Taking Time for Yourself

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I opted out of my yoga classes this month. Financially it just wasn’t in the cards. Or my bank account. I’ve been working very hard at keeping those dates with my mat. It has become evident in my new adventure as a mostly full time homemaker that my yoga practice is even more important than before. And of course, no longer running a studio or teaching, it’s that much harder to get to it.

selfcaremomWhen I found my practice again, my post-partum body had one of those “ah-ha” moments. Do you know the ones? “Oh…” she sighed, “I remember you. Where have you been lately?” To which I so emphatically replied, “Well, I’ve missed you too, but I’m just not sure I can commit right now. It’s not you, it’s me.” And thus my body and I commenced our on-again off-again relationship.

It’s all too easy to become disconnected to our own bodies. Even as new moms, when we’re relying heavily on them to work overtime, we disconnect and run on empty when we need them most. Many of us are supplying nourishment to our little ones directly from the source, taking care of the home and additional family hours on too few hours of sleep, often forgetting more times than not to nourish ourselves.

We get to a point where it’s time to work ourselves back in. This can mean a lot of different things to different people.

For me it’s yoga. Yoga helps me smile more, breathe more and love more. It helps me be my best. So when I can’t leave the house to do it, I have to be extra diligent to work it in at home. If that means waking at 5 a.m. before the rest of the house stirs, so be it. Or maybe it’s laying out my mat and letting Leelu play around me while I’m practicing. That gets interesting. But I have to remind myself that I deserve this and my family deserves this.

Wouldn’t I rather have that early morning time for a cup of coffee and some quiet? Sometimes, yeah. Most of the time.

Discipline can be a dirty word.

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