Just Practice

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a mom is that my yoga practice is not always my own and definitely not always 60-75 minutes long. With two little ones only 20 months apart, let’s face it, my TIME is not my own, and for a long time, my body was not even my own!

After having both girls, practicing yoga at the studio was a welcome break from motherhood if even for just an hour, and I would return feeling much more “me”, much more able to return to my role and feel much more happy about it. And while this was a welcome reprieve, I felt that I was still missing out, because my home practice, MY practice, had taken the biggest hit.

Sometimes it was great, like when Piper was in preschool and Talia was taking morning naps. I was guaranteed three blissful mornings per week that were all about me and my yoga. But as with all things kids, that didn’t last long! I am a morning person, but so are my kids, so I waking up “early” to do yoga does not work here. I swear they have motion detectors built into their brains; as soon as I even pull the covers back, one or both starts calling for me! And because I am a morning person, practicing yoga (the kind of yoga I love, power vinyasa yoga) at night is hard for me. By the time 7 pm hits all I want to do is sit down, often times for the first time all day.

Over the past year or so, I have really made a conscious shift in my attitude towards yoga practice. Yoga can happen anywhere, any time. As much as I love the sweat and physical exhaustion that comes from a Flow 2/3, there are times when it simply isn’t possible to get to a class or carve out the time for a full practice at home. So, I modify!

It has taken me a long time to actually feel agreeable about this, but now I LOVE being able to practice 10 minutes of challenging asanas to build some internal heat before dancing around the house with my girls before their bedtime. Or, I grab a hold of them and incorporate them into 20 minutes of asana either holding them to increase the intensity or encouraging them to mimic me, run around me or crawl under me.

Forget yoga music; we sing kids songs and try to weave the movements into the songs (think “Old MacDonald” where we act out animal poses, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” for sun salutations or “London Bridge” where the girls go for a ride on my belly as I practice a flowing bridge). And yoga isn’t all about the asana, after all. Practicing pranayama in the midst of tantrums is literally a sanity saver. Finding just ten minutes at the end of each day to meditate makes me a kinder, gentler, more open, honest and connected mother, wife, daughter, friend, yoga teacher, etc.

So, in short, yoga has taught me once again that you just need to respect where you are and how you are in each moment. Modify the practice to suit your body, your emotional state, your environment, your energy levels, your companions, etc. And above all else, let go of expectations about what your practice should be, and just practice.

Namaste,
Melissa
**Photo taken by Crissie Traugott Photography