Yoga and the Super Mom
Lately I’ve been thinking of that celebrated image of the super mom that can do it all: she works, takes care of the kids, cooks great dinners, has a hobby she’s passionate about, volunteers, and even does yoga. She’s almost always patient with her kids, is connected to her community, and just generally loves being a mom.
Guess what? I think there are so many moms out there that find this image of motherhood just generally depressing. More often than not, it’s inspiring for people that aren’t moms, who don’t live with that constant pressure and anxiety that no matter how much you do, it’s never enough. Please chime in if you don’t agree, but I also think that the concept of a do-it-all mama is pretty unhealthy.
Don’t get me wrong - sometimes I wish I was a super mom, because then I’d have time for everything! I wouldn’t have to let go of ‘who I was’ before I had kids; it wouldn’t have been necessary to leave aside my career so that I could be the kind of parent I wanted to; and, I would have time to process all the changes in my life that come with being a mom. But, sometimes we need to let things go, flow with change at rate faster than we find comfortable, and step into each new day with the realization that whether or not we have kids, we’re all always changing.
Sometimes when we go through a change and sense that we’ll never be the same, it’s a good thing. Often it is!
So how about a brief yoga practice for when we feel like we want to rush around and do everything? What about those times when we want to be that super mom and yet, feel so overwhelmed and dejected because we realize we can’t achieve it? This can go two ways: overextending ourselves can get us in a place where we either feel wired or tired.
Let’s go with the first scenario and think of how you might feel when you’re wired and find it hard to slow down. In those moments, it’s pretty hard to just plop down in a restorative yoga pose or meditation and press the chill button (if there is one; if you find one, let me know, haha!). This is a great time to remember that yoga postures were devised to help people to sit with more ease and relaxation to meditate.
That means that when we’re wired, we should ask ourselves how we can use yoga to release physical stress and tension so that we can get to that point of being able to sit still, peacefully and comfortably. Whether or not you go on to meditate after is up to you, but if you ask me, three long, slow deep breaths can be enough to infuse the rest of the day with a more meditative vibe.
I love flow yoga and vinyasa because of the dynamic nature of it. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when I also love restorative yoga or holding postures for longer periods of time. But, when I get into that wired mode where I want to do it all, variations on a sun salutation help me blow off steam the way a brisk walk would.
Maybe on days like those, a walk can be your yoga. Maybe that’s what you need the most and that’s okay. But there will be times when you might not be able to get out because of weather or kids or time constraints. Whatever the reason, I bet you can find 3 minutes and a somewhat clutter-free area to do one of these variations of modified sun salutation. The part that I’ve modified is chaturanga, which if you don’t know what that is, please feel free to Google it here. I’ll just drop these articles right here and here to give you a little background on why chaturanga might not suit you (or even most people). If you already know about chaturanga, you might know that you’ll see it in a lot of yoga classes out there. So let’s try something different here!
Not a fan of chaturanga? Or do you just want more options to vary things a little? Here is a list of the asanas in the two sun salutation variations I demo in the video. You’ll see that I don’t give a lot of detailed instruction — this is mostly for those who are already familiar with sun salutations. But even if you have never done a sun salutation, the video could still inspire some ideas for just moving your body in invigorating, calming, satisfying ways. Either way, stay tuned for a mini-course on the basics of fine-tuning your alignment in your postures:)
Version 1:
Tadasana
Urdhva hastasana
Uttanasana (bent knees)
Ardha uttanasana
step/walk/jump back to plank
Knees down to table top
Bird dog on each side
Down dog
step/walk/jump forward to uttanasana
Roll up to urdhva hastasana
Tadasana
Version 2:
Tadasana
Urdhva hastasana
Uttanasana (bent knees)
Ardha uttanasana
step/walk/jump back to plank
Side plank
Plank
Side plank other side
Down dog
step/walk/jump forward to uttanasana
Roll up to urdhva hastasana
Tadasana
This post is a follow-up to my April 30th post on crafting mini yoga practices that suit the busy lifestyle of a mom. Here’s that post for background.