Crying in yoga is always okay

Change really is in the air.

Yesterday, Will took his first yoga class (with an oh-so-sweet yogi, Michelle) at his school. She was able to wrangle ten little toddler bodies into fun poses so that Will came home yelling "I am a WARRIOR!" and doing warrior pose all around the house.

And today I wrangled forty 11-year-olds into the same poses. We even yelled "I am a WARRIOR" in warrior pose. (For the record, we are studying India.)

They loved it.

Even though a particularly clumsy kid fell on another one and created a scene full of tears and a trip to the nurse.

Crying in yoga is always okay.

We talked about chitta, the thoughts in our mind that make us stress out.

"My mom says I have to clean my room or I'm grounded, and my best friend is mad at me, and I have soccer practice tonight and three tests tomorrow!"

We have to quiet the chitta.

So we did a little guided relaxation for savasana. We laid on a big fluffy cloud. We felt the warm sun. We looked around and took in beauty, in whatever way the beholder defined it.

We breathed.

And when it was all said and done, kids were in tears again.

"I saw my dead grandparents," one said.

"Did they look happy?" I asked.

"Yeah, they were smiling."

"Then that is the most beautiful thing you could see," I replied.

"My mom was there on the cloud with me," another said.

And now I was starting to get teary.

"Was she smiling?" I asked.

"She was."

Little parts of them were healing; their minds were opening ever so slightly to something greater than themselves. They tried new things, allowed themselves to feel silly and then learned that it's okay.

The chitta settled; the tears flowed.

As we go through this rather tumultuous time (elections) in a culture and climate that makes passions fire up, and tempers boil, take a few moments to quiet your chitta. Shed your anger, your fears.

You are a warrior--strong, and ready to stand up for what you believe.

But warriors are open-minded, and warriors are absolutely allowed to cry.