Daisy makes peace with change.
Daisy hates change.
She doesn't like it when the sun sinks behind the horizon every night and it becomes dark.
Even though she loves to look at the bright moon and the stars at night,
She misses the sun and wishes that it would come back.
When the sun's bright rays greet her in the morning,
She starts missing the velvety night sky and the soft light of the stars.
As soon as the first blossoms of spring start appearing on the bare branches of the trees,
She starts missing her cosy evenings with her fairy friends next to a warm fire.
Missing things makes her feel sad.
Daisy worries that the sun might not return every morning or that the moon may run away with the stars and leave her with an empty sky one of these nights.
There were so many things that were changing all of the time too.
Days turning into nights,
Nights into days,
The seasons coming and going one after another.
Flowers bloomed and then wilted.
Tadpoles turned into frogs and caterpillars into butterflies.
One sunny day,
She was fluttering around the human world,
Enjoying all of the interesting sights and sounds she was discovering.
Suddenly,
A gust of wind blew a sheet of dark clouds in front of the sun.
A few minutes later,
It started raining.
Daisy rushed to find shelter through the first open window she could find.
Why does everything keep changing all of the time?
She stomped her foot.
Why can't everything just stay the same forever?
Oh,
I think you would hate that,
Giggled someone behind her.
Daisy spun around and blushed.
She didn't think that anyone could hear her.
She looked up into the friendly green eyes of a boy.
My name is Martin,
He smiled.
What's yours?
Daisy,
She answered back a little sulkyly.
Why do you think I would hate it if things always stayed the same?
Well,
Wouldn't it be boring if we only ever had sunny days?
It would be sad if there were only caterpillars and no butterflies.
What would you do with yourself if it rained every day for months and months and you couldn't go flying because it was too wet?
Anyway,
How would you choose which things to have in your unchanging world?
I don't know,
Daisy shrugged.
I mean,
I know that things have to keep changing because otherwise we won't have butterflies or frogs or blossoms or rain.
And all of these things are quite wonderful.
But does everything have to change quite so fast?
I think you will find that everything changes exactly as fast as it needs to,
Martin replied.
What do you mean?
Daisy wondered.
The thing is that everything is connected.
So if you stopped even one little thing from changing at the right time,
You could cause a whole bunch of problems.
Take the seasons,
For example.
Each season happens at exactly the right time so that plants and animals have a time to rest,
A time to blossom and have babies,
A time to grow fruit so animals have plenty to eat,
And a time to grow up,
Build nests and prepare for another winter when they can rest.
Say,
For example,
That you wanted baby animals to remain playful little babies for longer.
It could mean that they are then still too small to survive the cold when winter comes.
You wouldn't want that,
Would you?
Oh,
No,
That would be awful,
Daisy gasped.
And I see what you mean by how connected everything is.
It would be far too difficult to think about all of the consequences if I wanted to stop changes from happening,
Or even if I just wanted to slow things down.
So what should I do when a change makes me feel a little sad?
Daisy asked quietly.
I mean,
Do you never get sad when things change?
Of course I do,
Martin admitted.
But I have something that I say to myself whenever a change makes me sad or worried.
It goes like this.
The world is always changing,
But that's all good.
I know that I am strong and safe,
That everything is happening exactly as it should.
That is lovely.
But how do you know that you are strong and safe?
Daisy was a little puzzled.
Oh,
There are things I've learned from my yoga classes that help me to know.
Yoga is a kind of exercise class where we learn how to breathe properly.
We also learn how to stand and sit and lie down in different ways.
Doesn't everybody know how to breathe?
Daisy giggled.
And surely anybody knows the different ways of standing,
Sitting and lying down?
I guess so,
But I promise you there is some kind of special magic in learning how to breathe very slowly.
It certainly helps me to feel a lot calmer.
And if I do the right exercise,
It helps me to feel different too.
For example,
If I do the standing exercise they call the warrior,
I feel so much stronger.
Show me how it's done,
Please.
I also want to know how to feel calmer and stronger,
Daisy begged.
Alright,
Let's start with the breathing exercise.
Cross your legs and sit up straight.
You need to be comfortable while also being able to breathe deeply.
If you like,
You can close your eyes for a little while.
Now let's breathe in deeply and slowly.
And now you can gently and slowly breathe out again.
Let's do this two more times.
Slowly and calmly take a deep breath in.
And slowly and calmly breathe out again.
And a last deep breath in.
And slowly breathe out again.
You can open your eyes now,
Martin smiled.
How do you feel?
Daisy blinked slowly.
I feel very relaxed.
Wow Martin,
I think this really works.
Now let's get up so I can show you how to do the warrior pose.
You are going to feel so strong,
I promise.
Daisy and Martin both jumped to their feet.
Remember that you should never hurt yourself while doing these poses.
If you feel any pain,
You should stop what you are doing immediately.
Alright,
I promise.
Daisy was now very excited to give the pose a try.
To begin with warrior pose,
Stand with your feet as wide apart as you can manage.
Without leaning forward or backward or feeling like you want to fall over.
Keep your back straight and your shoulders back.
Lift your arms up so that they are in line with your shoulders.
Keep your arms straight and in an even line.
Turn your one foot slightly outwards and bend your knee.
Your weight will shift slightly towards your bent knee.
But take care to keep your body and arms straight and strong.
Be careful not to bend your knee too deeply.
Your knee should remain in a straight line above your ankle.
The warrior pose is looking good,
Daisy.
Thanks,
Daisy Puffed.
I'm feeling very strong.
Let's hold the pose while we breathe slowly in and out.
Now you can straighten up by straightening your bent knee.
That felt so good.
I feel stronger already.
Now let's repeat this pose to the other side.
Stand with your feet as wide apart as you can manage.
Remember not to lean forwards or backwards.
Keep your back straight and your shoulders back.
Lift your arms up so that they are in line with your shoulders.
Keep your arms straight and in an even line.
Turn your other foot slightly outwards and bend your knee.
Your weight will shift slightly towards your bent knee.
Take care to keep your body and arms straight and strong.
Remember not to bend your knee too deeply.
Your knee should remain in a straight line above your ankle.
Well done,
Daisy.
I am a strong warrior,
Daisy whooped.
Let's hold the pose while we breathe slowly in and out.
Now you can straighten up by straightening your bent knee.
Shall we say the words together again now that you know how you can feel stronger and safer?
Yes,
Let's do that.
I think I can remember all of the words.
The world is always changing,
But that's all good.
I know that I am strong and safe,
That everything is happening exactly as it should.
That's brilliant,
Daisy.
Remember that you can practice breathing slowly whenever you need to feel safe and calm.
Or you can do warrior pose when you need to feel strong.
And sometimes just saying the magic words to yourself will already help you feel better when you feel that there are too many changes happening in the world or that they are happening too fast.
Thank you for teaching me,
Martin.
I can't wait to show my fairy friends too.
As she gave him a grateful hug,
A ray of sunlight peeked out from behind a cloud,
Reminding her that it was now dry enough for her to fly back home again.
