Consideration for Wildlife

Step 1 : “Firstly, sit in a comfortable position on your chairs, or cross legged on the floor. Make sure your back is straight and head is upright. Take a deep breath and relax as you breathe out. Take another deep breath… and another…”

Step 2 : “Now relax any tensions in the body. Stretch your toes, then relax them. Tighten and tense the calf muscles, then relax them. Tense the muscles in your upper legs and thighs, and relax them. Pull in your stomach muscles, then relax them. Pull the shoulders back, then relax them. Shrug the shoulders up and down. Look left, look forward, look right, look forward. Now screw up the face muscles and relax them. Feel your whole body relaxed – all tensions have gone. You feel good.”

Step 3 : “Be aware of the five senses: the smell of the air in the room, the taste of the water in your mouth, the firmness of the ground under your feet and the touch of the air on the skin. Now close your eyes to avoid the distraction of seeing the things around and hear the sounds in the room. (Pause a minute or two). Hear the sounds outside the room. Let your hearing stretch out as far as you can”.

Step 4 : Imagine you are going for a walk down a country lane… The ground is soft under your feet. Branches of trees arch across the lane, offering their cool shade… The sunlight filters down through their branches making patches of golden light on the path.
The birds are singing happily. Listen to their singing. Look at them flying from tree to tree… See the robin hopping near you at the side of the path… They are happy to be alive.
You feel happy too.

Step 5 : “Now bring your attention back to the classroom, open your eyes and stretch, as the exercise has finished. Smile at the person next to you and tell them the date and time.”

(After these silent sitting exercises students may wish to share their experiences and this should be encouraged, especially asking how they feel. It is a good time to do some creative work such as drawing a picture of their experience.)

Adapted from ‘Sathya Sai Education in Human Values’, Published by BISSE Limited