Joy. Laughter. Youths learned about culture of their ancestors. Became more comfortable in their bodies, and with self-expression. Enjoyed tactile and visual stimulation of textile African skirts, learning to tie and wear them in traditional manner. Learned how to collaborate in a group setting. Learned about proper ‘que-ing’ and warming of the mind and body (yes yoga-inspired, plus breathwork-based) prior to engaging in intense activity, learned how to protect their joints, connective tissue, along with muscle. Learned about polyrhythmic style of music, and how this can be used as an analogy for layers of activity and stressors i life, and just as we can ‘peel away’ layers of music to find patterns to correlate our movements with, so we can do for focus, concentration, emotional regulation on a day to day basis. Just so happens that the Roanoke times came by (as they were documenting library’s 5-year anniversary) and grabbed some shots! Might want to check with them too!

The library manager, Ms. Bean commented that they don’t have anything like this- intentional movement- guided, for the purposes of building, developing, and connecting- held at the library. We beed to make it a staple there- and find more people who would like to guide.

No pictures (didn’t consider it) the first day…plenty for following reports!!