Yesterday Shine Bright went back to Boston to visit our new broken little friends. To be honest, after meeting them last week, and now knowing our audience, I spent some time teetering on feelings of self doubt as I brainstormed ideas for our session.
I had to continuously remind myself that we have a powerful message to share no matter how they receive it in the moment.
One of Shine Brights beliefs that we teach by is that our message is not about instant engagement, but rather presenting life skills that can be used any time - even if it’s 10 or 20 years down the road.
Yesterday turned out to be beyond amazing!
As we started the class, Some kids had their hoods pulled up covering their face. Some were swearing and goofing off, and some showed no interest.
We made sure we greeted each one by name. They were surprised we remembered.
And… we got vulnerable and began sharing some of our own stories and why we are driven teach kids these tools. Slowly they emerged. Some of their eyes widened while they listened. They asked questions and added their own thoughts.
After our talks, they all willingly participated in a mindful challenge, a yoga session, and a fun activity they could take with them.
By the end of class they were laying on their yoga mats laughing, and asking us us for help. “Miss Christine, Miss Soni… how do you… can you help me with… how does this work…?”
By the end of session 2 we saw CHILDREN.
Laughing, playing, engaging with us and most importantly feeling good about themselves.
I’m overflowing with gratitude to be a part of this project.