Things have changed around my house. My eighteen month old son, Josias, has started to sleep through the night. With a bit of gentle encouragement on my part, he now sleeps from about 8pm until four or five in the morning. This represents a HUGE change for us. Previously, he had been waking up four to six times per night to breastfeed. Obviously, that meant Mama was up four to six times per night and not getting a heck of a lot of sleep.
Eight o'clock is also a later bedtime for Josias. He used to go down at 7pm. By the time I got him breastfed and asleep it was usually about 7:45 and I had time to get in a short yoga practice before collapsing into bed. Now, though, he's not done breastfeeding until about 8:30, and since I have to get up at 4am, when he gets up, I just can't stay awake any longer to practice yoga.
I've been experimenting. Sometimes I get in 20 minutes before Josias goes to bed, while Papa spends time with him, or if Josias goes back to sleep after his 4am breastfeed, I'll try to get up and practice for a little while. BUT, I'm only able to practice about three times per week, whereas I used to fit it in five or six times a week.
I am so thankful that Josias is sleeping longer, for our whole family's sake. It is just a temporary downside that I can't practice yoga as much as I'd like. I know how important yoga is to my well-being and to my life. So, I am grateful if I get to practice three times per week. This also gives me the opportunity to reflect more on the other seven limbs of yoga (asanas or poses being only one limb), and to know that I have the opportunity to practice yoga every day of every week of every precious moment of my life.
It has also been an opportunity for me to examine my samskaras or negative patterns. I am a person who likes a schedule and a fixed way of doing things. Some might even call me a tad rigid. Josias' change in sleeping schedule has allowed me to reflect upon my commitment to a home yoga practice. Can I be flexible enough to change when I practice and for how long? So far the answer has been, yes, sometimes!
Has anything in your life required you to change your schedule or examine your commitment to yoga or anything else that is important to you? How did it go?
I am really hoping to find an easy way to carve out some mama relaxation time after these first couple of months, and I think I'm going to try to make yoga a regular part of that. I really enjoyed it during pregnancy!!
ReplyDeleteYay for mama relaxation time! I have had such a hard time finding it, but I still make an effort. The key for me, now, is just trying to fit it in when I can instead of having a preconcieved notion of when and for how long. It continues to be a struggle for me. I wish you the best!
ReplyDeleteDena, I love yoga, also and though I honor the work that you are doing, I need to let you know that I have the registered trademark on the name Earth Mama for education, ecology, and music among other things. I will copy this to my attorney for her feedback. I'm sure you were not aware of this, and that part of owning and keeping a trademark is defending it from unauthorized use. Facebook, My Space and several blog sites have pulled down pages using the name "Earth Mama".
ReplyDeleteI wanted to mention this to you rather than have you get a notice from blogspot legal that they were removing it.
I really enjoyed reading your take on motherhood naturally and using Yoga to find relief and transitions. Best wishes to you, but I hope you find another title/name for what you are doing.
Please respond with your intentions. If I don't hear from you, I will contact Blogspot legal department. Please let me know if I or my attorney can answer any questions. Blessings and best of health to your family,
Joyce Rouse
owner of 7 trademark registrations of Earth Mama since 1996.
www.earthmama.org
Thanks for sharing the post. It was really helpful.
ReplyDelete