To start our class, I asked the students if anyone knew what the word "impermanence" meant; none of the them were familiar with this word. Then I asked if they knew the word "permanent"; one girl raised her hand and said, "Permanent is when something won't come off your skin!" I love this definition of the word. After a few more children chimed in with their ideas of permanent, we decided it meant something that lasts and doesn't change.
From the context of the word "permanent" the students worked together to figure out "impermanent". We defined impermanent as change, when things don't last forever. I asked them to apply the idea of impermanence to the book we've been reading over the past few classes, Annie and the Old One.
One student, in a vivid and articulate way, connected the concept of impermanence with Annie's conversation with her grandmother at the end of the book. Her grandmother talks about how time cannot be halted. She also explains that good things come to humans from the earth, and eventually humans will return to the earth. Annie looks around and remembers how the blossoms fall from the cactus when they are finished blooming. She connects this with the knowledge that her grandmother cannot live forever. It is a great lesson in both death impermanence.
These ideas prompted a rich and interesting conversation. One boy brought up that if all insects on the planet died, life on earth would end. He added that if humans were absent from the earth, all other forms of life would flourish. We discussed that music is impermanent because as soon as the sound is created, it disappears. Lastly, we talked about how movement is impermanent, so we are engaging in an activity of impermanence every week.
With that, we began our movement practice! I introduced the students to a classic Sun Salutation this week. We practiced Trikonasana and Malasana. Two new poses I introduced were Salabhasana and Navasana. At the end of our practice the kids had a lot of fun creating Bee Breath, or Bhramari. All of us created a humming sound, which made it seem as if the room was filled with a swarm of bees!
For the art portion of the class, I taught the students how to take their weavings off the loom. They
We also continued designing our sock puppet creations. Most of the students had time to make a mouth for their sock puppets. Some even got the chance to draw a picture of what they want their puppet to look like when they are finished with it. It will be fun to see how these artworks evolve.
