Diary of a Yoga Mama

Soon after my first baby was born, I looked into the screwed up face of my howling tot and declared 'YOU are my yoga practice now." And so, baby Ruby became Guru Rubyananda and the 4 years since that day have been an enlightening lesson in putting the Yamas and Niyamas into practise. The WHAT's? Well, the Yamas and Niyamas are kind of like the 10 commandments of yoga.

YAMAS
Ahimsa - non-harming/ non-violence
Satya - truthfulness
Asteya - non-stealing
Brahmacharya - moderation / self restraint
Aparigraha - non-posessiveness (simplicity)

NIYAMAS
Saucha - purity/clarity
Santosha - contentment
Tapas - austerity/discipline
Swadhyaya - self study
Iswarapranidana - surrender

In the Raja path of yoga (that's mostly what we yogis in the west are following) there are 8 limbs, or branches of yoga. Before we get to all the asana (poses) and pranayama (breathing), we need to think about taking on board these Yamas and Niyamas. When we start to put these ideas into practise, the stuff we do on the yoga mat takes on a whole new dimension.

Yoga is a type of practical psychology that uses the body to access the mind. When I first started doing yoga, I noticed how much better I felt. It wasn't just the endorphin rush of doing some exercise and it was more than the good feeling you get from straightforward relaxation. After several months of regular practice I began to notice that I was thinking new thoughts and seeing the usual stuff of daily life in a new way. Yoga was actually changing the way I think.

These Yamas and Niyamas provide signposts that help us navigate the our interactions in the world, offering us ethical ways to think about our relationships, work and connection to the world. As a mother, I battle to be mindful of each and every one of these concepts every day. Is putting up with being treated like crap by my 4 year old a violation of Ahimsa (non harming)? I might not be giving her a smack for her cheek (ie. I'm not being violent towards her), but the build up of stress that I experience when I try to turn a blind eye or laugh it off certainly causes me harm. How can I best practise Satya (truthfulness) when she throws me a curly question about death or even asks me if fairies are real?

Yoga and Parenting. That's what this blog is all about. Yoga, parenting and working. As a yoga teacher and owner of a growing studio, it's an interesting juggling act when you have a preschooler and newly walking one year old to contend with when the phone rings and student asks for help in handling a diagnosis of cancer or a teacher calls to say they can't make the class they are supposed to be teaching in 30 minutes. All great opportunities for practising the Yamas and Niyamas.

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