Toddlers like to imitate. That’s why it’s important to refrain from using profane words or doing things that you tell them not to do (not so easy sometimes). My 15th month old loves to copy what Mamma does, which, at times, is adorable. One day I was doing yoga poses in front of him. I moved into a downward-facing dog position and he put his little hands on the floor, his tushy up in the air and duplicated the pose. His first down dog came very easy for him and I started laughing because I couldn’t believe it. You can’t imagine how flexible babies are. When you watch them, you understand where happy baby pose came from because they do it naturally starting at three or four months old. Kids really are natural yogis!

So, it is never too young to teach my baby Yoga, which will give him a sense of calmness and concentration. When I say “Down dog,” he runs to the floor and gets into position. It’s awfully sweet.

Namaste,

YogaMamma

My 15th month old doing Downward-Facing Dog

Yesterday was one of those days when a mom comes close to going crazy and can’t wait for 5 o’clock just to have a glass of wine for sanity purposes.  As I washed off the dog poop that my son stepped in, I thought, “Am I seriously washing off disgusting, wet, dog poop in my kitchen sink?”  I proceed to pick up the rest of the poop in the backyard so that he can run around freely with the garden hose in his diaper (he doesn’t know the difference, and to him, it could be the South of France).  Afterwards, I raked the leaves on the side of the house in the sweltering heat and thought, “How is this fun?”  Then, the plumber bangs on the door just as I got my little man to go down for a nap.  As I opened the door to this this man with a look of rage, I wondered if I had thrown my sanity out the window.  The poor guy didn’t know he was coming to fix the toilet at Miss Hannigan’s.

I felt trapped in this house and in this neighborhood.  I wanted to scream, “Get me out!  Get me back to New York City,” but was this my life now?  Was this my destiny – waiting for plumbers and singing Knick Knack Patty Wack all day?  I wondered if my brain was melting or still intact.

By the time my husband came home to take me to the concert that I had been anticipating for months, I was exhausted and not in the finest of moods.  How could he understand?  He just finished a day of Internet surfing, coffee talk, and engaging business calls, where he actually used his brain.  He must have wondered where his wife went.  He was hoping to take her to see Coldplay, not this crazy girl.

That night as I watched Chris Martin maniacally run across the stage singing, “I know St. Peter won’t call my name,” from the popular song Viva La Vida.  I thought to myself, “The life of a rock star – what fun.  He is not picking up poop and waiting for plumbers all day.”

Then, I had a revelation – my son thinks I’m Coldplay!  We have a daily tradition – I turn on Viva La Vida, he’ll get a big grin on his face and hold out his arms so I’ll pick him up and we dance.  He thinks I’m a rock star as I play my air guitar and sing to him.  He doesn’t know that I’m actually not Chris Martin!  In that moment, I realized the beauty of a child and how my son means everything to me.  I realized that being a mother is the most important role that I will ever have and that there is honor in picking up poop and singing Knick Knack Patty Wack for your biggest fan.

I wondered off yoga talk today, but these are the thoughts of a Yoga Mamma.  I need my practice more than ever today and I am headed to it right now.  I intend to put my hands together, breathe and find the peace and beauty in my current life role as mother.

Namaste,
YogaMamma

We just got back from the beautiful state of Colorado and now I need a vacation from my vacation.  Vacationing is not as relaxing as you would like it to be with a 14 month old.  Nevertheless, we were fortunate to be able to take a break from the scorching 100-degree summer days of Dallas and we had a nice time.  I hiked, biked, played tennis and found a place to practice yoga.  I went to a studio called Yoga For the Peaceful in Crested Butte, Colorado.  “What a nice name for a Yoga studio,” I thought.  I looked at the schedule and found a class called “Chi Yoga Flow.”  By definition, it seemed similar to the Vinyasa flow classes, which I’ve always done and I figured that they just added the word “chi.” I was in Crested Butte after all where the force is one of light and positivity.

I walked into class, introduced myself to the teacher and she said, “Have you ever done Chi Gong?”  I thought, “What on earth is Chi Gong and did I just walk into a martial arts class?”  I said, “Not exactly Chi Gong, but I have practiced yoga for years.”  The teacher said to me, “This class integrates Chi Gong movement forms with heart opening yoga postures.”  I thought, “I don’t know what Chi Gong movements are.  I get an hour and a half to myself and I get stuck in a Chi Gong class?  What am I doing?”  No offense to any of those who practice Chi Gong, but time is of the essence when you’re a mom.  You simply don’t have all day.  You have snippets of time and you want to use those snippets wisely.  Can you imagine me talking about not having a lot of time on a vacation?  This statement seems full of irony, but when you have a baby, relaxation usually comes at night, after you put your bundle of love down.

I started off with a bad attitude as the first 10 minutes of this class passed, and then, I thought, “You are defying what yoga is all about.  You’re ridiculous.  Yoga is tranquility, peace and spiritual insight.  Enjoy your time here.”  So, I gave myself a little attitude adjustment and I ended up enjoying the class.  It was not as vigorous a class as what I am used to, but it was good for me mentally, as Chi Gong is a series of movements where you rock back and forth, which helps with energy, balance and coordination.   Chi Gong means “energy cultivation” or “working with the life energy” and it has healing benefits.  I was on vacation to heal and rejuvenate my mind and body from the everyday stress of life and so the Chi Gong class was perfect for me at that time.  There truly is a time and place for everything and you can see this clearly if you open your heart and mind.  It’s amazing what a little attitude adjustment will do for you.

Namaste,
YogaMamma

I’ve run all over New York City. I’ve raced in and out of subways, ran to meetings, stayed out too late, drank too much, danced all night, but I could always catch up on my sleep and I was never as tired as I am now, as a mother.  When you become a mother, 8 o’clock rolls around and you’re ready to get in bed.  It sounds crazy, even to me. I look at my past life in Manhattan and I can barely remember who I was.

Presently, if I go to bed at midnight, I think to myself, “Oh no!  My baby has 5 hours on me already and I have to wake up at 7!  He is going to run me over tomorrow!” When I lose sleep or don’t get enough of it — which is often — I make excuses to skip yoga class.

On top of this, my baby is a big boy and I started getting terrible shoulder pain from holding him all day — up and down the stairs, in and out of the car, dancing (we dance everyday). It was so uncomfortable that for a while, I was sleeping with a heating pad on it — my husband would roll over in the middle of the night and I’d be on fire! I thought yoga would put too much pressure on my shoulder and make the injury worse.

This yogi knew she had missed too many classes, and so I went to yoga class yesterday.  I always feel worse when I don’t practice regularly. So I said to myself, “You see more clearly after yoga. You feel better. You are stronger and leaner. This is the one place where all you have to do is be on your mat and breathe.”

I told my yoga teacher that I’d been having terrible shoulder pain. She told me to monitor my responses to the poses. If my shoulder pain seemed worse after class, I’d need to make the appropriate modifications. But after class, as always, I felt like a new woman and my shoulder was not hurting.  I told my teacher and she said, “If you only have a little shoulder pain, yoga can help the healing process and keep the shoulder joint stable.”

It is possible — I just found more reasons to practice and love yoga.

Namaste,
YogaMamma

This Yoga Mamma made it to class today – yippee! I’m always better after yoga. That being said, before class, I got things settled in the house – baby boy fed, played with and still napping. I was racing to class and got there just in time (our teacher locks the door at noon). During class, I was trying to find my equilibrium in tree pose – my left side seemed a bit imbalanced today – and as I was raising my clasped hands to the sky, our teacher said, “If you move rapidly, you will fall.” Those words hit a chord. I thought, “All I do is move rapidly all day long – racing the clock. That can’t be good.” So, I went back to my breath and told myself, “Slow down Rhonda,” and I did not fall. Now, if I can only slow down on a daily basis, but is this possible with a baby?  I’m still working that one out.

Namaste,
Rhonda

Hello fellow yogis.  My name is Rhonda and I am a yoga mamma.  I’ve been practicing Yoga for about 7 years.  Working out has been a constant in my life since I was 18 years old.  I’ve been through many phases — aerobics, Taekwando, running the stairs, boxing, lifting weights, swimming for an hour and fifteen minutes a day — yes, I’ve tried many different forms of exercise.  I guess you could say I get bored quickly and maybe this why I have lived in so many different cities.  In the past, I always had the need to find some new form of working out because the desire to be fit and lead a healthy life style was always there, but I’d get bored of the same running path or lap after lap in the pool and I’d look for something different.  Then, I found yoga when I was about 25.  I was hooked.

For me, yoga has always been about strengthening my body while reducing my stress levels and calming my mind.  After yoga class, I am in a Zen-like state.  I am more calm, more relaxed and my body feels refreshed.  There have been pockets in my life when I could not practice yoga regularly and I felt like my release was missing.  These pockets include a major move, pregnancy, and motherhood, all which happened somewhat concurrently.  It was the perfect stress storm.  I needed yoga more than ever, but with everything going on it was hard to practice regularly, not to mention the last few months of pregnancy when my big, round belly got in the way of up dog.

Presently, my son is 11 months and he is a big boy at 25 pounds.  Carrying him up and down stairs all day, dancing with him, playing with him, getting him in and out of the car, it all takes a toll on my tiny frame and there are many days I go to sleep with shoulder and back aches.  So, yoga is more important than ever now, but there are weeks that I find it difficult to fit it in and it’s frustrating.  Life with a baby is wonderful, but life with a baby is different — your time is not yours.  It belongs to someone else.  In the past, I could wake up and go to yoga in the morning or I could go late in the day after work.  It was my schedule.  I decided.  Now, although I am still the boss — I think — my baby boy dictates my schedule.  He wakes up bright and early and he needs to be fed, played with, read to, and I like to spend quality time with him.  The rest of the day is similar — play dates, parks, feedings, naps, and mamma’s attention.  So, I have to calculate exactly what slot to fit yoga into.  These days, thanks to a regular babysitter, I can fit it in 2-4 times a week.  There are days I will do it at home because it’s just easier and I have a great yoga DVD that I love, however, I prefer going to the studio and hearing the constant ujjayi breath of my fellow yogis.

Yoga is a part of my life that I never want to give up.  The benefits of yoga are countless, especially for moms.  It continues to increase my flexibility, it strengthens my core, which is beneficial for carrying my little one, it continues to give me a longer, leaner body, which makes me feel and look good, and most importantly, it helps to calm my mind.   So, I continue on my yoga journey while raising a baby.  There are days when I feel that I am racing the clock and I just don’t have the time, but I take a deep breath and head to yoga class because I know I will be a better person when it’s over.

Namaste,

Rhonda