Art Supplies in Action

onthemat • April 21, 2016

  First, thank you so much to many friends and yogis from On the Mat for the vast array of school and art supplies. I thought the girls would use these supplies in school, but we were asked to provide drawing time during the retreat. We started with the “little girls” between the ages of […]

First, thank you so much to many friends and yogis from On the Mat for the vast array of school and art supplies. I thought the girls would use these supplies in school, but we were asked to provide drawing time during the retreat. We started with the “little girls” between the ages of 6 and 12. We were assigned an hour after lunch when we set up tables and supplies. Any girl who chose to could come during her free time. We had no idea what the reaction would be. We were stunned.

I xeroxed 200 copies of mandalas for the girls to color in, since a mandala coincides with a monastic life, connects to Buddhism, and symbolizes the same unity as a pagoda. Some girls chose to draw free style. There was a frenzy of cooperation and sharing at each table as the girls poured into the room. We’d set up 3 tables, and needed to add 10 more. Thank goodness there were so many colored pencils and markers for them to use!

The head of the monastery said the girls need more free time, more movement, but it is not always “the way things are done.” This was a new opportunity for the girls that meant so much to them.

We taught the younger girls from 7 to 8 pm which was hard since they were tired and a little restless after sitting all day, meditating or listening to dharma talks. They often arrived to yoga at 6:30 during their free time, so the next night when we walked in the room, the girls had already started coloring, this time right on the floor. We had a harder time getting them to put the art away to practice yoga, so we gave them a little extra time.

Needless to say, I will be bringing more art supplies the next time we go. Yes. I said that. We have plans to return when the weather isn’t so hot next winter.

On The Mat Yoga Blog

Heart~ Day #7 (Week #4)

By Linda Malcomb • May 3, 2020
“There is a light in the core of our being that calls us home—one that can only be seen with closed eyes; We can feel it as a radiance in the center of our chest. This light of loving awareness is always here, regardless of our conditioning. It does not matter how many dark paths we have traveled or how many wounds we have inflicted or sustained as we have unknowingly stumbled toward this inner radiance. It does not matter how long we have sleepwalked, seduced by our desires and fears. This call persists until it is answered, until we surrender to who we really are. When we do, we feel ourselves at home wherever we are. A hidden beauty reveals itself in our ordinary life. As the true nature of our Deep Hear is unveiled, we feel increasingly grateful for no reason—grateful to simply be.” —John J. Prendergast, PHD, The Deep Heart

SUN!~ Day #6 (Week #4)

By Linda Malcomb • May 2, 2020
Seems like it’s been rainy, windy, dreary for eons. Which may have helped us shelter inside a bit more. I remember reading years and years ago in a Seth book that weather can be influenced, and even created by mass human emotion. Why not? We are far more powerful than we currently acknowledge, and science is beginning to validate many phenomena that had seemed inconceivable before. Those seemingly endless days of “bad” weather seemed congruent with the emotional tone of covid her in New England. And now SUN! Glorious, warming, invigorating, hope-filled Sun! Today I will be outside basking and gardening and thanking. And I’m sure the whole neighborhood, and most of New England will go outside, stand with our faces to the sun and breathe a huge healing breath of joy. And maybe the collective energy of that will resonate out across the word as a promise of brighter days to come.
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