Man in the Mirror

Last night I took a step toward realizing my dream of bringing yoga to teachers in schools where, for various reasons, teachers are stressed and not always open and receptive to all of their students. Teaching is such an incredibly difficult job, and so incredibly important -- the connections with kids that teachers have the opportunity to make every single day are critical to the students' developing sense of self. My belief is that offering yoga in schools will reduce teacher stress and increase their openness and receptivity to all students. Part of this path involves asking teachers to start with the (wo)man in the mirror and examine long held assumptions of which they may not even be aware. These beliefs, though often subconscious, can adversely affect teachers' ability to connect with students and the ability of students to connect with the material they are intended to learn. Often there are issues of racial bias that need to be uncovered, examined, and released, making room for an affirmation that we are all one.

I presented my idea at a school board meeting last night. Another group also made a presentation, and used this song as their final inspiring message. I've always loved this song, but I've never thought about how interesting Michael Jackson is as the carrier of this message -- a man whose reflection in the mirror got less and less black over the course of his life. I think there's a difference between changing your ways and changing your appearance, and I think the changing of his appearance is really about a lack of self-acceptance and about his (real or perceived) belief that somehow having lighter skin was preferable. I have no doubt that growing up, he received that message repeatedly and felt he had the power to change it. Sadly, in the end, after sharing so many amazing aspects of himself with the world, he seemed to leave it almost as a result of never having come to terms with the man in the mirror.

Here's Michael singing Man in the Mirror in 1988, after he'd pretty significantly cosmetically altered the man in the mirror. In my own life, practicing yoga with specific attention paid to cultivating awareness, acceptance and non-judgment has helped me more fully appreciate my own reflection, and coming from that place, I can more easily see the beauty in others. This is the power of yoga that I hope to bring to teachers.