Hope Revisited

Dear friends,

Back in January of this year we spent some time exploring topics from The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams. We touched on the topics of building strength, developing resilience, and connecting to the light as ways to practice the yoga of hope.

It turns out that Ms. Goodall was visiting the Chicago area this past week. She was bringing her messages of conservation and youth-empowerment to a group at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Jane believes that we can find practical solutions for the environmental and conservation challenges that the world now faces.

She ended her talk, as she always does, with the following statement:

Together we can, together we will, together we must: change the world.

The audience chimed in along with Jane. I'm guessing that the hopeful feeling in that room was palpable.

So, where does our yoga come in? Recall that great feeling that you have after you complete a yoga practice. Your body feels refreshed and calm, and you might feel a connection to something greater than yourself. You might even have a smile on your face or a spring in your step.

When we step off the mat and carry that connected feeling forward, something powerful happens. The good feelings, the positive awareness, and the openness we experience in our hearts all begin to ripple outward.

These ripples expand and send out subtle circles of love and hope into the world. These circles touch others in our community and beyond, often in ways we’ll never fully know or understand. Change can happen. It takes time.

So we must keep practicing. We must keep finding that connection and sharing it with humanity.

Together we can, together we will, together we must: change the world.

Love & hope,

Nina G