The other day on our daily walk, we noticed that our neighbor had just cut back her roses. These are the roses we stop to smell together every morning. Pink, red, white, yellow and — our favorite — mauve, which gives the most incredible scent.

Well, this morning there lay a pile of stems, flowers, petals, leaves. My son was sad, looking at this pile as he questioned why they were cut off. It’s not like he hasn’t seen this before, but at each stage of his life he sees it with a new set of eyes.

He asked me if we could take the cuttings home. I told him we couldn’t as they were old, wilted and falling apart. I kept walking onward. He did not. I turned to see what was happening. I must have been 100 meters ahead of him by then. I called out but he did not move. He was still squatting down looking at the pile. I called again. He stood up and held his hand high, holding a beautiful white, fully blossomed rose. He proudly ran up to me, sharing this slightly wilting rose.

“Mummy, this one is still really good, right?”
“Oh Yes”, I said, “very nice.”
He was adamant. “No, it’s beautiful and it still smells good”.

This was another one of those moments when my “Zen Master” has reminded me how so much beauty in this world goes unnoticed. It’s also a reminder of how society looks at aging. How so many of us are only concerned with how we look or judge others for how they look, especially as people age.

We spend so much time and energy worrying about aging — oh, the vanity of it all.

Let us be reminded that it is not the wrinkles and sagging skin that define our beauty, but what is on the inside. I looked at my 92-year-old uncle that evening and truly saw what a wonderful and beautiful being he was.

Have you taken a moment to smell the roses lately?

Tags: inner beauty, through child eyes, rose, cast aside, stop smell roses,

The days are flying by like particles. Particles that I cannot grasp and, on the off-chance that I do grasp a few grains, it’s only momentarily before they fall out of the palm of my hand.

I have been focusing on breath very often to keep myself centered. I keep remembering the feeling of my last acupuncture treatment where, instead of lying down and turning over, I sat up and had all the needles inserted at the same time. I felt so strong and stable during those moments.

I cannot decipher if this wind is caused by me or if I am experiencing the effects of what may be happening to those around me. You know, that cause-and-effect situation.

I watch my little Zen master – my son – as he plays and communicates daily with a sense of ease. His actions remind me to focus on what is actually necessary and not on what I think to be as such. His playful joy and unconditional love remind me of the importance of just being. It helps me recognize how play is so invaluable to each of us, how laughter breaks through all worries, how singing at any given moment brings joyful smiles from all within hearing range.

I reach for the child within me to join his place of being.

What a way to run a company…hahahaha.

Tags: lunar eclipse, solar eclipse, spending time with my son, unconditional love, joyful smiles

I ask myself where and how he captured the word “need” in his vocabulary? It’s a very strong statement to make.

Well, this past month I just opened myself up to a little more awareness of my environment and realized that many people around us use that word. Many of us – and I include myself in this – make those statements at times.

It is wonderful to learn from my son, the little Zen Master, the shifts I should make in my language, not to mention the language of others, although it’s not my place to tell them. Interestingly enough, when I am guiding him and others are around to hear it, it does in fact create an awareness of the language they themselves use.

How our children are such mirrors, not just of their parents but of anyone who is around them – even if it is only for a short time. Children are able to retain so much and integrate it immediately. At times, I actually find the responses that he has demonstrated on a daily basis quite shocking.

If you don’t have children, take a moment and just watch little ones around you. It may help you gain some insight into their parents very quickly.

Tags: language, children, awareness, learning

Not easy, is it?

I just realized recently that I have been blinded yet again in my life. Maybe not so much blinded, but I’ve put blinders up on either side of my head so that I could not use my peripheral vision.

I had been told this before by a loved one – that I forget about myself and put the needs of others before mine. The conclusion is that I end up creating an imbalance in myself, which in turn affects my loved ones and our relationships. Relationships that, after time, I take advantage of by assuming they understand my decisions.

This time, my loved one is my own child. By his actions, he is letting it be known how my decisions are affecting him. How my attempt to support others is causing him turmoil because of the stress I emanate in my being, my presence.

My son has been ever so patient with my long hours of work six days a week. I continue to work even after hours when it should instead be our time together. He thinks that my partner and I are constantly bickering because of the seriousness of some discussions.

My son has begun to act up this past week. He has never been one to need me. He has never been a needy child. But this past week, he put a time limit on the time that he is away from me. Letting me know that it is no longer okay.

To others it may seem like he is being superficially fussy or difficult. I see beyond. He speaks to me and let’s me know why. “I miss you, Mummy.”

As a mother, this awareness is painful. It’s not easy to face the fact that your child wants to spend precious time with you and you alone because of what you didn’t realize was a form of neglect.

I am so blessed to have my little (old soul) Zen Master by my side. The lessons he teaches me are powerful ones.

Tags: zen master, my child, blessing, tough to make decision, listen to my loved one, spending time with my child

That’s a long time working at the pace that we do. No wonder my body is not happy with me. I have not even been able to practice any asanas because my body goes into coughing spasms.

That being said, during this time of attempting to balance my bronchial imbalance, it’s made me come to the realization that I have been contradicting what I am sharing with others.

Here I am, so focused on sharing wellness and balance with everyone – and in the process I’ve thrown my own balance off. I had a good laugh the other day when I realized this. Someone asked me if the three months of coughing was worth the effort and focus of what it was that we were creating. I replied, “Absolutely, worth every single moment.”

I just have to be more diligent with my approach the next time around so that I can keep myself balanced during the whole production. Good realization, right?
In the meantime, I am going to have great fun introducing my son to a “vacation” and showing him what it will be like to be able to spend seven days with Mummy not working!

Tags: vacation, taking off from work, work at home mom, balance with life

But of course, whenever people come to visit, we usually end up eating more and exercising less. I actually thought we were doing a fair bit of walking, but it obviously isn’t the same as exercising regularly. And we’ve been so busy doing things with our friends that I’ve missed the last couple of sessions at the gym and have also stopped my regular morning yoga practice at home.

The other day, we went for a long walk that included a walk up a relatively steep hill. Now, I’ve walked up this hill many times and haven’t had a problem since I started exercising regularly. This time, however, I was only halfway up when I began to realize that my breathing was becoming shallow and I was starting to struggle a little. Well, that was obviously my wake-up call to get in some yoga.

So the next morning while my friends were still asleep, I unfurled my mat and started to do a gentle yoga practice. I was so immersed in my routine that I didn’t even notice that I had an audience until I heard a little voice pipe up.

“Why are you bending funny, Auntie Fran?”

“I’m doing yoga” I explained – to which my little friends responded succinctly “Huh?”

Well, we all know that you’re never too young or too old to learn yoga! I asked them if they wanted to try this new “game” with me and they enthusiastically agreed.

Okay, now what? How do you teach a nine-year-old and five-year-old how to do yoga? I started by going through some easy basic yoga routines that I knew they’d have fun doing – bending and stretching. Before long, they were both executing some pretty nifty yoga moves and having a great time.

A little while later, their parents came to see what their kids were up to. “Were you bothering Auntie Fran?” my friend asked. “No, mommy, of course not!” one of my newfound yoga buddies replied. And then the five-year-old promptly cracked me up by enthusiastically proclaiming “we’ve been having lots of fun playing the yoga bear game!”

Ahhhh – it’s never too early to learn….

Tags: yoga for kids, yoga for children, daily yoga practice, mommy and baby yoga, baby yoga

I guess my friends were a bit put off because their response was “you are always too busy.” I got the sense that they were a little upset because I had declined some prior invitations they had invited me to. Interestingly, at that moment I realized that they were right to a degree – I was always “too busy.” But if that’s the case, doesn’t this mean that it is just my norm? If someone is always “too busy,” doesn’t that mean it’s just that person’s regular lifestyle?

We all need to have an insightful perspective on what is happening around us and how we choose to see it. For whatever reason, I am still able to run a company, make time for my child, have a roof over my head, food on the table, and practice my yoga and meditation daily. Also, I am able to carry on with other passions of mine by working it into my schedule on weekends.

No, I don’t have time for television, nights out on the town, social gatherings – but those are not what I want to do anyway. There was a time in my life when I had time to see three movies in one afternoon, have a three-hour workout daily, cook meals, and bake to my heart’s content, so I’ve been there and done that.

Now what I really want to do is experience the next thing that life has to offer me. After all, isn’t living your life to its fullest potential what it’s all about?

Tags: busy life, lifestyle, busy schedule, busy society

I gently informed him that I had to work as the team was waiting for some things from me, but I promised that after 7pm I would be all his. That is how our average day is spent. Well, this was not acceptable to him this time. He whimpered again and said, “please, no work.” Not his usual self.

If you are a parent, I am sure you know how that pulls on the heart strings. How helpless you feel when you know you still have to go on with your work day. I am fortunate as I work from my home office so I do get to spend in-between time with him, but others may have to leave their children for the whole day.

I don’t know if what he had said to me stuck in my subconscious all day, but I found that I was quite useless at work. I could not focus. I could not remember what I had done moments before or what I was supposed to do at that moment, despite my lists.

That day, I took him for his nap in the afternoon. This is where I usually practice my savasana. If I find time to do any yoga at all during the day, this is the one that has truly become a ritual. I take this time to get completely released for 20 minutes, but this time I actually ended up napping with him for 45 minutes. I was exhausted.

And that’s when it hit me. What I thought was not his usual self was, I believe, actually the fact that my little Zen master knew that I needed a time out. It wasn’t him being fussy – it was about me and how I needed to take a break.

Sometimes, we just have to remember to recognize the wisdom of children.

Tags: zen master, savasana, baby, children, wisdom of children, work, daily schedule, exhaustion

]]> http://www.yogahub.com/blog/time-out/feed/ 0 http://www.yogahub.com/blog/baby-yogi/ http://www.yogahub.com/blog/baby-yogi/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:08:21 +0000 Christina Souza Ma http://www.yogahub.com/blog/baby-yogi/ So the weeks continue to fly by.

My son is now two years old. No more Mommy and Baby yoga together.

I wish I’d had many more opportunities with him in those yoga classes as he developed. I also wish I had more time to attend classes myself. Funny how life’s daily occurrences alter our paths.

The other day, as I was complaining about not being able to get to a class for so long, my son must have sensed my frustration. He – being my Zen master – brought out the rubber bath mats from the tub and trekked them both all the way down the stairs to the den. He then proceeded to encourage his nanny, “Mui, come do Yoga.” “I don’t know how,” she replied. He unrolled both bath mats. “Mine will show you,” he said in his language of sorts, and began to instruct her. Down dog, tree, Shivasana, and so on. He didn’t know some of the names, but then neither do I. When I tried to join in, I was told that this was for Mui, not Mummy. How did he remember these poses? I have not done yoga in front of him or with him for months.

I sat back and watched him, delighted that he was so confident with his instruction. He was able to share his knowledge with his loved ones on a private level.

Is this the beginning of a Yogi?

Watching my son teach his nanny yoga was a strong reminder to me that yoga can be done anywhere at anytime, even on rubber bath mats.

Tags: mommy and baby baby, baby teaches yoga, baby yoga class, yoga practice, baby yogi, baby yoga master

]]> http://www.yogahub.com/blog/baby-yogi/feed/ 0 http://www.yogahub.com/blog/yoga-in-shower/ http://www.yogahub.com/blog/yoga-in-shower/#comments Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:26:18 +0000 Christina Souza Ma http://www.yogahub.com/blog/yoga-in-shower/ I never thought my yoga practice would come to this.

As the days go by and I am still not able to make it to a yoga class because I’m literally snowed in, I am managing to find innovative ways to keep up some form of my physical yoga practice.

But I truly would never have believed that I’d be doing Yoga in the shower! Actually, I didn’t even realize I was doing that until the other day, when my 20-month-old son asked me to hold one of his long beaded toys while I was taking a shower.

I was trying to find a place to hang it and finally came up with the idea of doing the tree pose and draping it over my thigh. First one leg, then the other. Wow – how cool is that?

Then I thought about our shower time together and started considering how I could keep him occupied while showering him. Well, he loves it when I crouch down to his height. So I did the pose (sorry, I can’t remember the name but I balance on the balls of my feet with my buttocks resting on my heels, keeping my thighs together). He loves this because the water gathers in my thighs and runs off like a mini waterfall, which fascinates him and gives me a chance to soap him down and rinse him off, all the while keeping a steady balance.

What we parents will do to keep our children amused! And best of all, I have found a great way to keep my child entertained and give myself a therapeutic workout at the same time.

Yoga in the shower? You bet!

Tags: yoga in shower, tree pose, yoga practice while showering, mommy and baby, workout in shower

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