There Is Only Now – Yoga Parenting
By Chris Cade on Jul 7, 2010 in Conscious Parenting
Special thanks to Ria Sharon of Yoga Parenting for this guest post!
I have this picture taped to my wall as a reminder to stay “present” with my kids. How can we release all of the baggage of the future and the past with our kids?
When a tantrum is unfolding in the present, is my mind jumping ahead to my 16-year old who’s running away from home? Or, is my mind re-living what would have happened had I sassed my grandmother the way my daughter is doing?
I take a deep breath. It’s amazing how ten seconds – just one inhale and one exhale can, in fact release all of that inner dialogue and allow me to see what is actually in front of me right now: an 8-year old girl who’s upset and tired and frustrated because her bike’s tires are flat.
But this did not happen overnight. My journey to using the breath as an integral part of my daily parenting began when I first met Michaela Turner in June 2008. Michaela is a certified YogaKids® Instructor and a long-time educator. My kids were having a blast in the demo YogaKids class she was leading at the health fair that day. I was intrigued by a conversation I was having with another mom about Yoga Parenting, a class that Michaela also teaches for parents at the Brentwood Center of Health, a holistic health center in St. Louis that is owned by my dear friend, Suzanne Tucker.
I loved the idea of using the principles of yoga, like centering, ritual, power, letting go — and applying them to parenting. Although I was skeptical at first, I helped Suzanne coordinate a few Yoga Parenting workshops. I got to witness how effective the curriculum was for a number of families with kids of all ages; from toddlers to elementary-aged kids, even college kids. Of course, I began to sprinkle in a few of the ideas into my daily routine and I was impressed that they actually worked!
For example, I started using signs. Just like the reminder I have up for myself now, I put up signs for my kids. I have a sign that says, “Brush your teeth” on the door to the bedroom, in case they’ve forgotten as they head to bed. I have a picture of them with backpacks and lunch boxes taped to the door at their eye level, to remind them of what they need as they leave the house. Simple, daily tasks that used to be the root of conflict between us have been effectively shifted to ways they can demonstrate their capability. Little shifts like this have removed me from the power struggle, increased their self-esteem, and delivered exactly what Yoga Parenting promises: more joy, less stressful parenting.
As chance or fate would have it, I got to work with Michaela extensively because Suzanne and I decided that the message of Yoga Parenting was compelling, so much so that it could be translated into a powerful online parenting course. Although the live classes at Brentwood Center of Health were popular, it’s reach was limited by parents’ schedules and location. The online format would give anyone access to Yoga Parenting, at their convenience. So we got to work.
After 18 months; many hours of taping and editing and testing, the 8-week online Yoga Parenting Course is available. Each lesson, which includes an audio and written version is delivered to every seven days. And then, participants get to join in an ongoing Yoga Parenting Discussion Board. The “happy accident” is that in the process of developing the parenting course, I was soaking up the principles that Michaela developed over a career in classrooms and bringing it into my own home.
The bell, a sign that everyone must stop and take three deep breaths, is now a regular event in our day. What’s even better is that I can now fondly recall when one or the other of my children will call upon Yoga Parenting tools to deal with stressful situations. Like the time that my daughter stomped away from me saying, “Mommy, I just need to sit in the car and calm myself.” Or, when my six-year old son and I were arguing about something and my daughter used her BIG VOICE to say, “DONG!!!” just like the bell! Of course, then we all take three deep breaths and then busted out laughing. Just like that, Yoga Parenting brings us back to the present.
Magic happens in that now moment. Now — that’s where life is.
Ria Sharon is a single mom and she claims, also a “student” to two elementary-aged children. She is the co-creator of My Mommy Manual and Yoga Parenting.
She has focused her professional career in communications, first in traditional media for large consumer brands like the Kellogg Company. More recently, she has devoted her expertise to the building of online communities. In this capacity, she has worked with WEGO Health and Wellsphere. Now as Practical Mommy on MyMommyManual.com, she sources advice from experts in the field of parenting as well as children’s and women’s health.
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