Earth Day Celebration

Usually on earth day, I have gone for a hike, helped clean up projects or taught a special yoga class.  This year, I am adding a massage.  My yoga practice has taught me that my body is the earth.  What a great way to honor the earth, after some work on encouraging recycling and cutting down on usage today, getting a nice well deserved massage is a wonderful way to show gratitude for the earth.   I encourage you to recycle and reuse.  I encourage you to ask your self with each purchase you make, is this going to just end up in the landfill in a couple of weeks, and, do I really need this?  I encourage you to shop second hand and from local mom and pop shops that hopefully are still out there.  Instead of running out to shop for things,  I encourage you to get a nice massage and nurture the earth.     As a yogi, I commit myself to honoring and protecting the earth the best I can.  It is a constant awareness that has not only developed from my practice, but has been engrained in my Native American ancestry.  Even though I have practiced honoring the earth my whole life, I am still learning great ways to honor our mother.   I wish you all a happy earth day.   I am the Earth
And the Earth is me.
Each blade of grass,
Each honey tree,
Each bit of mud,
And stick and stone
Is blood and muscle,
Skin and bone.

And just as I
Need every bit
Of me to make
My body fit,
So Earth needs
Grass and stone and tree
And things that grow here
Naturally.

That's why we
Celebrate this day.
That's why across
The world we say:
As long as life,
As dear, as free,
I am the Earth
And the Earth is me.
May all have peace, happiness and loving kindness