Yoga in Schools

There is no doubt in my mind that youth today need to learn more ways of coping with stress from technology, overwhelm of information and over-testing. Parents and teachers say that student's are lacking focus, the ability to concentrate. But what kind of practices are we offering as examples? What resources are we giving students so that they might access peace of mind?

There is no better place to practice focus, and discipline than on the yoga mat. It's lessons can be incorporated into all realms of one's life. Yoga literally means, 'Union,' which takes us back to the Greek understanding of paideia - in which the first focus of learning is that of the body, beginning only with gymnastics and music, and later progressing to theory. The body soul union has largely been forgotten in schools.

Did I mention that 1 in 5 American children are obese? The radical adjustments we need will come from reprogramming diet and exercise cravings, which are like addictions in brain function . This kind of change will only come through practice, re-circuiting what is good and abandoning that which weighs you down.

Nuclear Power: We have a great deal to learn and become responsible for.

Mother and Child sit in the wreckage of Hiroshima, 1945.

The Essential Resource

March 22nd is World Water Day.

Water is life's matter and matrix,
mother and medium
There is no life without water.

- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, a Hungarian Biochemist, 1937

The Authentic Woman

I liked Arianna Huffington's post to commemorate yesterday's International Women's Day. She reflected on the invaluable lessons that her mother taught her and how she applies it to her work and family life. Her story touched me, as does her capacity to nimbly dance the line between deal-closers and motherhood, with elegant femininity.

I thought I could also write about my mother today and all the other woman that have inspired me throughout my life. Then, as I recognized there are just so many that continue to awe me each day; my sisters, aunts, cousins and dear friends around the world, I realized it's just too much for one story -
So today I will focus on just one.

She is also a mother, a grandmother, a sister, an activist, intellect, brazen beauty, confidante, friend, survivor, globe-trotter, entrepreneur, extrovert and full of all the best kinds of true grit. She was introduced to me by my mother and I was instantly taken by her stature and fashion of speaking; a sort of clarified Bostonian accent, with clear syllables and the invocation of French when English just wouldn't do. She handed me her card once, with beautiful embossed letters declaring her position: MATRIARCH. I was instantly enchanted.

This Matriarch is part of what has been coined the 'Silent Generation,' those who were born during The Great Depression and World War II. They say that members of this generation were "withdrawn, cautious, unimaginative, indifferent, unadventurous and silent." My dear friend and Matriarch couldn't be a further departure from these qualities - au contraire! She is the kind of person that makes new friends wherever she goes, who says what she thinks and does what she says, she is ageless, and wears many (metaphorical) hats. She had her first child in a hospital in Morocco in the early sixties, moved triumphantly through her husbands unforeseen suicide and her own bout with cancer, raised her three children and is a continual inspiration and friend for her grandchildren and fabulous people of all ages and creeds throughout this wild world. She is simply a vivacious, unstoppable woman.

She has taught me many things and offered so many experiential gems, but there is one decree she once shared with me that is of utmost importance to women today.

Be Authentic.

I think of these words each time I am faced with some New York moment of superficiality, or when feeling insufficient or provoked - I think of her when I feel actualized, unafraid and in joy. There really is no excuse not to be authentic, to be oneself entirely. If not that, than what?