Luca: The Mindful Elephant

Luca’s tired of being TOO BIG, TOO LOUD, TOO WIGGLY. Thankfully Nonna has some ideas.

Luca. Luca. Luca.

You can’t be stomping all around every day.

There is NO trumpeting near others.

Don’t you know, Luca? Flapping ears are annoying.

Luca was tired of being fussed at day after day. It wasn’t easy being an excitable calf in a herd of serious elephants. Grown ups were SO BORING. And now he was being punished with mindfulness practice. Whatever that was! Luca loved his Nonna, but being still or quiet was impossible for him. His feelings were just

TOO BIG

TOO LOUD

TOO WIGGLY

At least that’s what the grown up elephants told him.

“But Nonna, I can’t imagine clouds floating by or calm river streams. My elephant energy needs OUT. I HAVE to move my body. And besides, rivers aren’t still. And clouds float on the winds.” Luca humpfs himself onto the grass.

Nonna smiles knowingly. “Oh sweet Luca, so do I. Now sit, and let Nonna show you a new way to feel and be. One that might help you be you amidst all those fuddy duddy former trumpeting calves.”

Luca’s eyes got wide, the grown ups had been loud and wiggly too?? He puffed air and dust out of his trunk.

“Tell me where you feel it.” Nonna gently nudges his trunk.

“Feel what?” Asks Luca.

“The energy that is trying to spill out of you. Where do you feel it? When I’m scared,” Nonna shares, “I feel it way down deep in my jumbo belly. It feels like I ate a family of butterflies by accident.”

“Oh,” says an excited Luca, “me too!!”

He pauses and thinks a moment, “Hmm. I guess feel it in my trunk and feet, and sometimes all the way to the tips of my ears. It feels tingly, and itchy. And if I don’t move, I feel like I will pop like a bubble.” Luca smiles shyly. No one has ever asked him this before. He wonders if he it is bad or wrong to feel like this.

“Dear Luca,” Nonna begins, “that is beautiful. Thank you for telling me about the way you feel the universe. We all feel it, even if my version may be different from yours.”

Luca looks up, surprised. Even Nonna feels it??

She nods her giant head at his surprise. “We all feel it.” She wraps her heavy and warm trunk around him. Luca feels her love way deep in his bones.

“So, I’m not bad or weird, Nonna?” Luca looks down, afraid of what she will say.

“Bad?! No.” Nonna replies firmly. “Weird? Sure. Why not? Aren’t we all a little odd?” Her big ears flap and her smile widens. “We are all weird. That is a good thing. We’d be a bunch of boring elephants otherwise.”

Nonna gives Luca an extra squeeze, and then asks, “Would you like to learn the magic of those giant feelings?”

“Magic?” Luca asks.

“Yes, sweet calf. Feelings are magic. They are energy. And like all energy, they don’t go away. I can help you learn the way of the elephant breath and how to be aware of how you feel inside. Tools to help those giant feelings not feel too big for you. Ways to get the itchy wiggles out without stomping through the herd.”

Luca looks at his Nonna, she’s so wise. “Yes please. I’m tired of being a bother.”

Nonna brushes him gently with her big, soft ear. “You are never a bother. It’s everyone else that doesn’t know how to accept big feelings. What I will teach you won’t change what you feel, it will allow you to experience your feelings in a way that doesn’t put you or the herd in danger.”

Luca knew Nonna was magical, and he was about to find out that he was too. He wondered if the stories of Dumbo were true, maybe he could channel his energy to fly! He told his Nonna what he was thinking and she smiled big.

“What a great imagination you have. We won’t be flying, we will be feeling. Sometimes that make us feel like our inner elephant is soaring.”

“Now, get comfortable. Gently close your eyes. Breathe in and blow it out your long trunk. Feel the air flow down. Wave your ears as you breathe. If you’re feeling extra wiggly, scratch your trunk on your head. Slowly. Breathe into the wiggly parts. Think about your body and the way each part feels. Move slowly. Now, imagine a strong emotion. Maybe fear. Or worry. Let it wash over your body as you breathe and wiggle slowly. Plant your feet on the ground like you weigh as much as the biggest elephant in the world. Breathe in and out.”

Luca tries hard to settle into his own skin, but with his eyes closed he starts feeling wobbly and distracted. Thinking of being afraid makes him feel afraid all of the sudden.

“What do you feel?”

Luca pops his eyes open. “My tummy is jumpy, but I also feel my feet on the ground, and the air in my trunk. My soft ears remind me of you. I feel scared but safe.”

Luca looked up at his Nonna. “Am I doing it, Nonna?”

“Yes, Luca. This is one way to become more mindful. Your mind doesn’t stop, you don’t bottle up your feelings. You feel them. Deeply. You let your feelings take up space in your body, where they come from, and then you pass them out with your breath or movement. This helps your feelings and your body talk to each other. After all, they are friends. You can do this with any feeling. Happy, sad, frustrated, angry. If you move slowly and breathe, you can feel it more. This is the beauty of big feelings. This is your superpower.”

Luca felt full. His emotions didn’t seem too big anymore. And he had a SUPERPOWER!

“Nonna, what if my feelings need big movement OR loud noises? You know, when I get bouncy feeling when I am excited to see the sunrise or when I get angry tromping and trumpeting to the larger watering hole that’s so far away?”

“Well then, stomp and tromp and trumpet. Or go somewhere that you can dance like the wild elephant you are, my love. The universe is vast, and when energy calls you to go big, do it! But remember, it is your great responsibility to try your best not to yell at or land on anyone around you while you’re doing that.”

“Nonna, you’re the best. I think I can do this. It’s not even boring like I thought it would be.”

Nonna laughs her big, deep, rumbling laugh. “You thought your Nonna would be boring, did you?” She tickles his belly with her trunk. “You are a wonderfully silly little elephant, and I am very proud of you.”

Trunk in trunk, Luca and his Nonna return to the herd. A little less stompy, a tiny bit quieter, and a whole ton wiser.