About the Founder of Soul Child
Victoria Murray is a Soul Child at heart and has an altruistic desire to share her passion with children and adults. She has used the three pillars of meditation, nutritional cooking and yoga throughout the last 14 years and has found them all to be very impactful. Her educational background is a Bachelor of Arts in Human Development with an emphasis in Children Services, received from California State University San Marcos. She has been a Nutritional Cooking instructor for children and adults with a Non Profit in the Mission district of San Francisco called Leah’s Pantry, as well as a personal chef and nanny in the Bay Area. Victoria has also been practicing Ascension for a little over 5 years since she learned in New Jersey while she was a Preschool teacher in the greater Boston area, she fell in love instantly with the practice and became a meditation teacher in 2016. Victoria is happy to share these gifts with you in hopes that they make life a little brighter, and more enjoyable with you use of your mind and body.
Why Soul Child is important
Did you know that the average person thinks over 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts a day?* That’s a lot of thinking and it’s mostly thoughts about the past or future. Our mind is very powerful and has an impact on our bodies nervous system. When we are young we are full of innocence and simplicity, life has a way of flowing. Then as we get older there is a tendency for stress to accumulate and can sometimes lead to disease and depression. There is a way to meet the stress of everyday life and dissolve it before it has a chance to build up, meditation can help. Soul Child uses a form of meditation called Ascension to meet our thoughts with praise, gratitude and love. This process of Ascension can be used with our eyes open and closed for optimal stress relief. It is a simple yet highly effective practice which can lead to more causeless joy in life.
We are also living in a time of a fast paced lifestyle and much of the food we are consuming is not necessarily the best for us but we eat it out of convenience and craving. Sometimes when we make poor food decisions we feel it in our bodies, such as a sugar crash or a tummy ache. Learning about nutritional cooking is a great way to bring more awareness into what we eat and how to make it. Eating better can help change your quality of life, impacting your health and vitality. Its also really fun to get creative when your cooking and learning new ways to approach food.
We’re also very busy these days from the time we wake up till we go to bed, but sometimes a whole day has gone by and we were sitting down majority of the time or standing for long periods. Our bodies ache from lack of movement but yoga is available to help. Through learning simple stretching and deep breathing we can dramatically effect the way our bodies feel after a long busy day. Using the breath to connect with our body we can begin to get more in tune with it and give it the break that it needs after a long day.
Between a busy mind, unnourished and tiered body Soul Child uses meditation, nutritional cooking and yoga to come to your rescue. We can provide you with the tools and support to make small changes in your life that have a long lasting effect on your overall health. There is countless research being done about the ways in which all three of these elements of wellness are changing peoples life. I myself have seen and felt the benefits of Ascension, nutritional cooking and yoga. I don’t feel constantly bombarded by my mind, even when things get busy or chaotic there is an ever present stillness and peace that is prominent. I feel this presence when I am cooking for myself and others, the food is made with love and care. I am noticing gratitude for the ways food is not only making me feel better but also bringing me and my loved ones together, it’s a gift. Also, when I’ve had a long day and I can take a moment to take a deep breath and full stretch I feel wonderful.
The Mission of Soul Child is to provide a Program which provides both children and adults with a unique, fulfilling, and fun approach to wellness. Using Meditation, Nutritional Cooking and Yoga to nourish the body and nurture the mind.
Soul Child is a Program that offers a tool for stress relief, an educational fun way to approach nutritional cooking, and an easy introduction to yoga and the importance of using your breath. By using Ascension, a meditation practice based on praise, gratitude and love, the mind begin to relax and experience deep rest. We’ll take a look at the importance of nutrition and how to find it in certain fruits, vegetables and protein sources, then we’ll learn some basic cooking method to get the most out of the foods we eat. Then we’ll take a look at yoga together and discover what it means to unify the mind and body by using our breath and holding certain postures.
Qualifications and Credentials
Bachelor of Arts in Human Development
“The human development major is an multidisciplinary program that focuses on human growth and development throughout the life span, and on the familial, social, cultural, and political networks in which individuals develop.”
“….to promote a lifespan understanding of human development using multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and multicultural perspective….explore the complex interplay of body, mind, culture, and social/environmental factors and its influence on developmental processes, outcomes, and service delivery by surveying the subject matter from the perspectives of psychology, sociology, biology, and anthropology, as well as integrative coursework.”
Certified Yoga Instructor, Flow and Grow Yoga
“Flow & Grow is committed to educating children in yoga, mindfulness, and lifelong healthy habits. We work with educators, parents, & clinicians to design and implement programming that works within any environment. We offer an array of services, including children’s yoga programming, professional development for educators, and kids yoga teacher trainings. We also publish books, learning materials, and content for those interested in expanding children’s wellness in the world.”
Meditation teacher for Ishayas’ Ascension
The Ishayas’ Ascension is a simple, profoundly effective way to rise immediately and permanently beyond the stress of self-limiting belief. Based on appreciation, gratitude and love, this technique gently redirects our attention away from problem-oriented thinking back to the deepest truth of our being – unconditional love and gratitude. With the help of the Ishayas’ Ascension, we can easily clear out past beliefs and behavior patterns, which inhibit full mental and physical functioning.” Reported benefits are reduced stress, Peace of mind, Increased Joy, Improved relationships, Mental stability, Greater love, compassion, and wisdom