The Myth of the Ideal Conditions
Well, what would be the ideal conditions to practice yoga in? Doing a Tree Pose on a beautiful mountain or a lovely secluded beach, surrounded only by nature and listening to the calming sound of waves crashing on the shore…. I wish!!!
The conditions for my yoga practice at the moment are far from being ideal, if that actually exists. Instead of calmly meditating in the Himalayas I am trying to meditate while my toddler sings “let it go, let it go…” from her bed in the next room and the baby is pulling my hair and face while I’m on my mat… so can we still call this yoga?
Traditional Hatha Yoga
As I continue my yoga journey slowly but steadily, I’ve recently been studying the Hatha Yoga Pradipika which is kind of the “bible” of Hatha Yoga. A lot of people understand under Hatha yoga simply a gentle style of yoga practice but it’s actually a much broader term, that forms the base for lots of different styles of yoga. ‘Ha’ and ‘tha’ are two energies, prana and apana, the sun and the moon energies, the energy of the right brain (creative, emotional) and the left brain (logic, analytical).
Hatha Yoga is showing us a practical way to balance out those two energies so that none of them dominates the other, which happens for example when we are stressed. The goal is to ultimately reach “samadhi”, a super-conscious state, where the mind is calm and in which the yogi is completely balanced, untouchable and beyond space or time.
This is a VERY brief explanation, there are of course lots of books written about this and it’s very difficult to understand and to summarise in a few words – I’m still at the beginning of my yoga journey so I’m trying to make sense of it myself. What is important is, that yoga is a discipline and it’s a lot of hard work. Both physically and mentally. It is very strict when it’s taken seriously and yogis go “into seclusion” (i.e. to the Himalayas) to really be able to focus on yoga which includes also a strict diet, daily breathing exercises, cleansing of the body, physical exercises (asana) and a lot more.
Mummy Yoga
As a mother and generally very ordinary person, I don’t have the luxury of going into seclusion. Quite the opposite actually. I’m already happy, when I am able to go to the loo without having a toddler jumping around me and a baby trying to climb up my legs. I’m happy when I can drink an entire cup of tea, that is still hot, sitting down on the sofa. One of my favourite parts of my weekly yoga class is actually the way to the yoga class on a busy train where I can sit (or stand) for ten minutes without having to worry about a little person, that I’m responsible for, climbing on the seats, throwing raisins around or shouting to “mummy?, mummy? mummy!!” all the time. If you know anything about London public transport then you know that you can hardly call this peace and quiet but those are my moments where I can take a step back and just “zone out”.
No, the conditions are certainly not ideal if you are trying to do a few yoga poses during the kids lunch time nap, when you would have to do a million other things and you’re writing your mental shopping list. Practicing yoga with the kids around is an even greater challenge for me – toddler trying to climb on top of me in a bridge pose and baby trying to biting my face when I’m trying to do a headstand… You get the picture…
…but I still keep practising because I need it! Because I know it’s good for me!
Family Yoga?
The secret (if there is one) I think is doing a little bit at a time, not beating myself up if I can’t manage to do anything and just to have fun with it! My daughter loves it when she can sit underneath me when I’m in the downward dog position (it’s like a tent for her…) and it might not have much to do with the yoga that is written about in the ancient texts but I enjoy it so much and it makes me feel good!
I might not reach enlightenment any time soon at this rate but, hey, we are having fun together and if I ever get to the Himalayas then meditating and yoga will be a piece of cake after practicing in such intense conditions!
After all it’s all about the journey… and why not travel together?
Oh it is so hard isn’t it to carve out proper space and time for a decent quality of practice! I’ve never been a morning person, but find that now if I want some decent practice that doesn’t eat into chores, I need to wake up before the household. It’s not easy, but I am careful not to be resentful. Most important at this stage in my journey is in fact how to take the calm I feel in practice off the mat. I think that being a parent adds a layer to your practice, and actually can be a good thing,,, even if it is a challenge!