Prayers:
• ॐ सहनाववतु - Om sahanaavavatu (My prayers, pg. 6)
Yoga segment: Butterfly Pose, Tree Pose, Vajraasan, Tortoise Pose, king dancer pose, downward dog pose.
Shlokas:
वक्रतुण्ड महाकाया - vakratuNDa mahaakaayaa
कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मीः - karaagre vasate lakshmIH (My prayers, pg. 43)
गुरूर् ब्रह्मा गुरूर् विष्णुः gurUr brahmA gurUr viShNuH (My prayers, pg. 9)
Bhajans:
खाते भि राम कहो पीते भि राम कहो – khaate bhi Ram kaho peete bhi Ram kaho
Rama and Govinda bhajans by Sravamthi and her great grandmother
Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, shloka 1 – 5
Art Project: Special Art work for a surprise
Shloka before meal: ब्रह्मार्पणम् – BrahmArpaNam (My prayers, pg. 45)
Snack/Juice: provided by Navya and family.
Story Segment: The hunter and the birds – presented by Satvik’s dad
End of class:
सर्वे भवतु सुखिनः – sarve bhavantu sukhinaH
ॐ पूर्णमदः - Om poornamadaH
Aarati and Pledge in the Auditorium
Comments: Today is a special day for 2 reasons. It is Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayanada’s birthday and also it is Mothers’ day. We started with our 3 Oms after wishing all the mommies a very Happy Mothers’ Day! We then did our Yoga stretches and warmed up for our class. After Yoga, we started the shlokas. Our little helpers Vikram and Navya started Vakratunda Mahakaaya on Lord gaNEshA. As part of our first Parent participation activity, we had Sravamthi and her great grandmother sing a couple Bhajans for us on Lord Rama and Lord Govinda! They did an amazing job and we really enjoyed singing the Bhajan with them! We learnt a new shloka, गुरूर् ब्रह्मा गुरूर् विष्णुः gurUr brahmA gurUr viShNuH and said it for our Pujya Gurudev. At Bhajan time with Rupa Aunty, we sang khAte bhi Ram kaho and tried to list so many activities during which we can remember Lord Rama. It was a lot of fun! We worked on a very special craft today in which the children had to fold some circles, cut them in different designs and stick them on the squares. The children had to write their names and give them back for a special surprise that they will get back on May 22nd. Then it was snack time. Today is snack was provided by Navya and family. After snack time we had a special story by Satvik’s dad. We all had to tell him all the birds’ names first and out of them he picked doves to tell a story about the hunter and the doves. The doves wanted to go near a big banyan tree which is also known as Kalpa vriksha (the magical tree that makes our wishes come true!) So they flew to the tree and found some grains of rice under the tree. The doves were very hungry and they started eating the rice grain. Meanwhile, the wicked hunter put a great big net on them! They were stuck now and tried to flutter their wings hard but couldn’t fly. The leader of the dove came up with the idea that if all of themflapped their wings together at the same time, they could fly with the net. So they tried that and guess what! They made it! They flew with the net until they came to Mr. Mouse (on whom Lord Ganesha rides!) and asked him to chew away the net with his sharp teeth. So the mouse chewed and chewed and cut open the net. The happy doves were free again! They thanked the mouse and flew away home free! What we learn from the doves in the story is that if we work together as a team, we can achieve many things in life! It was a great story and Satvik dad presented it in a very interactive and enjoyable manner! Thank you very much for taking the trouble and presenting us this wonderful story! After story time, we said our ending shlokas and went to the auditorium for the Mothers’ day special program. It was an all together fun class today and we can’t wait to meet the kids next week!
