Woman smiling and holding a paper Earth with a paper figure standing on top

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Peace On Earth Puzzle

Woman smiling and holding a paper Earth with a paper figure standing on topAs 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 Earth Day, a lump would form in my throat when I celebrated each small victory (and the Gigantic Hearts) of environmental activists who sacrificed so much to save a single tree and worked to preserve open space for our children’s children. Peace.

Last week my seven year old son earned his yellow bandana as a Grounded yogi. Much moved, I watched him tell his yoga students a story. He described a girl who wanted her father’s attention during her father’s important meeting. The father wished to keep his daughter occupied, so he tore off the page of a magazine with a picture of the Earth and ripped it into pieces. Knowing that his daughter was not very adept at geography, he was certain the puzzle would keep her busy for quite some time. The little girl happened to notice that a picture of a person was on the back of the picture of the globe, so she simply put together the picture of the person and then flipped it over to display the completed picture of the world. Her father was astounded at how little time it had taken her to complete the picture, so he asked her how she did it. She replied, “It was so easy, Daddy! Just turn it over and look at the other side.” She further explained, “I put together the person, and the whole Earth came together, too.” Yoga teaches us that we can bring peace to the planet by first accessing the peace within and then sharing it with others. Peace.

Today my heroines and heroes are the children to whom I teach yoga. I am inspired by their stories every day, and I am moved to tears and action as we celebrate together. I dance barefoot with them and piece together the puzzles of our lives. These brave souls teach me how to stay aligned on (and with) the Earth, how to sing, and how to stand up for what is right and true.

One such messenger wrote the following statement about what YOGA IS…. She inscribed this message of Peace in about five minutes. When she shared her words and her Gigantic Heart, I felt a lump form in my throat, and I was reminded of how imperative it is to continue to spread this peace to others. And, so today… I pass along this third graders message to you. Peace.

Yoga is Peace. No fighting is involved. As you stretch out, you realize how peaceful it is. It is Smiling girl holding up her handwritten page that begins Yoga is peacealso love. Pure love is a light inside of you. In your dreams it makes a warm glow in your heart. As the light spreads, peace and love spread. It spreads all over the universe. War stops. The injuries are cured. For a moment, there is no such thing as rage or wounds. The light can only be spread by your peace and love. Practice this strategy in yoga. I dream of a world full of love and peace. A world without rage or wounds. And that can only be true if you start it. The warm light is glowing. More people are starting yoga.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti… and Happy Earth Day, too.

More to Explore

  • Meet Keira and Kendall

    Hi, my name is Keira and I have been doing yoga for 4 years. It has been a great experience. Yoga has helped me calm down when I’m mad. Yoga makes me feel peaceful. Practicing yoga has helped me a lot by calming me down and making me more flexible. It’s fun learning new poses and helping others earn their bandanas. I wish I had started earlier. I had fun earning my bandanas, and if you do yoga, I hope that you’ll have fun earning yours.
    Hi! My name is Kendall, I’m 12 years old, and I have been doing yoga for four years. In these four short years, yoga has become a huge part of my life.
    From taking a deep breath before yelling at my mom or sister, teaching friends for my green bandana, to even making up flows of my own, I love every part of yoga. I especially enjoy the way I feel after class and the feeling I get from helping younger kids earn their own bandanas.
    Yoga has been a steady part of my life, always helping me through a difficult week, a bad grade, or friend and family problems. I hope to continue to practice and learn as I get older.

  • when something horrible happens

    how do you teach yoga to teens? you start by teaching Truth. speak to the highest in them. they will get it when you tell them that they are a spiritual being in a physical body and that they are immeasurably powerful. when they root their feet into their mat, into the earth in Mountain pose they will feel steady and strong; a steadiness they themselves create becomes a thing they can rely upon. when their feet are rooted into the earth, they will become rooted in their integrity. when they are faced with difficult situations they can breathe into steadiness, root into their integrity and make grounded choices.

  • Rainbow Yoga Poses

    Kids give us a new perspective, and a broader one as well.  It’s OK to sometimes have a winner in a yoga game. It’s fun to use intuition and try to stump each other. Here is a mini pose card game created by two second grade grounded kids.

  • Snow White and the Seven Chakras

    (Inspired by Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra Chapter II, v. 42
    samtosad anuttamah sukhalabhah)
    From contentment,
    Highest happiness is obtained
    Snow White’s Seven Dwarfs
    Are invited to explain….
    Consider us each a chakra
    An energy gate of sorts
    That we open, clean and balance
    For optimal support.
    Work on passing through
    The seven chakras {or gates}
    In order to visit the underworld
    And ascend to blissful states.
    Let’s begin in MOUNTAIN with SLEEPY,
    Awaken abundant roots.
    Stand with both feet straight
    Ground heavy in your boots.
    Each time you inhale,
    Think, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE HERE.
    Each time you exhale,
    Root your feet a little deeper.
    Reach up high with outstretched hands
    FORWARD FOLD and touch the ground.
    Prepare to balance GRUMPY
    Who needs some healthy bounds.
    Whenever you breathe in,
    Think, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO FEEL.
    Each time you breathe out,
    Circle your hips like a water wheel.
    Step your right foot back
    Into a STRAIGHT LEG LUNGE
    Here we balance DOPEY
    Soak up power, like a sponge.
    Each time you take breath in,
    Think, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO ACT.
    Each time you release breath out,
    Stretch your belly with great tact.
    Step your left foot back
    Press hips up into DOWNWARD DOG
    Open up to HAPPY
    Melt your heart free from smog.
    Receive your in breath and
    Think, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO LOVE.
    Give your breath out
    Feel Unworthiness? Get RID of!
    Shift forward into PLANK
    So BASHFUL can get clear.
    Soften your throat back
    And open up your ears.
    Each time you breathe in
    Think, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK WORDS.
    Each time you breathe out
    Say, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD.
    Lower knees, chest and chin
    GRATITUDE for SNEEZY’s insight and vision.
    Draw back of eyes toward back of head
    To focus on decisions.
    Each breath in
    Think, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO SEE.
    Each breath out
    Cross your eyes to a degree.
    Stretch your crown forward and up
    To balance DOC in SNAKE
    Straighten legs behind you,
    Connect to what’s awake.
    Each time you breathe in
    Think, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW
    Each time you breathe out
    Stretch from head to toe.
    Lower back down
    Prepare to pose in reverse
    Remember your rights
    Remember to immerse.
    SNAKE back to GRATITUDE
    Breathe into your poses
    Up PLANK to DOWN DOG
    Your rights are like roses.
    STRAIGHT LEG LUNGE to FORWARD FOLD
    And back up to MOUNTAIN
    Keep moving and grooving
    Till your rights flow like fountains.
    When we know our rights,
    And pass through chakra gates~
    We develop a sense of contentment
    And more deeply relate.
    Happiness is indeed obtainable.
    When we follow the path of contentment
    Accept the ups and the downs
    of our very own presentment.
    May we be content with GRUMPY work
    Or no work at all~
    DOPEY or HAPPY states
    BASHFUL or baseball.
    May we be content when SLEEPY
    Or wide awake~
    SNEEZY or Doc
    It’s our right~For Goodness Sake!