Archive for Mother Earth

June Telephone & Zoom Yoga & Qigong/Tai Chi Easy™ Classes; Spiritual Thoughts on These Turbulent, Historical Times

 I hope this email finds you safe and well. We are in the midst of much planetary upheaval, with multiple "once in a lifetime" type of events happening concurrently and with much intensity. It can all feel overwhelming, scary, depressing, anger-inducing, to name a few emotions. However, the message is clear: society must change for the better if we are all to survive and thrive on our one Earth home.

 The start of this new decade has been beyond turbulent. Going into 2020 we understood that this was the last decade to confront and curtail climate change to prevent its most devastating, runaway effects. Yet massive forest fires (some due to manmade illegal deforestation) raged across the globe in places such as California, Australia, the Amazon rainforests, and Indonesia. Then the global pandemic followed, likely stemming from a Chinese "wet market" at which wild and often poached animals are sold for food and medicine, either illegally or with insufficient governmental regulations. These markets have long been criticized for animal welfare and potential human health issues. However, consumer demand continues to create a reduction of biodiversity and wilderness areas throughout the planet as humans have encroached further into the forests. If the health effects of the pandemic were not worrisome enough, with over 400,000 worldwide deaths and 7 million cases as of today, the mandated social distancing/shutdown rules have led to economic turmoil and massive unemployment levels - numbers we have not seen since the Great Depression. As businesses began to prepare for a slow reopening, traumatic videos of unarmed black men being killed by current and former white police officers went viral, and were the final straw for our nation that was originally built on a racist legacy of white European domination over and the murder of Native Americans and African slaves. So entrenched was slavery, that only after a brutal Civil War, and approximately 100 years after our Declaration of Independence had declared that "all men are created equal" with rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, was slavery abolished. Yet, we know racism (and sexism) and white supremacy movements have remained very much a fixture of life in the United States (and elsewhere) to the present day. This past week has seen marches for racial justice in numbers not seen since the 1960s, and due to social media connectivity, international marches in solidarity never experienced before. The status quo is being challenged in all respects, and revealing the many ways in which our "normal, business as usual" is harmful and unjust.   

 Tragically, "I can't breathe" is the mantra of 2020 so far - chokeholds, neck restraints, pepper spray and tear gas choke our populace; the respiratory-borne coronavirus attacks our lungs; mandatory mask wearing inhibits our breath; lockdowns and quarantines have kept us inside apartments with reduced access to fresh air; fires and smog have polluted our air and exacerbated asthma, which in turn make us more vulnerable to Covid-19; anxiety, fear and panic constrict our muscles of respiration; and worry makes us hold our breath. As practitioners of yoga and qigong, we know breath is prana, qi, life force energy. Breath is all. We all deserve to breathe.

 How can we utilize our spiritual practices to help us individually during these challenging times, and improve our society as a whole? I certainly don't have all, or many, of the answers to such a complicated, layered crises, but I always hope to be of some service to others (which I find also uplifts myself). As a yoga teacher, we talk about breathing throughout the class. Physically in yoga class, we learn how to deepen and manipulate the breath through different yoga poses, breathing exercises and deep relaxation, keeping the lung tissue healthy and the accessory breathing muscles toned. Slowing and deepening the breath in a mindful practice relaxes our nervous system, releases healing hormones in the body, and helps to focus the mind away from repetitive worrisome thoughts. We coordinate breathing with our movements in an individualized practice even in a group class. Using visualizations, we send the energies of our breath to areas of our bodies, such as muscles, organs, glands and blood cells. With intention, we breathe in the positive and exhale out the negative. Physiologically, we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon, in a reciprocal relationship with our environment - the trees which convert carbon into oxygen. 

 In our spiritual studies, we learn that all is one, that we are energetically connected to one another and to all parts of the web of life, and that our actions create karma (consequences). We learn that our true, deeper selves are not our bodies, emotions or thoughts but rather we are immortal energies or souls in temporary muscular-skeletal vessels learning life lessons on this Earth plane. We are not defined by our skin colors or genders. Our lessons are both individual and collective, interwoven as we all progress towards higher ideals through lifetimes. In yoga practice, to assist us with our spiritual lessons, the Yoga Sutras (one of the most ancient yoga treatises) espouse numerous moral and ethical principles for living a peaceful life and creating a peaceful society, such as ahimsa (non-violence in action, speech, and thought), satya (truthfulness; seeking truth; honesty; non-lying), and asteya (non-stealing; generosity; charity; non-greed). These principles are applied to oneself and to our relationships to one another and the Earth. As we navigate our way through the myriad of crises we are currently experiencing, I hope that the physical, spiritual and ethical teachings of yoga and other spiritual practices can bring us some comfort at this complicated time, and help to advance us to a kind, healthy, equitable, and just future. 

I was very inspired and wanted to share with you this beautiful video of some “Moments of Kindness and Solidarity During George Floyd Protests”:
https://youtu.be/dTypsyd3rvs


Although my in-person classes at Dorot for Seniors, Integral Yoga Institute, and the Children’s Dance Program at Steps on Broadway have been cancelled until further notice, my Dorot University of Walls telephone series continues through the end of August. I have years of experience teaching seated qigong and Chair Yoga over the phone, combined with meditation and visualizations, and I find this medium works very well – especially if you already have experience with those modalities. My in-person Chair Yoga, Qigong and Tai Chi Easy™ fusion classes for Integral Yoga and the Dorot Center for Seniors are now Zoom classes. See below for more details on these classes and descriptions, as there are differences between the two online classes. Please email me any questions you may have about my teaching schedule, and I would also love to hear from you with the sincere hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well.

                Photo by Melissa Elstein

April Yoga Schedule; Spiritual Aspects of Easter and Passover; Earth Day and Climate Marches in April; Dorot Chair Yoga Article

Happy April! This month brings us the Spring holidays of Easter and Passover, and for those of you who celebrate these holidays for religious and/or traditional reasons, I hope you enjoy wonderful celebrations. I grew up in a non-religious family, but with parents from different religious backgrounds so my memories of both Easter and Passover basically revolve around chocolate Easter egg hunts and searching for the matzah! Holidays were about gathering for that once a year traditional food at large family dinners with my two sides of the family. Passover and Easter tend to coincide each Spring, and according to Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, “in both festivals, nature and history converge with a resounding message of hope …. [and} the renewal of nature that comes with spring…”.  www.myjewishlearning.com. In the Christian holiday of Easter, the “resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate affirmation of life ….” and in Passover, the Jews celebrate their freedom from slavery. So freedom is a mutual theme.  Other mutual themes are the celebration of life transitions and the aspiration to see ourselves into the shoes of another; wishing that all those on Earth also achieve freedom.  See http://www.brebeuf.org  (Max Palkowitz).  

To many of us, we may not be in physical bondage (although unfortunately modern slavery exists and is far too prevalent).  Yet, we may be struggling with the mental bondage of our anxious thoughts, our worries, regrets of the past, and fears for the future. We may wish to have hope, but find that the negative thoughts outweigh the positive ones. In these modern stressful times, that is understandable. Yet, each generation has had their own stressors. The ancient yogis created a practice that is still relevant today as a way to counter that mental bondage, and that is pratipaksha bhavana – “When disturbed by negative thoughts, opposite positive ones should be thought of.”  Yoga Sutra 2.33 (Translation and version by Swami Satchidananda, Integral Yoga Publications).  An example of that is when hateful thoughts surface, to switch one’s thinking to loving thoughts.  Because this can be easier said than done, one recommendation to assist with focusing on the positive is to meditate on an inspiring object, such as a flower, artwork, or a photo of a loved one. Energy goes where our attention goes. It takes practice and will to use this practical tool for freedom from negative thinking, but practice is part of the process, so we must be patient with ourselves and have faith. Yoga Sutra 1.14. Spring, with its emergence of colorful flowers bringing life up to the surface after the dormant Winter, is a wonderful time to connect with the energies and thoughts of hope and faith.        
 
Due to the holidays, the Dorot Center where I teach Chair Yoga most Monday mornings, will have a more limited class schedule as they use the large movement room for organizing holiday food deliveries to the home-bound elderly (one of many wonderful services this upper west side non-profit offers to seniors). So please see my schedule for the April changes. Recently, in Dorot’s “Generations” Magazine, my class and some of my students were featured. I think you will enjoy the article, and hopefully will be inspired by my students as much as I am!  Click here to read the article:   http://www.dorotusa.org/site/DocServer/F_Generations_WINTER_2017.pdf  

April also brings us Earth Day on April 22!  This year there are going to be large-scale events here in NYC as well as in DC (and just like the recent Women’s March, simultaneously across the planet). One week later on April 29, the historic 2014 Peoples Climate March will be resurrected in DC as the “March for Climate, Jobs, & Justice”.  It promises to be a very exciting time as people join in solidarity demanding protections for nature, for our planet’s natural resources, and for those most negatively affected by climate-change.  The technology now supports our people’s movement that seeks clean energy jobs, “green” infrastructure, and a just transition away from the polluting and toxic fossil fuel and chemical economy. Now more than ever, we need to join en masse to advocate for protecting our environment for our generation as well as all future generations.  The Peoples Climate Movement march will also have sister marches in other cities, but the main march will be in Washington, DC to counter the Trump agenda of rolling back climate protections, removing anti-pollution regulations, while catering to fossil fuel corporations, the chemical industry, and climate-change deniers.  For more information on the march, check out http://newyork.peoplesclimate.org  and sign up for email updates!  
To sign up for bus transportation to DC from NYC see http://bit.ly/MarchBuses 

    

In 2014, we gathered as yogis and spiritual seekers at the NYC climate march, and the yogic principles of ahimsa (non-harming) to the Earth are even more important now under this new government administration. In keeping with our Spring theme of hope, faith, and freedom, I urge you to march being guided by those emotions and themes, and you will be uplifted by the positivity of your message. It is much more inspiring to march for something, than to be marching against someone.  So we emphasize that this is a march for protecting the climate, creating jobs in the clean energy sector, and bringing justice to those marginalized and disenfranchised in our current societal structure.  Joining with others seeking a just and positive future for all and not just the privileged few, reminds us that we are all interconnected. Spiritual practitioners know that we are all one, connected to one another as well as to the earth and environment.  If you would like to join our “Yoga & Spirituality Group” of the Peoples Climate Movement, please “like” https://www.facebook.com/YogaAndSpiritualityHub/ .

For information on the Earth Day rally in NYC, Saturday, April 22 noon at 111 Worth Street & Centre Street, 
see https://www.facebook.com/events/1365742080184720/   
The Rally will be followed by the March for Science:
https://www.facebook.com/events/607464402792513/


Protect Mother Earth!

April Schedule; Earth Day “Bag It” Screening & Plastic Pollution

I am away on vacation April 12 – 17, traveling to the beautiful red rock area of Sedona, AZ.  Hoping to have deep and transcendent meditations in some of the area’s world-famous vortexes while hiking. We shall see!  I am open to the possibilities.

Friday, April 22 is Earth Day 2016, and I would like to invite you to an environmental event I am co-hosting that afternoon. See flyer and links below. Yoga means “union” in Sanskrit, and union can be defined many ways, such as the union of mind, body, spirit when we practice yoga and qigong.  But I view union also as our connection to one another, the planet, and all the planet’s inhabitants.  My personal belief is that practicing yoga extends way beyond the mat (in fact, that is generally the least amount of time we may be practicing yoga). The true practice of yoga is how we consciously engage with one another and the planet that is our home and source of life.  As such, my community work is very much a yogic practice to me; it is my karma yoga (volunteer work or selfless service).  I see a direct relationship between my teaching and practicing yoga and my lifestyle choices, and that includes trying to make environmentally-friendly choices as much as I can – such as refusing to use single-use throwaway plastics like plastic bags and bottles (and that includes no longer buying those “healthy” ready-made green juices that come in plastic bottles, and of course not buying plastic water bottles).

One of the documentaries that inspired me to make these personal lifestyle changes is “Bag It”. Because it is so profound, my neighborhood association is showing the 45-minute version of “Bag It“, followed by a panel, and audience Q and A on Earth Day 2016!  Please join us to learn about  the alarming environmental issue of plastics in our oceans and the health implications to ourselves and the planet, as well as our economies – and what we can all do to confront this growing problem, and turn the current disastrous trend around.  The event will end with a free raffle drawing during which we will give away eco-friendly bags and other prizes! This event is family friendly and is co-hosted by the environmental club of the Trevor Day School, so it is perfect for all ages!See http://www.west80s.org

https://www.facebook.com/events/558759577622973/   Please feel free to share this email and Facebook Event widely!

Some sobering facts about plastic:

Did you know it costs NYC approximately $ 10 million per year to transport our single-use throwaway plastic bags to landfills each year, and that New Yorkers use over 5 million plastic bags each year – the majority of which are not recycled.  We have all seen plastic bags stuck in our street trees, clogging storm and sewage drains, and being washed out to our waterways; this creates visual urban blight, harm to animals and marine-life, and contamination of our food system.

A recent local study found that there are at least 165 million particles of plastic floating in the waters surrounding NYC at any given time.  Seehttp://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/waters-nyc-165m-plastic-particles-article-1.2530618
It is estimated that by 2050 if we do not reduce our reliance on fossil-fuel based plastics, there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish.   http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/24/oceans-more-plastic-than-fish/79267192/

Find out more about what we can all do locally about this alarming global pollution issue, and learn about the status of NYC’s pending carryout bag legislation by attending my Earth Day event!  See also www.plasticbaglaws.org andwww.bagitnyc.org

June 2015 – Love Your Tree Day

Last month, my neighborhood group (in conjunction with other non-profits, local businesses, the community board, and my city council member) organized two community events regarding the importance of NYC street trees and a neighborhood tree bed cleanup day. We had noticed how unkempt many of our UWS sidewalk tree beds were after the long, rough Winter. Our community outreach aimed to gather residents, businesses, schools and students to “adopt” trees, and to help clean out the litter, cigarettes, dog waste, and to add mulch, till or cultivate the soil, and in some cases plant flowers and add “curb your dog” signs. Here is my article on our successful “Love Your Tree Day” events:

http://www.westsidespirit.com/local-news/20150513/scrapbook-loving-trees-on-the-uws

With NYC Parks Department employees, New York City Council Member Helen Rosenthal and her Community Liasion Jason Harding, Cheryl Blaylock of Trees NY, and Kim Johnson of Curb Allure tree guards:

May 2015 – Mother’s Day and “Yoga for Runners” Workshop

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful Mother’s Day weekend! We honor our mothers on this day, whether they are with us physically or passed on to spirit. My beautiful mother passed away in 1995 when I was in law school. She was a beautiful support for me and my family, and I am sure she would be, and hopefully is, happy to see how my life has evolved with yoga and my return to dance. I always think of her when I do lion’s face roar in class (and I love to do this pose to stretch the facial muscles and to release tension). I used to watch my mother do this when practicing yoga in her bedroom – and thinking this was so strange! Funny, how we often return to our roots and life comes full circle. Today, we also honor our Earth Mother (Gaia) – the mother that sustains us all.

See my May teaching schedule, that includes “Yoga for Runners” Workshop this Monday night, May 11, at Integral Yoga Institute. http://iyiny.org/workshops-and-events/calendar/yoga-for-runners-6096

October 2014 – Overview of Climate March with Yoga and Spirituality Group

I hope you are P1120802enjoying this beautiful Fall season.  I am headed to Omega for a 5-day retreat, and am looking forward to visually feasting on the vibrant hues of the Hudson Valley’s Fall foliage, and taking long walks in the crisp country air. 

Tonight, as I took a break from packing, I uploaded my photographs from the People’s Climate March this September 21 in NYC.  It is hard to believe that less than a month ago, 400,000 people from all over the world came together to march peacefully in defense of clean energy policies, and a non-toxic, safe, and democratic planet.  Organizers had expected ¼ of the attendance, and the crowds were so large that those of us who were gathering towards the end of the waiting areas along Central Park West did not start actually walking until after 2 pm – over 2.5 hours from the start of the March at Columbus Circle, where UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon was marching alongside Mayor DeBlasio, Al Gore, Leonardo DeCaprio, and my personal favorite, the anti-fracking activist and lovely actor Mark Ruffalo.  Indigenous people were part of the groups leading the March, a large number of City Council members marched at some point behind them.  Labor unions and inter-faith groups gathered in large numbers, and were involved in the organizing of the March from early in its’ inception.  What struck me as I spent the day walking amidst the colorful crowds was how diverse the March was in all respects.  It was a true melting pot of humanity, and an example of how people from all walks of life can peacefully join together and act towards a common goal – and yet have diversity within those goals too.  There were many anti-fracking signs, divest from fossil fuel banners, flood wall street art, signs promoting socialism, marchers seeking a ban on mountain top removal coal mining, marchers carrying flowers and seeking protection for the bees and butterflies, beautiful artwork depicting the planet, puppets embodying the greed and destructive practices of certain corporations, people seeking climate justice for island nations and victims of hurricanes, protestors seeking bans on oil and gas pipelines and LNG ports, posters demanding clean, renewable energy policies and implementation, and so much more! 

The Yoga & Spirituality Contingent started our March with a powerful meditation at 10 am.  At that early hour, we were a small group of six who sat in a circle on West 83rd Street and Central Park West listening to the Sri Shankar meditation that was being broadcast all over the world simultaneously on cellphones!  It was a very beautiful meditation for peace and unity, as Sept. 21 was also World Peace Day.  After our meditation, the crowds started forming and our group was joined by many of you – yoga practitioners from many studios and ashrams, such as Integral Yoga Institute, Sivananda Yoga, World Yoga, UWS Yoga & Wellness, and others.  Some people had instruments and we created a large circle on the street for a high energy “call and response” kirtan.  In keeping with the democratic theme of the People’s Climate March, we took turns leading chants and even my Omega friend, Izzie, who happened to be walking by joined in to lead a 60s’ song!  We sang, danced and chanted until everyone began lining up preparing to walk.  Then came the 2-minutes of silent contemplation for the victims of climate change.  The energy was intense as hundreds of thousands of people stood still with hands raised over head and joined together in mindfulness.  The stillness was moving and profound;  it felt as if we were all breathing as one.  After our 2-minutes of silence, a wave of sounds started from the front of the march and cascaded to the back in beautiful discordant harmony.  

In Sanskrit, the ancient language of yoga, Yoga means “union” and “to join”.  Yogis recognize the underlying unity of life, the interconnectedness of all, and that we are One.  At this pivotal time in history, spiritual practitioners, joining with political, environmental and social activists, and others, and are being called in many ways to protect Mother Earth.  One such way, was on September 21, 2014, when we left the yoga studios, meditation centers, and ashrams and marched on the streets of NYC, joining our voices with hundreds of thousands of others in seeking government and corporate energy policies harmonious with the planet and all beings.  On that historic day, many of us felt more connected to one another, to the earth, and to our true selves as we joined this vibrant example of the best of humanity. 

It was a March filled with such beautiful and creative art, joyful music, festive colors, and good vibes that it was almost hard to believe we were basically marching for our future and next generations’ futures.  Usually, contemplating the seriousness of what humanity is facing is discouraging.  That people still have to advocate for their rights to clean water, land and air, and now additionally to prevent climate catastrophe is daunting.  Yet, on this very special day, the mood was so positive and elevated, it made one feel that real, positive change is possible.  The People’s Climate March was Day One towards a better future.  It has changed the conversation, and now we will continue with our next “steps” on the long and every day march towards a just and safe future.      

P1120794

Why this yogi is marching in the People’s Climate March

Hi everyone,

I have created a Yoga and Spirituality Hub on the People’s Climate March website for
Yogis and spiritual seekers – let’s join together to create the high vibration “Yoga & Spirituality Contingent” at the planet’s first ever People’s Climate March this September 21 in NYC!   www.peoplesclimate.org/yogaandspirituality

One of the main tenets of yoga is ahimsa – the practice of non-violence and non-harming.  For thousands of years, yogis and spiritual seekers have studied and followed this ethical principle.   As present-day yoga and spiritual practitioners, we continue to study and shape our lives based on ahimsa. Because we understand that the material and spiritual worlds, mind and matter, are connected, we seek non-violence not only in our actions, but also in our words and thoughts. We seek to live in harmonious alignment with one another and Nature.

As such, we cannot ignore the great harms being inflicted upon the Earth and our fellow sentient beings (whether they are personally known to us or not) as a result of man-made climate change. Such harms include the loss of human, animal, and marine lives, as well as damage to property, due to extreme weather patterns, super storms, drought, floods, fires, receding glaciers, and the rising levels and acidification of the oceans.

Climate change is linked to the Industrial Age – present day increase of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, which is linked to industrialization and the burning of fossil fuels. Many extreme methods are currently being used to extract such fossil fuels from the Earth. Such extreme energy extraction practices include explosive mountain-top removal for coal; “fracking” for methane gas by exploding chemicals, sand and our precious fresh-water into shale rock; and tar sands oil mining.  Drilling by-products, such as toxic frack waste water, are injected deep into the earth through injection drilling wells – linked to toxic water contamination and earthquakes.  These methods are acts of violence against the Earth, and clearly not in harmony with the natural world.

Yoga means “union” and “to join” in Sanskrit. Yogis recognize the underlying unity of life on Earth.  When leaking gas and oil wells pollute groundwater, contaminate farms, and poison animals, we are all harmed.  When an oil rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, an oil tanker sinks in Alaska, or a gas well leaks methane and chemicals into a Pennsylvania farmer’s water well, we are all negatively affected – no matter how far we may be living from those communities’ devastation. This is because we see one’s Self in all beings, and we feel compassion for the suffering of others.

And so, at this pivotal time in history, we are called to protect Mother Earth through our karma yoga or seva– compassionate, selfless service to others and the common good.  By volunteering and joining the People’s Climate March, we are joining a movement and a cause greater than ourselves.  With consciousness and compassion for all, we seek to spread the principles of non-violence to the planet.  We seek a sustainable and safe energy policy from our governments, the United Nations, and countries all over the world.  And we seek a life-sustaining society for ourselves and for future generations.

Our current way of life and corporate-influenced government energy policies are no longer life-sustaining. The rapid clear cutting of our forests, and the slashing and burning of our planet’s rainforests are resulting in the rapid loss of our Earth’s “lungs” and the mass extinction of species.  Our planet’s pollinators – bees, Monarch butterflies, birds and bats are currently being threatened and dying off.  Water sources are polluted by man-made toxins and chemicals – many a by-product of the fossil-fuel industry’s extraction practices. There is rapid depletion of our natural resources, leading to population displacement, starvation, and wars. Agricultural areas are reduced. Plastic debris (made from oil and gas) pollutes our oceans. Island nations are at risk due to rising sea levels. Carcinogens, such as benzene, and other volatile organic compounds pollute the air near fracking sites, causing major health issues and emotional trauma.

Because we understand the interconnectedness of life, we cannot accept this devastation to our planet as the status quo. We know this is the time of a global shift in consciousness: the understanding that all is one, and everything is connected. We see that science is beginning to support spirituality in that regard, and vice versa.

So on this historic day, we come from spiritual centers, sanghas, and yoga studios all over the world in defense of Mother Earth and all her inhabitants.  We yogis and spiritual seekers will gather mindfully and peacefully in New York City, focusing our energies together in seeking an enlightened future!

This is the spiritual revolution of our generation. The evolutionary shift has begun. Let’s join together September 21, 2014, and take our spiritual practice off the yoga mats and meditation cushions and bring it to the People’s Climate March!

May the light of all truth overcome all darkness; may the Universe be filled with peace, joy, love, and light – Jai!

Melissa “Mati” Elstein
Good Energy Movement and Wellness
www.goodenergymovementandwellness.com
NYC
Aug. 19, 2014