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Editor’s Note: This beautiful and thought provoking piece is a guest post from a fellow Yoga Mama Meera Watts. Meera is a yoga teacher and founder of Siddhi Yoga have a read and find some much deserved calm amongst your mom life chaos.

Yoga- Remaining Calm Amongst the Chaos

Having kids has been incredibly rewarding. It’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever done. It’s also one of the hardest. Any mom knows this. There are so many things to be done on any given day and of course, there is a sense of pressure to be there for your kids when they need you. Keeping the house clean, going on play dates, and doing all this while kids run around making a lot of noise is a challenge.

I have felt ashamed that sometimes I’ve had to just lock myself in the bathroom and ignore my kids momentarily to have a good cry. When I started waking up and doing yoga, I began to take things a little easier however. This is how it’s helped me to stay calm amongst chaotic moments and days.

The Peace Within

When I began doing a daily yoga practice, as suggested by this very Zen mom I know, it wasn’t easy. I felt guilty for doing something for myself. I wake up around 6 am every day. The mornings are peaceful and when I’m done my yoga routine, I look forward to welcoming my kids into the world. I have a calm demeanor and I feel like it gives my kids a sense of security.

I used to have anxiety and it would make me snap when my kids are loud and just enjoying themselves. I can now laugh with them and take things a lot easier when they accidentally make a mess or run around the house.

My Cup Ran Over

Although I felt badly for doing things for myself, what I soon began to realize was that in my calmness, I was better for my kids and my family. I have heard the philosophy that you should do things for yourself in order to be good for others but I really didn’t understand what that meant. Doing yoga and incorporating breathing and meditation with it has allowed me to listen more carefully to the needs of my family. I am better trained to be in the moment and really enjoy my kids.

There is something beautiful about being needed. It’s one of the greatest gifts as a mother. To be able to give to the people that you love. Kids will tell you what they need and they make it pretty obvious when they need your attention. I am mindful enough through my daily practice of yoga to see this as a positive. They aren’t always going to need me the way they do now. I feel so grateful to have the opportunity to support them.

Reduced Stress

Yoga is well known to reduce stress. There are many exercises that can help get rid of anxiety or tension that has built up in the body. I make sure to utilize those poses a lot. I often do child’s pose for about 10 minutes. It is said that 10 minutes in child’s pose is equivalent to 4 hours sleep. Not only do I ease any anxiety I have but I give my body and mind the space for rejuvenation. When I’ve been too stressed out in the past, I am not as good as I could be for my kids. I am on edge and I know they can feel that vibration.

I am also able to think more clearly because anxiety isn’t clouding my ability to manage life. Yoga has seriously helped reduced any stress that I once had. I believe it’s one of the greatest gifts I’ve received from the practice.

Being in the Moment

Kids do grow up fast and there are so many precious moments. They say and do funny things. They are loving, and want cuddles. I am happy to be present enough in the moment that I can take time out to be with my kids. To listen to their stories, to watch them play with each other, to just listen to their laugh. I was always distracted because I was trying to get everything done.

I focused on being the perfect at-home mother and wasn’t engaging in the special moments. When I started doing my early morning yoga practice, I started to become more mindful of the moments I’ve experienced being a mother. I decided to stop looking back on moments that had passed and started to live within the good moments. This has gotten rid of a lot of the guilty feelings I was experiencing. Living in the moment when you have young kids helps to eradicate any of the stress that comes with having so much responsibility.

Yoga has helped me bond so much better with my kids. I ultimately enjoy motherhood more. I feel like my yoga practice made a vast improvement on my life. I think my kids are even happier. They have a mom that is happy and easy going. They get my attention when they want it. It’s my belief that I am giving them the security and safety that they need and deserve.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MEERA!

Meera Watts is a yoga teacher, entrepreneur and mom. Her writing on yoga and holistic health has appeared in Elephant Journal, CureJoy, FunTimesGuide, OMtimes and others. She’s also the founder and owner of www.SiddhiYoga.com, a yoga teacher training school based in Singapore. Siddhi Yoga runs intensive, residential trainings in India (Rishikesh, Goa and Dharamshala), Indonesia (Bali)