graduated from university with a degree in ‘Drug and alcohol addiction therapy’ and now uses yoga and mindfulness in her work as a holistic therapist.
You can find Clair-Louise Walsh on Facebook: @theyogatreelux or email: theyogatreelux@gmail.com.
Mini Me Yoga is an open platform for guest bloggers to share their voice. If you have something you want to share with the Mini Me Yoga community, please contact: info@minimeyoga.com.
