If it’s not the heat, then the pure enthusiasm of summer wears me out. I’ve always been that person that needed lots of quiet time to myself, now more than ever since I’ve become a mom. It’s hard to imagine having more than one kid - kudos to all you parents out there that do, and somehow manage to balance your life and even keep your sanity!
Speaking of which…people have often said to me, “You must be such a chill person, that’s why you practice yoga,” and I half-jokingly explain that the opposite is true: that I absolutely need yoga to be the chill person that I am because without it, I’m actually sort of insane.
Don’t worry, I don’t become more crazy on the full moon, but I am crazy about the moon. It’s a great marker of time and a reminder of the cycles in life. To celebrate this full moon, I’d like to share with you a modification of one of my favorite moon salutations. It is a version put out there by Shiva Rea, but I’ve shortened it a little and kept it closer to the ground. You should watch her version, too, because it is so beautiful (and the video is much better quality than mine!). There’s also an article that it links to if you need to see it broken down.
You ever hear that song: “Oh Mr. Moon, Moon, bright and shining Moon, please shine down on me?” It brings me back to my childhood and sometimes I love to sing it to my daughter when we see the moon. I also like the song because it is sort of a childlike invocation to the moon. We all know the moon is going to shine down equally on everyone, but isn’t it nice to think we can invite that cool, dim light to beam down and bring us inspiration in the darkness of night? It’s with that attitude that I like to practice this moon salutation: playfully, with appreciation for the moment, and with a sense that even in the shadows there is some brightness to light up our yoga practice.
Just a reminder that I’ll be officially launching the weekly Yoga Mama newsletter on August 2, 2018. That means for the price of a coffee, you get a month’s worth of inspiration which includes some of the following elements:
-inspirational quotes and anecdotes about fitting yoga into life as a mom
-weekly video with a brief and accessible yoga sequence (5-10 minutes)
-ideas for what I call Slow-ga (=slow yoga), a.k.a. the essence of the practice as it helps us slow down and live our practice more mindfully and fully
-a monthly yoga-related book or movie review
-a few quotes each month from another yoga mama out there, doing her thing