Darlings,
It is with great joy that I share the anniversary of one of my favorite shows, Sesame Street airing on television on November 10th, 1969. It is also the anniversary of one of the greatest songs of all time, The Rainbow Connection back in 1979 in The Muppet Movie, performed by the fabulous, Kermit the frog. This song, a kid's song really, crossed many barriers producing love from young to old and stayed on the top 40 charts for 7 weeks. Not bad for a frog with a hand up it's rear epitomizing the ideals of dreaming, passion and living love. Um, living yoga!!!!
Sesame Street was created by Joan Ganz Cooney, a former documentary producer for public television. Her goal was to create shows for youngsters that was both educational and entertaining. We see a lot of that these days but it started with her and Sesame Street. It's part a staple of our nation's growing up experience. I can mention it to anyone and we all have that in common. I grew up in NY so I thought it was directed straight to me with it's ethnically diverse characters and positive social messages.
I looked for little green monsters in garbage cans!
The show broke ground and was a pioneer in education and television. In fact, I don't remember my kindergarden teacher but I remember Big Bird and learning my alphabet and how to count with, um, the Count.
Over 74 million Americans have watched, 8 million tune in each week in the US alone. It has aired in more than 120 countries for over 4 decades and it continually celebrates and revisits the idea of starting at the beginning.
Even my mommy friends watch with their kids and rediscover with their children, the joy of beginning at the beginning. And if that isn't yoga...I don't know what it is.
So in celebration of Sesame Street and The Rainbow Connection, let's start, at the beginning, idealistic spirit and all. Let's fall down and laugh. Whether you've practiced yoga for 10 years or 10 minutes, arrive at each pose like it's the first time and if it feels like habit to go somewhere physically or mentally, stop yourself and rediscover each feeling like new love, like the taste of a good meal or sweet smell or sunset at the end of the day.
In honor of puppeteer Jim Henson, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Grover and Big Bird, Om, Om, Om....
In the Hot practice, we use the first set to set up safety, as the building blocks and foundation to find freedom and liberation and push past the limits in the second set. In our flow class, we explore each move with an openness to all possibility to whatever comes next, inside and out.
Play is the beginning of knowledge. – George Dorsey
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. - Henry Ford
There are two mistakes one can make a long the road to truth…not going all the way and not starting – Buddha
Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end. Seneca
There are no classes in life for beginners – right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult. Rainer Maria Rilke
There will be a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning. -Louis L’Amour
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with one step. –Lao Tzu
To have begun is to have done half the task. Dare to be wise. Horace
All glory comes from daring to begin. – Eugene F. Ware
The beginning is the most important part of the work. – Plato
Beginning is easy, continuing is hard. –Japanese Proverb
What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. T.S. Elliot
He who chooses the beginnings of the road chooses the place it leads to. It is the means that determines the end. Harry Emerson Fosdick
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. - Henry Ford
If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything. It is open to everything. In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few. – Suzuki Roshi
All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurants revolving door. –Albert Camus
Sunny Day, Sweepin' the clouds away, On my way to where the air is sweet –Sesame street theme song
Winning starts with the beginning Robert H. Schuller
The beginning is always today. – Mary Wallstonecraft
He has the deed half done who has made a beginning. – Horace
In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded – Terry Pratchett
Keep on beginning and failing. Each time you fail, start all over again and you will grow stronger until you have accomplished a purpose – not the one you began with perhaps but one you’ll be glad to remember. – Ben Stein
There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life. Federico Fellini
Fight till the last gasp – William Shakespeare King Henry the 6th
The strongest of all warriors are these two – Time and patience – Leo Tolstoy
Today we found it, the mind body connection, the lovers, the dreams and me, all of us under its spell, we know that its probably magic. –Rainbow connection riff for yoga class!!