Intentional – Think Sustainability
If each of us were to “Think Sustainability” before doing anything, how much healthier our planet would be. We all need to stop and consider: “Will this action, small as it may seem, help to nurture life or add to its destruction?” Like it or not, each decision adds up. The hundreds of daily choices we make regarding transportation, consumption of food, purchasing products, keeping those products clean and maintained, creating garbage and waste, disposing garbage and waste, etc. have a huge impact on the entire world and should be made with a serious resolve towards sustainability. (Please see our “Earth Day Pledge Suggestions” sheet for suggestions – then make a commitment to sustainability by posting it on our Pledge Tree in the yoga studio.)
As yogis, we can practice being aware of sustainability on our mats. We can maintain our energy by consciously pacing ourselves – neither over or under doing it. We can maintain focus by ignoring distractions and keeping our attention on the dialog. We can nurture the practice of others by arriving to class on time, being aware of our physical placement in relation to theirs, staying still in between the postures, and moving in and out of the postures in synchronicity with the rest of class. As the microcosm of life that yoga is, practicing it with sustainability in mind will help us practice awareness outside the yoga studio.
Being conscious of our actions and the impact they have on everything around us – beginning on our mats and expanding into the rest of our lives – is critical if we are to have a healthy planet to live on. With this upcoming Earth Day in mind, it is appropriate to be reminded of what Blaise Pascal (French mathematician, religious philosopher and physicist ) so eloquently stated: “The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.”