Namaste Yoga 127 Ganesh Honours his Parents with Dr. Melissa West

http://www.melissawest.com Ganesha had a brother whose name was Kartikeya. Ganesha was very clever and sweet natured, where as Kartikeya was very short tempered. Both of them used to play on the mountains and sometimes they used to quarrel. One time they had a huge fight. During this quarrel both thought each other was guilty and to settle the matter they approached their parents. Shiva and Parvati heard both sides of their story. Suddenly Shiva had and idea, "Children," he said to them, "Let's settle this with a contest. Both of you will have a race around the world and the one who comes back first will be considered right. The one who comes back last will be considered wrong. Do you agree?" "Yes! Yes!," Ganesh and Kartikeya agreed! Kartikeya rode a peacock and was very fast, while Gaensh only used a little rat for riding. Kartikeya was confident we would win the race because his peacock was much faster than Ganesh's rat. Kartikeya immediately jumped on his peacock and rode very fast as he could. Ganesha first had a look at his big stomach and then at his little rat. He was sure that he can never win the race.Then Kartikeya was already away with his peacock. Ganesha sat down defeated and began to think. Suddenly, he had a good idea. Ganesh asked Shiva and Parvati to sit together and quickly walked around them three times. No sooner had Ganesh circled his parents than Kartikeya returned on his peacock after travelling around the world proudly boasting to his parents, "here I come! I've won!" "No," Ganesh said firmly, "our parents are the mother and father of the world, so going around them is just like going around the world! I have done it three times, but you have done it only once, so that make me the winner!" Ganesh looked to Shiva and Parvati asking, "Am I right, or am I wrong?" "Ganesha is right," said Parvati to Kartikeya," he has won the race !" This story teaches us about intelligence and honour. Ganesh takes the time to tune in to his inner knowing and seek higher knowledge before making rash decisions or having a temper tantrum or losing his cool like his brother. Through this story we learn to respond rather than react. In the story Ganesh honours his parents and in this honouring and intelligent response wins the contest over speed and physical skill. In our class today we will practice honouring ourselves and honouring the human spirit through the warrior poses. We will also work a bit with peacock preparatory poses in honour of Ganesh’s brother. We will work with patience with paschimottanasana and the mudra of inner self as well.