“It is a happiness to wonder; -- it is a happiness to dream.”
― Edgar Allan Poe, Complete Stories and Poems
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
― W.B. Yeats
Interrupt the Interruptions
How often do we go on auto-pilot during our self-care routines? During those times, we go through the motions, whether or not we’re choosing the best self care for ourselves for the moment. Or maybe we’re so busy that we can hardly get around to a self-care routine because too many things are calling our attention.
Being a mom is all about being interrupted. Maybe your career was interrupted; for me, it was that, and many of my creative projects. On a smaller level, household chores get interrupted (ahem, or neglected), conversations with other adults don’t always find their end, and my train of thought gets derailed all day long. Oh yes, let’s not forget about sleep, that precious, vital thing that gets interrupted the moment we become mothers.
Mamas, let’s interrupt the interruptions. I fall into the trap of lamenting that I don’t have enough time for yoga because I always forget that one magic minute of yoga practice can be unexpectedly refreshing. If I can remember to pause to breathe or stretch during a daily task that often isn’t as urgent as I feel it is, I can infuse my body and mind with a sense of self-care. The secret is to practice with a sense of wonder.
It’s true that yoga is more than poses and the breath is important, but just as important is our mindset while practicing.
A few minutes of practice done with a sense of wonder or curiosity is better than an hour of distracted practicing, where you go through the motions physically and your mind wanders elsewhere. This can happen whether you’ve been practicing for years or just a few days. On the other hand, when someone is new to yoga, they are often worried that they aren’t doing it exactly right; in the name of curiosity, I want to challenge you to ask your body as much (or more than) you might ask a yoga teacher what the right way to practice is. Only you know how you feel!
Alignment is Dynamic
In my 2+ decades of yoga practice, I’ve gone from living by prescribed alignments to wondering: why is it done/taught that way? How else can I practice this (modifications or variations)?
Your body is unique, this moment is unique, and your needs are ever-shifting. I think of a pose as a moment, while a yoga practice is a series of moments. Yoga poses aren’t meant to transform us into perfect statues; even as you hold a pose, there are micromovements, like mini adjustments your body automatically makes as you do a standing balance pose, or the rhythm of your breath as it modifies the shape of your torso. Holding poses is great, but sometimes moving within a pose, or from one pose to the next gives your body more freedom and release than if you just try to get the alignment of one pose perfect.
Besides, what’s the point of a ‘perfectly aligned pose?’ Any posture if held too long can be harmful, and any posture labeled as ‘bad’ isn’t really so terrible if only held for a moment. Chiropractor and Yoga Teacher Garrett Neil gives us some detailed info on how to apply this to yoga practice in this article.
Anyways, hold this idea in your mind as you practice: it’s more important to feel good than to look good. Pick a simple yoga pose like Tadasana, Prasarita Padottanasana, or Ustrasana and play with the alignment. Wiggle your way out of the lines of how you’ve been told to do it, and see how that feels. Here are a few examples of how you might do that, or at least how I like to play with alignment. Here I show variations of lunge (on a chair), Virabhadrasana 3, and Trikonasana.
Needs Shift
Becoming a mom woke me up to my ever changing body. We are all always changing, but there’s nothing like pregnancy, labor, and giving birth to push you to inhabit a new body. The changes aren’t only physical, but the body is a good place to get grounded in your new You.
Maybe one day you need to burn off some anxiety or energy so some dynamic sun salutations feel great. Then on another day you might be exhausted, sleep-deprived, or premenstrual and in need of rest; that’s a great time for a more restorative practice.
Back at the end of April, I wrote a post kicking off a mini-series of yoga practices that fit your current needs, energy, and lifestyle. It didn’t quite go the way I wanted. I didn’t post as much as I wanted to but it did set me on a track of really thinking how to intuit my needs in each moment. I clearly bit off more than I could chew in terms of writing. I needed to shift towards simplifying things so they were more feasible.
So, as we enter the summer season and life gets busy, and days get longer, I’m going to heed that call to get outdoors with my kids more and let my yoga practice and writing be simple (expect shorter, simpler posts for the rest of the summer = you will probably have more time to read them and I’ll be able to write them more often:)
Elements in Flux
Last year in November I wrote a post about overlapping cycles. For some background information, I recommend reading the post, but for now I’ll just say, I’m in the winter of my menstrual cycle in the summer of my life in the summer of the year. Phase of life combines with phase of menstrual cycle and seasonal shifts. This is why it’s so important to see your needs as dynamic. What you need today might be totally different than what you need tomorrow or next week in your yoga practice.
In these hot weeks, I’m needing more water in the form of hydration, letting my emotions flow, and fluid movement in my yoga practice. And you? Where are you in your menstrual cycle (if you have one), in your phase of life, and in the seasons of the year?
Let’s interrupt our ever-interrupted lives to wonder how we might be better attuned to what our yoga practice can offer us in each changing moment. Let it be experimentation, play, and self-love.
Oh, and happy new moon. I even got interrupted last night as I tried to post this, so it’s a bit late;). This is a great time to pause, rest, set some intentions and sow some seeds for projects. I wonder what the rest of the year will bring…and what my intentions could be to make the best of it!
Thank you for reading this rambling post. It literally was an unpacking of the last six months of thoughts and reflection.
At the midpoint of the year, I wanted to touch upon my January post where I chose Wonder as my word of the year. This simple word has kept my life and yoga practice open, evolving, and appropriate for me as my life shifts through seasons, phases, and changing circumstances. Plus, there’s nothing like raising small children to make you notice the passage of time — they grow and develop so fast! They inspire wonder in me as I watch them develop their sense of self, but I also strive to walk through each day with them guided by a sense of wonder. Kids love wondering; try it!
I love this! Just what I needed with a six month old. Love choosing “wonder” as your word as well. Thanks X