Family Fun Day!
Saturday, May 9th 2020
10:30 am-11:15 am
Students and grown-ups, let's enjoy some fun and games
in our virtual community get-together.
Don't miss it! Details will be emailed.
Please note
Belt Tests/Promotions will be taking place the week of June 8-12.
Stay tuned for more information and details.
Other News and Updates
We wouldn't be where we are today without the dedication and support of our Dream community families. We are eternally grateful.
As a local small business, we're working hard to be a reliable partner and resource for our students and families during this crisis. If you're happy with your experience and the impact our programming has made in your daily life, please share your thoughts and leave a review on Google or Facebook on how Dream has been a positive force during these uncertain times.
#KeeptheDreamAlive
Moral of the Month: Creativity
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
—Albert Einstein
Families and friends join drive-by caravans from safe distances to celebrate loved ones’ birthdays. Teachers log on to video conferencing software to conduct distance learning lessons for their students. Local distilleries switch to producing hand sanitizer for the public. What do all these situations have in common? They all involve creativity!
Creativity is the ability to devise new ways to solve a problem or meet a challenge. It is this capacity for ingenuity that allows us to overcome obstacles and turn our resourcefulness and imagination into reality. Each and every person can be creative, not only in difficult times but in everyday life.
Creativity, like martial arts, is tied to increased happiness, boosted immune system, and improved mental health and cognition. Creativity reduces anxiety, depression, and stress and can also help individuals process trauma. A creative mind is more likely to be happy, open-minded, curious, less stressed and unafraid of making mistakes.
While it may seem like the contrary, the martial arts encourage creativity. Although self-discipline and form are taught in martial arts, the structured environment provided therein also serves as the domain for creativity. Each student must adjust these lessons to their own bodies and abilities and be creative when sparring or engaging in self-defense. We’ll talk about this in more detail in class.
Here are some other ways to cultivate creativity in everyday life:
Free Play: Kids who have unstructured play time and open-ended play that allow them to imagine, invent and create are more creative. We hope to get back to our in-class 15-minute free play sessions soon!
Take a Step Back: Letting our children fail and not swooping in to solve their problems is actually one of the best gifts parents can give. Kids can grow from failure and learn to problem solve on their own- often with surprising results. Feel free to ask open-ended questions to elicit fresh and dynamic ideas.
Do something different: Whether it’s preparing lunch, taking a walk, or dressing for the day, break up the norm and do something different, or differently. It could be something as silly as writing a note backwards, as novel as reading a different genre, or as experimental as trying a new food or eating in an unorthodox way (like trying spaghetti with chopsticks)!
With a creative mindset, obstacles become opportunities—opportunities to innovate and carve out new solutions that allow us to emerge on the other side with enhanced optimism and resilience, something we could all benefit from in these times.