Happy

This was the name of the film I saw last night, about bringing meditation to the classroom. As a film, it was only okay: a bit repetitive. There were many different classrooms and learning situations (a juvenile detention facility, a school in a poor neighborhood, a private school, a service offered for homeless kids and so forth.)

It was (obviously) so very positive. It made me rethink my teaching practice, and wonder what I could be doing better to get kids ready to learn stuff in class. I have to be more concerned with creating the best learning environment possible for learning THEN make sure the stuff we’re doing is useful and engaging.

I am lucky at work. In my school, I get to teach a yoga class. Yesterday some of the students went to the climate strike, so my yoga class was about half present. We did an hour of yoga and a body scan (it’s one I have on tape. I like getting myself out of the process sometimes.) I tell the students when we get to the scan if they can’t stand it, or need to move, or aren’t engaged, just get up quietly and leave and I’ll open the changing rooms when we’re finished. Three left, ten stayed. Not bad! Some slept, but that’s good, too. If you can sleep in public, you must feel secure in that place. I’m pretty happy that they felt secure with me. I blocked off all the windows so none of the other students could see what we were doing.

We seem to be slowly gaining ground, us “happiness” people. The nice thing is there is no right way, no wrong way. There are no experts, just folks like me who think that happiness is important.

Foro is my inspiration. Having a stuffed animal, as an adult, is a reminder for me to try to be softer and more understanding, with myself and everyone around me, and to make happiness a priority. Because otherwise, what’s the point?

At this moment, I am so very happy. I’m seeing friends this weekend, and visiting a beautiful city. The wonderful man in my life is with me, and he likes my friends, too. We are sitting here, resting a bit, and Foro is with us because he’s our mascot.