by Megha Nancy Buttenheim

I remember, as if it were yesterday, when 9/11 brought its dreadful new normal to our world. I was directing Let Your Yoga Dance Teacher Training at Kripalu that week, as I am this week. It was an enormous task to embrace the fact of that heinous crime—and keep going. Every participant chose to stay and complete the training; we agreed that offering daily dance prayers and becoming a Let Your Yoga Dance instructor was a much better way to spend our time than being home watching those wretched images on the TV screen.

What did we see in New York City at that time? Kindness. Compassion. Love. Community. New Yorkers lived what the Dalai Lama preaches: the religion of kindness.

So now I offer you two things to bring some kindness and compassion to your day.

First: a love song to the human body from our dear departed Mary Oliver. I just discovered it in her book The Leaf and the Cloud.

Bless the fingers,
for they are as daring as fire.
Bless the little hairs of the body,
for they are softer than grass.
Bless the hips
for they are as cunning beyond all other machinery.
Bless the mouth
for it is the describer.
Bless the tongue
for it is the maker of words.
Bless the eyes
for they are the gifts of the angels,
for they tell the truth.
Bless the shoulders
for they are a strength and a shelter.
Bless the thumb
for when working it has godly grip.
Bless the feet
for their knuckles and their modesty.
Bless the spine
for it is the whole story.

Second, a sweet flash mob I found from Maringá Park, in São Paulo, Brazil, with a song many of us know and love. It reminds me of the work we all need to do as a world community. Enjoy!

 

Megha Nancy Buttenheim, MA, M.A., E-RYT 1000, is CEO and founding director of Let Your Yoga Dance® LLC, and author of “Expanding Joy: Let Your Yoga Dance, Embodying Positive Psychology”. An expert in experiential education, Megha is a long-time teacher-trainer at Kripalu Center, where she has trained thousands of people in yoga, health, movement, and meditation. letyouryogadance.com