This story begins in a small village, where there was an ancient tradition: every time a baby was born, a wish was entrusted to a star to make the life of the newborn child, and of all the villagers, shine brightly. This is why, every night, the sky lighting up the village did not just bring light, but also spread the wishes that had been made. Peace, calm, health, joy and prosperity were among the wishes carried by the stars. This is why life in the village went by in complete harmony.
One night, darker than the others, a strange cloud passed over the village sky. It was not an ordinary cloud, heavy with rain; it was a much darker cloud. It was heavy with anger, fears and insecurities. As the cloud passed by, it swept away all the stars from the sky. Along with the light, all the wishes of the villagers disappeared too. From that night on, there was no more peace in the village: everyone began to argue, to shout, to feel sad and afraid.
The situation was desperate; people could no longer listen to or understand one another, as if everyone had started speaking a language incomprehensible to the others. Yet all this wickedness had not touched a group of children, who kept their hearts pure. They decided that things could not go on like this, and set off in search of the dark cloud.
They made their way into the depths of the forest (guide the children with different types of movement: big steps, stretching up, crouching down, and so on, with percussion music) and at a certain point they found themselves in front of an old tortoise. They told her the whole story, and she, almost annoyed by the children's voices, said crossly: “Why on earth should I help you, you're just disturbing my sleep, leave me alone.” A shy little girl answered her: “If you help us, we could get our dreams back, and you would become our saviour and great friend.” The tortoise, who among other things was a little vain, liked hearing compliments, and the thought of being a saviour flattered her so much that she said: “The only help I can give you is this: go and look for the white lion, king of the enchanted forest; he knows everything and will surely help you find the cloud you are looking for.”
The children thanked her, gave her a big hug and set off again in search of the white lion (guide the children with different types of movement: big steps, stretching up, crouching down, and so on, with percussion music). After walking for a long time, they reached a spot in the woods where the trees grew less thickly, opening onto a great meadow. The children saw a cloud, out of which the white lion appeared. They told him too what had happened in their village, and the lion said: “The cloud you are looking for hides in a cave at the edge of the woods; that is where all the treasures it steals can be found.” The excited children cried out with joy and were about to leave when the lion stopped them: “As you are now, you certainly cannot stop her; she is stronger than you, she would make you vanish in the blink of an eye.” “Then what can we do?” the children asked in chorus. “I will have my friend, the warrior of light, help you; he will be here in three days and will teach you how to defeat the cloud.” The children waited three days for the warrior's arrival, and right on time, on the morning of the third day, he appeared.
The lion and the warrior were old friends; they had fought many battles together. After the lion told the warrior what had happened to the village, he was happy to teach the children the three poses to defeat the cloud.
“First of all,” he said, “we must recover our strength and our courage” (Warrior/Hero pose: take a step forward, raise your arms, join the palms of your hands and bend the knee of the front leg. On the right and on the left.)
“Then we must create our shield of light, to be well protected” (the glowing egg exercise, in which you trace a large egg around your body with a movement of your hands, imagining it made of light)
“Lastly, we will send light towards the cloud” (Shiva's Dance pose: bend the left leg and grasp the ankle with the left hand, raise the right arm and lean forward, imagining light streaming out from your hand. This is done on both sides of the body)
“Now you are ready to face your enemy, but be careful, please.” The children bowed (a gesture of greeting) before the warrior and the lion as a sign of thanks, and then set off to find the cave where the wicked cloud was hiding. (guide the children again with different movements to explore the body).
After a whole day of walking, the group arrived in front of the cloud's cave, and as soon as it sensed their arrival it confronted them: “What could you possibly do to me, so small and weak as you are? Don't you know how powerful I am? I took away your wishes, and I will swallow you too.” “No!” the children cried in chorus, “we will get our stolen stars back,” “and how do you think you'll manage that?” the cloud sneered. In no time at all, the children performed the three poses they had learned from the warrior of light, and the cloud began first to shrink and then vanished completely. The children were able to recover the lost stars, and with them their wishes. They brought them back to the village, and that evening a great celebration was held, with dancing (you can do a free dance or a circle dance with cheerful music), and all the rediscovered stars were returned to the sky. From that night on, light and dreams remained to protect all the villagers.
(A short relaxation can follow, after the adventure just lived.)
L. Bugatti, EFOA Yoga teacher, specialist in maternity and children's yoga, www.yogacristallo.it