Just a fun ‘modeling’ shot by a friend of a friend 4 years ago. Not yoga, per se, but the image helps me feel a sort of serenity that is akin to what I feel when I have a very satisfying yoga session!
They say that yoga and meditation help us live in the present. It’s true, but as someone who loves to write and look back at words from my past self, I say it’s helpful to get a retrospective view of things. It’s sort of like tracing the steps that brought us to the present, and if we think of it that way, then looking back can help us be present with a wider perspective.
As I prepare to launch the paid version of this newsletter, I’ve been looking back at what I’ve posted so far. I began this adventure in sharing yoga for busy moms on Substack in 2018! It’s been a casual sort of venture, posting during these 5 years and sometimes feeling like I’m writing posts for myself just as much as I am for other mamas.
I am my own teacher as well as my own student at times; I began my yoga teaching journey as a teen in 1998 and yet, I’m a bit tentative about saying that I’m offering this newsletter to you all as if I could be your yoga teacher through words (and occasional video posts). That’s only partly true. I do hope to teach, or at least suggest or show you some yoga practices that will make your life feel more integrated and whole. But the bigger intention of this newsletter has been to create a community of Yoga Mamas, not with me as some kind of guide or guru, but more as your cheerleader for your own practice. Sure, I’ll give a lot of specific, even technical, advice and guidance, but with the intention that you, too, can be both your own teacher and student.
Maybe I can say this more clearly with some words I wrote a few years ago for my WIP, a Yoga Mama Manual that is meant to be an inspirational piece for moms that want to incorporate yoga into their busy days. Here it is, “A Love Letter to all Yoga Mamas”:
Dear Mamas,
I am so honored you have made the move to join me on my journey as a Yoga Mama. I’m guessing you’re interested in some form of guidance on your momlife yoga path, which is why you have this manual in your hands. I’d like to clarify now that I will offer many suggestions based on my own experience and research, but that my intention for this manual is to steer you towards accessing your own intuition, creativity, and willpower so that you can practice choosing how to craft your own yoga practice in a way that makes the most sense to you.
While I will recommend some postures, pranayama, daily life actions, and introspective exercises, it’s totally up to you to select which ones inspire you and fit into your particular situation. Perhaps one day a certain pose or breathing exercise will suit you, and on another day it won’t. Maybe that pose or breathing exercise will make sense for your practice when your child is a baby, but not so much once they grow into a toddler. My overarching advice here is: be fluid! And keep your fire lit!
What do I mean by that? We all need a certain balance of water and fire. Actually, finding balance as mamas (and as human beings in general) requires a good mix of all the elements: fire, water, earth, and air. For example, water could be the showers or baths we take, a cup of tea, or even emotional flexibility as we go with the flow. Fire might be the inspiration we get to do things we are passionate about; earth is our stability and groundedness, and air is our essence or spirit that animates us.
But I’m not here to instruct you on these things; I only mean to inspire, and to occasionally point to some ideas and wisdom from some great teachers I’ve encountered.
It’s great to learn from a teacher; there is so much that such a person can offer when they’ve been through the ups and downs of a spiritual journey (and the downs are just as important as the ups; after all, what comes up must come down, right?). Some of you will be able to relate to this, while others might look at me sideways and say, “Spiritual journey? I just want some tips on how to fit yoga into my busy life as a mom.” Don’t worry, I do hope to help you feel that it’s totally doable to be a mom of small children and still “do” yoga. But beyond the “doing’ in yoga, there is so much about just the practice of “being,” and that’s where the spiritual component comes in. I believe that if I didn’t touch upon this spiritual aspect, I’d be holding back from you all what has given so much life to my own practice.
But anyways, while I have been a yoga teacher since the late 90s, I’d rather you didn’t just view me as a yoga teacher. For now, I’m extending my hand to you mamas so that we can see eye to eye, knowing and feeling that we are on this yoga path together. In other words, I’m not looking at you all from a pedestal of having attained; I’m here to fire up sisterhood within the yoga community and stand in a circle of mamas that are psyched to relate to each other as equals.
So take this manual as my offering to you. Leave aside what doesn’t click with you and if you need to, modify what needs some tweaking to suit your needs, temperament, and values.
And remember: yoga isn’t just something you DO. It’s a chance to embody your experience and infuse it with your own purpose. At the end of this manual, there will be some guidance and inspiration to write a love letter to yourself, but until then, enjoy the journey. Yoga might be a practice, but not necessarily the type that culminates in performance. I truly hope you enjoy every step, give yourself space to experiment and make ‘mistakes,’ and change course when you notice your own needs change. Be fluid and keep your fire lit. Let’s each shine a light for each other as we walk through both personal and collective darkness, and keep each other warm in times of cold so that we can rest. Let us introspect through our yoga practices, and then expand that inward gaze out as we truly bring our yoga practices off that mat and into our families, communities, and perhaps even into the rest of the world.
Jai Ma!
-Jacquie Bullard
Does this sound like something up your alley? Or at least something you want to explore? I’ll announce a launch date for the book soon, but coming up around Autume Equinox, I’ll open paid subscriptions for this newsletter. See this recent post for details on what the paid subscription will include. And of course, there will still be some posts for all free subscribers, too!