The Yoga of Motherhood

(waves gently crashing) So, hello, hi there. We're all together with our little ones. I'm Eden, and this is Ruby, and she's about six and a half months now. And I'm Kristen, and this is Rudd. And he is about five and a half months.

And I'm Johanna, and this is my daughter Charlie, and she's almost eight months. Well I think yoga helped my, Ruby's birth. Just in a sense that there was so, that things were not exactly how I envisioned. (laughs) So it was just being present with the changes, and flowing with them, not getting caught up in the ways that I had hoped that it would go. Just being present with what is.

There was also a time when, during the labor, when I was literally, like my voice was louder than I've ever heard it in my whole entire life, (laughs) but it was the breath, it wasn't just the voice. And I think that was, the yoga allowed me to do the big huge inhale that was necessary to do the exhale (laughs) to cope with the pain. And, I think it's helped a little bit more with, or it continues to help a little bit more with, with motherhood more than anything. (laughs) How about, how about you ladies? I think the breath definitely helped a lot, you know, cause you need that breath to deal with the pain.

Just move on and just to get through it all. And I also think like feeling strong and confident and knowing that I can do it, and trusting my strength was a big part for me at least. And I ended up having a c-section, so, it was unexpected, you know, when that was decided, and the yoga was definitely that, letting go of any, you know exactly like you were saying, this feeling that there was a way anything should go. And rolling with okay, well it's gonna happen the way it's supposed to happen, and (breathes deeply) letting go of any sort of holding that there was there. So, it was very helpful in that way.

Well, I'll just say, what, I think for me, one thing that I really noticed a lot that helped, yoga helped me with connecting with my son, my first son, and with her, (baby screaming) (baby cooing) in those times of like, (laughing) like these. When you're just like, I'm just gonna enjoy this. I was gonna say something, but actually this is, what I'm gonna enjoy instead. (giggling) And the times when you're just with your baby, and you're just alone, and it's quiet, and you actually can just really drop in to like the connection of relationship. And breath.

It's, I really, yeah, it's really precious, so that, and then when there's tantrums and craziness going on and you can try to get yourself to drop into that feeling (laughs) despite the fact that you're like, at your ropes end. (baby grunting) Anything with in terms of motherhood? (laughs) So far? I mean there's definitely the ability to repeatedly remind myself that I just need to drop any feeling that there's something else I should be doing. Is...

(baby crying) Big. (laughs) It's definitely an exercise in living in the present. (laughs) Thinking about it. And we do actually all in-- (baby crying) Look at, look at all that. We do actually all in real life get together on Mondays in Ojai, California, and do a baby yoga class together.

And we actually do yoga. (laughs) And sometimes it's a lot of yoga, and sometimes it's a lot of breastfeeding. But, either way, it's good to be together. It is. (laughs) Yeah, I feel like the babies, like when you're breathing and you're like, being present, I feel like the babies can see it, and they really calm down and they start going through energy level, which is very nice.

So true. They really, you can see how much your energy impacts theirs and vice versa. So when they're freaking out, you should just breathe and do some yoga. Exactly. (laughing) Laugh, the babies are the yoga.

(laughing) That's what it is. I was reminded at the last class of just how, how priceless it is to do yoga with the babies because, it's not only that we're offering it to ourselves and it's an opportunity to connect with our babies, but they're seeing us take this time for self care. Watching us breathe, watching us calm ourselves. Be present with our bodies. And, so that's something that, it's like a gift that we're being able to offer to them as well as to ourselves.

And, I just thought that that, that really struck me the last time that we all got together for our yoga practice. I guess the biggest advice I can give is don't give or take advice. It looks so completely different depending on what your life looked like before, and what your life, what kind of baby you get, what his little personality is. And it's just, it's a relationship the same way that any other relationship in life is, you just discover what it is as you go along. So.

(laughing) I think that's good advice. (laughing) One, I guess one other thing, if now I'm just gonna offer up some advice. Not parenting, but God, if you can, just a few minutes to yourself. Like, really, just a few minutes here and there throughout the day. And I know it's so hard, I have, it's hard to find that time.

But when you can, that just gonna help you like reestablish your foundation. I guess my advice would be just to try to enjoy it and not try to focus on the bad times. Cause there are bad times, and just focus on the happy good times. Cause they are the sweetest little things. Yeah.

And they grow up so fast. So fast. Yeah.