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?

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This year spring was late, very late, in arriving to Alberta. In fact, it snowed on May 30th. Insane country that I live in. Now, however, everyone is rushing around trying to get their gardens in before it is too late. You see our growing season may be short (June to September) but with 16-18 hours of daylight in June and July (yes, the sun sets around 10:00-10:30 and rises about 4:30-5:00) and rich fertile soil, things grow well.

Every year I anxiously look forward to digging around in my garden plot. My children are each given a section to cultivate and enjoy the trip to the green house to select their flowers and vegetables. Last year my son grew a salsa garden filled with tomatoes, onions, peppers and cilantro. My girls often get distracted by beautiful flowers but also like to throw in some brocolli, spinach, and carrots. Then for about one or maybe two weeks they water it faithfully and daily check to see if anything has grown. Just when they are about to lose interest the first green shoots emerge through the soil.

I love to take this time to teach them about what needs to happen under the surface before you can see the results. It’s much like life. Change and personal growth doesn’t usually begin on the outside. It has to take root, to germinate deep inside of us long before we can see any visible differences. Some seeds take a while and you can’t rush them. However, if they are a good seed and you tend them carefully, providing adequate water and sunshine and fertile growing conditions, then the seeds will flourish and grow to bear beautiful flowers and delicious fruit.

So dig in, plants seeds, and watch in amazement at the growth which results.

A great site with tips and how to’s for getting kids into gardening is Gardening with Kids.

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To be so strong that nothing
can disturb my peace of mind.

To talk, health, happiness, and prosperity
to every person I meet.

To make all my friends feel
that there is something worthwhile in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything
and make my optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best
and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others
as I am about my own.

To forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful expression at all times
and give a smile to every living creature I meet.

To give so much time to improving myself
that I have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world,
not in loud word, but in great deeds.

To live in faith that the whole world is on my side,
so long as I am true to the best that is in me.

- Christian D. Larson

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Five busy weeks until we pack up the moving truck and say goodbye to the house we’ve called home for the past nine years.

When we moved here we had two little children and arrived in one small U-Hall truck. Now we have four exponentially growing children, a dog, and an entire home filled with furniture and all the stuff North Americans believe is essential to life.

…which is TOO MUCH STUFF!

 I know this. I’ve known it for years. And though many of my friends believe me to be a minimalist (I loathe chotskies) my closets, cupboards and spare rooms disagree.

So I’m on a quest … lightening the load.

With that in mind I’m sorting: desks, drawers, cupboards, closets, file cabinets, every nook & cranny. The first wave is now done, complete with garage sale to pass on those ‘treasures’ we’ve lovingly collected over the years. (OK fine, much of it was total junk and I couldn’t believe what people paid money for.)

When I think about the enormous task of sorting, tossing, cleaning, organizing, moving, and packing, combined with maintaining an already busy schedule of mother to four (three birthdays, one anniversary, and two extended family celebrations in the coming weeks), maintaining a website, teaching yoga in schools, and traveling around western Canada offering workshops on teaching yoga to kids and teens (four conferences in five weeks), I begin to buckle under the load.

If there has ever been a time to apply my yoga training to my daily life it is now.

By taking one moment at a time, focusing on breathing in and breathing out, and doing something each day which takes me closer to moving day, I am able to put one foot in front of the other (instead of holing up under the covers), to tackle each project with care and attention (not simply toss and run), and to treat my family and friends with loving kindness (as an alternative to terse commands, impatience & neglect).

And, oddly enough, I’m enjoying each moment.

• Reminiscing over life’s treasures brings back great memories
• Giving my gently-used items to others for their use provides satisfaction
• Teaching my children to live with less improves our world outlook
• Cleaning out the corners instils a sense of calm amid the chaos
• Embracing change and all it means encourages new viewpoints and growth

And so I awake each day and remind myself to find the bliss. That this is life the yoga way.

But right now you’ll have to excuse me. I’ve a file cabinet of papers to shred.

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Absolutely love her enthusiasm, her clarity of thought, her quest for a brighter tomorrow.

Go Adora!

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Since then I’ve been mulling over the relationship between yoga and religion. Personally I’m active in my religious community and find that my yoga practice supports and enlarges my beliefs in divinity, morality, and spirituality. I agree with Christy Turlington when she said:

Any spirituality can be enhanced with the practice or study of yoga.

However, I know that there are many teachers who do not book yoga sessions in their classrooms because of perceived conflicts with religious beliefs. In fact, for years my son’s class did not include yoga in the curriculum for precisely this reason. For all of you whose jaws have dropped to the floor in amazement you need to understand that many people erroneously believe that yoga is a religion.

For the record – Yoga is NOT a religion.

Yes, yoga has a relationship with Hinduism as they both use the same lexicon and originate from the same geographic region. Yoga, however, is not Hinduism. That is like saying prayer is Christian. Yoga is universal. Each person who practices yoga has their own personal yoga journey. The path they take is up to them.

Whenever I teach in schools I am careful to concentrate more on the physical sides of yoga. Yes, there are aspects of yoga which do delve into the spiritual realm, making yoga a truly holistic life practice. However, the school environment is not the place for this instruction, and you can ensure parents that the focus will be on hatha or physical yoga.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t use meditation or incorporate the yamas andniyamas, quite the contrary in fact (check out the Character Education page for examples).

My goal is to introduce yoga to as many children and teens as possible, showing them through first hand experience the benefits and joys which come from the practice. As individuals become interested in their personal yoga journey there are numerous resources available for them to pursue outside of the school setting.

My purpose is to open the door to yoga. To play yoga with kids. To challenge teens. To provide life long tools of health and vitality which will empower our youth to discover their unique voice, to know themselves, to make the world a wonderful place one individual at a time.

What is your goal when teaching yoga in the classroom? How do you deal with parents who have an objection to teaching yoga to their children? What is your experience with individuals who see a conflict between yoga and religion?

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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

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The first story in the book is that of Shiva as Destroyer: Warrior Poses. In a nutshell, Shiva’s wife, Sati, threw herself into a fire becoming the sacrifice her father refused to provide during a ritual party where he was simply flaunting his power and prestige. Upon hearing of his wife’s demise, Shiva, overcome with grief and fury, ripped his hair from his head and threw it on the ground where it became a Warrior, the  embodiment of his emotions.“This is Virabhadra, the personification of righteous anger and the noble impulse to defend the innocent.”

This pose and its story took on very personal meaning over the past week as an innocent child became the victim of molestation. Suddenly each time I do Warrior pose, I am Virabhadra filled with anger and anguish at the injustices of life. What was once a sometimes demanding physical pose now encompasses an entire range of strong emotions.

Newell encourages yogis to:

Reflect and journal on a time when you came to the defence of a righteous cause or an innocent person. Invite the emotional qualities of that experience into your practice of the warrior poses. Keep the experience in mind while practicing with softness in the eyes and openness in the heart.

It may be a too soon for me to practice “with softness in the eyes and openness in the heart” as I am still in protect and safety mode. However, knowing the story behind the pose has given me hope to work through the pain to the point where my heart is open and calm as I move into action.

There are far too many children who are victims of abuse. Please do everything within your power to protect and fight for their innocence. Be the Warriors for those who cannot protect themselves.

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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 website www.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:

1. Type in your e-mail address
2. Write a subject, such as, “Congratulations Graduate”
3. Write a message to your future self
4. Choose to make your message private or public
5. Choose a date on which to receive the e-mail
6. Enter the verification code
7. Click the ‘Send this to the future’ button
8. 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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As one diagnosed with a heart murmur as a child, I learned early on the mechanics of the heart. Scientifically, it is a muscular organ with four chambers which pumps blood throughout the body by means of rhythmic contractions. However, it is also symbolically the center of our emotional and spiritual life.”

Read the rest of the article on Elephant Journal.

The article also inspired a poem, Yoga of the Heart by Bob Weisenberg of Yoga Demystified, who encourages us to contemplate the infinite wonder of the heart. I am deeply honored, Bob.

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