Shifting: Yoga as a Balancing Act

reflections on Autumn

A little bit of playful Daddy and Daughter yoga:)

Autumn brings change

The art of motherhood is learning to shift through all the changes, from pregnancy to postpartum to toddlerhood and beyond. Just when you feel like you’re getting the hang of things, your kid changes, or you have another kid, or you go back to work…there are so many ways that a mama’s life will change, but the fact is that it will just keep on changing.

We’re all individuals with unique situations, so there is no fixed recipe for a successful yoga practice for every mom, but there is a way for each mom to find their balance and that is through noticing the shifts. Those shifts are not only personal ones within us, but also collective ones all around us. That’s why I like to acknowledge the passing of the seasons as I share my yoga journey with you all. Yoga can be such a solitary, internal venture that I find it more balanced and meaningful to add some outward focus, too.

The fact is, our focus is constantly pulled outward, in multiple directions. Being a mom is a multi-faceted calling, and once we step into that role, our lives are no longer our own. I remember when I was pregnant the first time, my mom said, “You’re not alone anymore.” I really felt that viscerally after my daughter was born.

The truth is, we’re never really alone; we can gain a better perspective on this as we celebrate the seasons and nature as part of yoga practice.

my mom and my newborn daughter in 2016

Our Seasonal Focus

Sometimes I use the elements as a seasonal focus, but this time around I want to touch upon a really simple but powerful yoga practice: drishti. Why? As we shift into a yoga pose, especially a standing or balance pose, it’s easier to maintain balance if we have a drishti. Imagine this: you’re coming into vrksasana — Tree Pose — and your lifted foot keeps falling to touch down and catch you. But if you move more slowly and focus your gaze on a point in front of you, it’s usually easier to stay balanced. Not that there’s anything wrong with falling out of a pose now and then, but the benefits of slowly transitioning and keeping focus can be more satisfying.

Here’s where we can find how poetic yoga practice can be: just as moving slowly and keeping our focus can help us transition more gracefully into Tree Pose, doing the same in our life on a metaphorical level can also help us make that shift into the Fall season more fluid. I don’t know about you, but I always feel sort of thrown into the school year once it begins and then suddenly my kids and I are pushed into a different schedule. I never really sit and think about how I want that transition to go.

What are some transitions in your life, either major one-time changes or repeated changes where you feel the navigation is a little rough and rocky? The one-time changes can be pleasant or unpleasant, for example: switching to a new job, finishing a project, a birth or death in the family, moving to a new city or town, going on a vacation…while the repeated changes can be cycles such as menstrual periods, seasonal changes, or even simple daily changes like getting up and making that transition from sleeping to waking (coffee, anyone?).

Sometimes these transitions happen to us, while other times we make them happen. Choose the ones that you know about ahead of time and pick your focus. Do you want to move quickly or slowly? Is there a particular focus you’d like to keep as you make that transition?

Bringing it into the body

For years I’ve written so much about how yoga is more than just poses and it’s true. But on the flip side of that, we shouldn’t forget the physical part of the practice! It might not always look like traditional yoga poses here on Urban Yoga Mama, but the physical practices I offer are chosen with yogic principles and the lives of modern mamas in mind!

So how do we bring the practice of drishti into the body? It’s simple. Stand on your two feet and gently rock side to side, back and forth. Slowly bring that to a standstill so that you are balancing equally on both feet. Wiggle your toes a few times, bend your knees slightly. Make sure your breath is moving, and when you’re ready, slowly lift one foot off the ground as you focus your gaze on a point or object in front of you. Maybe you just lift the foot slightly, or maybe you bring it up into Vrksasana (Tree Pose). Sometimes people want to know exact alignments, for example, how high do I put my right foot on the inside of my left leg? Don’t overthink it, though. This time around, pay more attention to how your entire body feels as you lift your foot. It’s not how high the foot is lifted; it’s how you feel in your whole body. Are you still breathing? Is your gaze still gently fixed on one point?

You only need to stay as long as you feel comfortable. Maybe one breath, maybe a few, maybe a few minutes. Don’t forget to switch sides after you come out, too! I like to shake my arms and legs out a little bit before going to the other side.

When you’re done with both sides, stand or sit in stillness for a few breaths and reflect on this: what would you like to focus on in your life as you shift into Autumn?

Thanks so much for being here!  This is the post to launch my new series for paid subscribers! See this link to the previous post for more details on the offerings paid subscribers enjoy. Don’t worry, though. If you choose to remain a free subscriber, you’ll still get the post on the Seasonal Focus (this one) and the monthly pranayama (breathing) post. There will most likely be some other free posts in there for free subscribers, too, as I find a rhythm with this new structure.

Also, since this is an online yoga community for mamas, please do invite others to join! Every mom is busy and in my opinion, every mom needs yoga:)