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Dr Seuss asks You to Discover Your Place in Life, Be Your Best Self
We just got home from vacation. Each year we head to my parent’s cabin on a beautiful lake in British Columbia, Canada. There are so many memories of my childhood there. I especially love picking up the well worn books off the shelf in the corner to read to my children. These are the books I read as a child. Illustrations, rhymes, tattered covers take me back to the innocence, joy, and simplicity of that time.
This year my six year old loved reading the Dr Seuss books. As I read Put Me in the Zooby Robert Lopshire for the umpteenth time I was struck by the fundamental life lessons found within those pages.
Questioning Who You Are
First the leopard is rejected and tossed out of the zoo, then he is asked by the young girl and boy “What good are you? What can you do?”
Don’t we all ask ourselves those same questions? Again and again at various times in our lives we search to define who we are, our worth, our contributions.
Your Time to Shine
And so the leopard shows all he can do by turning his spots various colours, juggling them, changing their size, etc. He is one talented leopard!
You are too! It is vital to remember that we all have talents and abilities…divine worth. As we come to know ourselves, we can shine by being the genuine article: our best, truest self. Share it with the world. Do your thing!
Finding Your Place
However, the girl and boy regretfully inform a disappointed and discouraged leopard, “But you should not be in the zoo.” Only to show him his true calling, “…the circus is the place for you.”
We also need to find the place we truly belong, somewhere we can shine. We may need a guide, a teacher, a friend to show us the way. That place may also change as we grow and learn, progressing along life’s journey. However, once we are there, we, like the leopard, can bask in the joy of finding our place, of being our best selves.
So I thank Dr Seuss (and my sweet daughter) for making me reflect on these essential life questions.
What is your mission?
How can you fulfill it?
Have you found your place?
Are you sharing and giving joyfully from the heart?
Adora Svitak, prolific short story writer and blogger, addressed TED recently. At the mature age of 12, she promotes more “childish” thinking to solve many of the world’s problems. She encourages adults to dream big, go after bold ideas, approach learning as a reciprocal activity and always have high expectations of themselves and others. She promotes an improved tomorrow by striving to make the new generation better than the current one. This is progress. This is how we develop the leaders of tomorrow.
Absolutely love her enthusiasm, her clarity of thought, her quest for a brighter tomorrow.
On Monday, March 8th John Friend, founder of AnusaraYoga and pre-eminent yoga teacher, gave a lecture at USC, Health Science Campus, entitled ”Yogic Prescription for Health.” This was the first lecture of a series to bridge the gap between western medicine and homeopathy. Having grown up with a homeopathic Grandmother, I find western and eastern medicine wonderfully complementary. Each can build off of the strengths of the other.
Friend underlined how yoga can assist western medicine by working on balancing the whole person, increasing mobility, and cultivating a positive, loving attitude. He said:
A patient’s mental state is now acknowledged as a key contributor to physical health. Yoga helps develop a positive, strong-willed attitude.
Natacha Sagalovsky Lovering was able to attend the event and graciously shared her notes with Yoga In My School. Our favourite concept was:
John stresses that there is a pulsating consciousness that underlies everything that is physical, our bodies (and everything in this physical world) are made up of an energy that is supremely intelligent, that is orderly and that doesn’t want us to suffer, it is benevolent. Our body knows where proper alignment is, and how to heal itself if we give it space and help it pulsate. Bend over, twist, move around – get your blood, cerebrospinal fluid and lymph system moving – increase your vitality so that the cells and organs in your body can pulsate. Stand up straight, give your spine a healthy curve, don’t collapse into your lungs and heart, they need space! Cultivate a positive and life affirming attitude, and never underestimate the power of a caring look, a loving touch, a sweet smile, kind words and humor.
What a wonderful way to approach health and well-being. Here is a sample of John Friend’s teaching as he encourage us to cultivate a positive mind set and say “Yes” to life.
Namaste hands, Anjali Mudra, is a symbolic gesture used widely in yoga. Mudras are hands gestures or ‘seals’ which indicate energy and intention and are used to calm the mind while uplifting the body. Often referred to as prayer position, Anjali Mudra, is associated with the word Namaste. Anjali itself means ‘divine offering’ or ‘gift’ and comes from the sanscrit root anj meaning to honor, celebrate.
When pressing the palms together in front of your heart you are connecting the right and left hemispheres of the brain. This also represents bringing into unity our dualistic nature — male and female, logic and intuition, strength and tenderness. You can play with this by placing your hands slightly to the right and left of centre. Notice how uncomfortable it feels to be off balance. Return to center and observe the peace and satisfaction that reside there.
In yoga the centre of the chest is viewed as a lotus flower and is the core of the energetic and spiritual heart. By bringing your hands to this location, thumbs touching the sternum, you are encouraging your heart to gently open. From there, bow your head gently in humility, giving thanks for all you have and preparing yourself for blessings to come. This mudra helps you to listen mentally and physically, brings a sense of calm, peace and connectedness, and reminds us that life is a gift.
I thoroughly enjoy Sadie Nardini’s explanation of this mudra. Hope you do as well.
Finger tips firm – intention, hug in, give to yourself first physically and energetically
Second knuckle has some space – allow the breath to move through you as you give to others
Outer palm presses together – core connection from pelvic floor up through spine, centre of bodies needs to be firm to support body
Very centre of hands - spaciousness at the very centre of yourself, peace within
Recently I was fortunate to be able to interview Lori Lite of Stress Free Kids and Shark Tank fame. She is an amazing woman whose life work is to reduce anxiety, stress and anger in kids, while building self esteem and promoting a peaceful sleep.
We talked about how vital it is to help children reduce the stress in their lives. Kids today are more aware of what is happening in the world, are victims of violence, live with the repercussions of divorce, and have greater stress and anxiety than ever before. It is vital that we teach children the skills they need to combat these stressors. Lori’s books and CD’s use well known and effective stress management techniques in an engaging and age appropriate manner. During the interview we discussed four different techniques and how useful they are in reducing anxiety and stress.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Becoming aware of your breath is vital. Once you become aware, your breath deepens and evens, and the mind becomes calm. Children need to learn how to breathe properly and diaphragmatic breathing is the first step in reducing stress. It is easy and is how babies breathe naturally, using their belly instead of their chest.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Active & Passive
Focusing, in turn, on specific parts of the body and tensing, then releasing (active) or simply willing the stress to leave (passive) are commonly used relaxation techniques during savasana (corpse pose). These techniques help to dissolve tension and teach the body what it feels like to be relaxed. Children can then recall that sensation during times of stress or use the techniques themselves to reduce anxiety and promote calm.
Visualizations
Taking a mental vacation is a method of stopping the chatter in your mind. Guided imagery and visualizations provide a focal point that replaces the mental chatter with the imagination to heal the body. These often involve colours or scenes such as the beach, park, etc. to encourage the body to relax.
Affirmations
Affirmations are extremely powerful at improving self-esteem. These are personal positive statements that help empower and relax children. Children can create their own affirmations to help them throughout the day which they can use anytime, anywhere. The words we think and say influence how we act, feel and live. Affirmations are a potent tool in the battle against stress.
Getting kids and teens to set goals is part of teaching them how to achieve success in school and life. I know whenever we attend Parent Teacher Interviews the teacher always encourages our child to set some goals for the coming term. We then review the goals at the following Parent Teacher Interview to see how the child is progressing.
Students are also sometimes asked to consider who they want to be by the end of the year, in five years, by the end of high school, etc. This is pretty heavy stuff and involves teaching them the concept of putting their best effort forward starting today. Or as Stephen Covey puts it, “Begin with the end in mind.”
For yogis this means accepting where, what and who you are today, while working to improve yourself one breath, one pose, one meditation at a time.
To help teach this idea to children there is a fun and interactive websitewww.futureme.org. It’s an e-mail service called FutureMe which allows individuals to send themselves a future e-mail. E-mails can be sent anywhere from one month to 30 years in the future.
The site is very easy to use. In order to send an e-mail simply:
Type in your e-mail address
Write a subject, such as, “Congratulations Graduate”
Write a message to your future self
Choose to make your message private or public
Choose a date on which to receive the e-mail
Enter the verification code
Click the ‘Send this to the future’ button
Check your inbox to verify your e-mail address
Then forget about it until you receive it in your e-mail sometime in the future.
How cool is that!
Applications I can see for this include:
writing an e-mail at the beginning of the year to receive just before final report cards
setting a goal for the term, such as, “I will contribute more in class.”
Grade 1 students writing a message to be received prior to leaving Elementary School
sending yourself an e-mail at the beginning of a major project detailing how you accomplished this goal and the things you hoped to learn
Teens writing advice to themselves
The possibilities are limited only by your creativity. Have fun and get motivated to put your best into living today.
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