an intuitive living practice is born

This practice was born from my experience as a Reggio Inspired educator and mother of four.

When I opened up my Reggio Play School, I was mother to 6 year old triplets and a three year old. I would go to work and implicitly trust my students. For the time that they were with me, I allowed them to explore the materials and environment as they felt guided to do so.

Then I would go home and notice that even though I tried to give my children the same freedom to enjoy the environment and material as they felt guided to do, I felt judgement and expectation around their explorations, or lack thereof.

In the classroom I had no expectations, only curiosity. With my children, I was trying to control the outcome.

I thought it was because they were my children, and of course, I would feel differently.

This theory stuck around for quite a few years.

My soul wanted to give my children the same freedom but my ego was standing in the way.

There was always a pull. Always a wondering how could I have so much knowledge and understanding about children with all the education I've gotten and still not fully trust my own children?

I just couldn't understand.

Now, from an outsider, I may have looked like I gave my children freedom.

But inside of me, I was always in control or manipulation - you'll learn more about this later.

And then it dawned on me.

I was listening to a podcast and heard a story.

The story was about a tiny coffee shop in Japan where the owner/barista was open only two hours a day. The line to get his coffee went all around the corner. When asked why he didn't open the coffee shop for more hours and make more money he said that it takes him so much concentration to make one really good cup of coffee that he doesn't have that much energy to give to a whole day of coffee making.

Now, I don't know if this is the true story, but it's the way I heard it.

Something in me clicked.

The reason I was able to give my preschool kids total freedom and exploration is because they were only with me for three hours a day. In these three hours, these children had to show up.

The school was this safe container of time for exploration and discovery.

And it was for me as much as it was from my students.

At home, it was a 24/7 job. I didn't have the energy for that type of concentration all day long.

(Maybe concentration isn't the right word but for now we'll just leave it.)

So the seed for An Intuitive Living Practice was born.

Eventually that seed has sprouted and grown into a full practice that you'll learn about in these pages -

how to create safe and nurturing spaces not just for your children but for you as well.

We will learn how to create small pockets of time and space for our children to explore the environment and material as they feel guided to do so while we learn to cultivate the act of noticing what comes up for us to be seen and heard.

It's really exciting to see what comes up. I hope you stick around long enough to discover how and experience the magic of releasing our history through this practice.

With Much Love, Maria