....from the mouth of babes

Yogis,
I have returned from my 37^th June week at the Jersey shore. Days spent on arguably one of the most beautiful beaches and evenings hosting casual dinners for 15 to 25 family members. One of those family members is my grandson Johnny and at five years old he is quite wise……

Don’t Help

One morning he and I were watching a show on both the magnificence and challenges of our planet. It began with some disheartening descriptions and videos of vanishing lakes and melting glaciers. Dwindling species and a rising thermometer. But…..they announced…..we can save this earth! It isn’t too late to help her.

Like you I keep hearing those phrases but this time a little switch went off. I sarcastically responded to the tv that we didn’t need to help her, we needed to stop hurting her.

Johnny looked up at me and I could see the thinking behind his eyes. He broke into a giggle. “Right!” he said. “When we are helping her, we are actually hurting her.” He gets it.

We imagine ourselves as the big brave hero flying in to save the day but that is foolish. The earth doesn’t need our help. She was here before us and will last way beyond us if necessary. Her ability to heal herself only requires us to stop pouring gasoline on her fire. Can we do that?

The town we stay in is lined with beautiful homes surrounded by lush landscaped gardens. The next morning on my run I’m admiring thick green lawns, hydrangeas and shasta daisies, perfectly manicured and all watered automatically each morning via irrigation systems to please our eye. Then I ran back to the road along the marsh and nature’s garden caught my eye. Without our money, landscapers or fertilizers…or our help, she had created the perfect garden. Imagine that.

Let’s shift our focus from helping…..to not hurting.

Distracted
I’m out on the deck on my yoga mat in a lunge while Johnny discusses what we are going to do that day. Questions, comments and observations while I breathe. He runs back inside.

A few minutes later he is back, plopping himself down on my bolster. We jump back into conversation. It’s then he realizes that he had gone inside to use the bathroom but his favorite monster truck (Gravedigger of course!) was on tv so he sat and watched. Then he came back out without using the restroom. He laughed at himself. He could see what had happened.

I asked if he knew what that was called. Distracted, I told him. When you have an intention but something in the outer world pulls you away.

That afternoon I go into my room to send an email. My phone on the dresser is flashing that I have texts. Sitting on the floor I read them, respond, look things up…..and head back out to the living room. No email. Distracted.

I watched myself. I watched my friend come upstairs to get something, talk to me and walk back down without it. Family members walking into the kitchen and then wondering why they are there. Distracted.

Are you?

Notice…….
SARAH