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It is by universal misunderstanding that all agree. For if, by ill luck, people understood each other, they would never agree. - Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867)

SOONVolume 38 - July 2010IR Home

St. Luke's

Seriously Optimistic Online NewsletterSeriously Optimistic Online Newsletter

In this volume...

• Creative Yoga for Teenagers

• Reprints

• Kids Skill in Action

To contribute to SOON email us at: soon@innovativeresources.org

The transition from childhood to adolescence is both exciting and confusing. It is exciting because the road ahead is full of promise. It is confusing because changes happen quickly. Teens are expected to make decisions about friendships, subjects at school and many other important life events.

Meanwhile, the changes in their body and mind seem to be occurring overnight. Peer group pressure can weigh heavily. Parents, teachers and friends are full of advice about everything from their appearance to their

academic choices. But as teens grow towards adulthood, they will be called on to make

more of these choices for themselves.

For each of us, having a sense of who we are—and of the strength, connectedness and confidence that arises when our body and mind are working together—is a great place from which to make such choices.

The simple, dynamic and fun postures of yoga and creative dance can be a great help in developing a sense of identity and balance during the teen years.

Edna Reinhardt has been teaching yoga to children from preschool age to adolescence since the 1970s. She is the founder and principal of ‘Over the Moon Yoga and Dance Studios’ in Central Victoria , Australia.

Edna is the author of a series of yoga education resources for teachers, families and anyone who works with children and young people.

Creative Yoga for Teenagers is Edna’s latest book.

Co-published by St Luke’s Innovative Resources, this book is coming off the press this month, and is now available for order. It is beautifully produced with original colour photographs of two teens—a boy and a girl—demonstrating basic Hatha Yoga postures.

Alongside the photographs are simple, easy to follow instructions and pointers. The book opens with some simple relaxation

Now available from Innovative Resourceswww.innovativeresources.org:

Creative Yoga For TeenagersA book written by Edna Reinhardt and published by St Luke’s Innovative Resources and Yoga Education Resources. Cat No: 8011

Price: $45.00

Creative Yoga Games for KidsA card set designed for 4 to 12-year-olds. Cat no: 8533

Price: $34.95

Guided Relaxation for Teenagers CDGuided relaxation sequences spoken by Edna Reinhardt. Includes original music. Cat No: CD2111

Price: $25.00

Few things are more satisfying than seeing your own children have teenagers of their own.

Doug Larson

postures and guidelines for breathing and body alignment. It also shows readers how postures can be linked together to create fun dance sequences designed especially for teens.

Those who feel shy or unsure about launching into dance movements will be delighted to discover how these yoga sequences evolve very naturally into creative dance - and adding music creates a whole new dimension to the experience.

Yoga is also a great practice for teens who do not wish to engage

in sport. Sport is a wonderful activity. It stimulates endorphins and teaches discipline, hand-eye coordination and teamwork. It gets the heart pumping and burns calories. Sport has so much going for it … UNLESS YOU JUST DON’T ENJOY IT!

There are many children and young people in our schools who simply do not wish to make contact with any kind of ball or racket. They are not drawn to the playing field, the finishing tape or the swimming lanes. Perhaps you were such a student? Creative yoga and dance is one way that schools can develop the fitness and wellbeing of these students.

And even for those who relish sport, yoga offers fun and dynamic movement activities that also teach the value of quietude and relaxation, while offering an alternative to the pressures of competition and an antidote to stress ...ahhhh!

qyoga education resources

edna reinhardt

BAAF titlesMixed bundle:

Race and Ethnicity Linking and Introductions

Myths and Practices Surveying Adoption - The set of four titles is

NOW $5.00

Undaground - Breaking thru

Features music recorded by young people

engaged by St Luke’s Real 2 Reel music

program throughout 2005 NOW $5.00

Babar’s Birthday Surprise

By De Brunhoff Celebrates the joy of planning a thoughtful surprise for a special

friend. NOW $18.00

Candle - Coconut Lime Verbena SoyBy Sensia A zesty blend of coconut, verbena and

lime oil. Minimum 40 hour burn time. Made in

Australia. NOW $15.00

A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors. - Charles Baudelaire

Coming soon from IRBaby StrengthsCaring for a baby or toddler can be fun, surprising, challenging, exhausting... the best and the most difficult thing you have ever done!

Bonding or ‘secure attachment’ between a baby and it’s mother or primary caregiver is an essential ingredient in every baby’s development. Recognising the strengths in your baby’s behaviour is central to creating healthy bonds. Sometimes we misinterpret the behaviour of babies or toddlers: what to an adult may be ‘making a mess’ is baby’s way of learning about the world through play.

Baby Strengths will be a set of 24 delightfully-illustrated cards for: • recognising baby strengths• understanding baby cues• nurturing connections with baby • building solid foundations for baby development.

Baby Strengths can be used to build dynamic conversations with:• mothers, fathers, grandparents• childcare and family workers • parenting educators, health professionals...and anyone who cares for babies and parents.

Baby Strengths is far from ready yet but these early drafts are so much fun

we just had to show them off!

DON'T FORGET OUR SPECIALS BUTTONYes, right there on the top right hand side of our web page we have a little button marked Specials

with some backlist stock and end of run items like:

DUE FOR RELEASE IN NOVEMBER

If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend.

Doug Larson

Author takes action to build Kids’ Skills

The success of the book Kids’ Skills in Action by renowned Finnish psychiatrist and author Ben Furman has cartwheeled half-way around the world with the first English version recently released in Australia.

Ben, who hosts a late-night radio program in Finland speaking with callers about psychological and relationship issues, is an internationally-renowned speaker and a prolific writer. His books have been translated worldwide.

Ben is celebrating the English release of Kids’ Skills in Action by publisher St Luke’s Innovative Resources with a three-month visit to Australia.

Kids’ Skills in Action follows the publication in 2004 also by Innovative Resources of the English version of Ben’s successful book, Kids’ Skills.

Kids’ Skills is the name given to an innovative 15-step program, first created in Finland by Ben, which

aims to provide a playful and practical approach to solving challenges faced by children. At the heart of the Kids’ Skills method is the reframing of challenges that children may be experiencing, as skills yet to be learned.

While Kids’ Skills the book outlines the steps of the Kids’ Skills program, Kids’ Skills in Action, as the title suggests, provides readers with a collection of true stories gathered from around the world about the Kids’ Skills method in use. Stories with titles as diverse as ‘Learning time limits with video games’, ‘A family game to start eating again’, ‘Taming violence’, ‘Dropping the habit of swearing’, ‘Making friends with little sister’ and ‘Restoring happiness after parents’ divorce’, to name just a few, are skillfully related.

As an internationally-recognised teacher of solution-focused therapy and co-director of the Helsinki Brief Therapy Institute, Ben hopes Kids’ Skills in Action will contribute to a wider understanding that there are often alternatives to medicating children who may be facing challenges. He says there are also options other than ‘blaming the parents for not doing a proper job’.

Ben says the stories in Kids’ Skills in Action are inspiring.

‘When I have been teaching,’ Ben says, ‘I have found that many people are like me; they learn better by hearing stories which convey the ideas. I have gathered a lot of stories from people using Kids’ Skills and I just love these stories. I was

convinced they needed to be published; that people needed to hear them to be inspired in the same way that I have always been inspired by seriously optimistic psychotherapeutic stories.’

The first edition of Kids’ Skills in Action was released in Finland in January this year. This was followed with releases in Denmark and Holland.

And now it’s Australia’s turn to read all about Kids’ Skills in Action.

‘Australia seems to me to be at the forefront of the strengths-based movement,’ says Ben, referring to the philosophy behind solution-focused therapy, a core ingredient of the Kids’ Skills method. ‘You people seem to be at home with the idea of focusing on what works, rather than what is wrong; respecting parents for trying their best, and eliciting hope.’

Kids' Skills in Action is now in stock.Please check our website for details.

or CLICK here to see the Ben Furman products on our website.

According to Ben, many of the concepts which underpin the 15 steps of the Kids’ Skills method – such as learning new skills, having support from other people, celebrating success, feeling competent, having fun, getting positive feedback from trying and seeing parents as partners rather than culprits - are universal and he says this could account for the method’s success across many cultures.

‘Kids’ Skills is a simple method and everyone working with children can benefit from using either the method as such or just picking bits and pieces that fit their work,’ says Ben, adding that this might include professionals such as teachers, counsellors, speech therapists, occupational therapists, child care workers and family therapists.

Ben says he also had parents in mind when writing the book.

‘If a psychological method is simple enough, you don’t need to be a professional to use it,’ says Ben. ‘Over the years I have gathered quite a few stories of people using the method with their own children. Most parents need some guidance to be able to benefit from the approach maximally but there are lots of parents out there who just read the book, become inspired and try the Kids’ Skills method with their children.’

For the past year, Ben has been developing an internet application which facilitates the use of the Kids’ Skills method. He is also in the midst of developing a Kids’ Skills application for adolescents.

When helping children to overcome challenges, Ben believes three ingredients are ‘pivotal’ – ‘instillation of hope, co-operation (with kids, parents and friends) and creativity (particularly the creativity of children)’.

‘Those are, according to my understanding, the ingredients of success,’ says Ben. ‘Kids’ Skills is just a suggestion of how these three factors can be tapped into. I am sure there are many other ways to elicit hope, to enhance co-operation and to inspire creativity. We have designed Kids’ Skills as one possible course of action that can help workers to activate those three factors of success.’

Kids’ Skills by Ben Furman

Published by St Luke’s Innovative Resources

RRP: $26.90

Kids’ Skillsby Ben Furman

Published by St Luke’s Innovative Resources

RRP: $31.95

Kids’ Skills Skills Bookby Ben Furman and Tapani Ahola

RRP: $8.80

To celebrate the release of Kids’ Skills in Action by Ben Furman, St Luke’s Innovative Resources is also offering a Kids’ Skills value pack. The pack includes all three books by Ben Furman - Kids’ Skills, Kids’ Skills in Action and the Kids’ Skills Skills Book

$58.85 (+ postage) save $8.80

To order Ben’s books or to request a copy of the St Luke’s Innovative Resources catalogue, visit Innovative Resources website.

Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands and goes to work.

Carl Sandburg, New York Times Feb. 13, 1959

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KIds’ Skills

Kids’ Skills

S k i l l s B o o k

Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.

Doug Larson

THE REPRINT SCHEDULEIt has been a big year so far, and I made a lot of noise about the workload around the place, with some new products and the end of financial year all coming upon us at once. (check out our Facebook.)

Well, Iet me tell you about the reprint schedule. We have had some of our biggest sellers draw down the stock levels over the last few months and we will seriously have to look at our scheduling for next year.

Over the last two months we have reprinted the card set that started it all, the Strength Cards, now available in a new polypropylene box.

Then we completely redesigned the packaging for our journalling kit, Inside Out, and we also updated the booklet.

This is a great resource for encouraging upper years school children to explore journalling with a wide range of topics, comments, thought-provoking ideas and illustrations suitable for application across a range of writing styles.

From there we went into production with one of the quiet achievers around the place, Cars R Us. With 79 cards to be collated and boxed it was a day’s work just to lay them out on the table. Phew, should have seen the legs on the table buckle. Thought we might be picking them up for a fortnight....

Anyway ‘the cars’, as we refer to them, are a stalwart being inspired by Choice Theory, Reality Therapy and incorporating our own strengths-based ideas.

Now I’ve just signed off on the proofs for Ups and Downs, considered our most versatile resource in a text-free tool that uses evocative, vivid, thought-provoking images.

I was fascinated by the magnificent images that make up the Picture This card set whilst checking over the print-ready proofs. I thought I could just stick the proof on the wall as a great colour poster.

Words, designed to open up conversations about meaning, significance, thoughts, feelings and experiences, has been printed again and is ready for collating.

The Scaling Kit, which was designed for evaluating the effectiveness of a program or mapping sensitive personal responses or just noticing change, will also be back from the printer any day now.

That powerful set of watercolor images we call Shadows is about to be reprinted but we need to do a bit of redesign so we can develop a stronger and more versatile polypropylene box for it.

And finally we come to the Deep Speak cards. They are right up there on the numbers report so they come up for reprint quite often. They are great for building rich conversations about some of life’s big questions and young people really take to them.