Healing Tragedies with Small Deeds

Recently, I heard that around $50 million was raised during a telethon for Haiti. This raised my spirits enough to get me through another round of sun salutations. Sometimes I feel so helpless when dealing with the larger tragedies of life that it puts me into a depressed tailspin.

At these times it is one foot in front of the other, one inhale after one exhale. This is a good reminder that this is always how it works. Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves and think about the “big picture” which can distract us from what is right at hand. If I can give a dollar right now, if I can meditate on peace right now, in the midst of whatever else I am doing, then I am doing the work. Mother Teresa said that it is the small deed done with great love that can move mountains.

The same student who gave me the news today about the amazing funds raised for Haiti also remarked that it is time to do a telethon for the needy right here in the United States. In both cases we must see the world as connected to ourselves and begin to heal it of the afflictions that come from an isolationist point of view. If yoga truly means “to yoke” and is the methodology of union, then one of the essential goals of yoga is to change our perspective of ourselves as separate from the world. May we all reach out to our fellow sentient beings with the love and the efforts that can bring food, shelter, and care to all those in need.