earthday_1

Peace On Earth Puzzle

earthday_1As 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 earthday_2also 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

  • A Sutra a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

    What are these sutras
    You speak so about?
    Are they stitches like sutures
    With some sort of clout?

    Good question, my friend~
    Why, yes, yes indeed,
    These sutras are potent
    In times of great need.

    In times of great need,
    And in times of great bliss,
    These highly condensed words
    Should not be dismissed.

    The most essential core thread,
    Of deep subtle meaning,
    That runs through the fabric~
    It supports out of gleanings.

    Gleanings of insights,
    And wisdom fused pearls~
    From the direct experience
    Of wise boys and girls.

    Sutras express so much
    In so very few words.
    With vast significance,
    It’s not for the birds.

    Sutras are formulas
    To be memorized and studied.
    To solve the perplexities~
    Of minds getting muddied.

    So chose your text wisely~
    Yoga, Shiva or Seuss,
    Buddhist, Tao, Platform,
    Tripitaka or Mother Goose.

    Then write them in BOLD~
    Where you’ll see them each day!
    Melt their magnificence
    In every which way.

  • Inspired by the Velveteen Rabbit…How Teachers Become Real.

    horse

    The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.

    “What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

    “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”

    “Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

    “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

    “Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

    “It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

    “I suppose you are real?” said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive.

    But the Skin Horse only smiled

    –  From the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams  –

  • Kale Me Crazy

    NutritionTWOsmall
    Yesterday, I was with my friend Autumn, and she wanted to go to Taco Bell, which is her favorite restaurant. The only way my mom was willing to take us is if we went to a place called “Kale Me Crazy”. Basically, we were bribed. I’m not a huge kale person, so I never even though about going there.

    A couple months ago, my mom had gone in there and gave the owner her recipe for almond milk. He turned it into a smoothie, naming it Grounded after my mom’s company. Of course, my mom ordered that one for us. It resembled the concoctions that my mom normally would make. It was a brown, grainy, mixture that literally looked like it came from the ground. I guess it lived up to its name.

    Unenthusiastically, Autumn and I tried it. And we were surprised. It tasted like a healthy version of a chocolate milkshake. We couldn’t stop drinking it. Being the nice person that I am, I let Autumn have it so I could “enjoy” my kale smoothie, which was really disappointing compared to Grounded. I guess you never know what to expect.

    To try this smoothie, I would recommend going to Kale Me Crazy or, you can even make the smoothie at home by blending these ingredients.

    Menu Grounded
    Recipe:

    Handful of raw almonds (soaked)
    3 tablespoons of raw cacao
    1 banana
    1 tablespoon of hemp seeds
    1 teaspoon of hemp protein
    Handful of raw Brazil nuts (soaked)
    3 dates
    11/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
    2 tablespoons of raw honey
    2 scoops of ice
    2 cups of water

     

    Drinkin

  • Principal’s Office

    principal_doorWant to be a risk taker?

    Feel more alive?

    Go one foot past scary?

    and deep into the dive?

    We have a suggestion;

    a type of advice.

    Report to the principal’s office

    not once….but twice!

    Once as invited,

    the other time sent.

    Once in your school years,

    with our consent.

    It may seem unusual

    coming from us.

    Report to the office

    Nevertheless.

  • Lasagna Savasana

    red-pepper-chevre-lasagnaSedef Dion who teaches a Pre-Grounded class at Springs Yoga shared with me the story of a four year old girl who in the cutest way mistakenly called Savasana….Lasagna.  This inspired me to write a Savasana visualization with a Lasagna theme that Amy and I recently used to connect with our Fernbank Elementary Yoga Club students.  After we did our practice complete with the Lasagna Savasana, one of our students..the Principal’s  seven year old daughter said…”that was so relaxing…this could help me fall asleep at night”.  Since it was her birthday that day, we wanted to put together a recording that her parents could play for her as she lays her head down for a good night rest after a long day.