‘Looking back’ with my daughter, circa 2018
I have a confession to make — I don’t completely have my shit together, at least not according to the mainstream image of ‘the mom that does/has it all.’ I don’t even have it down when it comes to living out my deepest (or highest?) parenting ideals. I don’t always practice yoga and meditate every day, I’m not always patient with my kids, my house often looks like a disaster, and I sometimes wake up with doubt about what the point of everything is.
But…I know that I am human, and that highs and lows are part of life. I know that being a mom, especially without much help from family or childcare, is often exhausting and frustrating. And, one major thing I’ve learned from both my yoga practice and my life as a mom is that there’s a time to push and a time to hang back. Life has a rhythm and we are part of nature.
In light of that, I’ve been thinking of how I can offer better content here. I started Yoga Mama in 2018, somewhat flying by the seat of my pants with each post. I love spontaneity and writing on the fly, but I’ve also realized that some things call for planning, too. Just like with our yoga practice, which can be both spontaneous (when we take a momentary breather or a few poses to pause from our day) or planned (like when we make time and find childcare so we can go to a yoga class).
As we approach 2023 and I realize I want (or need) more of a structure with my writing here, I’m going to take a step back and enter a resting phase here on Yoga Mama. That doesn’t mean I won’t be writing — I definitely will, but until I do a ‘relaunch’ of this newsletter, my posts will be more impromptu. My goal here is to organize a collection of posts into a monthly structure so that readers know what to expect over time.
Is there anything you’ve been taking a step back from in your life? Has it been for the better or worse? Join me on this journey of finding what we most need to focus on and what we could send into hibernation for a short time.
I really valued getting this in my inbox - I’m also entering a period of intentional retreat. I feel like taking a step back is such a hard decision as there is so much societal emphasis on relentlessly moving forwards, but I really need some time and space in my life to assess what is and isn’t important to me. Thank you for sharing x
Glad to hear you're revisiting and rethinking - we all need that time to time. I've been taking a step back from some of my community organizing work to work more closely with kids lately - I can feel it's not forever, as you say, but I want to come back with intention.