Earth Day Monday, April 22, 2013 12 – 2 p.m
Climate change has many faces. and they’re not only human faces. these faces of climate change are multiplying every day. yogagaia – Hasita Agathe Nadai tells the story of the universe through movement and music.
“Yoga is a wonderful avenue because yoga’s intention is to bring us to inner emptiness, to let go of our old stories and embrace the new ones through our body, because the body remembers,” she says. Yogagaia, she explains, encourages us to tune in at the cellular level to our deep connection to the earth and the universe—and when we truly experience that oneness, we find ourselves living the principles of ahimsa (to do no harm). “We have reached a point where we can choose to inflict irreversible damage to this planet, or we can choose to live in harmony with it and respect the rights of all the other beings that live here” Hasita says. “When we become aware that the story is ours, that the trees, the galaxies, the stars, and our bodies are all made of the same stuff, we realize we are not simply a collection of objects. We are a community of subjects.”
THE TASK OF YOGAGAIA IN THE 21ST CENTURY:
Is to heal us from our cultural estrangement from Earth and its Life Community. Its aim is to guide us toward a new paradigm: moving from an anthropocentric view of the world toward an eco-centric view. The naming of geologic eras marks irreversible planetary catastrophes that threw off the living balance of Earth, notably meteor impacts and the volcanism likely triggered by such impacts. Yet now is the first time that a single form of life ours has acquired the power to inflict a catastrophe at a geologic scale and that is already affecting every part of the planet: ocean, atmosphere, soil, and life. No human community and no ecosystem will be spared from such menacing effects, as this is truly a global phenomenon.
ABOUT HASITA AGATHE NADAI:
With a practice she calls Yogagaia, professional Kripalu Yoga teacher, Hasita Agathe Nadai fuses movement and music with the story of how the universe came into being—a story told by science and informed by spirit. Drawing on her background as a biologist, geologist, and yoga teacher and practitioner, Hasita has developed a series of slow movements, a form of yogic meditation, that are carefully coordinated with her text. Born in Vienna, Austria, she fled to Italy with her family as World War II approached; she also lived in Croatia, Yugoslavia, and Hungary. At age 21, she came to the United States, where she studied cell physiology at Columbia University and later married and raised a family. At age 50, she went back to school for a master’s degree in geology, and in 1994 earned her Kripalu Yoga Teacher Certification. Join us in The Campus Quad to record the many faces of Lehman who support the fight against climate change* *Weather Permitting – rain or cold weather location will be moved to the East Dining Room in the Music Building – bring your yoga mat
Visit the earthday.org Network site to learn more about “The Face of Climate Change”