Mixed Abilities Inclusive Special Needs Summer Program Herndon, VA

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Finally, a group class benefiting all children and families while supporting empathy training, emotional regulation, peer relationships and the ability to calm the body and mind through movement, dance, yoga and the expressive arts!

mixed-abilities-special-needs-inclusive-program-herndon-virginia-summer-fall

A Program for Special Needs Children – an inclusive model in Northern Virginia featured at The Artory in Herndon, Virginia

To increase social-emotional development and intelligence, empathy, focus and concentration, and the ability to calm the body and mind

  • A Relationship-Centered Approach to working with Special Needs Children
  • Supporting your child’s social-emotional development through movement, dance, yoga, expressive arts
  • Siblings and Parents are welcome to participate (must apply to be a parent volunteer)
  • An Inclusive Model

Specialized Dance/Movement Therapy and Children’s Yoga for Mixed Abilities

featured at The Artory, 1141 Elden Street, Suite 218, Herndon, VA 20170

Summer Series – 6 Classes

Wednesdays, June 6 – July 18, 2012 (off July 4)

6:00pm-6:45pm Younger Children

7:00pm-7:45pm Older Children

Fall Series – 10 Classes

Wednesdays, September 5 – November 14, 2012 (off October 31)

6:15pm-7:00pm  Younger Children

7:15pm-8:00pm Older Children

Apply for a session!  Students will be hand-selected for the best fit!

Fill out my online form.

Prenatal Yoga and Dance for Conscious Birthing

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Prenatal Yoga and Dance for Conscious Birthing

Are you pregnant and expecting?  Do you know a friend that is?  Or do you have an awesome OB/GYN office?

I am certified in Prenatal Yoga for Conscious Birthing!  Join my new prenatal workshop on Saturday, May 6, 2012 from 12-2pm in a brand new yoga studio in Old Town Alexandria called 532 Yoga!  I have put together a program called Prenatal Yoga and Dance for Conscious Birthing!  Read more about it below.  This workshop will turn into an 8-week series session at 532 Yoga.  Check it out and register!  Or share this post with your friend and OB-GYN office!
http://www.532yoga.com/WORKSHOPS.html

Program Description:
Enhance your comfort, enjoyment, and relaxation during all prenatal trimesters!  Develop greater vitality and awareness of your body that is home for two, and deepen your relationship with your baby.  In this workshop, presented by an expert in the field of prenatal yoga, you will be introduced to yoga postures, breath work, visualization, meditation, free-flowing dances and movements, vocal toning, and relaxation.  Learn to cultivate flexibility, calm and confidence in preparation for labor and childbirth. Learn how calm and flexibility ease the birthing process, thus reducing pain and increasing the joy of giving birth. This workshop is for all stages of pregnancy minus high risk pregnancies.

This workshop is an introduction to an 8 week prenatal course commending Sunday 20 May at 11:15 am. No previous yoga experience necessary.

Affirmations and the Parent-Child Well-Being

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Here is my new article via Tots2Tweens.com!

I recently created an Affirmation called “Conscious Bond, Conscious Baby” meant to be something special that parents can print and keep somewhere close to their heart, like their bedside table or even memorized.  But what exactly is an affirmation and how does it contribute to the well-being of the parent-child relationship?

Affirmations are positive, meaningful, and deeply resonating words or statements that are simple and can be repeated.  I like to think of them as short and sweet poems.  A simple online search for the meaning of affirmation resulted in the consensus of “true” or “truisms”.  Affirmations carry great truth and usually start in the first person such as “I AM”.  “I AM Happy”, “I AM Good”, “I AM Whole”, are some short examples.  Also, the word ‘mantra’ from the Yoga tradition is used in a similar manner.  Affirmations have a way to resound peacefulness within and through your body.  It is best to find a quiet moment, close your eyes, tune inside, take a deep breath in, take a deep breath out, then read or say your affirmation in a calm, steady voice.

You will be learning more about my work with the parent-child bond in upcoming articles for Tots2Tweens.  In the meantime and to begin with, I’d like you to download a free copy of my “Conscious Bond, Conscious Baby Affirmation” from my website.  If you are pregnant and expecting, think about how centering yourself with a meaningful intention may not only calm and ground you, but your baby too.  Or imagine reading affirmations together with your partner, tuning into your unborn baby.  Divine!  Or perhaps your children are already citizens of the world and in the rush of the mundane, you take a moment to remember your ever-lasting connection as parent and child with a positive affirmation.  I picture well-being bubbling with endorphins and good vibrations everywhere!  Affirmation: “My baby and I are separate and together for all of time.”

Brigitta White, MS, R-DMT, Founder of The WholeMe! Programs, LLC, Master of Science in Dance Movement Therapy, Registered Dance Movement Therapist through the American Dance Therapy Association, Holistic Family Specialist, Certified in Prenatal Yoga, Conscious Birthing, Children’s Yoga

Loudoun Country Day School Summer Program + In the Community

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Yoga and Dance Choreography for children ages 6-11, a summer program at Loudoun Country Day School open to the public.
Yoga and Dance Choreography at Loudoun Country Day SchoolHello WholeMe’ers!  Happy Spring to you and your family.  Here is the latest!I’m offering a 1/2 day summer camp which is open to the public at Loudoun Country Day School in Leesburg, Virginia.  Yoga and Dance Choreography is a program that I custom tailored for the students and children who will attend the camp.  This 1/2 day camp will be offered twice during the summer.  Check out the description and the details.  Hooray!

Start your camp session with a full children’s yoga class that builds on
learning poses, stretches, breathing exercises, games, and partner and
group poses as the week progresses.  Then, feel calm, centered and ready to
create your own dances based on storytelling!  Each of you have a story to
tell whether personal, imaginative, or from your favorite movie; this is
the time to weave it all together with friends!  You’ll learn basic and
intermediate choreography skills or what is also called “dance
composition”.  You will always remember having this summer filled with
peacefulness and personal expression through dance and movement!  Come to
think of it, your parents may want something like this for themselves!

Bio:  Brigitta White, MS, R-DMT has her Masters in Dance Movement Therapy since 2007.  She has her Bachelor’s in Dance and Spanish,  and is also a Children’s Yoga Teacher.  Brigitta is the founder of The WholeMe! Programs, LLC which helps parents support their baby’s social and emotional development by creating a healthy parent-child bond through movement, dance, yoga and the expressive arts.  Brigitta lives for allowing children the opportunity to be comfortable with who they are and to be comfortable using body movement!  wholemeprograms.com

Grades 1-5     Ages 6-11
June 25-29 12:30-3:30pm
July 23-27   9:00am-12:00pm
CLICK HERE to see the course offering at Loudoun Country Day School and to Regsiter!

In the Community:

WholeMe! Programs, LLC will be exhibiting at the Loudoun ENDependence Center’s Disability and Healthy Aging Lifestyle Fair 2012.  The fair is for family and friends touched by a disability.  It will be held at the Rust Library in Leesburg, VA on Friday, April 13 from 11am-4pm.

Releasing Your Inner Child: a spring workshop for womena day retreat for women in Ashburn

Releasing Your Inner Child: a Spring Workshop for Women

Saturday, April 21 9:30am-3:30pm (Lunch 12-1pm)

This spring wellness day retreat is for reconnecting with your inner-child in the company of supportive women.  Spend the day immersed in healing movement circles, guided meditation, verbal sharing, clearing negative energy, and in celebratory ceremony designed to help you towards integration.

We will be setting individual intentions and goals.

Your Take-Away:

Self and Body Awareness
Learning Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
Movement, Yoga and Dance concepts for self-practice
Sense of Wholeness and Freeness for Better Health
Bonding with other Females
Whatever You Need to Take Away

Located at the Home Practice of Heidi Dupree, RN, CTN
43291 Swamp Fox Ct
Ashburn, VA  20147

$130  *****Please Register at  http://bit.ly/GRT14D  Call #            703-220-6239

Facilitated by Brigitta White, Founder of WholeMe! Programs, LLC, Dance Movement Therapist (wholemeprograms.com + brigitta@wholemeprograms.com) and Heidi DuPree, Holistic Energy Practitioner (heididupree.com/)

Flyer Link           Registration Link 

Until next time,

Brigitta White, Founder of WholeMe! Programs, LLC
Brigitta White, Founder of WholeMe! Programs, LLC

Infant-Child Brain Development in the Parent-Child Relationship

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What goes on in that brain of my baby?  What am I doing exactly that affects my child’s brain and development?

The essential role of the body in early infancy sets a permeable foundation for development in early childhood and onwards.  Movement and the nonverbal experience correlates to our neural-muscular pathways in the brain which help us understand information about self and other.  In most cases, “the other” is parent, caregiver, or sibling when referring to the child’s self.  Here is what you need to know about this interpersonal exchange.

  • Infant’s brain is experience-dependent, it is co-constructed at the nonverbal level
  • Self-Regulation is a didactic (2 person) relationship, it is interactive regulation at each moment, it is an improvisational dance
  • Baby is responding to Time, Space, Affect, Proprioception in the “other” person
  • These patterns of contingency are precursors to understanding sequencing, language and gaining self-confidence
  • The interactive dynamic is bi-directional, mutual, emotional, it is a psycho-neuro-biological process (mind, brain, body)
  • Critical time in brain growth occurs in early infancy on a physiological, body level

Can you bring this awareness to your interactions with your children this week?  Share with me what you find, by hitting reply to this email!  Or shoot me a question.

On my next note to you, I’ll share about the Body-Brain and how intelligence is everywhere in our body.

Brigitta White is the Founder of WholeMe! Programs, LLC, Master of Science in Dance Movement Therapy, Registered Dance Movement Therapist through American Dance Therapy Association, Holistic Family Specialist, Certified in Prenatal Yoga for Conscious Birthing, and in Children’s Yoga.  She offers a health and wellness program specializing in prenatal life through birth through the nonverbal years to early childhood.

What do you learn in a Masters in Dance Movement Therapy?  It’s a psychotherapy?

Neuro-psychology, early childhood development, parent-child attachment, infant development, mindful-awareness, the art of dance, movement and using the creative process, spontaneity on a body level supported by a psycho-dynamic framework through relationship-centered learning…plus MUCH MORE!  Group Therapy, Process-Oriented thinking, Research Methods, etc., etc.

Until Next Time!

Brigitta
http://wholemeprograms.com/about-whole-me-programs/

Working Moms

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One of my lovely blog followers brought this article to my attention.  Thanks Becky!  It makes you muse on this Bring Your Child To Work Day, “What mom would you love to go to work with for a day?”  So, after reading Becky’s article, comment here about what mom you would enjoy going to work with for a day!

http://www.onlinemba.com/blog/10-moms-wed-most-love-to-go-to-work-with-for-a-day/