A Mom and Son came to work out an issue they were having in the arena. Mom teaches yoga and wants her son to have his own yoga practice, which at 10 years old, does not appeal to him. Son is a football player and looks like one! They tell us that they have agreed to just do 5 sun salutations every day together, but they never have.
So we send them on a task to use the things in the arena together to "create" a metaphoric place where they will do yoga. They use all of the hula hoops and make a free standing sphere. Then we asked them both to go get a horse of their choosing and bring the horse to the yoga place.
Son was doing a lot of talking and bribing and coaxing with the pony. Mom seemed to just go over and then her horse followed her to the yoga place, then the pony came over to be with them! The son asked, looking astonished, "How did you do that?"
So we (the facilitators) asked Mom, How did you get these horses to come with you to your yoga place?
She explained that she was taught to greet each being with an open heart, so she went over to the big chestnut thoroughbred opened her heart in a greeting and invited her to join with her heart and she accepted, then the pony just joined in with them.
We asked Mom, "Where did you learn how to greet each being with an open heart?" Mom replied that she learned this from her long time yoga teacher.
This is what she wanted for her son. While he did not readily agree to have his own yoga practice, he saw how his Mom's practice gave her something special that he wanted.
It was a simple session, but profound.
So we send them on a task to use the things in the arena together to "create" a metaphoric place where they will do yoga. They use all of the hula hoops and make a free standing sphere. Then we asked them both to go get a horse of their choosing and bring the horse to the yoga place.
Son was doing a lot of talking and bribing and coaxing with the pony. Mom seemed to just go over and then her horse followed her to the yoga place, then the pony came over to be with them! The son asked, looking astonished, "How did you do that?"
So we (the facilitators) asked Mom, How did you get these horses to come with you to your yoga place?
She explained that she was taught to greet each being with an open heart, so she went over to the big chestnut thoroughbred opened her heart in a greeting and invited her to join with her heart and she accepted, then the pony just joined in with them.
We asked Mom, "Where did you learn how to greet each being with an open heart?" Mom replied that she learned this from her long time yoga teacher.
This is what she wanted for her son. While he did not readily agree to have his own yoga practice, he saw how his Mom's practice gave her something special that he wanted.
It was a simple session, but profound.
It was awesome to be present when the human/equine communication was so clear.
ReplyDeleteI was fortunate to be present at this session and I often think about it. I saw a Mom who wishes for her son to embrace Yoga. I saw a boy who may not be ready to embrace it now, but the seed was planted when he witnessed how Mom connected with the horse through Yoga. That connection appeared to have a powerful impact on the boy. Hopefully, when he's ready, the seed will take root.
ReplyDeleteThat session helped me see there are times when planting an idea is all that's needed in the moment.
What a beautiful lesson for all of us.
ReplyDelete