Lynea Gillen, LPC, RYT, is an award-winning author who has been sharing her love of literature with children as a teacher and counselor for over 35 years. An innovator in the field of wellness education for youth, she regularly presents at schools and conferences across the US. Lynea also maintains a private practice as a child and family counselor and teaches Yoga Calm classes for children at her studio in Portland, Oregon.
Lynea’s first two books for children – Good People Everywhere and Little Banty Chicken and the Big Dream – received Mom’s Choice Awards, as did her DVD Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle. Her work has received Teacher’s Choice and Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards as well.
Lynea’s newest title, Little Book of Healing: A Coloring Book for Grief and Loss, was released in March 2017 to wide acclaim.
Her highly regarded Mindful Moments Cards are used in classrooms and yoga studios around the country, and her book Yoga Calm for Children: Educating Heart, Mind and Body is the #1 workbook for teaching yoga in public schools.
Lynea discusses the inspiration for writing her illustrated children’s book, Little Banty Chicken and the Big Dream:
Lynea is an innovator in the field of wellness education for youth. Her heart-centered, creative, and effective resources and activities were developed directly from her 35 years of experience as a school teacher, counselor and clinician.
From its development in a behavior classroom in a rural Oregon town in 2000, Lynea’s Yoga Calm program has trained over 20,000 school teachers and counselors who have helped over 250,000 youth to develop attention, regulation and social skills. Her program is used in diverse settings, including Head Start programs, urban classrooms, occupational therapy clinics, the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, and the Mayo Clinic.
Read Lynea’s latest blog post.
Lynea is also an adjunct professor at Portland State University and Lewis & Clark College. Together, she and her husband Jim – also a longtime yoga practitioner and former co-principal investigator for National Science Foundation environmental education programs – have created 14 graduate level, college-accredited courses for teachers, counselors and therapists.
Here’s Lynea discussing Yoga Calm on Portland’s AM Northwest:
Lynea brings the same energy and enthusiasm to her speaking as she did through her years working in the public school system, capturing the attention of adults and youth alike. She has been a featured speaker and presenter for numerous national and regional events, including
Lynea also provides parent and school staff presentations and trainings on the following topics:
Watch Lynea discuss how to help your child deal with traumatic events on Portland’s AM Northwest:
Kristina Swarner is an award-winning illustrator (Sydney Taylor Book Award) whose numerous books include Before You Were Born, Enchanted Lions, Good People Everywhere, Little Banty Chicken and the Big Dream and Little Book of Healing: A Coloring Book for Grief and Loss. Using imagery and inspiration from memories of exploring old houses, woods, and gardens as a child, her work is often described as “magical” and “dreamlike.” When not painting, Kristina enjoys music, reading and trying to grow trees on her balcony. She lives in Chicago. Visit her website at kristinaswarner.com.