Dancing Shiva

Elizabeth Memel, M.A., RIE Associate

Infant - toddler specialist Elizabeth Memel, M.A., a RIE Associate, trained with RIE's Founding Director, Magda Gerber, and has been teaching parent-infant classes in Los Angeles since 1985 as well as instructing adult education for college students and professionals in the early childhood field.

What does it mean to allow a child to become? Can a parent look within the child for answers to the child's being? How will you become the parent you imagine you want to be? Parenthood is the most challenging job that exists, and allowing a very young child autonomy and a growing sense of a separate self is one of the most complicated tasks for parents. Parents build on their own knowledge, potentially becoming more aware of the choices they can make for balance and healthy relationships within the family. Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) can support you as you and your child develop from the very beginning. During the weekly afternoon hour-and-a-half parent/infant guidance program gatherings at Dancing Shiva for families with children from birth to age two, in a small group of parents and babies of similar age and stage, you may:

• Learn to see babies in ways that empower you and your child;
• Come to understand them as competent human beings;
• Help support the growth of your baby’s natural abilities from birth, especially for psychomotor stability, a goal in one's yoga practice as well.
 
 “I’m finding out much more about myself and my potential to grow through my introduction to Magda Gerber’s RIE Approach.” “RIE has given me so many ways to help both myself and my child feel our respective feelings.”

"I did not expect to feel so moved and inspired by the class. It really opened my eyes to how powerful and important these ideas are, and makes me wonder what the world would be like if every child were treated with respect."