Out of the blue our three-year-old grandson assumed this pose and told his dad "you do this, put your hands together, and think about Jesus...that's called yoga." That's his six-year-old brother emulating the pose in the background. While I'm willing to admit that I'm slightly biased as a doting grandpa, I think this is adorable.
Our grandlads go to a French school which is also Roman Catholic. Their Protestantism is being flavoured with Catholicism, and that's where he learned this form of prayer. The boys are being made aware of the liturgical year at school, including Ash Wednesday. The Holiday Concert is actually a Christmas Concert with --wait for it-- Baby Jesus!
I'm fascinated that they start so early with a contemplative practice for the children. Interestingly, many public, secular schools are including mindfulness exercises these days, which feels like de-religionized prayer to me. Of course God in any expression is anathema in schools these days, but entering into a reflective state is encouraged and perhaps necessary.
Not long ago CBC radio's The Sunday Edition did a piece on the rising incidence of "acting out" by students in Canadian schools, including violence against other students and teachers. The episode resulted in the highest response of any they had done, and many of the respondents were teachers who had been subjected to violence by students.
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/sunday-edition/segment/15670770
We live in a culture where there are so many bright, creative kids, many of whom are motivated to help others. At the same time we are seeing a massive decrease in connection with institutions which encourage empathy, civility, and calm. For all their faults, churches/synagogues/mosques/temples have traditionally offered this. And most of them invite people of all ages into prayer of some form.
I'm in favour of just about any form of contemplation and I have practiced yoga along the way myself. While my own choice is Christ-focused prayer and meditation there is much to be learned from other traditions.
I've been looking at a book called Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness With Children by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Community. At Plum Village in France children are invited into Buddhist meditation. Thich Nhat Hanh notes that children are often told to "pay attention" by parents and teachers without being taught what attention is. The kids learn walking meditation, and are encouraged to be okay with boredom -- what a concept in our "always on" culture!
I like the guided meditation from the book which includes these phrases:
Smiling to my body, I breath in.
Easing my body, I breathe out.
Smiling to my body, I breathe in.
Releasing the tension in my body, I breathe out.
Feeling joy to be alive, I breathe in.
Feeling happy I breathe out.
Ahhhh. Just typing this made a difference to my state of being. I figure Jesus would approve.
Comments?
2 comments:
As an educator (with training in Mindfulness) and as a P.K., I found a lot to contemplate in this post. I have always separated meditation and prayer in my mind (probably because I taught in public school and mindfulness is a de-religiousized meditation).
What struck me first off was your grandson's statement,"that's called yoga" and makes me wonder how things are being presented in classrooms. It struck me as colonization - imposing a Christian pose and a Christian focus onto an ancient Eastern practice "yoga". Which then made me think of my own mindfulness training where we strip the meditation practice of all things spiritual. Which then made me think of Cosmic Yoga, a very popular series used in schools that strips the yoga practice of all things meditation and turns it into a mode for storytelling and dpa. I even thought of my own recent yoga practice and questioned my own attitude towards the practice.
It raises questions:
Can meditation truly be separated from spirituality? Should it?
Should we check our privilege?
Is it a matter of semantics? Should we be using the term "yoga"?
I do believe there is a place for meditation and mindfulness in all our lives and will be adding the book you suggested to my current school's library and I will continue to contemplate these questions.
Thanks for taking the time to offer thoughtful observations Heidi. I agree that there is always the possibility of appropriation. This applies to First Nations spiritual practices as well, along with others.
Two thoughts. Yoga was developed as a form of sitting practice to allow meditation to unfold comfortably. All my yoga teachers over time were convinced that yoga could apply to any religious tradition and that it's purpose is to enhance spiritual practice
I appreciate what you are saying about bandying about the term "yoga" without being, well, mindful of its use. Of course yoga has become a multi-billion dollar industry which sells clothing, can be a dating service, and creates cult figures. Maybe the use of them term in schools is the least of yoga's challenges.
I certainly like all your questions. Again, thanks!
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