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Activities To Do - Exercise

This section introduces activities which parents and teachers can carry out with their children / students - adapting it for their particular needs. For 8 - 12 year olds For 4 - 8 year olds The Secret Friend (Activities for 8-12 year olds) Once upon a time, in a dark, green forest, lived a fairy. She was a very happy fairy. But there was one sad thing, whenever the fairy tried to tell anyone anything nobody listened to her, as she had a very soft voice like a whisper. Now, near that forest was a village. The people there were very noisy and spent the whole day talking, shouting, and quarrelling with each other. They had no time to do good things like watching the sunrise, going for a walk, playing in the sand. The king of that village was a tired old man whom nobody listened to. One day, a strange thing happened. The sun did not rise. The birds did not chirp and flowers did not bloom. In fact, a strange rumbling sound was heard and a huge dragon, with a long, thorny tail, breathing fire stamped into the village and began to break houses, carry people away and destroy the fields. The people were very frightened. They went to their king and asked him what to do. The old king shook his head and thought for a long time. Then he told them, to kill the dragon they have to find the Magic Word, which only the fairy in the forest knew. So they must go to the forest in absolute silence, otherwise the fairy will hide herself and they will never find her. The villagers promised to do what the king told them. They set out for the forest in silence with lamps in their hands. At last they came to a little hut. They knocked and the door opened again. They entered, but again there was another door. As they kept knocking doors kept opening and they kept entering. At last, they entered a room, which was full of light, and seated in the middle was a lovely fairy with her eyes closed. The villagers all sat down quietly round her. She opened her eyes and said "Peace". As soon as she said the word, the villagers knew that this was the magic word. They looked at her and suddenly she disappeared. Everything had changed. They were back in the village and the dragon was breaking everything around. The villagers now faced him and together all of them said "Peace". As soon as they said the word, the dragon vanished into thin air, the village became a beautiful place and sun rose high in the sky. The people now lived happily with their magic word all around them. Calling Peace Would you like to know the secret of this fairy? Don't be surprised to know that she always lives in our heart - deep within our heart and it is not so difficult to listen to her even if she is as whisper. But we need to prepare ourselves. We need to use the magic word - Peace. Would you like to listen to this soft whisper within your then... Make peace your dearest friend. Call your dearest friend `Peace' to make your body, mind and feelings calm and quiet. Now when you feel peace with you, you can start your journey within your heart. Sit comfortably and relax yourself. Feel your body... Is any part tensed or uncomfortable in your body? Take soft and long breaths as though you were inhaling the fragrance of pink roses. Just feel the white bird of peace coming down to you and sitting in your mind and body. Remain absolutely calm, quiet, and comfortable. Let no thought or feelings create any wave within you. Now feel your heart and hear you heart beats till they become louder and louder. Then with each beat you will find a door opening in your heart. Whenever you feel ready just step inside and keep going till you pass through the second, third, fourth and many doors. And as you pass through all the doors you will come across a room with beautiful treasures in it. You will see different kinds of treasure there, in many different forms, and colours. Become aware and observe carefully... How are you feeling there? Quiet, Joyous, Peaceful, or something else? Feel the Space there. Is it warm or cold? What all do you see there? What colours do you see? Is anyone calling to you? Listen carefully, someone might be calling you softly and wanting to tell you something very special... Collect everything... all you felt or saw, as you might want to bring back the treasures you got. As you come back, watch the way carefully as you might want to go there again to bring back more treasure. Checking oneself... Put the following jumbled up letters in order to know.... What in you helps you to listen to the fairy? ROCAUEG CNECTANRIOOTN EPECA HESCFRUEENSL What takes you to the disturb dragon? GIFHT NEAGR OESIN EFRA Try this out... "Peace'... this is indeed a magic word that you can also try when you feel the dragon disturbing you. But first you need to know when do you feel the dragon disturbing you. It is when you feel afraid... of the break of some insect or an animal when you have to say or present something in front of someone or in your class of hurting your feelings of any particular sports of getting hurt in the play ground or anything else...? Or you have a fight with your dear friend Or you want to get something that you want to have? Or you don't know what will happen next? Or you feel you will be left alone? Try and experiment with the magic word Peace - whenever you feel the dragon disturbing you call peace as you call your dearest friend with the faith that your friend Peace will certainly come to you. See if the disturbing dragon disappears or not. The Awakening Ray

The Guiding Star (Activities for 4-8 year olds) This section introduces activities which parents and teachers can carry out with their children / students - adapting it to their particular needs. Once upon a time there was a family - a very happy family. In that family a child was born, with the Star in his heart. Parents were very happy to have him as their child. They loved him and taught him good things. He grew up very fast and was very bright. His parents knew he was a very special child with a big Star in his heart as he was very strong and honest as he was very strong and honest and was not afraid of anything. He was courageous and at the same time truthful. So his parents named him 'Abhay' - the one who has no fear. As a child, Abhay spent his time talking to his Star, doing what it asked him to do, as a result the Star grew bigger and shone bright. As Abhay grew older he got busy with his studies, cricket matches, television and with his friends that he forgot to talk with his inner Star, a friend in his heart. With this, over a period of time the Star faded its light and gradually became very dull and light. When the Star stopped shinning, Abhay felt dull and low, he felt too weak and suddenly all kinds of fear crept into him. Now he could not sleep alone in his room and was scared of darkness. He got more involved into fights and lost courage to accept his mistakes too. Abhay, while going through this change in his nature was indeed not happy. He felt uneasy and could not understand that all of a sudden why had he started feeling afraid of many things, which earlier he was not. He could not understand where his sent off for a walk. Not knowing where he was going he started walking down the woods. Everywhere he saw a deep forest. Tall trees attracted his gaze, he stopped and marveled at their beauty. It was not just a beauty that attracted his eyes but it was something deeper that called his heart. It was the courage that he lacked that he saw in those trees who gracefully stood erect supporting the falling trees with their strong branches. He went a little ahead and came across a beautiful valley smiling in joy with the blooming beauty of its flowers. Each flower open and fresh stood in perfect calm of self-giving. Courageously giving itself to the dazzling light. Again it was the same courage that attracted him. It touched his heart and filled it with the aspiration of becoming like a flower. With this aspiration he went to the trees and flowers to ask them what was the secret of their being courageous. With a mystic smile they looked at Abhay and told him the secret of their Courage. They told him that, "Each one of us is born with the secret friend in our heart - it is that guiding Star which gives us strength when we are in difficulties and helps us to grown higher in light and love. Each of us has that Star in our heart but in some it is small and in some it is big. It is only if we spend time listening and talking to it that it grows bigger and shines brighter in our heart - that is exactly the secret of this courage that you see in use." They told Abhay that even he had the big Star in his heart when he was a small child but as he grew older he stopped talking to it and so the Star faded its light and became small, and that was the reason for his lack of courage. He told him that if he concentrates in his heart and makes friendship with it, then the Star would again shine and will become bright. And he will be as courageous and honest as he was. Abhay was thrilled to know that he could make friendship with the Star in his heart. He went home and did exactly as the Trees had asked him to do, to concentrate in the heart so that he could listen to the whispers of his Star friend. He sat down comfortably on a mat and took long and deep breaths. As the breath passed through the centre of his chest he felt some warmth around. And at once he understood that is where the Star lived. He became absolutely quiet and called peace to help him relax to be able to focus in his heart. Then as he called peace and became quiet he started his journey into his heart to go closer to his guiding Star. He concentrated in his heart exactly where he had felt warmth. He concentrated deeply on that point till he started bathing in the shining light of the Star - giving himself to it. Within a few days both of them became very close friends. Gradually as the Abhay spent more time listening and talking to the Star it grew bigger and shone forever, making him as courageous and honest as he was. See for yourself.. Does your star guide you though a feeling of uneasiness when - You feel angry? You do something wrong? You hurt others? You lie? List out other occasions when you feel uneasiness in your heart and your star tries to tell you something. Also list out occasions when your star has given you strength to carry our actions. Like Abhay how will you make your star bright and strong? The Awakening Ray