Kids Say The Deepest Things
Last week President Obama visited College Heights Early Childhood Education Center where I teach yoga to 1 year olds and up since last year. When I asked my students several questions regarding the time they spent with President Obama, my passion for the importance of teaching yoga to preschoolers was completely validated. Read on and I’m sure you will appreciate the brilliance of these kids as much as I did. 
My first question was to my Toddler class. I simply asked “how was seeing the President?” They are 2 years old and these are some of their answers. “ He is as big as a mountain.” “He is strong.” “He has big ears.” “He smiles”.
I probed a little deeper with the older kids. I inquired, “How is meeting President Obama related to what you have been learning in Yoga? “ These kids are 3 and 4 years old and their answers blew my mind, put a smile on my face and no doubt melted my heart. These are some of their responses.
“He is tall and strong like a mountain.”
“He stops and breathes when he talks.”
“He stands strong.”
“His heart is open.” Then I said “please tell me what makes you think that?” The little boy who is 4 said, “Because Ms. S. (that’s me J), his shoulders are back and that keeps the heart open.”
A few other amazing answers from these children are “His words are clear.”
“He is nice to every body because his heart is open.”
“His heart is open so he shares his light with everybody.”
“He is happy when he sits because he sits up straight and lifts his heart.”
“He has power in his belly.”
We all have moments in our lives when we say to ourselves; wow I have done my job well. Kids listen. They are hungry for information. They remember. It’s very important for us teachers to teach them well. With answers like that, I know I have done my share. Let your light shine. Namaste’.
As Earth Day approaches this year, I am struck by what it means to truly foster Peace on this planet. I remember as a child, learning about anti-nuclear protestors who chained themselves to fences and were forcibly removed and jailed. These brave souls became my heroines and heroes in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. I was moved to tears singing Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind” and hearing stories of civil disobedience and the message of non-violent resistance. Later in the 1990’s, when I danced barefoot on my very first Earth Day, a lump would form in my throat when I celebrated each small victory (and the Gigantic Hearts) of environmental protestors who sacrificed so much to save a single tree and worked to preserve open space for our children’s children. Peace.