Tuesday, June 19, 2018
One of the things I love most about the practices of yoga, meditation and qigong are the stories, use of language and images that get used. For me, they are always encouraging me to consider new possibilities, new ideas and to consider the process versus the outcome. I was in a yoga class recently where the teacher asked us to consider doing our yoga “with the heart of child.” He encouraged us to practice with a sense of wonder, possibility, light heartedness and joy. As he lead poses he asked us to be buoyant and vibrant, to let go of needing to be in control of what was happening, or what was coming next. We were working on backbends and really going into the unknown in our bodies, and the idea was to just be curious as we went. He was suggesting that we build a kind and generous relationship with our bodies, and everything that was going on in them. I have thought about that class many times and regularly remind myself to lighten up and be present to what is going on around me in this moment.
It’s Father’s Day as I write this article from an island over in Georgian Bay. I’ve been coming here for over 20 years and it is a magical place where it is easy to have a sense of wonder and awe at the water, the trees, the map turtles we saw as we paddled, the Red Eyed Vireo nest that we found with the mama bird sitting on her eggs, and the rocks. It is a very special place to be. And as I think about the “heart of a child” I can’t help but think about my husband, Jim, who is home hanging out with Madeline this weekend. He has the “heart of a child.” He always has. He is amazes every day. He is light hearted and funny and enjoys the simplest things life has to offer. He is approaching the end of his second year of retirement and I have to give him an A++ once again. He continues to love his garden. He takes great joy in volunteering at the High School in the Food for Kids program where he connects with the teachers and students every week. He has made new friends in his volunteering at the fish hatchery and he loves that. He helped moved his parents into a retirement home and has been going over to help his mother regularly, and has had to step in and lead a fitness class on occasion because the instructor needed help. I watched him singing and stretching with these seniors (who love him and want him to move in) and I remember his years of singing and moving with his students. He looks for the goodness in every situation. And when he is like that his energy rubs off on the people around him. We all influence each other with our “energetic blueprints.” We all have the “heart of child” inside of us.