I Can Be

I recently returned from exhibiting at the Yoga Health Festival in Los Angeles.  I spent a lot of time at this event educating attendees on SPD.  Only 5 out of the hundreds of people I talked to had ever heard of SPD!  Thank you again to everyone who stopped by my table to chat.

At this event, I also had the pleasure of meeting Celina Miller, publisher of YogaMom Magazine.  This is a great new magazine that celebrates all YogaMoms trying to balance all aspects of their life as well as their yoga practice.  Please visit her website at  http://yogamommagazine.com/

Celina also wrote a beautiful article about I Can Be on her website under the heading YogaKids.  It was a blessing to meet Celina, and I am so honored that she took the time to write such a thoughtful piece.  Click here to read this article.

Namaste to Celina and all YogaMoms out there!

Today, I was thinking about our breath.  One of my first yoga teachers taught me that the state of our breath directly reflects the state of our mind.   Think back to the last time you were angry…were you huffing and puffing your breath?  How about the last time you were scared…did you hold your breath?  Anxious…was your breath rapid and shallow?  If we want to calm the mind, we need to calm the breath.

Here is a fun activity for kids from Marsha Wenig author of Yoga Kids. 

“Lie down on your back.  Place a rubber ducky on your belly.  Breathe gently in (your belly rises) and out (your belly button sinks down).  As your belly rises and falls like the waves, your ducky surfs the waves as you inhale (breathe in) and floats as you exhale (breathe out).  Give your ducky a slow and gentle ride with your breathing” (p. 24).

I often practice this exercise with my boys, but I use a  chameleon beanie baby.  They giggle and giggle when they inhale and see the chameleon. 

Today my youngest said “Bye, bye, bye!” so clearly as I went out the door to teach my weekly yoga class that I just had to come back into the house to hear it again. I lingered at the door, gave him a kiss, and I just tried to be present because I knew this moment was so fleeting.

Earlier my older son kept asking me to sing the “best friend song” and I was amazed when he started singing two Barney songs and insisted that I sing with him. It was so beautiful to hear his little voice; I just kept singing and singing with him.

I guess my suggestion for the day is to take your yoga practice off the mat and practice being fully present with your children as many times a day as you can. Get down at their level, look in their eyes, sing, talk with them, take a deep breath, and just join in with whatever they are doing. I am sure that our kids experience us in a different way when we are not so busy and preoccupied with worldly concerns. They are experts at keeping it simple and can be our greatest teachers!