0 Comments

I  recently met with old Holistic Mama friend, Julie Kubal who is also an amazing photographer. ..
We came up with a lot of ideas for ways to work together and to bring her gorgeous photos to the LO families.. I am REALLY looking forward to our photo shoot ( coming soon!)  I can't wait to see how she captures Saylor and Milo's spirit....  



Website

http://www.juliekubal.com/

http://juliekubal.com/blog/

0 Comments

Dear Lil Omm,

Thank you for being so much more than a yoga studio. You are an incredible community of inspiring women, men and children. I had the opportunity and pleasure to experience your beauty from a variety of angles: as a student, as a teacher and finally, on the administrative side, as a manager. The view from each angle was breathtaking.

As a student, I saw beginner and seasoned yogis coming together as one curious, enthusiastic, supportive group. It never ceased to amaze me how comfortable I felt being myself within the confines of your pink walls, free to explore my body and my mind, led by a knowledgable and creative teacher. Before and after classes, I looked forward to the warm greetings and conversations that always took place among and between students and staff.

As a teacher, I saw the care and passion that went into the planning of every class, of every event, of every day from my fellow teachers, and most of all, from our incredible leader, Pleasance. I saw powerful, strong women from a variety of backgrounds, in a variety of situations, working together to manage and balance the struggles and the beauty of being a friend, a wife, a girlfriend, a mom and a daughter. I saw them transcend boundaries to provide support and love when support and love were needed by others and to ask for support and love when support and love were needed for themselves. I saw them selflessly check their own trials at the door in order to provide a nurturing home for the women, men, and children who looked to them for relief from life's stresses.

As a manager, I had the privilege of seeing how much hard work, love, and dedication went in to making Lil Omm the home it truly is. I saw how, with constant mindfulness, honesty, and humanity, a business could become a community, a family, a way of life that could be endlessly fulfilling.

Throughout my adult life, I've struggled with all of the competing images of what being a woman means in this society.  From the students, the teachers, and the amazing Pleasance, I've begun to see the various examples of womanhood in our society as beautiful and inspiring. I no longer feel the pressure (most of the time!) that there is one right way to be a "successful" woman, but instead see that there are a plethora of ways to incorporate womanhood and femininity into my life and that they can all be beautiful parts of a "right" me.

As Lil Omm prepares to move, just down the road, to a new space, and as I prepare for a new journey in my own professional life, I wanted you, the extraordinary Lil Omm community, to know how much you mean to me, how important you've been in my life, and how much I love you.  I am inspired and humbled by your beauty.

Thank you for everything you have given me so far. I look forward to all that is yet to come!


xoxo,
Pam

0 Comments

I wrote this a few weeks ago.. I'm away now, not as close to the space as I was when I wrote this. It was quite a special place.. that V St.. and I look forward to what the future holds for us. love and light to you all- 

"I'm here now, alone.
Actually, I came to clean up a bit and of course Milo woke to nurse. So while nursing him at the desk, the lil omm slide show of opening day pictures, itsy bitsy yoga baby pictures and prenatal yoga pictures opens on the computer while I am sitting here looking around. It's so quiet right now.  I can hear the vacuum from Blacksalt. My mind floods with memories of families and friends who have come in these doors, shared yoga and a smile. Opening day pictures , a smiling Kristin, teaching a crowded room, Rebecca, Lisa and Oliver, ( saw them today)  Dan , Dana and Jake ( saw them yesterday), Jessica and Annie ( just had their 2nd baby last month, Saba) , and a host of other smiles crowd the screen.
Then baby Elisa pops up, her mom, Erika took prenatal  yoga classes at Gtown lulu and then IBY babies with Elisa for many, many sessions.. looking at Elisa so small, when I just saw her running around Guy Mason Park last week, I can't belive it! I think my favorite thing about lil omm is the progression that WE get to observe.. typically.. first time new mama comes in for prenatal, stays for a few Itsy Bitsy Yoga Sessions before they head back to work, and then we see them at MOVERS on the weekends or Adult Yoga for themselves.. it's amazing to share in these most special years with families. To see the ENGAGED , INSPIRED AND CONNECTED Washington DC families..

Allie, Michael and Tristan, Jeff, Rhea and Sloane, Stacy, and Charlie,  Janet, Courtney, Jamie, Melanie, Mary Ann and Mack, Elizabeth, Anne and Rose, Jennifer and Catalina, Lucia and Amy,  Charlotte, Emily, Abigail, Marion,.... the list goes on and on.. of people WHO HAVE COME AND TOUCHED MY LIFE. I know this space was the perfect home for us for the year and a half. I know we did great things here.. ZUMBA, meditation with Hugh Byrne.. hosting Karen Maezen Miller, our anniversary party, kids classes, birthday parties for friends and neighbors. ( Jonah, Magda, Saylor, Baker)

It's with GREAT PRIDE and LOVE that I look forward to our new space, our new growing family and more yoga, more love and to see you all. You bring so much light to my life, to Saylor's life and now to Milo.

0 Comments

0 Comments

Online Writing Classes for Moms
SIGN UP FOR THE NEW FALL SESSION NOW AND GET 20% OFF

Have you always wanted to write about your experience as a mother, but never had the time or energy? The Momoir
Project offers online writing classes for moms interested in learning how to translate their personal stories into words,
whether it's for themselves, their blog or to publish. Led by award-winning writer and editor, Cori Howard, these online
classes are a journey worth taking. Check out what Momoir students are saying here.

 Join a growing community of moms around the world. Record your memories
before you forget. Share your stories. Learn to write, Laugh. Cry. Discover Yourself.

SIGN UP NOW FOR FALL AND RECEIVE A 20% DISCOUNT.
COUPON EXPIRES JULY 31, 2011

Email cori@themomoirproject.com for more information.
COUPON CODE L021
www.themomoirproject.com



--
Cori Howard
The Momoir Project
www.themomoirproject.com

Read the blog: http://www.themomoirproject.com/?p=960
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Momoir-Project/298433930737?ref=ts
Twitter: @writingmomoirs

0 Comments

Thought some of our families would be interested in this. 

Contact : riggalison@yahoo.com

Hello!

I am a member of the Mclean Gardens Babysitting Cooperative. We are looking for new members to join. Members live in Glover Park and north, as well as furthe east towards Connecticut Ave.

It is a great way to build local relationships for both parents and kids. Babysitting is paid for with credits earned from performing adminstrative functions as well as babysitting other members' childrens. There are monthly business meetings and quarterly (i think!) social meetings.

Please let me know if you are interested in joining. It would be great to get a few members in the neighborhood- living close makes the process a lot easier.

Thanks,
Alison

0 Comments

"When we move with the flow, rather than resisting it, we are riding on the universal current that allows us to flow with life. "




I would never have guessed that the past week would have panned out this way. I am curious and interested as to why this particular time in my life is so full of change and transition, but it is. I also know that something bigger is happening, something so great on the path is about to unfold.

Tomorrow, 37 weeks, full term with Mr. Milo. And the day will be looking for a new lil omm home, and putting the pieces of our lost lease together, figuring out where lil omm belongs, where baby Milo and I belong. Yes, it's a lot. 







"The flow is always taking you where you need to go. It' s just a matter of deciding whether you plan on taking the ride or dragging your feet."

I am going to take the ride on this one... I am going to CHOOSE to believe in our community that we CAN and will  find each other on the other side and that in life we are only given what we can handle. I know that in this moment, in this time I can panic and freak out and be sad,  ( which I did do and Kate and Meredith had to witness..)  or I can focus on all that we do have, the 7 weeks on V St, the 3 weeks? until the baby comes, and I can just live in this moment.







"Many people live their lives struggling against this current. They try to use force or resistance to will their lives into happening the way they think it should. Others move with this flow like a sailor using the wind, trusting that the universe is taking them exactly where they need to be at all times."

I have faced many challenges in my life and looking back I know how important change and challenge is to growth and expansion.  I am excited about what's the come, because I know it's going to teach me something I have yet to learn... here's to the journey.

0 Comments

" I just wanted to drop you a note of thanks and let you know how much lil omm has
meant to me this last year. I was sad to read the news yesterday that the studio
is moving, but was also inspired to read your note about how community is more
than a physical space. I want you to know that I will continue to support lil
omm where ever you relocate. It has been such a wonderful place for me and now
for my baby -- I can't imagine life without it!

It was just about a year ago that I first entered lil omm for the
mindfulness-based stress reduction class. To say that course changed my life
would be an understatement, and Lil Omm, in my mind, is connected to that
transformation. It was in your studio that I finally heard some of the quiet
voices inside me that wanted to be expressed, and it was in your studio that I
really started thinking about how I wanted to live my life going forward. Even
going to the bathroom was an inspiration (seriously -- I love the cards on the
walls!) and an occasion for reflection. Lil Omm continued to be a refuge and a
source of inspiration during my pregnancy (I credit my smooth, natural birth
with many of the things I learned in class). And now, it's a place to have fun
with my baby. Sometimes, I look around the room, at the omm on the wall and am
amazed at all that has happened and changed within me in one year.

I say all this to say thank you, and to let you know that the studio will have
my support wherever you move. "
-KM, student

0 Comments

Are you expecting your first baby and nervous about what to expect?

Sylvia and Dirk Van Ziegert (a lil omm prenatal family!)are new parents of baby Nick (born November 2010) and would love to invite you over to their house to hang out for a few hours and shadow them. They are not baby professionals, but are certainly happy to share all the tips and insights that they have gained so far on baby care (breast and bottle feeding, pumping, diapering, sleeping, bathing, baby monitors, baby carriers, etc.). You can call then at 202-248-6917 or e-mail at vanziegert@yahoo.com if you are interested.

Best of luck...

0 Comments

Have books you want to donate? This is a great source, from one of our friends...

Hi, all. I was dropping off some books at Books for America yesterday
(1417 --22nd Street NW, almost at the corner of 22nd and P, near Soho
Cafe) and the person taking my donation said they were "desperate" for
childrens' books, to help rebuild the library at Takoma Park
Elementary School that was destroyed in a fire late last year.
You can drop off your donations, which are 100 percent tax-deductible,
at Books for America,or they will pick up from your home! Call them at 202-835-2665.

0 Comments

Over the next few weeks, we'll be featuring all of our teachers, new and old, and their perspectives on yoga and lil omm...

The greatest joy of life is being mother to my 16-month-old daughter Estella. While pregnant I practiced yoga regularly in a community with other prenatal women, and it was a remarkable experience. The desire to continue connecting with other yogi moms is what brought me to lil omm, along with Pleasance’s passion for yoga and for families across the lifespan. I want to practice yoga with my daughter and with other children, with moms and families, and with yogis at all stages of life. Over the past couple months at Lil Omm I’ve formed meaningful friendships and love the people here. And I cherish being connected with like-minded women, feeling my energy renewed through daily yoga and meditation, and living creatively in ways that support and nurture my life, my family, and the lives of others.

These days, between teaching and running around with a toddler, my yoga practice tends to include some form of abdominal toning, sun salutations, a quiet mindful mountain pose or two, a few inversions, journaling, and sitting meditation.

My training is in the YogaWorks method, a unique blend of vinyasa flow and breath emphasis from the Ashtanga tradition as well as creative sequencing, use of props, and specific alignment from the Iyengar tradition. In addition to being a certified 500-hour YogaWorks instructor, I’ve also been fortunate to receive numerous teachings from His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and have studied Buddhism in-depth with qualified teachers.

As a yoga teacher, a mom and a citizen of the world, I am blessed to have found this community. I look forward to meeting more students and creating more connections.

0 Comments

We get asked a lot of questions about resources - for book recommendations, birthing options + education, and good places and organizations you can to go for information.

And while there is nothing quite like a community of like-minded parents helping each other find their path, we also love sticking our noses in a good book, taking a class to broaden our view, or simply do anything that will help us see our relationship with our children in a different light.

I am currently reading Everyday Blessings. A truly empowering parenting book - not one of those books that are simply laundry lists of everything you might be doing wrong. Instead, it focuses on looking inward to find your parenting path. And it is liberating. It reminded me how important it is to choose wisely; a friend of mine recently told me she put all her books away because of how they negative they made her feel. And it made me realize that I enjoyed this book so much because unlike the beginning of my experience with parenting, I now know what I need and want, and seek out information to that end. Don't tell me what to do, help me figure out how to think! A lesson learned, indeed...

But beyond the bookshelf, be sure to look around: there are resources all around you. Yourself - that's the first and perhaps the most important. And remember that you are surrounded by many people who may be going through just the same thing you are, who are ready to share their experiences as well - this hold especially true at places like lil omm, where people come to be part of a community.

Need help getting started? Don't forget the great list of resources we have on our site for new moms, moms to be, parents, kids, and general community opportunities. And take a look at some upcoming workshops: Omm Mama Expo (10/13), Natural Solutions for Cold & Flu Season (10/16) + How to Handle Your Child's Intense Feelings (10/17). We also post many other events on the FB page that are relevant for families.

Truly, mindful parenting is all about staying connected - to yourself, your family, to others. It's about talking, sharing, ask questions of others and yourselves, and most importantly, always learning! Finding the right resources for you is very personal, and is really the first step. Putting the resources and knowledge you have into practice, however, can take a lifetime.

0 Comments