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

When he was a baby, it used to be an extremely easy way to travel. He would share my seat, gurgling and cooing his way through the flight.

Now, of course, it’s a different story.

He’s now bigger, more active, more curious, more expressive – more everything! He’s reaching a truly independent stage in his life, which can sometimes be a challenge, especially when it comes to flying.

That said, it was not my child who brought up my Kundalini fire recently – it was United Airlines.

Whether or not I have a child with me, it’s amazing how flying with some airlines has become so difficult overall, from the online “check in” to the actual boarding of the plane.

On this trip, I arrived at the airport carrying my child in a wraparound sling. There I was, pushing a heavy cart with one suitcase, one car seat, and two carry-on bags. The last thing I needed was to be told that I had to go from one counter to another, but that’s what happened because nobody had a clue where my check-in counter was. After the mounting frustration of being shooed from one counter to another, I finally got to a counter that would take me, my child, my luggage, my car seat, and my carry-on bags. Relief? Hardly. At the counter, I was told that my child couldn’t board the plane because I did not have an infant ticket.

Excuse me?

I had arranged my son’s ticket the night before on the phone, but since someone didn’t enter it correctly, my son wasn’t even on my reservation.

Thankfully, he was very patient as I let him out of the sling to toddle around. It took me 25 minutes at the counter to sort everything out. Next was the line for security, which was horrific. Some very unsympathetic inspectors informed me that I wasn’t allowed carts in the area, so I had to put my son back into his sling again and struggle with our hand-carry bags. That wait at security took another 15 to 20 minutes. Wow, I thought to myself, considering all that’s happened so far, he’s doing great!

Of course, our gate was one of the furthest away, so I decided it would be a good opportunity to let my son run and exert some energy before the flight. I knew that he was already getting restless from being cooped up in the sling for so long, and sitting for another three hours was not a good idea. So out he came from the sling – ah, freedom!

We made it to the gate just as boarding started. I waited for them to announce infant boarding but then noticed that they were beginning to board others. So I dashed up to the counter to ask if they had called infant boarding already. Well, I was told by the ever so helpful attendants that I needed to request infant boarding ahead of time

– pardon me? When did this come to be? Never mind –

I decided to just grit my teeth and board the plane with my son.

But that wasn’t the final issue – there was more to come. Before I could board the plane, I was informed that the plane was too small for me to bring our wheeled hand-carry on board. So there I was, at the entrance to the plane, struggling to remove my computer and decide which of my child’s items to keep with me before the attendants whisked my hand-carry away from me!

Amazingly, we made it to our seats. By this time, my son was understandably tired, cranky and finicky, to say the least. So was I, for that matter. But I realized that I had to focus on calming my energies down in order to shift his. So I started chanting some very low “OMs” in order not to disturb the gentleman beside us. It was awesome how both my son and I began to relax in our seats and shortly after, he fell asleep and thankfully slept for most of the three-hour flight.

By calming my energies, I was not only able to write this blog but I was also able to stretch out my neck and arms during this wonderfully quiet time. I also took the opportunity to start a list of what and how to prepare for the next time we fly – anything to make it easier for him and me.

Tags: om, relaxation, frustration, stress, flight, energy, 18-month-old, trip

In the launch of its six-page preview, YogaMom gave us an essence of the variety of features that future issues will hold. The magazine’s mission is to find ways for mothers to achieve balance in their lives while ensuring a healthy lifestyle, not only for themselves but also for their families.

As a Mom who is running a company, I totally understand how hard it can be to achieve that precious balance between time with my family and my many other commitments. I think it’s wonderful that Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Celina Miller – a Yoga Mom herself – recognizes the importance of addressing the needs of all Yoga Moms out there through YogaMom magazine.

I’m totally in awe of what Celina has managed to achieve so far – just to get to the point of launching a magazine takes a great deal of focus, time, patience, and endurance. I wish Celina creative flow, inspiration, and energy in her new venture.

I’ll definitely give you more details about YogaMom as I learn them. I’m really looking forward to delving into that first issue and suggest that all you YogaMoms check it out too.

Tags: yoga month, global mala, yoga health festival, YogaMom magazine, healthy lifestyle, balance and life

This is our second year of attending the festival, and we found that there were quite a lot of changes from last year. For a start, the venue was changed from the LA convention center to the beautiful campus of Loyola Marymount University.

I didn’t attend the Global Mala portion, although I could watch from a distance the sea of beautiful Yoginis who were taking classes from instructors and listening to guest speakers.

I stayed around the Yoga Health Festival instead, where my son, a YogaHub Team member and I encountered a lovely Yoga instructor, Jules Hogan, who teaches yoga to children here in LA. She had set up a little area just for kids, with dance ribbons, hoola hoops, and music. During the two-day event, she also held classes for children. She was wonderful, energetic, funny, and so enchanting – not only towards the children but to the adults as well. She made up wonderful stories for each yoga pose that had us adults laughing and all the kids playing along. Since taking that class, my toddler is now walking his Down Dog and slithering like a snake in Cobra!

Jules incorporates fun and joy into the practice of yoga for children. If you and your child live in Los Angeles, I highly recommend that you check out her classes at Updog Downdog Yoga.

In the meantime, I will gather more information about her and other wonderful yoga teachers for our children. Stay tuned!

Tags: yoga month, global mala, yoga health festival, yoga for kids, updog downdog yoga

As my son continues to grow and become more mobile, however, I’ve noticed that he is not as willing to stay still while I massage him. These days, he just wants to play and crawl around on the bed. So the other night I decided to play along by doing some yoga poses with him. We started with Playful Pose, which required him to lie on his back with his legs in the air. I took advantage of him being in this position by massaging his diaper area, chest and arms – and then I quickly whipped on his diaper. We followed that pose with his favorite one, Downward Facing Dog. Well, at least I think it’s his favorite as it always makes him laugh and giggle. While he was in that position, I massaged his legs, back, and arms. Then, as I was stroking him from his back to his scalp, he just naturally went into a child pose – awesome!

When I’m massaging him, I use my concoction of Organic Almond oil, Jojoba Oil, and Essential Oils by Young Living Oils, called “Peace and Calming”. It’s gentle and soothing, and I adjust the quantities of the mixture according to the dryness of his skin.

Combining yoga with his nightly massage was a stroke of genius (even if I say so myself) – and a great way to interact with my son and enjoy our time together. Isn’t it wonderful to have the opportunity to explore new ways and ideas together as parent and child? I cherish these moments with my son and know that they will always be part of my most precious memories.

Tags: baby massages, yoga with a toddler, mommy and baby rituals, baby oils, mommy and baby yoga

So many of us take for granted how we’ve grown and evolved from children into our emotional and physical adult selves. As adults, how many times have we just resigned ourselves to being a certain way without thinking that we could initiate changes and enhance our inner and outer selves?

Have we ever thought how simple it could be to find balance through yoga?

For the past couple of evenings, I noticed that when I’d finished nursing my son, he rolled off into his toddler bed that is parked right up against my bed. I watched him as he lay on his back, breathing from his tummy, palms up, legs hip distance apart, and it occurred to me that his pose looked just like a perfect Shivasana. So I lifted his hands a few inches and let go – plop. Totally relaxed.

Then last night he rolled over into the perfect Child’s Pose – head turned to the side, both arms beside his body, palms up. Wow.

This morning as I was changing his diaper, he grabbed his feet and went into Playful Pose.

I think I get it now. I have an inkling of how and why some yoga poses were named. But what was awesome to me was that my son did both the Shivasana and Child’s Pose in his sleep. His body just naturally moved into those positions, and I found that incredibly beautiful.

My child is doing yoga without any prompting from me.

Like all of us, I’m always learning something new about yoga. And now I’m wondering whether part of the reason yoga is so incredible in helping an individual attain body and mind awareness is because yoga subconsciously reminds the body of its innately primal postures. Maybe that’s a question for the experts out there.

For me, as I’ve mentioned before, my son is my teacher in this lifetime.

Tags: baby yoga, baby as a yoga instructor, natural yoga pose

Yoga has become more and more popular in Vancouver, as it has in many cities around the world. Unfortunately, due to its increasing worldwide popularity, yoga classes are also becoming more expensive. The new studios are gorgeous, but that may very well be part of the problem. For a start, the overhead and construction costs must be a big drain on the studios, so in turn they charge higher fees for their classes in order to cover these costs.

This all leads to the question of affordability for an individual. How can someone who has a family and household expenses afford to pay $15 to $20 for one class? Or to commit to a package with a specific time frame when their schedule continually has to shift to accommodate their children? If the class is not a “Mommy Baby” one, who will watch the child? Having a child myself, I can truly appreciate the difficulties that a parent has to take into consideration.

Yoga can make such a positive and permanent difference in everybody’s health and lives, so it would be wonderful if it could be made available to as many individuals as possible. That’s why it’s my hope that more studios will take these situations into consideration and initiate classes that will be more readily available and affordable for families and individuals.

Tags: yoga on the rise, yoga affordability, yoga availability, yoga studios