After spending almost 3 weeks in the paradise of Florianopolis and arriving in the very organized and fairly affluent Yoga Flow of Sao Paulo, my experience yesterday teaching at Casa de Zezinho, a school in the Favela’s (urban slum) of Sao Paulo was truly awakening and deeply inspiring.

Charlie, my friend who opened Yoga Flow in SP, had been soliciting donations from his yoga students and we began the journey by packing several cars with donations of clothes, food and toys. There were about 8 - 9 of us in a caravan that set out to the school which was about 30 minutes across Sao Paulo. SP is HUGE and getting from one side to the next entails a lot of traffic (a recent fact that SP has 6 Million cars shocked me) and there is nothing but urban living for kilometers and kilometers…

We pulled up to the school which was actually on the outskirts of the favela which made me feel a bit safer. The streets around it were clean, well kept and no fear of violence.

Upon arrival, we began unloading all the gifts and there was lots of energy of kids of all ages and adults who ran the place in their afternoon activities.  We had a tour of the facilities and saw lots of the kids art and their rooms for classes and programming.  We got a page to come back and start the program and made our way into a hall where about 60 kids and adults to watch them were all awaiting the start of the program.  I walked in and my friend Gui was talking to the group and as soon as he saw me round the corner called me to the front of the room and introduced me.  It was an instant plunge into center stage with children from ages 5 - 15 all looking and clapping for me….wow, quite a rush.  I started to greet them in my broken Portuguese and after telling them what I do as a traveling teacher and yogi there was a lot of energy and excitement…and a lot of noise!

Se I sat down and starting by asking them Who knows what yoga is?  One boy raised his hand and then did Bakasana in the front of the room!  It was great!  Some others did a few other poses and then I explained to them that yoga poses are just one part of Yoga…I kept it pretty basic but gave them a teaching on the nature of yoga and yoga and nature and how everything breathes.  No matter what language people speak, we all breathe and have the connection of life.  We breathed together and it was super cute to watch them inhale and exhale really deeply until their faces turned funny and the exhales were loud moans!  I have worked with some kids, but not with a group like this before so I knew I had to keep their attention and started with some neck rolls and arm streches and they followed along great.  We did just a few standing poses and I could tell I was losing a few of them so brought them to the floor for some twists and a forward fold….while they were folded forward I quickly got into headstand and told them all to not stand on their head!  They laughed a lot and a few of them tried even succeeded!  This made lots of commotion so I made the switch to keep their attention and grabbed the guitar.

I gave a brief intro to mantra chanting and singing the name of God (for children…and in a foreign language, a bit challenging)  and we started with Sita Ram Sita Ram Sita Ram…I explained the call response nature of Kirtan and they started right away.  Super super cute and fun.  After the chant, we clapped and they were ready for more….I talked a bit about Ganesha (there was a statue to Ganesha there) and how we can all use the help of an elephant to remove the obstacles of challenges in our lives….they agreed and we sang Ganesha Sharinam getting faster and faster until a few of them got up to dance and we rocked the house.  They wanted to sing Brazilian music, but I don’t now any songs so decided to sing Bob Marley, which the whole world knows…Get Up Stand Up was a hit and they all knew the chorus.  One of the boys then got up for a make-up version of Is This Love.  It was a lot of fun.

Then, I explained to them about my friend Ross’ www.createpeaceproject.com  and showed them a stack of postcards with positive messages that I was leaving for them to color and share their art, love and peace with a global project…they liked the idea of participating in a global art project.  Then I somehow got them all quiet and introduced Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu (May All Beings Everywhere be Happy and Free / Todos os Ceres em Todos Lugares Seja Feliz e Livre).  I had made up a bit of a funky Bossa Nova Style melody and we began to sing in Sanskrit first then switched to Portuguese.  It culminated with everyone standing up, dancing and singing while we sang in Portuguese….WOW, raising the vibration is a lot of FUN!

After lots of applause the announcement was made for them to get ready to go and I had lots of hugs and kisses from the students who were super cute and curious about me.  I was able to talk to them and the girls all said they loved the singing the best and the boys wanted to know which Futball team I liked!

I knew about this school thanks to the connection from Michael Franti and Eddie and Nicki and the kids who knew Michael all wanted to know we were friends.  Getting to follow in his footsteps is a great honor for me and I hope to keep adding fuel to the spark that he has created there with his actions, music and love.  It is Michael and Eddie and Nicki’s inspiration that I am seeking out more places to teach, chant and raise the vibration for people who could really use some faith.

Upon leaving Casa de Zezinho, I was left with a feeling of joy and love and a lot of compassion for these children.  It really made me more grateful for the truly blessed life I am living.  I believe that all of us enter the world with certain lessons to learn and share and the lessons that these kids are learning are very low on the hierarchical scale of life.  How to have food, clothing and shelter and to survive in a very violent and rough place.  And in spite of these great challenges…check out the photos and see the smiles on their faces.  They were just like kids in other parts of the world while we were playing and having fun.  Screaming, wrestling, laughing and dancing….and then I thought about what they go home to.  I came back to a beautiful yoga studio and had a magical candle lit class with my iPod playing groovy music, with students wearing the latest fashions and then sat to copy the photos and write this on my handy laptop computer.  These children aren’t allowed on the streets in their own neighborhood because of violence and drugs.   They are lucky to have a hot meal and find great satisfaction in getting to watch their futball team play on TV.  As they grow older, I wish for them an opportunity to study more art and music and to somehow shift this terror that is their lives in the favelas.  As  gringo, I think the best thing I can do is relate to them as brother and sister and support them with my vibrations of music, yoga and money when I can.  May we all find it in our hearts to come to some form of action to help all the children to find peace and love in their homes.  Until we all take a giant step forward with our evolution in conscioussness, no one is going anywhere…so may we find it in ourselves to work together and shift the paradigm of thought that it is a helpless situation.  There are solutions and the battle is tough, but look here to see the effects that collective work and creativity can create.

 Photos from Casa do Zezinho

With Love,
David