Discover the transformative journey of integrating yoga and mindfulness into the classroom as Jamie Gales, the founder of Little Om Big Om, joins us to share her expert insights and strategies. Jamie, a multi-faceted educator, entrepreneur, and mother, unpacks the importance of movement and breathwork in supporting social and emotional learning for young learners. She addresses the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the collective trauma and decreased physical activity it caused, and presents playful, engaging methods to help children manage their physical and emotional needs.
This episode goes beyond the surface, offering practical tips for teachers to incorporate these practices into their daily routines. Jamie explains how simple modifications, like animal movements during storytime or sensory experiences at snack time, can prepare students for learning and interaction without additional tasks or educational jargon. She also underscores the importance of energy regulation through strategies like chair yoga, highlighting the positive ripple effects on classroom dynamics, emotional regulation, and overall well-being.
Wrapping up, we engage in a dynamic conversation about Jamie's innovative approach to educator training and her kids yoga teacher program, "Meet Me in Child's Pose." We delve into how Little Om Big Om is impacting both the local Madison community and educators at large, providing key resources to nurture a lifelong love of learning. As a bonus, Jamie takes on a series of quick-fire questions, adding a personal touch to the discussion. This episode is a treasure trove of inspiration and practical tools for educators, clinicians, and anyone working with youth, aiming to infuse mindfulness and movement into the educational landscape.
www.EdwardDeShazer.org
Discover the transformative journey of integrating yoga and mindfulness into the classroom as Jamie Gales, the founder of Little Om Big Om, joins us to share her expert insights and strategies. Jamie, a multi-faceted educator, entrepreneur, and mother, unpacks the importance of movement and breathwork in supporting social and emotional learning for young learners. She addresses the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the collective trauma and decreased physical activity it caused, and presents playful, engaging methods to help children manage their physical and emotional needs.
This episode goes beyond the surface, offering practical tips for teachers to incorporate these practices into their daily routines. Jamie explains how simple modifications, like animal movements during storytime or sensory experiences at snack time, can prepare students for learning and interaction without additional tasks or educational jargon. She also underscores the importance of energy regulation through strategies like chair yoga, highlighting the positive ripple effects on classroom dynamics, emotional regulation, and overall well-being.
Wrapping up, we engage in a dynamic conversation about Jamie's innovative approach to educator training and her kids yoga teacher program, "Meet Me in Child's Pose." We delve into how Little Om Big Om is impacting both the local Madison community and educators at large, providing key resources to nurture a lifelong love of learning. As a bonus, Jamie takes on a series of quick-fire questions, adding a personal touch to the discussion. This episode is a treasure trove of inspiration and practical tools for educators, clinicians, and anyone working with youth, aiming to infuse mindfulness and movement into the educational landscape.
www.EdwardDeShazer.org
Welcome to the Teachers Ed Podcast. I'm your host, edward Eshazer. Teachers Ed Podcast was created to create a space for the best and brightest in education to come to learn, to be inspired, to grow. Today's guest is Jamie Gales. She is an educator and an entrepreneur dedicated to giving kids opportunities to get moving and get creative. Jamie owns a kids yoga program and co-directs a creative art summer camp and afterschool program that together serve thousands of kids per year. Jamie is also the co-founder and co-director of a kids yoga teacher training and a camp counselor training, and she supports other business owning moms and leaders through professional development programs as a podcast network that she owns that I've also been a guest on, so go download and check out that podcast. Jamie is also the mom to three active teenagers. She has her BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison go Badgers and has been teaching kids for over 20 years in a wide variety of enrichment spaces. Jamie is also someone that I grew up and went to high school with, so it is an honor to have you on the podcast. Welcome, jamie.
Speaker 2:Thanks, addy, I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm glad that you were able to jump on. Can you just start by letting everyone know before you too much about yourself what is your podcast, so they can pause this, go and find it, subscribe to it, before we even get into anything else.
Speaker 2:Well, awesome, thank you. I actually have two podcasts One that you were on I was so happy to have you on it's called the Follow the Leaders podcast and it's just all about leadership and all things like think about how I built this show, but for leaders, so developing leaders and rocking out in that way. And then I have another podcast. It's called the In it for Youth podcast and it's for professionals and people that work with and serve youth. So we talk to lots of different youth serving professionals and get their perspectives. So, thanks, thanks for the thanks for the plug.
Speaker 1:So pause this episode, go subscribe, then come back. Don't go listen to it because you're going to forget about this episode. Just subscribe, come back, listen to this one, then go back and listen to those. That's right.
Speaker 1:But, Jamie, it's an honor to have you on. I enjoyed being on your podcast and when we were bringing these episodes back out. One of the things and one of the main reasons I wanted to bring you on for people to hear is because I know the work that you do in mindfulness. So, to start, I would love for you just to kind of I gave you an introduction just tell the listeners a little more about what you do. But then I really think that your expertise in mindfulness with students is something that, with all of the SEL conversations that are being had and teachers trying to figure out what to do with their kids and their kids are struggling, I just thought you'd be a great resource for them to lean into. But to start, tell the people just a little about yourself, what you do, and then let's jump into a conversation.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, yeah, so I own a company called Little Om Big Om and we do yoga and mindfulness with kids and families all over the Madison area. I'm in Madison and I have a team of instructors and we go into schools and camps and libraries and businesses and some studios to bring yoga classes to kids and families, and a big part of what we do is work with groups of kids in schools and camps and other informal ed settings to bring in the practice of yoga and meditation, mindfulness and that's. You know, when I started this 11 years ago I had to explain like, what does it even mean?
Speaker 2:People have thought kids doing yoga meant in rows on mats in a heated studio. No, obviously not. But now we all kind of know what it is and that it's a good thing. So my job is really to give teachers really hands-on ways to bring these things into their classroom, whether it's through us coming in and leading the activities or giving the tools directly to classroom teachers and other professionals that work with kids so that they can incorporate into what's already happening in their classrooms.
Speaker 1:And when you think about and I know you were talking about when you started 11 years ago how much different it is, do you feel that COVID and just the acknowledgement of students' social and emotional needs has something that has benefited you and that sounds so weird to say because it's benefited what you're doing, but I think it's something that we've glossed over in schools for so long that COVID finally highlighted that, hey, our kids have basic needs other than academics that need to be met. So, when you think about how long you've been doing this, what were some of the things that COVID changed?
Speaker 2:when you think about how it's pivoted not pivoted, but how it's altered what you've been doing- yeah, that's a great question and I will say another, besides just the emotional needs tied to that, so much is movement and I do think that that's something that anybody who was at home with kids during COVID saw.
Speaker 2:You know, the amount of movement that kids were doing all of us were doing just plummeted during COVID. We were stuck at home, we weren't even kids were not even getting the movement from going from one classroom to the lunchroom, to the gym that they were in a normal day-to-day thing, let alone all their social things playing at the park with kids going on play dates. So I do think that that is one big thing that I've seen is that people are seeing the impact of what losing those opportunities to move had and then also realizing, ok, we really, really need to be working these things into the classroom, because we all did go through the collective trauma of COVID and the lockdown and all of that, and so we need to tend to kids' physical and emotional needs. And that is one of the big reasons why I'm still so passionate about this is because using yoga and mindfulness strategies in a way that is fun and playful and developmentally appropriate for kids can be a way for kids to access those huge needs that they have or get them.
Speaker 1:I guess I should say and there's teachers that are listening, because, like you said, if you would have asked me a few years back, like putting yoga in a classroom, I would just automatically assume that was lining a bunch of mats up, putting the kids in rows and kind of doing that aspect. What are some of the things that, if there's a teacher, an educator, that's listening, what are some simple ways that someone could start doing some of these activities right now in their classroom today?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think, before we dive into the like, here's how we do it I want to take a minute to just kind of talk about. What are we even really talking about when we say yoga and mindfulness? Because kids, because teachers and schools have become more aware that this is something that can be beneficial. It's in sometimes it's like shove down kids' throats like they need to do mindfulness, or even the word yoga Sometimes kids might be like, oh, I didn't like it the last time they tried it, that kind of thing. So I think, if we kind of just back out for a second and talk about what are we really talking about? We're talking about giving kids a chance to move their bodies. We're giving kids a chance to tap into their breath and maybe take the first full, deep breath that they've taken all day when they're in a stressful situation at school or at home. Giving them ways to recognize their breath and then use their breath to upregulate or downregulate their bodies.
Speaker 1:Sorry for the interruption. I want to take a moment to recognize the sponsor of the Teachers Ed podcast. Be Well Teacher Box, a gift box to help teachers intentionally focus on their wellness. By using code Teacher's Ed, you can save $7 on your box. Teacher's Ed all one word wwwbewellteachercom. The box has over $100 in gifts and it's going on for $52 by using Code Teacher Zed. There's two books, there's a candle, some shower steamers, some lotion and a bag of coffee. Get your box today BeWellTeacherBoxcom. Code Teacher Zed all one word. Now back to the episode.
Speaker 2:And then mindfulness is really just the ability to check in and see what is happening in any given moment without it being good or bad, and so a lot of times people think, oh, mindfulness is relaxation and calming and everything like that. It can be, you can feel calmer from doing mindfulness. But really the beauty of mindfulness is just being able to check in to see what is happening inside you or what is happening around you and at school. That can look like a kid is upset or angry because a teacher caught them looking at their phone, or a kid took their toy. If they're a younger kid or they're angry about something that happened at lunch or at home, being able to identify, I'm feeling upset and I'm sweaty and my face is red, red and I have a lump in my throat because or maybe even not even because just this is how I'm feeling. And then they can take the next step and think okay, why might that be and what can I do about it?
Speaker 2:And then using the tools of movement and focus and breath work can help to get kids calmer and adults but we're talking about kids here, you know calmer and ready to learn or meeting the needs of the situation. So really, I think it's really important to think about why are we even talking about this and that before we even get into how do you incorporate this into the classroom? Because the last thing teachers need, as you know, is another thing to work into their school day without it being a win-win, and so that's a big part of my job is just explaining that these are tools that can be used to get everybody ready to be in a room together, to be in community, to learn and to get along and establish connections and then do what they need to be doing or want to be doing at that moment.
Speaker 1:And I think even to answer your question.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, Go ahead.
Speaker 1:No, you got it.
Speaker 2:And then to answer your question about how can people work this into teachers or educators work this into their classroom. You know, I think the thing to start with is to take out the catch words, right, take out the words yoga and mindfulness. Really, just start with. How can you incorporate movement into your classroom, whether or not you know yoga or have a yoga practice yourself as the teacher? How can you incorporate movement into the classroom when you have those early childhood classrooms? This is super easy. You have a book that has animals in it and instead of having everybody sit on the circle time rug quietly with their hands in their laps without moving, listening to the story about whatever it is you're trying to teach, let the kids incorporate some movement in. There's animals in the book. Guess what? Everybody gets to be the animal. If you know the yoga pose that corresponds with the animal, because so many poses do great, you can teach it to them. If not, you can let the kids create their own movement to go along with it, and then they get to be the teacher. They get to help to incorporate that in. If there's something where a character in a book is smelling something or observing something, you can incorporate a breath into that page and so now you're having all the kids practice in a moment of calm, the breath work and so that they have it in their toolbox when they are upset, you know, during snack time or lunchtime. That's another great opportunity for younger classrooms to incorporate this in. If everybody's eating the same snack, or even different snacks, allowing them to close their eyes and experience the senses what does this taste like? What does it smell like? Incorporating the senses into what you're doing is a great way to start to build those mindfulness muscles for kids to tap into what is happening right now. So the younger classrooms it's very easy. There's yoga pose cards that you can get. There's even yoga focused books that you could incorporate into your classroom that have the poses right in there. So just to getting getting giving kids a chance to move their bodies you know now I'm on a soapbox, but kids at younger and younger ages are required to sit in chairs for more and more parts of lengths of their day and so their bodies change because of that. We got to give kids a chance to move. So that's my big plug there In older classrooms, elementary school, even into the younger middle school any game that you can play with kids that you do play with kids in a classroom if you can incorporate movement in some way, even if it's directly tied to your academic lesson amazing, that's great.
Speaker 2:Spelling is a very easy way to incorporate movement in. If you're going to play swing man and the kids are guessing the letters of the game instead of them guessing it with their mouths, have them make the shape with their body and then now they're absorbing the letter shapes in a different way and then they're getting some movement in. Another really great way to use breath work in a classroom is to let kids make something move with their breath. So if you have something like a feather or a straw, you can have them like, blow it across a desk or up into the air. Otherwise, bunch up a Kleenex or a little piece of paper, a Post-it note, let them play volleyball. By blowing it back and forth. Again, you're getting that movement in, you're getting the breath work in and kids are going to feel better when you give them a chance to do this and then they are going to be more ready to learn and ready to be in community in the classroom in a constructive way.
Speaker 1:And I think that's the thing a lot of teachers are scared of is they're worried that once kids start moving around, that they're not going to be able to get them back focused. But I think the advice I would give to a teacher, hearing all the great examples that you gave them, is getting kids to transition back into learning, ready to learn and, while they're still learning, doing those activities. But getting them to transition is something that we also have to teach them. So it's a matter of totally having them do these activities and then teaching them. Ok, when I say level one, you know I'm going to give you 15 seconds to get back in your desks, back ready to learn, and then that's something that we have to continue to continue to practice.
Speaker 1:And I think that is the fear of transitioning the students back, the fear of transitioning the students back. When I spend time in classrooms, the majority of time that I see wasted in schools is during transitions, and I think the main reason is that we don't teach teachers how to teach their students how to transition. We expect that they should just be able to do it, but you have first graders, second graders, third graders all the way up to high schoolers, like we have to be teaching this skill where we can do these activities, where they're blowing things around and passing things and getting up and moving, and then it's a matter of having a routine and a procedure of when I say or when I do this, that means we have X amount of seconds to get back into the seat, and you see a lot of that as younger grades. But as kids get older, the movement gets less and less, and it's so weird to me, but I also think that's why, as kids get older, they don't like school as much.
Speaker 1:Because you get to middle school, the only time you're moving is in gym class. Otherwise you're being told to sit still, listen, and as human beings we are not wired to just sit and listen. We're wired to move, have activity. Our bodies are built to move. When we move we feel better. So that's one of the challenges that I have personally seen that I think teachers can focus on. These activities that Jamie is sharing are things that can help make your day easier, because when a lot of students are struggling, it's because they feel restless and we've had them sit in the same spot for so long, whether it's on the carpet and a desk but like get these kids moving in the class. Your days will go so much smoother.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally, and you know there's this smoother yeah, totally, and you know there's this. You reminded me of this quote that I heard many years ago and it's like carried me through all of all of the work that I'm doing, and it's that when you change the way that a child physically feels in the place they're learning, you've now changed their relationship with learning. And when you think about a kid who maybe does need more movement I mean we all need movement, but some kids do need more movement and you've told them to just sit still and they've gotten yelled at every time they've tapped their foot or every time they've, you know, tossed a pen, twiddle the pencil around or anything like that. You there. There's no way that they're going to feel good about learning when they're not feeling physically good where they're learning. And so giving kids a chance to move, it makes them physically feel better in the place that they're learning and so they're going to be they're going to feel better about learning.
Speaker 2:I mean along those lines, if you are in a classroom and you don't have time to get them up and playing volleyball with a feather in the room, you can do small things, like there's chair yoga cards that are a great resource for a teacher that doesn't have a yoga practice themselves.
Speaker 2:But basically, for any quote typical yoga pose that you'd see in any Western yoga class, there is a chair equivalent of it and that has the same physical benefits. And so, for example, if you're doing forward fold that's when you stand up straight and then bend down and reach towards your toes you can do that same thing in a chair, and so you can get kids to stay in their chairs but get experience those same benefits. Or like cat cow pose when you're you know, if you're familiar with yoga, a way to do in a chair is just have kids put their hands on their knees and bring their chin up to the sky and take a deep breath and then arch their back. You know, there's so many ways that you could incorporate movement in. And then the piece that you said the teachers are kind of afraid to welcome movement because, you know getting them to go back to stillness can be really hard.
Speaker 2:One of the best pieces of am I frozen again One, you're good, okay One of the best pieces of practicing yoga and mindfulness is that kids do learn to up-regulate and down-regulate their energy.
Speaker 2:Regulation is kind of like a hot word right now, and really the best way that I can describe it is that kids and adults, when they're regulated, you're able to do what you need to or want to be doing without a body process getting in the way.
Speaker 2:If you're dysregulated, there's some body process that's going on, that's getting in the way of what you need to or want to be doing. And so my big plug would be, even if for a little bit at the very beginning, that inviting movement in does make things a little bit higher energy in the room. As you practice it with your kids, they're going to be more aware of their bodies and they're going to be more aware of their breath and then how to use those as tools to bring the energy up and bring the energy back down. And so it is going to take some practice, but the dividends are just so huge from kids learning how to bring your energy up and back down and, of course there's some movement that's going to be more activating and some movement that's going to be more calming, and with time you can see how your students react to that. But that would be. My big plug is that in the end it is a win.
Speaker 1:And, like the, worried about them getting back to still. What are other challenges that you've seen as someone that's done this with a lot of students, a lot of different ages? What are some of the challenges that could be presented if a teacher is trying to do these type of mindfulness activities? What are some challenges that you've seen and how are ways a teacher could navigate through that?
Speaker 1:Because what I don't want in you it's kind of what you were sharing in the beginning. We don't want it to just become another thing for our classroom. So what we've seen with other things, the teachers hit a roadblock and then it just well, let me just go back to what I was doing, because this is going to be a challenge and I just don't want a challenge. So, if there's a challenge that comes up, what are some of the challenges that you've seen and how can an educator navigate them to make sure that this is something that they can do in their classroom, even if it's just a couple minutes between transitioning between things. What are some of the challenges and how can they navigate that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's a great question. I think first it's recognizing when it can be helpful, and that's just kind of comes with practice and there's resources out there. Another challenge is, you know, anytime we're going to get kids to do anything, we have to really sell it, and so I think that it can be a challenge. If the teacher is either unfamiliar with it or they're themselves resistant to it, You're not going to sell it hard enough to the kids. And, like I said, some of this has been just like shoved down the throat of kids and so they're going to be like, oh, I don't want to do that. And so just like, even if you're not using the words, like we're going to do mindfulness right now or we're going to meditate right now, just explain the activity or what you want them to do in a really enthusiastic way can get the kids to buy in. So I always tell my trainees like, sell it harder. You know like you get excited about it and they will too. So I think that's one. And then the other one is just about communicating what you're doing with parents, making sure that parents of your students are aware of what you're doing and why, and so kind of coming up with a little bit of an explanation.
Speaker 2:I think that the word yoga, for some families that it's not welcome, based on all different factors, whether it's just that they don't know what's going on with it really, or there's a religious component to it, and so I think some schools that's something that I've seen is when my company has gone into schools some schools have asked us to use more secular wording and things like that, and so that's just something to be aware of. Your setting, the tools themselves, the strategies themselves, are completely secular and, you know, are really beneficial for people to learn and practice. How much of the background of where it came from that you want to incorporate in. That is something that you have to know your setting, and that can, I guess, be one other challenge that educators might face. But again, if you're talking about incorporating more movement and awareness about your breath and tapping into what's going on in your body and around you, that's something that I mean it's hard to argue with because it really does, like I said, pay big dividends.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and when you're talking about dividends, what are really some of the things that you have seen? What are some of the impacts? Because when we're talking education, there's got to be measurables, so what? Are some of the measurable impacts that you have seen with schools that have utilized your program and students that have utilized your program. What are some of those impacts that you have personally seen?
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, so one thing that you see kind of right away is that kids start to identify like I'm really bad, I'm going to take a deep breath, and so that's like the very kind of like lowest hanging fruit is getting kids to identify how they're feeling and then do something about it. And that comes, I mean, pretty early when you start bringing these kids into tools, to these tools to kids, these tools to kids. You start to see kids go to help each other in that way, which is really cool. They might, you know, notice that a kid needs to move and then go to them and ask them to do a partner pose or some sort of other fun movement. Or, again, you know, notice how a kid is feeling and go to try to help them. So those are some of like the first things that you see Big picture. I mean, think about the last time you tried to do some computer work and you were like so pissed off about something that happened in your day, right, and like that's impossible, you're not going to get anything done. And so that's the same with kids, especially in those older grades. You know what happens.
Speaker 2:There's so much social pressure, there's so much that goes on at school.
Speaker 2:For them that isn't just classroom learning, and so giving them ways to kind of turn off what's going on outside of the classroom, tap into what's going on inside the classroom, whether that be that they're stretching their neck in the way that they learned in a class or, do you know, moving their legs in some in a way that feels good, or taking a few deep breaths in a way that feels good, that can just that's sort of. The next level is like you know that the kids can focus better on their work. They can focus better on what the teacher is saying. They're more likely to respond to a teacher or a classmate in a way that's productive instead of bursting out, and there's reasons for that behavior. That kids are acting that way, you know. And so if we can give them tools to identify that, it becomes a language of the classroom, you know everybody starts to understand that this is what we're going to do in this moment and really just humanizes emotions and experiences, and it's not just about compliance with whatever the teacher's saying in that moment.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, and I think the emotions aspect is something that it gets such a negative view.
Speaker 1:But, like, emotions aren't very normal. All of them are very normal and one of the tools that I've shared with educators over the years which I think is very valuable hearing some of the things that you're sharing is like a mood chart or a mood meter where, just even for the little little kids, it can be as simple as eight different faces with different expressions and saying how are you feeling right now. Where, just even for the little little kids, it can be as simple as eight different faces with different expressions and saying how are you feeling right now, and even if they can't identify, you know that it's disturbed they can see those little emoji faces and know, like that emoji is how I'm feeling. But I think that is just such a valuable thing, not only for even for students, but for teachers and people, because I, especially our generation I feel like emotions were not something that was like really discussed when we were kids. It was just like whatever you're going through, just deal with it. That's especially for young boys. It's like toughen up and you can't be sad and what are you, what are you angry for? Like and also understanding, like what is a big deal to an eight-year-old yes, a student. Stealing my bag of Skittles is not something that a 40-year-old needs to have a meltdown over, but to that eight-year-old those Skittles are their world and I think for educators to also understand. You've had 40 or however many years of lived experience, like there was a time where you probably cried when someone took your Skittles too, and I think really getting our students to understand what emotions they're experiencing is like the one of the probably the best for, even if they can't do all the other activities, it's like can you get your students to identify how they're feeling when the day starts? You know, it's little things like that. I think that can make this process easier for a teacher that's listening of. You know and I can. I'll share some of the resources in the comments as well, some that I have had. I'll share those in the description.
Speaker 1:But just being able to get your kids to know I'm angry, I'm frustrated, I'm tired, I'm hungry, whatever those emotions are like, it's not a bad thing that they're feeling them. Usually, where they become a bad thing is when a student doesn't know how to manage and identify those emotions. So that's kind of my take on it. And even hearing what you're saying of like getting them to know their emotions is like that first step before. Okay, now you're angry, like okay, we've identified that. Now let's take some breaths and like understand that it's okay to be angry, that's a human emotion, but let's take some breaths and let's calm our heart rate down. And those are things that I've seen.
Speaker 1:We had a first grade class that did yoga and I thought it was incredible because there'd be moments where you know the class, the levels of the classroom were getting kind of high and the teacher would be like aren't you guys? She would dim the lights and be like you know, we're just going to do a couple of deep breaths, we're going to get ourselves back together, then we're going to get back to our learning. And it was cool to watch because the moment only took one minute. But it's the difference between being proactive for a teacher of like OK, I can see that we're all getting a little worked up, let's reel ourselves back in, versus letting it linger for five to 10 minutes.
Speaker 2:So that was a cool thing that I've seen kind of tying with some of the things that you are sharing. Yeah, I love that. I think that's like a very common you know, without even that much time spent on these practices, like that is something that you can see in a classroom very early on and a very young age as kids, yeah, they can settle back down and, like you were saying, I mean, even before kids are identifying their emotions, you can have them identify how their body is actually feeling. You know, like there are so many sensations that are tied to emotions and so even just having kids recognize like, oh, you know, I'm noticing this about my body, ok, what might that mean? What can I do about it, you know, and so that's kind of a feedback loop, is and it's such a great skill for life. I'll also share some. I have a mindfulness in the classroom starter kit which is like a PDF version that I can totally send you and you can, you can link for anybody that's interested, but so I'll.
Speaker 1:I'll put that if you're listening, check in the comments or in the description, or however they do it these days. It'll be somewhere on this platform you're listening to. I'll make sure that I put that resource there so someone listening is able to gather that, and we are going to get ready. To wrap up, I would like you to let everyone know where they can find you at. I know we talked about the podcast, but I would love if there's an educator out there that's listening and they have some questions or they want some more resources, or their school is looking at adding your program to what they already are doing. I would love for you to now take some time. Just let everyone know where they can find all of the things.
Speaker 2:Jamie Gale to now take some time. Just let everyone know where they can find all of the things. Jamie, gale, okay, well, thank you for having me. I really enjoyed talking to you always and this is one of my very favorite topics, so I'm really glad to chat about it. If you are looking to get trained in how to do this with your students, the best place to go would be to meetmeinchildsposecom. That's the name of my kids yoga teacher training. I collaborate with an amazing entrepreneur in Chicago who also has a kids yoga company, and we do trainings for educators or clinicians anybody who works with kids. If you want to really know how to bring these tools on a really robust level to kids like if you're a school administrator and you're like it would be great for one or two of my staff members to be really prepared to lead the way on this, that's a great place to start. My kids yoga company is called Little Om Big Om, and so at littleombigomcom, if you're in the Madison area.
Speaker 1:Can you spell that, jamie?
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, so the word is om, o-m, like om, you know. So it'sLE the word little L-I-T-T-L-E-O-M, big B-I-G-O-Mcom, so yeah, so that's. If you want to learn about my kids yoga program, that would be the place to go. We're in the Madison area and my main Instagram handle is JamieGaleLLC. If you want to reach out and chat, that's probably the best way to reach me. I've got a bunch of different handles for all the different programs, but that's sort of my central one that I just started so you can reach out to me there.
Speaker 1:I was going to say the only person with more counts than me is you, so I don't know anyone that does more than me, and you're right above me, so you are very busy, so I definitely appreciate you taking time to jump on Before we get off. I want to do a rapid fire. You didn't know this was coming.
Speaker 2:Oh, I didn't know this was coming, no Okay.
Speaker 1:You are having dinner tonight and you can bring three people in the entire world, dead or alive. Who are those three people sitting at the dinner table with you?
Speaker 2:I mean I have to say my three kids, right.
Speaker 1:You don't have to, unless they're listening. I mean, you're probably going to have dinner with them.
Speaker 2:anyways, I'll say them that's the safest answer, I'll say my three amazing teenage children.
Speaker 1:Sounds good. The next question what is your favorite season and why?
Speaker 2:Oh summer. I direct a summer day camp and camp is the best, the very best thing in the world. It's a creative arts summer day camp, so camp season is the best, the very best thing in the world. It's a creative arts summer day camp, so camp season is the best, so it has to be summer.
Speaker 1:And then the last question if there was one thing that you could change about education, what would it be? Any one thing you snap your finger and not teacher pay, because I feel like that's always the easy answer not, teacher pay. Teachers are already millionaires in this fantasy world that we're sharing. What's one thing you would change?
Speaker 2:Okay, the thing I would change is that I would change it so that the kids could be pushed harder in the areas that come naturally to them and we could ease up on them in the areas that don't come as naturally to them. It's like that quote that I'm always quoting and I usually botch it, but it's like if a kid is great at science and terrible at math, get them a science tutor, not a math tutor, because they're probably going to do something that's aligned with the things that they're naturally drawn to and talented at down the road. So I think that's what I would change is letting letting kids really excel where they are naturally drawn to, because they're going to like school so much more. If we just lay off of them in the areas you know, get everybody meeting standards, but beyond that, let's let them fly where they're really in the areas they really love.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, jamie, thank you for joining me. I appreciate you for taking time to be on and for those that are listening. If you have not, please like, please subscribe. And before I jump off, I do want to give a shout out to our sponsor, be Well Teacher Box. We're talking about mindfulness. Be Well Teacher Box is a gift box for educators. Bewellteachercom. You can use code TEACHERSED to save $7 off your box. Order that today. Use code TEACHERSED. Jamie, it was an honor having you. It's an honor to see you. I love, after 20 plus years, that we're still connected, we're having these conversations, and thank you for all the hard work that you do in the space of education. Even though you're not technically in the education, you still are doing a lot to educate our teachers and educate our students. So thank you for all of your hard work.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me and thanks, I'm so glad we got to chat. Thanks, eddie.
Speaker 1:Yep Like subscribe. Make sure you go, follow all of Jamie's podcast, connect with her if you have any questions and we will see you all next Sunday. Bye.