Awakened Spirit Yoga alumni and students with their babes!
In Yoga, when we are invited to try a new pose, we strive to hold it mindfully, until we relax into the unfamiliarity, the uncertainty, the potential of the pose. While we are in that moment, we try to let go of worry, fear and resistance. We move from one pose to another, each one challenging our body, mind and spirit, then releasing us in a new way, to a new energy and realization.
In Motherhood, the first moment of cradling their newborn, a new parent has a feeling of being born into an entirely new realm. The tiny being in their arms is infinitely precious and dear, and there is a swirl of emotions – from uncertainty to overwhelm, love to devotion, that carries the new family forward. As parent and child move through the days together, they expand into the series of life’s new and challenging positions.
The love and trust a child feels for their primary caregiver is the most primary human emotion, and the keystone of our human culture. When this bond is honoured and nurtured, our values, humour and survival wisdom pass from one generation to the next. We pass along ways to care for and nurture our mother Earth, our bodies, our relationships, our spiritual hearts and minds, in an ever-changing world.
The daily routines this new family establishes, how they share the mundane moments of getting ready in the morning, dressing for the weather, making breakfast, going to school (when that is accessible to this child, as it should be for all children!); these become the yoga positions we parents practice with our children. As our child grows, these poses are constantly evolving in response to their’s, and our own growth.
In a time of disruption, as we face the global covid pandemic, we know it’s important to give our children a strong sense of security and resilience, and the ability to deal with present and future hardships.
Our’s is not the first era to have to endure separation and loss. Billions of women and men on the planet are struggling to deal with the loss of a beloved elder, a mother, a father, a child, an unborn child, an unrealized desire… It is heartbreaking to see the immensities of the loss and devastation not only in our own country, but in India where the disease is tragically unfolding. Thankfully, we see countries across the globe rushing to send aid and we, too, at Awakened Spirit are offering our support by donating 5% of the proceeds from our 4-month 200-Hour online Yoga Teacher Training , and ask for your help.
So, as we celebrate Mother’s Day this May, 2021, we are more aware than ever of the miracle of the chain of life that has brought us here to this point. As Julia reminds us in her latest blog post, What Does it Mean to Nurture?, “no matter if we feel connected to our lineage, we can call forward this powerful energy of self-love, nourishment and water the seeds of goodness within ourselves, and one another for this is the season of renewal and new beginnings.” And herein lies the root of our gratitude for this day, and for mothering figures all over the world.
We can honour and remember the world’s mothers of previous generations who are linked to our presence here in the world, now. And we can be more deeply aware and appreciative of the birth workers, the Doulas, the prenatal and postnatal yoga teachers supporting these new families as they become part of the Sangha, the community, of our lives.
In gratitude to all mothers, caregivers and Birth Workers!
(And in gratitude of the artist Mari Andrew who encapsulates the complexities of Mother’s Day in this illustration below.)
