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(Substantially cross-posted from WoYoPracMo with edits)
How does one do yoga practice first thing in the morning when getting up is a kind of arms race with each protagonist pushing the clock back further and further? Well, there are mornings when everyone is peaceful and quiet, mornings which start out with dudelette (not to mention supermum who does not do mornings) in complete meltdown, mornings that consist entirely of dudelet bungee-ing between his room and the lounge where I’m currently exiled and mornings (perhaps a third of the time) like the below where somehow, contrary to all appearances, yoga gets done and everyone stays happy even if it’s only a few warm-up stretches and a handful of sun salutations. Yesterdays was fairly representative in that after starting around 6am…
…after ten minutes I had to go and collect dudelette (ten weeks old) from her mum and plant her in the bouncy chair next to my mat…
…after twenty minutes, I had to go pause in mid-salutation to go and wipe dudelet’s bottom and persuade him to go back to his room until getting up time…
…after thirty minutes, dudelette got bored and had to be moved to the front of my mat where she seemed to find my forward bends and waggling fingers highly amusing. She gurgled and hand-danced until I reached…
…corpse pose (er, savasanna? The lying-down-perfectly-still-and-relaxing-bit) which was accompanied by dudelet singing “Happy and you know it!” at the top of his voice whilst seemingly moving furniture around in his room…
…[special Relaxed Parents bonus] and interrupted by one of dudelette’s spectacularly sonorous poos…
…and disintegrated altogether into crossed legs and hasty aums directed at an increasingly fractious dudelette in a sing-song voice and wrapped up instants before reaching 7am, official “getting up” time and dudelet erupting from his room in search of his Gameboy (”NOT BEFORE BREAKFAST!”) and to say good morning to his little sister…
Filed under: family, parenting, yoga | Tagged: children, exercise, family, morning, parenting, yoga
That is some serious yoga! The highest form, in fact.
Oh, this made me laugh! And made me realize that I have no excuse for not making the time for a regular yoga practice, because I certainly don’t have interuptions like yours! Yoga class tonight — back at it after 2 weeks away with a nasty flu virus.
These kind of posts make me think that parents are some kind of super humans, who receive their powers immediately after a baby is born.
This is my life!!! Actually, it’s better now. But, then, I ended up getting so FRUSTRATED trying to do yoga that I vowed I would never again do it unless hubby was home to take take of things… and even then, it was difficult.
Now, I do it in the afternoons or mornings, while they are playing with their trains. But, it was a long road to get to this point… and your post just captured the whole situation so well. Here you are supposed to be calm, relaxed… and why aren’t they calm because you are after all, bringing the gift of yoga into the home?!
Hi! Yogamum, that’s something one of my favourite ever yoga teachers taught me also.
Cam – yes! No excuses!
Michelle – but there are so many more forms of kryptonite for parents…
Susiej – I so hear you – I’ve finally made space by getting up at 6am. If I leave it till the evening, it just gets crowded out. Dudelet does have his own little yoga mat which he’s very proud of, though. I walked in on him practicing yesterday morning just after I’d finished – cutest sight in the world!
Ah! I had to laugh because I was happy to know that I’m not the only one wiping! Funny because Snowflake wipes himself at Montessori but at home it’s my job.
I’d say you’re truly devoted–to your children as well as your yoga!