Good morning!
…. and May the 4th be with you! It’s hard to believe that May is already here. Ever since having kids, I make comments about how time is a mystery, and the in the past few months those words have never felt more true. The days are long but the weeks are short, and I can’t believe it’s Monday again.
Last week, my older son started having a really tough time. We don’t watch the news around our kids, but in February he happened to be somewhere with his grandparents and saw more than his fair share of the 24-hour news cycle loop. Needless to say, it caused a great deal of anxiety for him, which surfaces in waves as behavior around other things. It has been both challenging and a gift. We get to continue returning to what we practice in yoga with thinking about our breath, incorporating tools like positive affirmations and recognizing that we are in control of our mindset – that how we think about our situation directly creates our experience of it. It’s simple but not easy. We’ve been practicing accepting our emotions but not feeding them, taking a step back to recognize that we do feel scared or unsure, to not just pretend to be happy, and that we there is space to observe it all as temporary.
These are all big concepts for kids, especially littler ones, but they are seed that I continue planting in myself and my kids… and within classes as well! While none of us are perfect in remembering how to stay centered in the middle of a storm 100% of the time, I am happy that my kids are able to express themselves to me, bringing up big, scary emotions, and ask big questions that have clearly all been weighing on their minds. One of the most fruitful things I’ve done this past week is be intentional about stopping what I’m doing (if at all possible) and giving attention in small moments like being asked to read a book or a moment of show & tell with a new Lego build. Simple, but not always easy; yet always worth it.
Perhaps you can relate. In classes this week, I’m planning to do a lot of movement in the beginning and offer space to share toward the end. We’ll be considering all of the small things we do each day, and how they add up to bigger things (habits, entire days, etc). I have a pretty cool visual with play dough and a marble, so bring some to class if you have any on-hand!