I can’t decide if doing yoga with kids is better than not doing yoga at all.
The last couple of days have thrown me for a bit of a loop. I’m very surprised that I’ve not resorted to setting the kids in front of Dinosaur Train with a giant bowl of popcorn (for them) and opening a bottle of organic sulfite-free cabernet sauvignon (for me). We did bake cupcakes and made an unscheduled stop at Trader Joe’s for five tubs of hummus (and a few bottles of wine. And they didn’t card me, even though their sign clearly states they card everyone. I tried not to feel insulted).
Funny how the stressful times when a meditation practice might be particularly helpful are also the times when working meditation into my schedule is the most challenging.
I missed my evening sitting meditation last night and my AM yoga today. Determined not to lose my momentum entirely, I did a yoga CD (Lauren Peterson with music by Deva Premal…pretty nice) with the kids this afternoon.
Here’s a recap:
“Mommy, look! I can reach my foot!”
“Mommy, I really like the cat tilt and the dog tilt.”
“Mommy, why do you get to use the yoga strap?”
“Mommy, why are you turning up the volume?”
“Mommy, we’ve been doing this for a really long time.”
“Mommy, how much longer are we going to lie here?”
“Mommy, with this eye pillow, even with my eyes open it’s totally dark!”
“Mommy, I want something to put on my eyes.” (this last was my toddler while his sister and I were in Savasana. He then stole my glasses and ran across the room with them, banking on the fact that I wouldn’t be able/willing to leap up and stop him from my lying-on-the-floor-on-my-back position. Then he came back saying, “I put them on you, Mommy,” which caused me to open my eyes in time to see a blurry image of my son coming at my face with the pointy ends of my glasses.)
Include in this a toddler pushing my legs down in halasana and the cat walking between my feet and rubbing his face on my head in prasarita padottanasana (yes, I’m tossing around Sanskrit. Because I need to have something to show for the weeks I spent in yoga teacher training. And also because I’m cool).
But I did the whole (abbreviated) practice and even on a couple of occasions felt somewhat relaxed.
Opening a bottle of wine while cooking pancakes for dinner also helped.
Imperfect Happiness 
I’m laughing out loud as I read this. I also question the efficacy of doing yoga with kids. Sometimes I (partially) finish the practice feeling more frazzled than when I began. Being a jungle gym constantly protecting my joints from being pulled apart while fending over the toddler who ninja lifts my shirt and bra to latch on before I even notice makes for an “mentally energetic” practice. I’ve begun turning the sound off when I use a video and just playing music. All the “just breath” and “feel the quiet” and “let the peace sink into you” were ticking me off.
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