Where do the mermaids stand?

Reading from Wednesday, July 16, 2014 and Tuesday July 22, 2014 yoga class

From the book, "Nourishing the teacher" by Danny Arguetty

"One of my favorite inspirational stories is called "Where Do the Mermaids Stand?" and is found in the book Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum.  Though I am unable to reprint the whole story here for copyright reasons, both this excerpt and the book can be found online.  To summarize, though, the story is about a schoolteacher who gathers his students to play the game Giants, Wizards, and Dwarfs.  He explains the rules of the game and then arrives at the critical point when the kids must choose whether to embody a giant, a wizard, or a dwarf.  In this moment, one little girl comes up to him and asks, "Where do the mermaids stand?"  The teacher explains that there is no such thing as a mermaid, but she remains true to herself and claims that she is one, not relating to the other categories offered by the game.  The teacher is thus inspired to consider, "Well, where do the Mermaids stand?  All the Mermaids--all those who are different, who do not fit the norm, and who do not accept the available boxes and pigeonholes?"  Answer that question and you can build a school, a nation, or a kingdom on it." he realizes.  He then declares that mermaids stand right beside him, the King of the Sea.  The last line of the story is my favorite, as the teacher says, "It is not true, by the way, that Mermaids do not exist.  I know at least one personally.  I have held her hand."

Don't you just love this!!!   I think that yoga helps us get to our authentic selves... to be who we are without any pretense!!  So... where DO the mermaids stand?  :)