Earth day is one of my favorite days of the year for many reasons.  It’s spring, the land is becoming greener (even here in Southern CA!), the days are getting longer and there is an energy of newness in everyone and everything. When you think of Earth day what comes to mind? Recycling? Reducing Waste? Composting? Reusing?  All of these things are great!  As Earth day approaches I got to thinking about how my family and I celebrate this day.  I am grateful that we live somewhere that we can go outside every single day of the year.  We play, walk, hike, camp, picnic, garden and explore nature all time time.  

I’d like to share a recent activity that my kids and I did together, which is making homemade play dough.  The inspiration for the ingredients in our play dough actually was planted one year ago...

We live in a neighborhood with a lot of undeveloped desert land.  When it rains even the smallest amount everything springs to new life!  Last year my husband noticed that the entire desert had turned into a sea of yellow chamomile flowers, which look like tiny balls and smell amazing!  Not to mention the heavenly fragrance of orange blossoms and jasmine that occasionally wafts through the air adding to the magic of spring.  He harvested a bunch of the flowers and we let them dry out without a clear intention on how we’d use them.  Fast forward to today.  We put these dried flowers along with lavender and lavender essential oil and beet juice in one of our play dough batches.  The other batch was colored with turmeric and scented with cinnamon with dried rosemary for texture.  We doubled the batch because this play dough was for my daughter’s preschool classroom.  They had so much fun they didn’t want to donate it to the class!  Look how busy and focused they are!  They were calm and happy during this rich sensory experience.  It kept them busy for over an hour.  

The recipe I used is from Tinkergarten.  They call it “Forest Putty” and it was left for us by the “Forest Fairies.” We have taken Tinkergarten classes these last few years and we love them! It is a nature-based learning program for kids ages 1-5 that uses outdoors as the classroom.  There is a curriculum and  kids learn empathy, practice building persistence and grit and they get to use their creative and unique skills and much more!  It has been such an amazing experience that I’ve applied to become a leader.  If you want to try out some forest putty I am offering a demo activity on Thursday, April 26 at 11 am at Andulka park.  You can join me and if you have any questions email me at Angela (at) spaceandtimeyoga.com.  This will be filmed but only viewed by the Tinkergarten team.  If accepted I’ll be offering full seasons of classes here in Riverside as soon as winter of next year! 

Without further ado here is a link for the recipe:
https://tinkergarten.com/forest-putty-recipe

When you make your forest putty try taking it outside!  Wear old clothes and go out and play!  Kids can add leaves, sticks, dirt, grass, flowers —you name it —to the putty.  They will make new creations, throw it around, smash it into things and will explore what happens.  Try to guide the kids without directing their play.  Sometimes with play dough we worry about mixing colors or making a mess.  Try to let those notions go and observe how you feel.  Listen to what your kids are saying, observe their play and help guide them without directing their play.   Enjoy every moment!

Have you ever made homemade play dough?  How do you feel when things get messy?  Observe your own feelings and thoughts during the whole process.

What does your family do to celebrate Earth day?  

I realized that for my family, everyday is an opportunity to connect with nature through play and exploration!  

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About 3 years ago, I started really getting into essential oils.  I was pregnant with my second child and looking for ways to help alleviate some of my pregnancy ailments that would be safe and effective for us.  After a very trusted friend introduced me to doTERRA and their products I’ve been a convert ever since!  All of their products are CPTG (Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade).  This means they are 100% what they say they are.  They are the highest potency so they can be used safely and for their intended purpose.  I have only had wonderful experiences with these products!  My husband even jokingly calls me “Oily Noily.” Soon after my oil kit arrived I felt a little overwhelmed and nervous.  How do I even use these things?  I wasn’t sure where to begin.  I texted my “oil” friends and joined in a FB support group and posted questions all the time.  My friend reassured me that using oils would become old hat in no time.  The beauty of it all was, she was completely right!  I was handing out oil advice left and right to all of my friends.  If someone couldn’t sleep—there’s an oil for that!  Sunburn?  There’s an oil for that!  Ants invading your house—there’s an oil for that!  I take my oils everywhere I go.  In the car, on vacation, at home, in my purse.  I always have my oils close at hand.  I love that my kids even ask for oils when they get an “owie” and when they go to bed at night.  Our whole family has embraced the oils.  Apparently my whole house and the area outside my house smells like oils!  My neighbors are always saying, “I love walking by it smells soooo amazing!”  

So what exactly do I do with all these oils?  I will tell you more in some future posts!  For today, I would like to share one simple recipe that is easy to make, safe to use on your yoga mat and smells amazing!  It only requires 3 oils, water and a glass or metal spray bottle.  You want to be sure to use blue or brown glass so the oils don’t lose their potency and avoid plastic because the oils are very concentrated, some oils, especially citrus can break down plastic and we don’t want plastic on our mats and in our bodies!

This is all you need to make your own Yoga Mat Cleaner!

1 glass spray bottle 
Melaleuca (Tea Tree) Essential Oil 
Lavender Essential Oil
Peppermint Essential Oil 
White Vinegar 
Water

Fill the bottle slightly more than half with clean water, add white vinegar and then oils. Add 10 drops of Melaleuca, 10 drops of Lavender and 5 drops of Peppermint.  Finish off with more water until full.  Close the lid, shake to combine and then mist over your yoga mat.  Inhale the wonderful aroma!  Wipe dry with a clean, damp cloth.  Enjoy!  

*Be careful not to get peppermint in your eyes or nostrils as it can sting.  

Feel free to add your own flare to the mix.  You could drop in some Patchouli essential oil or use it as a substitute for the Peppermint.  It’s all about your own personal taste.   You can buy oils directly from my doTERRA site.

I keep a bottle of this on the Rooftop for my students to use on their mats and blocks after class.  My kids also love spraying the mats and helping me wipe the mats down after our moms and kids yoga class.  (With  supervision of course)! 

The lavender is beneficial for relaxation, the melaleuca is antibacterial and antifungal so great for removing unwanted sweat and germs from the surface.  Peppermint smells refreshing and is energizing.  Patchouli has more of an earthy smell if you want some more grounding.  

Let me know if you have any questions, feel free to share your favorite oil mat cleaner combo and don’t forget to subscribe for free e-resources to use in your home yoga practice!

Namaste!

Space & time  sprouted as an idea of a service that would promote healthier work/life balance for caregivers of all kinds.   Mothers, fathers, teachers, health service providers, family members of loved ones with illnesses and disabilities—you name it!  Through organization of both physical and mental space we would clear clutter that would open up more time for recreation, leisure and joy in our lives.  Co-founders Shira Adriance, Professional Organizer and myself, Angela Andiorio, Recreation Therapist combined efforts to  make this idea come to life! 
Shira and Angela knew that eventually their plans to move to opposite ends of the country would be a physical barrier and so Angela took over the business.
With a changing vision for the business concept and with the importance of self-care at the forefront space & time  has evolved into space & time yoga.  Yoga came into my life in 1999 and I quickly dove into becoming an active practitioner.  It was a practice that helped strengthen and stretch my body and mind in ways I never thought possible.  I gained awareness and insights about my life.  I was able to effectively manage my stress and anxiety for the first time in my life and sail more smoothly through rocky places in my life. 
The practice of yoga was an ideal choice for me because it helped me to clear mental space as well as open up places in my body that were closed because of tension and stress.  I believe my yoga practice is a conscious choice every day to take care of myself.  When I take better care of myself, I can be a better care provider to my children, my family and more easily flow with all of the interactions of daily life.
In 2012, I officially became a Pranakriya Yoga Teacher and have been teaching actively ever since.   After the birth of my son in 2012, my yoga practice took on a new importance.  Becoming a mother is transformational.  Words can’t describe what having a child will entail in all aspects of your life.  I personally had two very empowering pregnancy and birth experiences.  I knew that I wanted to be able to share that with other women in the childbearing year and so, while pregnant with my daughter in 2014, I completed Prenatal Yoga certification with my prenatal teacher, Barrett Reinhorn Lauck of Five Points Yoga in Boston.   When I was looking locally for prenatal or yoga, I couldn't find anything.  There were hardly any options here in Riverside for Prenatal and Postnatal yoga and so it is an honor and my personal goal to be able to share this practice with as many mothers  as I can in my local community!