As I become aware of my story, I am aware more of my thoughts. I'm aware of just how much negativity still kicks around there, and I have to be super mindful to catch those thoughts.  We get programmed as children about what's right and wrong. And if you had a particilarly traumatic upbringing, those seeds of negativity run deep. THere is a sense of something is wrong with me. I am inferior. THe world is not as it should be. Something is wrong with it too. There is a tendency to judge and be critical. Or you are waiting for the other shoe to drop. THerefore you create this reality of negativity in your life. IT's a hard one to stop. Mantra is effective to protect the mind from negativity. I like to also intervene early with children. I will be teaching 4th and 5th graders at Creekside Elementary in Boulder this fall. I'm looking forward to this older group. It will be Mythic Yoga for them, exploring yoga philosophy through wisdom stories and myth to help them live in the world powerfully and peacefully. They are ready for more asana and discipline, and they understand negativity. So much of it is floating around in our kids worlds. Kids have tough lives, but to teach them that everything just IS. That repressing something of ourselves just creates a split, a shadow, and we begin to project our unhappiness onto others. Shiva dances on the cremation grounds. Life is both negative and positive, continually feeding and eating itself to survive. We are human and we make no mistakes, we just live and learn. The darkness is just as important. WE can be aware of it, but also yearn for the transcendent, working for the better. I think teaching positive thinking and meditation to kids is one of the most important things we can do for them. It can save a lot of time in therapy! Just to let kids know that they are the creators of their universe.That is where yoga has helped me most. To realize that all that has happened to me is a blessing. THere is magic in the darkness. There is life. It all had it's own reason and there is no reason to negate or blame the past. We just recognize the forces of nature at work. And we don't resist. Resistance is futile, and what resists, persists, we all know!