Browsing Tag

mindfulness

Life Lessons, Parenthood, Yoga

The real yoga

My daughter is almost as tall as me.
Her feet are bigger than mine.

She’s 11. I’m 43.

Last year she was 4. At least that’s how it feels…
Oh, the swift pace of this crazy life!

And this parenting malarkey. I’ve not yet nailed it – have you?
Everyday – a new lesson, a new guilt.
A daily reminder that I am human.

This for me is the real yoga.
Forget the headstands, your crow obsession or the depth of your backbend.

Real yoga is about living real life. In all its messy, fast-moving glory.

Can you hold on when the ride gets tough? Can you drop the judgement? Can you sit with yourself and rest in the not knowing…

Because kids will get taller. Their feet will get bigger. Their cheeks no longer chubby.

They’ll borrow your make-up, your money, your car. They’ll make you laugh and smile and drive you bat sh@t crazy.

And they’ll grow before your eyes in what feels like record speed.

So can you pause for a moment – hand on heart – and acknowledge how far you’ve come.

Drop the judgement, drop the worry and drink it all in.

Because each new phase is a reminder of this beautiful cycle of life.

Our biggest yoga practice of all.

By on September 26, 2023
Parenthood

Becoming Mum

Something has been happening to me over the last while. It’s a feeling of almost coming full circle. Like I’m finally settling into a newer version of myself. A little battered round the edges perhaps, but one that still bears a strong resemblance to the old me, except with two crazy kids in tow. And if I had to put a title on it, I’d say it was a feeling of ‘becoming mum.’

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By on March 5, 2017
Parenthood

Short Circuit

It’s 4.37am. I mutter a string of expletives as I haul myself out of bed. I spend the next 45 minutes nipping in and out, trying to encourage Henry to have more shut-eye, before he decides he would rather be up for the day. He gives me that grin that says, quite frankly, Mum, it would be boring to go back to sleep. But instead of smiling, I find myself crying. Hot, fat tears rolling down my face, quickly, without warning. I’m cross. Darn cross at the sheer exhaustion of it all. Cross at the fact the day is beginning at sparrow fart yet again. Cross at the fact that I’m already thinking ahead to how wrecked I’ll feel later. Cross over the guilt I’m feeling for even feeling annoyed, when so many people would give anything to be in my shoes.

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By on September 26, 2016
Parenthood

Spaghetti Junction

“You’re so naughty to me Mummy. You’re always cross,” Molly interrupts my bedtime story to tell me. “You need to calm down, Mummy. Just calm down,” she says, gesticulating by waving her hands up and down with her fingers spread wide. She is referring to the fact that I am cross because she won’t lie still and just listen to the darn story. I keep having to stop and start while she tosses about, chats to some of her teddies and then tells me she needs to get up for some water. “Will you settle DOWN! Are we reading this story or shall I just turn off the light?”

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By on December 1, 2015
Parenthood

Break from the norm

Lately I’ve noticed myself using three certain words a heck of a lot. Now, before you close this page for fear this might be some sort of love story about the husband and I – it’s not those three words. Nor is it the three words that make up the abbreviation FFS, although I do confess to letting those slip from time to time too.

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By on November 15, 2015
Parenthood

Baby talk

Lately I’ve been doing exactly what I told myself I wouldn’t do this time around. I’ve been tormenting myself by looking for answers to questions that don’t seem to want to be answered just yet. My late night google-ing sessions in particular have been driving me mad! “When will my baby sleep through the night?” “Should I be stretching out my feedings by now?” “Why won’t my baby nap during the day?” “Why hasn’t he done a poo for 3 days?”

 “I thought you said you wouldn’t analyse things so much this time,” said the well-meaning husband as he listened to me rant about the fact that I thought Henry should be taking a nap. “Didn’t we say we’d go with the flow a bit more? Just watch and see how things pan out?” However, going with the flow is easy when you’ve had 10 hours sleep, a long uninterrupted shower and a peaceful cup of coffee. Cue the reality of sleepless nights, the loss of your free time and a second small child to deal with and you’ve got a recipe for going slightly crazy!

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By on July 23, 2015