Happy Summer 2008!

Namaskar !

Hello everyone. The school year 2007 -2008 is almost ending. I really enjoyed this year with the kids especially the nature walks and meditation in the forest, baking and yoga sessions which all the kids adore so much, the singing and mantra chanting of Baba Nam Kevalam and the daily morning meditation . Wow!, it seems that it was like only yesterday that some of the kids who enrolled in Sunrise could not understand English are now speaking English fluently, meditating well with concentration, had developed self confidence and esteem and most importantly had developed a loving connection with the nature.

It is really inspiring to watch them during our regular nature walks in the forest just in front of our school that when the kids see a tiny insect such as ladybugs , ants or beetles, they usually stop and watch them with awe. The children look at the insects carefully so they will not disturb them. But sometimes they also talk with the insects and call them the names of the insect characters that they remember in the Circle of Love stories. They talk with the insects as if they were also human beings. If they want to touch or help a ladybug for example, a child would lift the insect on the palm of his/her hand and gently place it on a leaf of a bush or a small tree.

Though the school is closing for its summer holiday in a few days time, parents were already giving me hugs and sweet goodbyes as they will go away for their vacation soon and they also give me their gratitudes for the loving care and support that we in Sunrise have rendered to their children. It is normal to hear from parents saying, “We are so lucky that we have a kindergarten like Sunrise here in Finland where kids do yoga, eat vegetarian food, and are loved and taught values that help the children interact properly and harmoniously with others and the nature as well. Well, I thought, that is the Neo-humanistic way.