• Table of Contents
  • To That Guru
  • Guru Purnima Message by Swami Rama
  • Guru by Swami Rama
  • Mastering Yoga Nidra by Swami Veda Bharati
  • Anniversary Celebrations by Dr. Shirin Venkat
  • The End of Children's School Year by Mónika Bertalan
  • The Grace of the Guru by Aditi M. Gaur
  • An Intangible Beauty by Daniele Belloni
  • Dear Yoga Mentor, My Question Is ...
  • Walk Up to Guru Purnima 2014 by Joanne Sullivan (Divya)
  • What Is Mastery in Yoga? by Swami Veda Bharati
  • New Book Published: Anant Ki Khoj by AHYMSIN Publishers
  • Some Coming Attractions at SRSG
  • 2014 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of our SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

The End of Children's School Year

by Mónika Bertalan

We celebrated the end of children's school year in May in a special mood with and with special guests. 

One of the guests was the leader of the Animal Protection Association (http://www.debrecenikutyahaz.hu/).  She introduced the work of the Association as she did in last year and added information about how someone could became a temporary adopter of the little puppies. They are all inoculated; their foods were served by the Association. When they are adopted they can get out of the danger of infection by finding decent conditions and the care of a family.

The other guest was a young man, who had lost his sight for 5 years, just before he was to take his school leaving examination. Now, he is a graduate student of the university. He has perfect grades; his seeing school mates refer to him for help in study. He will become a child psychologist.

The celebration of the end of school year was held in a playful mood.

After a short introduction, the young man, Adam, told us that he is not accepted and people do not give a helping hand when he is in need in the street.

I prepared different games, and we played a game in which children with the guests and parents may experience massage of each other's faces with closed eyes. This kind of game was built on acceptance and faith, and performing that with closed eyes can strengthen one's self-confidence. 

Because of the different situations you should get used to relying on sensory organs other than sight, such as touching, hearing.

The children could try the white cane and got familiar with the work of guide-dog closely.

At the end of the games, yoga students of the Yoga Association of Debrecen sang a few bhajans accompanied by Indian instruments.

Then we formed a "love-ring" with a candle in the center and hand in hand. 

The ceremony ended with rich laid smorgasbord. The parents brought such vegetarian foods prepared with their children at home earlier.

The main aim of the celebration of the end of school year was to live and employ ahimsa. Acceptance and respect of a man with assumed disability changed. Through faith, open-mindedness and self-confidence, experience the oneness.

We all had a good time!

Editor’s Note:

Mónika Bertalan is the president of Children Yoga Association of Debrecen, Hungary. Mónika is a graduate student of TTP in Hungary and was received into the initiate family by Swami Veda Bharati in 2008.

We invite you to visit the website: http://www.jogagyermekeknek.hu/ and http://jogadebrecen.hu/

Mónika is interested in communicating with others who teach yoga to children and in establishing communication between people who teach children. If you teach youth and children and would like to contact Mónika, please write to ahymsin@ahymsin.org and we will give your contact information to her.

“It is a great opportunity to prove the importance of yoga teaching for children, integrating it to the everyday education and watching the results in physical, psychical, mental, and social aspects. Teaching yoga for children means not only passing knowledge; it is all about motivating them to live a healthy,  suffering-free and happy life, apply the adopted learnings in all areas and raising their future children in that way with utmost awareness and love.” -  Mónika Bertalan in “Yoga for Children” at http://www.ahymsin.org/docs2/News/1306Jun/06.html