Astavakra and Zuri:
At Any Given Moment You Can Change Your Story
The Yoga Bag
Cook-Cottone
What it Takes:
In order to be in embodied self-regulation- (i.e., (a) a state
of being true to your longer term goals and (b) in creation of a life that you
want to be present in) you need to do these FIVE things- over and over and over
again:
1.
Be here (or never leave yourself)
2.
Notice when you have gotten off track
3.
As soon as you know better, do better
4.
Re-state your long-term goals and the qualities
of the life that you want to be present in.
5.
Begin again….
Zuri’s Story
Zuri has been making the best of things. She has always been
good at that, maybe due to necessity. She had volunteered to help tutor some of
the younger kids at school. It helps her to give back. So far, she has been
assigned first grade kids that are having a little trouble reading. None of
them have officially had disabilities or anything like that. They seem to be mostly
regular kids who needed a little extra help. The reading coach, Mrs. Rocco,
told Zuri that she has been doing so well that she thought she was ready for a
challenge.
Zuri headed over to the elementary school to do her
tutoring. When she walked into the
reading room to help, Mrs. Rocco introduced Zuri to Sammy. Sammy was a 6 year
old, little boy who had Down syndrome.
What is Down Syndrome?
“In every cell in
the human body there is a nucleus, where genetic material is stored in
genes. Genes carry the codes responsible for all of our inherited traits
and are grouped along rod-like structures called chromosomes. Typically,
the nucleus of each cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, half of which are
inherited from each parent. Down syndrome occurs when an individual has a
full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21.
This additional
genetic material alters the course of development and causes the
characteristics associated with Down syndrome. A few of the common
physical traits of Down syndrome are low muscle tone, small stature, an
upward slant to the eyes, and a single deep crease across the center of
the palm - although each person with Down syndrome is a unique individual and
may possess these characteristics to different degrees, or not at all.
- See more at: http://www.ndss.org/Down-Syndrome/What-Is-Down-Syndrome/#sthash.iemZMqw5.dpuf;
http://www.ndss.org
Zuri was happy to help. Two kids in her grade have Down syndrome.
She has seen them at lunch and in the hallways. She felt like this was going to
be okay. When Mrs. Rocco introduced Zuri to Sammy he ran over and threw his
arms around her. Feeling overwhelmed, she pulled back, fast. Sammy was startled
by her actions and stumbled, lost his balance and fell. He started to cry,
pulled himself to stand, and ran to Mrs. Rocco. Zuri sat, surprised by her own actions.
She sat for a few moments, sort of frozen, not able to do anything. Mrs. Rocco
brought Sammy back over and asked Zuri if everything was okay.
Zuri rallied, “Yes, Miss Rocco, sorry I was surprised when
Sammy hugged me. Sorry, I hope I did not scare him.”
Mrs. Rocco said, “Oh, I see, yes, we are working on that.
Sammy likes to hug everyone. He is working on saying ‘hello’ and offering to
shake hands. Still, when he gets excited he forgets. He has been looking
forward to meeting you since I told him about it on Friday.”
Zuri smiled, she told Mrs. Rocco that it was totally fine.
She reached out her hand and shook Sammy’s hand and introduced herself. Sammy
shook her hand with a big smile and told her that his name is Sammy. They sat
down to practice reading.
That night Zuri was feeling horrible about herself. She
could not believe her reaction to Sammy. She felt ashamed. She wondered if it
meant that she was a bad person. She thought that she would immediately accept
and help anyone. She didn’t understand her reaction.
She remembered a story she read in The Yoga Bag. She pulled the
bag out from her closet and found the notebook with the story about Astavakra.
He is the sage that the 8-angle pose is named after.
Photo of the 8-angle pose from http://yogalifejourney.com/yoga-poses/eight-angle-pose/
She read my notes that told the sage’s story. Astavakra was
born with 8 angles, or bends throughout his body. He struggled to walk and
often people reacted to his appearance, not accepting him, even laughing at him
because of his disability.
Photo of Astavakra from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtavakra
Zuri remembered reading the story of how Astavakra walked
far, despite his disability, to be able to take hear the great philosophical discussions
in the court. She read about how wise and kind Astavakra was. Zuri remembered
that when she read about how the court greeted Astavakra, she thought she would
never do such a thing. She knew she would never judge anyone for his or her
appearance. You see, the people at Kind Janaka’s court laughed at Astavakra’s appearance.
Zuri knows that people have judged her because of her
mother, her skin color, and because of her brother Eric’s troubles. She has
sworn on all that is good that she would never do that to anyone.
How come she pulled away from Sammy?
Zuri decided to ask Miss Amanda, her yoga teacher about what
she thinks. If you try to be good, want to be good, why then do you do bad
things? Does this mean Zuri is bad, like her mom? Zuri was scared.
The next day, she helped Sammy read. She was distracted the
whole time because she could hardly wait to talk to Miss Amanda about Astavakra
and her own missteps.
In afterschool, Zuri told Miss Amanda about what she did to
Sammy. Miss Amanda smiled and pulled Zuri into her arms and gave her a big hug.
“Ah Zuri, we are all a bit afraid of anything that is different
from us. It is sort of an ego thing. We define ourselves by who we are, what we
look like, and all that-- and it helps is feel safe, knowing who we are. Ego,
however, can lead us to fear what is not like us. Zuri, your soul is deeper
than your ego. You told me you’ve read about all that in your Yoga Bag, in your
books your Aunt gave you. Didn’t you honey?”
Ugh! Zuri cringed. She was bad. She forgot that she told
Miss Amanda that her Aunt Jasmine gave her The Yoga Bag. She was afraid what
Miss Amanda would think of her if she knew that Eric and his friends had stolen
The Yoga Bag out of a truck by the church. It was time to come clean.
“Miss Amanda, my aunt didn’t give me the yoga bag. Eric,
Eric and his friend broke into a truck by the church. They took a bunch of
stuff. The Yoga Bag was with all of the stuff. They didn’t care about it and
left it on the floor. I found it and started reading it. I can’t figure out
whose bag it is. She didn’t write her name anywhere. She wrote lots of notes,
and journal entries, and yoga classes. She had books in there and wrote noted in
the books. I know is sounds strange, but somehow I feel like she is glad I have
the bag.”
Miss Amanda did not know what to say at first. She asked
Zuri if she was sure there were no names in the books or on the bag. Zuri
assured her there was not.
Zuri told Miss Amanda that she did remember reading about
the ego and the soul. She remembered that the ego was driven by fear and a need
for safety and that the soul was driven by love and a passion for experience.
“Yes, Miss Amanda said. When Sammy hugged you your ego
reacted and once you got a hold of your self, your soul kicked in and you
worked with Sammy with a big open heart. Don’t you worry Zuri, so long as you
stay present and stick with your soul, you will be up to big and beautiful
things.”
Later that night, Zuri read the rest of the story of Astavakra.
Turns out, King Janaka saw more than
Astavakra’s disability. King Janaka saw the atma, the soul in Astavakra. King Janaka
bowed down to Astavakra and became his student. And Astavakra then gave King
Janaka lessons in the science of the soul (i.e., Astavakra Gita). To read more
about Astavakra and other sages read The
Myths of the Asanas: The Stories at the Heart of the Yoga Tradition by Kaivayla
and ven der Kooij (see link below).
Zuri thought that maybe Miss Amanda was like King Janaka is
this way. Miss Amanda was able to see beyond Zuri’s ego-reactions and see her
real, true self-- her soul.
Zuri remembered something else she remembered reading in The
Yoga Bag, “At any given moment you can change your story.” Zuri wanted to
be the author of her own story She wanted to let go of her fear of being linked
to her mom’s mistakes, and Eric’s mistakes. She wanted to stop worrying about what
everyone else thought of her. She knew that people were like her. We can all be
afraid of things that don’t feel familiar. If we get beyond all that and see
beyond our first impressions, our reactions, we can connect, our soul sees the soul
of there other, our common humanity. Zuri has a sense that it was in that
connection that powerful things could happen- like when she helps Sammy.
The Process
You can write your own story. You won’t always show up
exactly like you want to. You won’t always get it right. You will make mistakes
and you will be afraid just like I have, do, and will. Like Zuri with Sammy, I had
a similar response to a little girl with Down syndrome the summer before my brother
Stephen was born. I wish now I had a Miss Amanda or The Yoga Bag to help me see
the bigger picture. I felt ashamed and embarrassed about my reactions to the beautiful
little girl who wanted to touch my hair. I have thought of her many times, said
prayers for her, and even written about her.
We head out into this life the authors of our own story. I
know that you, like Zuri, and me, want yours to be a good one filled with
moments in which you have done the right thing.
What it Takes:
In order to be in embodied self-regulation- (i.e., (a) a
state of being true to your longer term goals and (b) in creation of a life
that you want to be present in) you need to do these FIVE things- over and over
and over again:
1.
Be here (or never leave yourself)
2.
Notice when you have gotten off track
3.
As soon as you know better, do better
4.
Re-state your long term goals and the qualities
of the life that you want to be present in.
5.
Begin again….
As soon as you can, as soon as you get it, make it right,
and step back in the right direction. Life, the universe, is full of challenges.
At any given moment, within any given
challenge, you can anchor down into your soul and create your story.
Namaste!
Catherine
