Peace gave us the seasons

Pictures taken by: Patricia de Anguera 

The fall leaves for most of us are now just a passing memory for this season.

 Each fall brings such a beauty as every tree, branch, and bush displays its own 
unique luminosity.

Every morning on my drive to work, I watched the world change right before me. 

 Around every corner was yet, another tree, of brilliant radiance.

This fall had so many magical moments with my classroom too. The children really opened up to the world of fall and all its beauty. I received comments from my parents about their daily outings with the children and how we were all experiencing this season of beauty together. 

   The thought kept murmuring in my mind;"Surely,the light today in this tree has to be more beautiful than the one I saw yesterday? "

Fall has to be my favorite season of the year?"

The colors are so beautiful. This fall has filled my heart with such deep love, gratitude and with a humble heart I can surrender more easily to that greater power of spirit all around us. 

Or then again, is it winter with the sparkling snow or maybe springtime with the delicate cherry blossoms falling like a delicate floral snow showers. Is this my favorite season?

As I chuckle I can recall so vividly this past summer photo a day project, with large warm beds of lavender aroma that filled my soul to the core?" I just cant make up my mind which season I like the best. . 

I have had the thought that all this beauty is from an astral memory. You may begin to ask, what is an astral memory? "The astral universe, made of various subtle vibrations of light and color, is hundreds of times larger than the material cosmos."

What type of a memory can linger so long in our hearts? What type of memory 
opens up all our senses by looking at these astral colors of leaves? This is beginning to feel like a heavenly memory that can touch us so deeply and we can experience it at any moment during our day.

Several days after meditation, I pondered all these thoughts while having a  
daily shower of beauty opening up every part of my being. 

I am not sure I will ever really know from my rational mind. But I can reveal in sharing 
this deep inner love with my students and all whom I come in contact with. It comes from 
a deeper sense of knowing something that is beyond myself. The deepest longing 
of the soul is to feel that spirit everywhere. 

In my classroom this month,  I have been teaching one of the original 

chants written by Paramhansa Yogananda: Oh God Beautiful 

One of the little boys in our class was outside under the large maple trees. 

He gently, looked up to the sky, the meadow, and began to chant:"I get it now,"as if 

light-bulb, went off in his mind. 

"God is everywhere. Everywhere you look." How profound this statement

for a four year old. How long did it take all of us to realize this?

I know for me, it took a very long time. 

I leave you with that thought of inspiration and I hope that 

your experience of Divine Mothers presence this fall was as angelic as
ours was in the Pacific Northwest. 

Guest Post :Join us in welcoming Kalamali Liguori from Ashram Girl in the City

Today is a guest post by Kalamali Liguori from: 

"Ashram Girl in the City" 

I find all of her blogs, entry's and videos inspiring for all of us to use in our daily lives. 

If you are a mother, teacher, student, auntie, father, or grandmother I hope you can join us as we spread the light together. Please welcome her this week to: Inside Out!

Ashram Girl in the City is an inspirational blog to help bring spiritual teachings into daily life. It has articles on health and healing, yoga and meditation, videos, photos, a resources list, spiritual quotes, and more to help you on your journey.

Here is one of her latest entree blogs and videos below.

Why You Should Dedicate Today to Divine Mother

Posted on October 21, 2013by ashramgirlinthecity

Santa Cruz, California

Yesterday I started the day by asking Divine Mother to be with me and give me a day just for her. I asked her to show me the perfect Divine Mother Day, dedicating the entire day just to Her. I have lived inSanta Cruz, California all my life, and never before have I seen so many examples of her beauty and grace. I saw seven miracles yesterday in total. And I hope that by sharing them with you, you too will be inspired to have your own Divine Mother Day.

The day began with a beautiful morning walk as the sun rose along the beach in Capitola. During the entire walk I asked for Divine Mother to be with me that day, and to open my heart to feel her joy and love. I walked all the way down the beach to my favorite place where I usually like to do my yoga exercises and practice morning meditation in the healing rays of the sunrise. The place where I usually go is a bit hidden, and not many people choose to climb down the hillside where I go, so close to the breaking waves. This morning I had it all to myself, and the sun happened to be shining on the water with a line of sunshine heading directly toward me. I felt the warmth and let it soak in all over , awakening my body cells and helping me to start my day right.

Humpback Whale

After I finished meditating I gazed out across the ocean. To my surprise my gaze led me straight to the spouting of a humpback whale (Miracle #1). Yes. A whale! And not just this one whale, in fact, that day there were a pod of about 20 humpback whales in the ocean just in front of me. They were off in the distance, but not far enough away that I could not see their spouts jetting out of the water and their flippers dancing in the wind just as if to wave “hello!”

In all my life growing up in Santa Cruz, I have never come close to anything like that moment.

After I was finished being amazed, I walked home to be with my divine mother on Earth– my mom, and she suggested that we head off to visit the Monarch Butterflies of Natural Bridges State Park.

Monarch Butterflies

The monarch butterflies migrate every year just around this time (October) to nest in the warm sunny Santa Cruz. The butterflies are like flowers with wings, fluttering about busily yet with such a stillness and calm strength about them unlike anything else. They just cover the area so that everywhere you look (Miracle #2)– you see a beautiful orange flashing across the gentle blue skies. Sometimes they flutter solo, sometimes in pairs, and other times they gather together in big bunches on the eucalyptus trees.

My mom and I just sat together looking up and watching silently as they fluttered overhead.

Red Shouldered Hawk

Then I heard the screeching of a hawk in the nearby trees. I immediately began scanning the trees for this hawk, hoping to see a red tailed hawk. Red tailed hawks have always been a special sign in nature to me, as they have signified important moments and big changes in my life.

I kept my eyes on the spot where I heard the call, and finally saw the beautiful moment where the hawk spread its wings, calling to its friend across the grove. I had never before seen this kind of hawk. I learned later from a park ranger that it was a red shouldered hawk (Miracle #3). These hawks are like the monarch butterflies in that each year, they travel afar and then return to the same place to nest.

After a delicious and healthy lunch I went home to join my dad for a paddle boat outing we had planned the day before. We knew it was going to be another bright, sunny day– and wanted to spend it out on the water.

When we arrived we heard that the harbor was just finishing a giant anchovie clean up. Every so often, there is an influx of the anchovie population, in which too many anchovies enter into the confined space of the harbor, use up all the oxygen, and eventually begin to die out. Though the harbor crew and clean up volunteers had already left, there were still hundreds of seagulls swarming the entire harbor, feeding upon thousands of anchovies. I had never been able to see them up so close, practically right on top of our boat, and I could see them literally begin to take off for flight by running on top of the water (Miracle #4). 

Sea Lion

As we continued paddling further out into the harbor, we saw Miracle #5: a pack of sea lions rolling and playing together in a group of nearly 12! My dad and I had never seen them doing this, let alone right in front of us! They apparently will band together to frighten the groups of anchovies together so that they may then feed upon them. Right after this, I saw Miracle #6– a huge swarm of anchovies that flew up onto the surface of the water, practically flying, with beautiful silver rays of light playing in the sun.

Then to our left a pair of sea otters floated right next to us (Miracle #7), tummies up, playful cute faces looking toward us curiously. They hung around us showing us their moves– beautiful spins, twists and turns with the water, deep dives, and big smiles!

And these were just a few of the sea mammals that joined us in the harbor that day (adorable harbor seals, majestic pelicans, and more)!

There may have been many more miracles happening that day, but so small and sweet that I hardly even thought to count them. That is the way that Divine Mother is. She is there with us, giving us even the smallest things–hardly noticeable as we rush about our days. But she does this because she wants us each to know that she is always with us, just waiting patiently for us to see her and let her in. So that we begin to feel her presence everywhere. All she wants is for us to feel her love and to share that love with all.

So why don’t you try it for yourself? Ask her for a Divine Mother Day, dedicated just to her nature and the miracles of her beauty and grace.

Lets end with one of her videos:

Namaste,

Chandi

Tree and leaves in the autumn

Leaves in the autumn came tumbling down,

Scarlet and yellow, russet and brown,

Leaves in the garden were swept in a heap

To jump up and down in,

with our two tiny feet.

Red leaves and yellow leaves,

Orange leaves and brown.

Leaves are everywhere,

Happily dancing down. 

I believe every school classroom all over the northern hemisphere is celebrating the seasonal changes now as we celebrate autumn. Our classroom at the Living Wisdom School of Seattle, is no exception. Our focus this month have been the beauty of trees. I like to build on the spiritual experiences for young children through the study of our earth's natural rhythms. 

What do the trees teach us?

  Just to name a few qualities that I focus on: inner power, strength, calmness, beauty. and stability. Tree medicine comes through many experiences in the classroom.  We can share a powerful story from nature, a song, interwoven bark textures, and though a multitude of visual art creations.    

I love the fall and all the many ways it can open the heart in nature.

 As we all know the projects are endless. 

Our class plays daily in our natural playground filled with Cedar, Douglas Fir, Maple, Alder and Hemlock trees. Is is a joyous sight to behold.  The children and I love to bath in this carefree childlike setting, filled with make believe bears, gnomes and fairies. The children are transported to a magical wonderland of their make believe worlds and story telling. 

We end each morning with a gathering together at the base of our trees. Here, we do an exercise called: "Reciprocal Breathing". We offer thanks to our trees at the conclusion of our morning in the playground. 

It is the highlight for many of us. 

May this fall be full of many blessings to your family and loved ones. May we all share in the inner  peace the leaves, and trees bring to us in this autumn season.  

"All the World is My Friend"

Working together

Every September I begin our year with the unit: "All the world is my friend." This is a song written by: Nayaswami Kriyananda.  This has such a broad way of introducing new friendships, cooperation and harmony in our daily activities. 

The words to the song:

All the world is my friend

When I learn how to share my love.

When I stretch out my hand and smile,

Then I live from above. 

Here is the link to the music. 

The children begin to sing this from the first day of class. I offer books, puppet plays, yoga practices, games and art activities to bring in the theme for the month. 

This year I did a few new activities in case you read my October entry from 2012. 

Felting world balls

Integration of whole body drawing with our feet. When we draw with our feet, and switch to the hands it all seems easy. We draw with play dough, sand, in the air and on each others backs. This is so exciting to be silly with our new friends. 

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you. 

Sewing patterns with our friends

Harvesting sunflowers together from our school garden. 

Harvesting apples together at our Equinox celebration

Prayers together

Celebrations and parades

 This was our globe the children painted together.

One of the girls in my afternoon Prekindergarten class was coloring with our block beeswax crayons. She said to me: "These need to be cleaned." So I had told her about an idea that I heard and never thought I would have the opportunity to actually try it since I knew it might be time consuming. But we pulled out basic vegetable oil, and a small bowl.  We began to rub and rub. All the markings came off on our paper towels. It made hand made paper. It was so lovely and reminded me of all the felting projects that I love to do. I couldn't throw the paper away.



 So tore it up in small pieces and glued it as land continents on our globe.
This added another level of fun. We cut out many photos of animals that lived around the globe and glued them to our world.
The children also put a large floor puzzle together using the same principals of maps and habitats.




The mural had so many beautiful stages.


Here is the list from what a mural can accomplish in a classroom setting.

Celebration of harmony, cooperation, and joy in class. Dynamic tracing hands, right and left hands, cutting, pasting, geography, animal habitats, willingness to help others, gross and fine motor skills, sewing, sensory integration, grip control, recycling, singing , watercolor techniques, blotting, crayon resist, sponge painting, and blending.
One of the students as she helped me commented: " Wow, I had no idea, we did all that!
It is beautiful."

What a lovely way to honor our friendships and live in harmony with the world all around us.

Namaste,

Chandi

Environment is stronger than will. Beauty in the Living Wisdom Classroom.

 The summer is slowly ending, but I can say the life of a teacher is always in clear focus.

 The past three weeks, I have been changing my classroom at the Living Wisdom School and creating my yearly curriculum. There are a few new changes in our environment.  Every item needs to be cleaned, and moved to create an uplifting foundation for the new students that arrive on Wednesday.  Some how it feels like I have been going at "turtle " pace though. I like to spend quality time in my classroom meditating, singing and actually creating some new art. This year some new felt pieces and art will be added into the classroom.

The environment is the third teacher and helps to uplift the spirit of the child. I like to prepare my classroom with soothing harmonious colors, materials and fabrics. This year especially I am focusing on beauty and calmness. Mentally I place each item in a certain location that can uplift and spark inner love, creativity, and beauty for the young child.

 I believe that children don't need a lot of unnecessary materials that clutter their environments and spaces. The materials I use are also natural woods with the elimination of  unnecessary plastic in the space. I also create all my own visuals. I don't buy teacher materials to put up all over the walls. The art on the walls, are there to stimulate children's creativity and instill the qualities that everyone can be an artist. We all have creativity deep within our beings. If I am teaching an aspect I will add my own visuals. These are just my own personal views and are very subtle to the spiritual child.

I begin imagining children playing in a certain location before the first day of school. What area will have the most children playing? What is the flow in the classroom? Are their areas that a child can play alone or with others? Are their areas for drawing, reading, and block play? Are there dark spaces? Is the lighting soft? Is every corner uplifting without clutter? Are the counters clean? Are there plenty of baskets for natural material: rocks, drift wood, and shells? Does the classroom flow with ease? Is there a space for all the materials?

I also place an importance in meeting my students before school starts. I like to bond a little with them and make them at ease with the new transition of entering the Living Wisdom School.

This past week, I added a whole new cooking area for our room and painted this picture that hangs in our reading area.  We are doing more cooking this year, so the children will be practicing along side of me while we prepare: soups, breads, muffins, fresh organic juices, and moon biscuits of course.

In the  pre-kindergarten classroom I use uplifting but soothing colors. The classroom is a nurturing space for a young child. For many children this is one of the first places away from their home. My classroom provides the bridge into a more traditional classroom. I use soft lighting, plants, flowers, crystals, and soothing colors.

This is our angel ring over their heads. 

Our classroom mural of the moon. 

I will end with a thought that a wise man said:

"No matter what work I am called upon to perform, I know there is a way to bring beauty and inspiration into it. May I always be alive to beauty and creative inspiration."

Many Blessings,

Chandi

Stepping into the light

I have just recently returned from my annual silent retreat that I take each summer. A great Indian saint said: "Seclusion is the price of greatness."  So it is with this spirit I packed up all my belongings, left my natural surroundings, and began to quiet the murmur of my soul.  

My days were spent in meditation, yoga, chanting, spiritual journaling, praying for my loved ones, reading spiritual literature, and for the first time in many years, I'm rekindling my practice of drawing and painting. 

This year was a beautiful time of solitude. I bundled up all my camping gear and headed to a nearby lavender farm.  My heart really wanted to be close to the trees. 

I spent six nights in a small tent underneath large cedar and pine trees. I awoke each morning to nearby forest birds singing a boisterous symphony chorus of various songs. Their methodical melodies joyfully awoke my senses. Each sound was in continuous harmony, gently reminding me that I was Only a visitor to their natural setting.   

 During the school year, I like to teach my students about becoming a part nature's existence. I found it deeply inspiring this year to become so still in nature. So this was a profound journey into the heart of nature each day.  

Now, I am back home into my natural rhythm of daily life in the Ananda Community with a harmonious spiritual family and deep soul friendships. 

 Re-entry from not talking for 6 days can be a little challenging at first. You just want to hold onto the inner silence and peace for as long as you can. 

Next year my goal is try and take two weeks of seclusion. The main point in taking a seclusion though is to draw in the deep inspirations of God's infinite light and his daily presence. 

I have found each summer day upon my return refreshing, and my energy is recharged. 

I would like to leave you with some lovely photos I took during my seclusion and inspire your thoughts of experimenting and trying to take a seclusion for yourself.

The light beckons all of us a home to his guiding presence.

Many 

Blessings,

Chandi