Marya Mann : Blog : Yoga Off The Mat | Basic Sanity

Yoga Off the Mat | Basic Sanity

I am awake at 4:00 am, drawing words from the rocks and great mountains, the sky, the trees, the ocean, the creatures, and plants. Watching the great sky, I pore through my mind’s encyclopedia of love to express my hope and trust. Earth, Elements and Everyone line up in the E’s, while Mantras, Memories, and Motions cluster in the M’s.

Meditating, I’m open to Emptiness and Everything, which is what’s on the line for our children and why I want to trust we’ll do the right thing.

More than six hundred West Hawaii children and teens have come into my world in the last two months as I have been blessed with jobs as a substitute teacher with the public schools. My E’s are growing as wonderful Elementary School youngsters appear with their Middle and High School Elders to strengthen my courage, rattle my rib cage, and shake up any illusions about what’s Really Important in our world.

One Element that’s Really Important and exists in all the P. E., Geography, Language Arts, Math, and Life Skills classes where I’ve substituted, is that we are breathing together in the same space. Research shows that an unruly and out of order class will immediately calm down when a teacher simply pauses and takes three deep breaths.

The entire class settles into quiet.

Breathing calmly works every time, and its effect is multiplied when we radiate feelings of unconditional love from the heart. By the second breath, everyone has started to attune to the positive space. There’s a rhythm in the silence, our heartbeats.

You would be amazed how many youngsters and even adults can’t find or feel the pulse of their hearts. There’s too much tension and fear around the core of the body. Taking even a few minutes to simply breathe deeply in silence, finding the “soft spot” in our hearts, allows us to tune into the fifth great Element, Ether, which bonds together Earth, Water, Fire and Air into all Matter.
Ether weaves the world in purity, perfection, and unbroken wholeness. There is a peaceful unity. A smile naturally comes to our lips.

It’s easy to blame public schools for the problems our communities face. Recent events in schools around the U. S. indicate something is very wrong in a society that fosters acts of inhumanity and treats education so badly. It’s funny, and it’s not: in some schools, even smiling is considered sinister and suspect. But I see many teachers and administrators who view the challenges as opportunities.

The opportunity to foster peace in our classrooms by helping students develop a felt sense of peace in their bodies can change the way we relate to the world. One breath at a time.

For tens of thousands of years, cultures have attuned to their bodies, the seasons, the energies of the cosmos, the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Ether. Looking at how we can renew our commitment to our planet and the children through education, we need to reintegrate basic life skills like breathing, posture, mindfulness, and movement with visual arts, music, and language that place us in relationship to the Elements.

Mindfulness helps us identify ourselves as humans who function, not in conflict, but in a field of unbroken wholeness.

There are so many ways of sharing a sense of unity by design and purpose with children, through the Arts, Language, Science, Mathematics. This is the way to restore compassion and empathy as vital skills in healthy living.

When you start talking this way in public schools, there are those that claim you’re teaching religion. This is not religion, this is the science of the soul, the perennial philosophy. When, in the name of separation of church and state, we eliminated philosophy from education, we took away the Soul, the overriding purpose, of education.

Religion can tend to divide people. Science, the Arts, and the Humanities that study the perennial philosophy unify people.

Exploring the mind, psychology, and the philosophy of creative intelligence in such a way that universal principles and relationships are integrated with information and knowledge can bring a breath of fresh air into education.

It’s not religion. It’s Elemental. It’s basic sanity.

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Yoga’s benefits are so numerous but the best may be this:
Inner peace = peace in the world.

Learn more about the art and science of yoga in these lively, soothing classes, sessions, and events. Join in the steady flow of healing and creativity. Breathe and blossom!

MONDAYS: GENTLE YOGA – EVOLUTIONARY FLOW, 5:00- 6:30 PM
Where: New Thought Center – 81-6587 Mamalahoa Hwy, C302, Pualani Terrace
Drop-in: $15 – Multi-class memberships: 3 class/$40
Beautiful Light-Filled Space overlooking Kealakekua Bay

WEDNESDAYS: GENTLE PRANA YOGA FLOW, 5:00- 6:30 PM
Where: At Yano Hall – 82-6156 Mamalahoa Hwy, Captain Cook, HI (Next to Amy Greenwell Garden, across from Manago Hotel), By Donation
CHAIRS AVAILABLE!

For more details, please visit: http://www.maryamann.com/calendar/month-view/
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PLAN AHEAD:

———————Sunday, October 30: 10 am Service at the New Thought Center

YOGA IN THE RING OF FIRE

We live at the center of the Pacific rim of volcanoes, a ring of fire. This geography resonates with the ancient yogic symbol of Nataraj, the cosmic dancer surrounded by a ring of fire. Nataraj is said to do great good in the world — repel evil, lead the rhythmic movement of the universe, and stir the daily rhythms of creation, destruction and transformation.

———————Saturday, November 5, 1—4 pm Seminar

YOGA FOR TAPAS: RAISING THE WISDOM FIRE

Awaken your inner mystery with this somatic exploration into the heart of yoga, where you feel a deeper warmth in your Soul. We’ll explore how Tapas, the discipline of raising the inner heat, engages organic movements that burn away karma, toxins, and negativity while bathing your energy in an ocean of love and innate creative intelligence.

Pre-registration required! Call 808-345-0050.

For registration and more information, click here: Yoga in the Ring of Fire