Below is  a photo of a car I saw whilst walking my daughter to school. There is something about the squiggly writing, the dirty car and the sentiment that come together beautifully to me. I imagine the story behind the message: a busy mum who hasnt got round to cleaning the car, a rushed morning getting kids to school, and feeling a bit frazzled. The child doesnt care the car is dirty – its a canvas, the child doesnt care about the rush, they are in the moment and full of joy. The mum hustling the child to hurry up, whilst the child has a moment of creativity and love and scribbles on the car.

Telling people you love them can be so many things: habit, pacifying, passionate, psycophantic. This kid has it right: straight from the heart, no fuss, no agenda. Think of the ways you’ve said ‘I love you’ recently, and see if you can take some inspiration from the photo. Be prepared to look steadily at your subject, calmly, lovingly and see if you can to make your declaration simple and from the heart. Of course they are ‘the mum’ in the story above so will probably ‘rush on’ with their jobs – but you will know.

How can we do yoga better than this?

Being in the moment, using what is available, sharing joy and love – that really is quite a feat. And yet kids do it again and again every day. Maybe if we un-learned some of our adult ways – got more spontaneous, more open hearted, more joyful we could start a revolution! An inner transformation. Just imagine how good it would feel to breathe in fully, to expand and then to radiate that energy into the world. To open your heart fully, without fear or distrust, just being totally in the moment.

This is the ultimate aim of yoga: taking your inner peace out into the world, and here is a perfect role model.