#yogimama series
This is my motherhood yoga...
My best yoga moments?
Being at peace during a tantrum.
I practice yoga for more than ten years and only now I come to know the true nature of this path... The hardest asanas, the more uplifting mantras...
The yogi toes:
To be in perfect balance in a slippery floor; coming out of the shower holding my baby; reaching for the coffee pot while nursing; or jumping on the bus with the baby in the sling - oh this is what the yogi toes are for!
Core muscles:
Getting up and sitting down with no hands (because you are carefully holding a sleeping a baby).
Arm strength:
Picking baby up, putting baby down. Repeating (many times repeating).
Calf muscles strength and flexibility:
For comfortable Malasana, squatting in the playground, to play;
squatting at home, to pick up books, to put away socks, to collect pieces of food...
Balance asanas:
Motherhood, just like yoga, is all about balance.
Not only how to keep in balance, I learned, but also how not to get attach to it. Because, think about it, embracing your chaos, honoring your motherhood messiness, is also a form of balance, no?
Yes, finding balance, inside and out.
The best yoga world help on the motherhood path?
I can tell you that the Ommm sound is soothing for a baby;
the exercise ball is great for rocking kids to sleep;
yoga mats make great car tracks (great grip);
mala necklaces are good to play with (and can even help with teething); and the yoga studios...
Well, are not an option for me anymore... Now I am into babywearing yoga, stroller yoga, playground break yoga...
I can share with you that Vajrasana is good for kneeling in the floor with your little one after a meal (will help to digest your food);
and that the Virabhadrasana (the warrior) can be done with a baby on your breast.
Viparita Karani (legs up against the wall) will be copied by your child and is rejuvenating for both of you (even if you need it more than he does);
The dancer can be used for making chai;
And the tree pose practiced while doing the dishes...
Motherhood for me is yoga in my daily life, and I found it to be nothing but a spiritual path. I even believe that in a way or another every mama is a #yogimama
Maybe it is not the spiritual path that takes me to follow a guru somewhere in a temple in Asia, but it's the one that allows me serenity in the middle of a busy market, so many times balancing baby and groceries on my shoulder;
helps me to find kindness in the aggressive crowd on a bus, often having to ask for a seat;
slows me down with calmness during toddler's playtime, and all the meltdowns it can involve;
inspires me with beautiful songs in a baby sleepless night;
grounds me in a city made of nothing but cement and skyscrapers...
This is my daily yoga, and my son is my master;
my routines my asanas, my parenting words my mantras.
Yes, I lay down my mat as often as I can and occasionally my son joins me (mainly climbing on my back, mostly using my hair tied up in a bun as a horn, but yes, joining me) but yoga is, more than ever, my daily life.
With it's sweetness and it's challenges. With it's sticky sweat and it's bliss. Because no, I don't love it all. Just like in yoga class I want to skip the hardest sequences sometimes;
I feel stiff and blame the tiredness for my aches and pains, often...
And some days I just can't manage anything deeper than a shallow breath, forgetting all pranayama techniques...
But I do, wear yoga pants more often than ever ;-)
And I do... Fell motherhood is here to help me evolved and awaken.
I do practice THIS yoga everyday but I also make it a priority to spend some time, everyday, alone with my mat, nourishing myself.
During my son's nap I do not clean, cook, or work, I lay down my mat and practice MY yoga. I nourish myself while he rests, and sometimes this can mean having a cup of coffee and stare out the window, enjoying the rare moment of silence; it can be talking to a friend on fb; it is often reading something inspiring; appreciate beauty... Or it can be one hour of uninterrupted Ashtanga, it can mean... Taking a nap with him.
Choose your nourishment, mother yourself first, bring yoga to your daily life #yogimama
~ Joana Fartaria
Mother to one
Yoga is fun and we Iove this "kitchen yoga", cause any space is good, for a little bit of bliss.
Namaste
#sacredbeginnings
#sacredlivingmovement
#sacredpregnancy
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