Last night as I penciled in my gratitude diary I found myself beaming as I scanned the delightful words, ‘Dear Universe, thank you for my beautiful daughter who makes me laugh every day, may I try to be the best mum that I possibly can’. It finally occurred to me just how far I’d come. You see, I clearly remember those apprehensive days of pregnancy and early motherhood, reflecting on the ineffable fact that I didn’t know the first thing about being a parent, but I needn’t have worried, turns out nobody does. That’s the wonderful thing about life and motherhood, you don’t get a handbook and you are allowed to make hundreds of mistakes (within reason).
Now, I most certainly wasn’t born with this easy-breezy attitude, absolutely not, it’s something I have gradually acquired, day by day, step by step on the path of yoga (turns out this ancient science makes your mind just a flexible as your body). As the Bagahvad Gita tell us ‘No step is lost on this path, and no dangers are found. And even a little progress is freedom from fear’. What fear? The fears that live within, the fears that stop us from being the best version of ourselves (work, financial, stress, social, sleep-related fears to name a few). But, guess what? Here’s the life changing news, when you let go of fear, you never fail and finally you are free from a myriad of unnecessary worries and anxieties that plague all mums (and dads). Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage, once we realise this we soon trade fearful mum syndrome in for a kicking-ass compassionately one.
My love affair with with yoga hit an all time high when I use to trek over Hampstead Heath every weekend to practice pregnancy yoga in Primrose Hill, barefaced, decked out in Sweaty Betty, Uggs and oversized parka in an endeavour to escape the perpetual boredom that kept squirming into my new, booze/festival/travel/back-packing free life. As my mates lived it up, I was learning to love nature, herbal teas and an iron-rich diet, moments I now cherish but at the time made me cry.
Once in the studio, breathing deeply, touching and talking to my bump, moving in new ways I felt strong, focused and like a woman! I was activating my Shakti. Shakti is cosmic energy that represents the great divine female power, if you’d have told me that then I would have thought you were barmy or possessed but carried on anyway.
Four years down the line, I am embracing yoga and motherhood, and I can’t begin to imagine what life would have been like without these teachings, to lead me slowly from the darkness into a shining bright light where life is exciting and full of love. Tonight, I’ll be writing that down in the gratitude diary for sure.
About Kathryn
Kat is on the Soul Seed Travel blogging team. You can read her review of the Zest Life retreat in Wales here.
Following the completion of an intensive yoga teacher training in Morocco with Yoga Alliance UK I have continued to progress on my spiritual path, training and studying with the likes of renown teachers Shiva Rea, Simon Parks, Rod Stryker, Bodhiyoga.es (mindfulness yoga), Tara Lee and Uma Dinsmore-Tuli.
I am passionate about sharing the joy of yoga with all and run 2 successful yoga studios in Spain from where I also hosts monthly retreats, combining Buddhist principles, meditation and a flowing form of vinyasa yoga that creates energy, joy and health in every cell, pulse and beat of the mindbody – igniting your soul and enlivening yourspirit www.lifeesbella.tumblr.com
