01/20/2021
I tend to keep most of my Parker photos on my personal account, and most of my yoga-related posts on this one, but like I said in a previous post, the main thing I try to convey about yoga is that it is a practice of being and living, on and off of a yoga mat! And one of the major teachings of this ancient practice is that there is no separation. Not between you and me, and not between being a mother and a student of yoga.
Yoga is a way of being present, of being aware, honest, gentle, content with what you have and what you are, and yet still investigating, questioning, and growing. Our time on our mat is an opportunity to practice those things on a base physical level, so that we may live our lives that way.
Hands down the number one way yoga has impacted me, shaped me, and taught me is in parenting. Yoga helps me be present and soak in as many moments as I can because I know they are fleeting and temporary. Yoga helps me be content with the time I have and who I am as a mother, knowing one day I will have to practice non-attachment and let go. Yoga has taught me how to study my own self and thoughts so that I may be less reactive and more compassionate and patient. Ahimsa and asteya have influenced how I speak to her, how I hold her, how I react when she is upset or fighting sleep.
And just as yoga is a balance between sukha and stihra, effort and ease, so too is being a mother. There is so much work and effort, so much that needs to be done, but there are also so many moments to stop the doing, to breathe and to take her in, to rest, to snuggle, to do what intuitively feels right rather than creating more work by doing what society may say.
Yes, the physical benefits of the practice are so important and so beneficial to my life in a multitude of ways, but nothing compares to the rest, to the vastness of the teachings that go far beyond the postures and sequences—and go straight to the heart instead.
What areas of your life has yoga and its teachings impacted you most of all?
